I am pretending the weekend isn’t over yet. It is, but I’m very good at pretending it isn’t.

I have no idea what to get the MSG for his birthday, other than a few little things I’ve managed to find that are small enough to fit in my suitcase.

We went to two birthday parties on Saturday, and they were both lovely and gentle. Sunday we spent some time with the MSG’s family. I like them all very much. They laugh a lot and also make excellent food.

Planning for our trip to Vancouver has gotten me very excited about this vacation thing. Also, hearing my mom plan her trip to the U.K. — she got a Nokia 6600 in preparation, even — has made me ponder future travels abroad. I think I want to go everywhere in the world.

People keep telling me, after congratulating me on grad school, that there goes my social life for the next two years. The MSG was concerned about the purported academic workload of twenty hours per week. I told him that it won’t be easy, but I will find a way to juggle my two most important things. And I will.

I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into, really, with everything. There is chili verde simmering on the stove. In the middle of the night, I wake up with my stolen notebook in my hand, but it’s not really there.

Sometime a lifetime ago I was afraid of drowning; now I just float, and let go.