[x] Today was gray, and ultimately a bit cooler (but still too damn warm) than previously predicted by my favorite weatherman. That's more than fine by me, but it has kept me in a very strange headspace today.

This afternoon, I want to go to my favorite place (well, aside from Negril, that is--and let the record show that I'd ALWAYS like to go there ) and just...be. Or else I'd love to go to the Arboretum, and wander aimlessly through the maze. But ugh, it was way too warm today. I can't wait until it's a bit colder out. Last year, on a rather chilly fall day, I spent over an hour walking the maze, just taking in the deep scent of earth and thinking and being. It was brilliant. The sky was gray--much like today--and there was just enough of a chill in the air to offer up an occasional shiver. Perfection. I put the kids to bed that night and spent hours writing--poetry and prose, thoughts as they came to me. It was so cathartic. I lost some of those writings awhile back somehow. Perhaps one day, they'll resurface. At the perfect moment, no less.

I remain hopeful.

Anyway...

[x] Today was a long day. LF still has a cold, Beauty came home from preschool in a serious mood, and the cat proceeded to get violently ill--all over the duvet that so willingly graces my beloved Tempur Pedic. Hellllllo, Laundromat! But at least the blanket is pristine, I suppose. Oh, and I made cookies. Chocolate-chocolate-chip ones. So that's a plus, right? Everyone is tucked peacefully into bed and I am grateful for that--both their sweetly sleeping selves and their presence in general. Very grateful indeed.

[x] I am also grateful that I was able to snag a good 1:14 conversation with my Beefy Ribs (the bff since first grade). God, it is so GOOD to have someone who just gets you--all of you--who you can laugh with, cry with, bitch with, and so forth. I am very lucky to have had the same best friend since I was six. We've had our ups and downs, to be sure, but at the end of the day, we remain united. And that, my friends, rocks.

[x] Received LF's six month Early Intervention assessment from her OT, S. I love, love, love S. She is an AMAZING therapist and her interest in LF's success is more than evident. Here's what I don't love: the assessment.

Not S.'s assessment, because she has been and still is very, very awesome. But the scale in which LF is "graded" has her "on par" with a three month old. A 65% delay. It's inaccurate, of course. S. said that straight out the gate. Why such a delay then? The evaluations don't take into consideration the fact that she's visually impaired. That's right, my BLIND daughter is being rated by her response to visual cues.

Make sense to anyone? No? I somehow didn't think so. Is LF delayed? Sure. She should be crawling, and probably even pulling to standing if you want to get crazy on it. But again, she is entirely blind. By all accounts, she's actually at the top of the charts if you factor in her disability.

Ugh. Enough of writing about this. I can feel by blood pressure going up, one number at a time.

[x] Okay...bed now. More rambling to come tomorrow, I'm sure. Sweet dreams, friends.

<3