sappiest post yet! sorry...

i had a wonderful morning today. there was nothing remarkable about it--i sat at my little temporary desk, alternately browsing the new york times and reading up on early childhood care and education while brainstorming ideas for CHI. in the meantime, i sipped on two cups of hot coffee, made a couple to-do lists on my new sticky notes (thanks ben), and bantered with janell and liz. but in those few hours, little things kept reminding me that... i really have it good. great, in fact.

i was greeted by TLC first thing in the morning, thanks to friends who are far away, busy with their own lives, and yet make time to send me beautifully written emails that keep me updated and remind me that despite distance and time, some friends will always, always be there.

i read an article about a ballets russes exhibit in london that described the collaborations between diaghilev, nijinsky, and satie--stories i had learned in my music history class just a few months ago. i was not only super excited that the material i learned in class showed up in the NYT, but i also reveled in the fact that i had the opportunity to learn from professors as passionate and wonderful as professor hepokoski. man, his beethoven lectures were good...

i read a chinese blurb about parenting that my mom sent me, and was reminded that i have the most wonderful family a girl could ask for--parents who are sensitive, open-minded, and empathetic, a grandma who is doting, selfless, and never fails to make me smile, and a little brother who despite being bigger, taller, and more mature than i ever remember, always brings out the most protective side of me.

i looked around me, and was again amazed and inspired by the people who work with me. ben with his constant flurry of activity, janell always pushing through with her mountains of paperwork, beth and her reports on everything that has to do with vaginas (okay, just paps and cervical cancer), liz doing her balancing act of med apps, pharmacy, and respiratory study, ashley taking care of and getting excited about her baby, i.e. the clinic bodega, and jess powering through her spanish and nursing books... after four years at yale, again i am lucky enough to find myself surrounded by high-energy peers and colleagues, all of whom are extremely dedicated and passionate about their work. it is an incredible work environment, and i know i'd be hard-pressed to feel this way about any other job in the future.

crazy to think about all the little forks in the road i followed to get to where i am today. almost makes a girl believe in something bigger...