That’s really awesome. You’re doing a great thing.
That reminds me I have some perfectly good, name-brand suits that I’ve errr… outgrown… that I should donate to a local not-for-profit that has a “shopping closet” for women completing programs like yours.
Here’s one from earlier in the summer: My family went on a trip out of the country. On the flight back, which was several hours long, my daughter (age 9) asked me to read aloud to her from our current book (Skulduggery Pleasant, if you’re interested).
I’m a voice actor, so I consider reading to my kids both a pleasant bonding experience and a great opportunity to practice character voices, but I was worried that we would bother the people around us, so I put her off at first. She was so disappointed that I relented and decided to just try to keep it down. I told her that if anyone complained, we would have to stop.
Over the next couple of hours, we read through quite a few chapters. You would not BELIEVE all the nasty looks I didn’t get. 
In fact, as we got off the plane, I heard one flight attendant quietly say to another, “That’s the storyteller.” Nicest thing I ever overheard about myself. Then, when we were in the customs line, a man in his fifties and his adult son stopped me and said, “We just wanted to thank you for the live audiobook. They made us turn off our electronics, and you kept us from being bored stiff.” They even asked for the name of the book so they could get it and find out how it ended!
Like I said – a real tnar.
pullin and Chef Troy, that’s awesomesauce. 
Seriously, both of you - my congrats.
I live in Texas, and we’ve had rain (!) and highs in the 80s last week. In August. WHAT?!?! I got to take a walk in the evenings and mornings - my personal version of free therapy. Yay!
Mick Foleytexted me the other day to say “I was JUST thinking about you!” and we chatted back and forth a bit because he’s my buddy.
A year ago TPTB in my little office decided to take all of the accounting duties, throw them up in the air and see where they landed. The result was that I was no longer the HR/Payroll person and instead the Accounts Payable person. I was not happy but I did my very best with the AP duties and kept a good attitude about it.
I learned on Friday that I might get the HR/Payroll duties back. It is a job that I find much more interesting and personally satisfying and while it hasn’t happened yet I feel like it’s almost a sure thing. (The controller wants to make the change but the GM hasn’t signed off yet). That has made me happy.
Oh and we’re bottling our wine today which might be ready for our fall family reunion. We’re naming it in honor of my husband’s dad and his 5 brothers. Los Seis Hermanos. I’ll let you know how it tastes.
We attended the end of season picnic for a fabulous pyrotechnic group last night.
The fireworks were fantastic, as usual. The best part? Fireballs. Huge fireballs shooting 100’+ into the night sky.
I was a (deaf) but happy camper.
It doesn’t get better than this!
My tnars… I love my new job. Love, love, love, love. After a year of unemployment and wondering if grad school was a tragic mistake, I finally have the job of my dreams, and my career has only just begun.
The only downside is it takes 1.5 hours to get there. Here’s my other tnar… I get to work from home tomorrow. 
It’s those little things that can make a day.
Needed to pick up some ground beef for several pending menus, so checked store ads and found a decent price ($2.29/lb) on a grade I consider acceptable (80% lean). Got to the store, discovered about five packages at the sale price that had an additional $1/package discount (pull date was tomorrow, which is fine since I was planning to cook this today). My real cost per pound was $1.95 after those discounts. I’m happy to have spent less than I expected to. 
I treated myself to a spicy Thai beef salad for lunch today. (Healthy! yay!) It’s SPICY.
Not mini, but I’ve got so many great friends.
I started my new job yesterday. I really like it so far but boy do I have a lit of stuff to learn. Fortunately, there are a lot of people around me who are very helpful.
I finally submitted my dissertation to my committee today.
I helped gather funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association during the fire department’s annual Fill the Boot campaign. (For those unfamiliar, firefighters wear traffic vests and stand at traffic intersections, collecting cash in a fireman’s boot to donate to the MDA.)
I was astonished at how many people were willing to give. Probably 50% of drivers rolled down their windows to drop money in the boot. I had people explain to me how this was the 5th donation they’d given that weekend, people changing lanes and missing green lights just to make sure we got their cash. I stood out there with 7 other firemen for 3.5 hours, and in that period of time we literally collected a few thousand dollars.
Seeing so many people wanting earnestly and selflessly to give restored my faith in humanity.
My dad just called to tell me how much he loved my book. I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face right now. I don’t care how old you get. You still want to make your parents proud of you.
My daughter last night was very frustrated with her homework. My husband sent her on a break and she came back and behaved like a mature adult.
And then totally got it!
After months of planning and researching, I have two pygmy goats of my very own! A former show champion that is retired due to a C-section, and a doeling that is adorably naughty.