What a day

For someone who woke up saying "Hey, my clock is still blue. Get outta here!" when I came in to her room this morning, E sure did end up having a banner day.

July 18 was a big day for the whole Cowfamily, in fact. Dr. J officially welcomed his first patients today. After 20 long years, he's in business. It was a big moment, and his mom and dad came to share it with us.

But somehow, E might have still come out on top. After all, J didn't get to be a sous-chef in a fancy restaurant. And he most certainly did not get himself immortalized in a piece of the city.

The day started early as we accompanied J to his clinic to start the day. We delivered cucumber water and met his parents, who were eagerly awaiting his arrival.

We arrived home to see Tony Baloney and his construction crew pouring concrete for the new sidewalk in front of our house. They started the work on Friday replacing our uneven tiles, and he and E made fast friends even though she declined his request for her to join his crew. Today E decided to sit and watch them work, and it wasn't long before Tony suggested that she get her hands dirty, literally. "Come here!" he directed. She complied hesitantly, and he told her to spread her fingers out wide before grabbing her wrists and plopping them down in the wet concrete. He then whisked her away to the truck to rinse off her hands before returning to carefully inscribe her name and the year under her paw prints for posterity. It was absolutely heart-meltingly adorable, and E was over the moon. Best day ever.

AND THEN. We went to dinner to celebrate J's first day, where she quickly gained the attention of the chefs in the open kitchen behind us. She was all smiles and cuteness, and it wasn't long before the head chef came out and asked if E wanted to have a hand in making our dinner. He placed a chef hat on her head, took her hand and led her back to the kitchen, where she made eyes at one of the chefs as well as some pasta. Once she was done the bartender came over with a very special fancy drink that he had created especially for her, along with the recipe so we could recreate it at home. All that AND dessert on a Monday night?

What a day.

Perfectly Ordinary

Best day ever.

Well, okay, wedding day was pretty great. Daughter being born fairly noteworthy as well. And sure, lots of other days have won out in terms of excitement and/or general spectacularity. But today? Today was an example of "My Perfect Perfectly Ordinary Day".

Gardening. Neighbours. Great friends. Children running from yard to yard...to yard. Outside the whole day. Patio lunch. Patio beer. An awesome sense of accomplishment from working hard and getting dirty, while having fun and taking it easy, all at the same time. Not a single blip. No whining. No fighting. No drama.

Contented sigh.