Why this is already a good day even though I have not yet left the house:

1. I�ve started a wonderful new book (Alice Munro: Runaway)
2. Tom Waits� �Big in Japan� is playing on iTunes.
3. XTC has finally shown up on iTunes, thus enabling me to reach music nostalgia nirvana. As soon as I�m done downloading.
4. For the first time in at least three weeks, I do not, at this moment, have a sinus headache.
5. Last night I dreamed I was in Paris. However, I still had my usual dream-travel angst about the fact that my passport is expired (the honest to God truth � I really need to renew it, if only so I can sleep better).
6. AJ and his dad are upstairs leaving me with some blissful peace and quiet.
7. There is a pile of leftover tofu Pad Thai in the refrigerator for lunch.
8. There are no bills to pay today.
9. I�ve written a plausible and not totally sleep-inducing introduction to my conference paper. In the process, I�ve realized that I can pretty much write this paper off the top of my head.
10. The house is clean.

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