And so we begin

 Today feels like the first real day of summer. 

This makes no sense, of course, except that it makes perfect sense to me. (The story of my life, in one crazy sentence!) I've been off school two weeks as of today. We've completed college orientation. The 4th - and all of the crazy illegal fireworks that terrify my dog - are done.

And now I'm ready to really dive in.

I just did a morning yoga practice (Yoga With Adriene is amazing; if you don't follow her, you should. All her videos are free on YouTube.) Of course I intended to do it at 6am when I got up. but there was the siren call of coffee, and then Susan and I had a nice long chat, and - much to my chagrin - there was some endless scrolling on social media. (I'm working on it.) But most importantly: I put my mat on the floor, lit some candles, and hit play. I did the whole thing minus a couple rounds of boat pose (I tried, really I did, but my abs said, "not yet!" and I collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles).

The practice today was about "yoga kiss" and in some of the poses Adriene said, "turn your head as if someone is kissing you on the neck" and my body woke up and the face of my crush popped into my vision and it was delightful. My mind, soul, and body are waking up. I don't know if the crush and I will ever amount to anything, but for that little moment of yoga practice I could see his smile and imagine his lips and I thought, "ohhhh maybe I really am ready for this!" Only time will tell, but whether it's him or someone else, today I knew I was closer.

I'm writing. I've committed to come here, mostly as my warm up, and my commitment to myself to put myself out there, but also my book. Sometime this spring I got really stuck on the book: it stopped making sense, and I thought I'd absolutely lost my way, but then I realized that one of my main characters was male - the voice of the past - and it didn't work, that character needs to be female to have symmetry with the voice of the present. Eureka! I'm ready to keep going now, and suddenly it feels better.

The morning air is cool and wet with the marine layer - a fine mist is in the air, even at 10am. It's supposed to burn off later today so I have plans to go paddle boarding with a friend in the sunshine, but right now it's perfect to be inside, to think about my plans, and to put some of them into action. A morning of productivity and an afternoon of fun is the best during my summer break. Chance will be pleased to know that a long walk is in his future (and for me, a long podcast). Hopefully my favorite seal will make an appearance; perhaps I'll see old man heron moving slowly along the water's edge. I've put off making appointments, but I'm ready to dive in: the annual trip to the doctor, a meeting with a refinance person. My energy is returning.

So, summer is two weeks in, but I'm just getting started. I'm ready to tackle my to-do list, and to be the person I want to be. I feel rested enough to make this happen... so here I go! I'll see you tomorrow and let you know how I'm doing, but for now, it's time for me to get moving.