(Personal journal post) -Listening to the ‘Elizabethtown’ soundtrack right now. Never saw the movie, but the soundtrack is amazing! Used to listen to it all the time many years ago… it’s bringing back some great memories :)

I can’t think of many things more relaxing than writing in the observatory with a cool breeze coming through the window and a view of butterflies silently dancing in the garden. Fortunately for me, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now!

I’m taking advantage of a rare opportunity where I have the day off work, Stacy took the kids somewhere, I don’t have anything pressing to do, and it’s unbelievably beautiful outside. There’s definitely the feel of Fall in the air… partly cloudy skies, cool breeze, low humidity, an ‘end of summer’ laziness… the kids start back to school in less than a week! That’s where Stacy and the kids are now; getting school supplies.

Yeah, this summer went by fast, but don’t they all? Plus, like our recent vacation, I’m satisfied with it. We did a lot of things… went to the movies, zoo, museum, hiking, we camped, took a vacation to a different state, swam at the beach, Ella played soccer, went to parks, played in fountains, went out to eat, had parties, got into arguments and made up, started and completed projects, found new music… on and on…

Even went to a concert last night! Me, Stacy, Katie, Ian, Andy, and Mary saw Die Antwoord at the LC Pavilion outside. It was awesome! We ate at a cool place beforehand, got some drinks at another, went to the show and had a great time, went to 16-bit Arcade bar and played games, then went to another place and got food (pizza!), and was still home by 12-1am… freakin’ great night all around, seriously. Life is good right now. Life is good, and I’m happy.

Super-glad I took today off, and I don’t feel like crap today given how much we drank last night. It’s OK to get drunk every now and then. Today is the vacation day I wanted all along… satisfied, calm, truly relaxing, doing what I actually want to do, even if it’s only for a short while. I don’t care and am not worried that I’m not doing something else right now. Content…

Panorama of the observatory right now, you know, for context ;)