I just rode my bike to school. It is lovely here – 61 and sunny, with a little bit of a breeze. I’m sitting at my desk with a thermos full of lemon ginger tea – my attempt at staving off the bug that is going around. I can’t get sick now – I just don’t have time.

Speaking of bugs – there are bugs in my apartment, and it’s making my skin crawl. I’m the first to admit that I’m not the neatest housekeeper – but I’ve lived in far worse places, and have never had the kind of problems I’m having now. I have tiny ants in my cupboards – apparently a recurring problem – and ickier bugs elsewhere. As much as I like this apartment, I never would have signed a lease had I known this was a problem. I have traps lining my cupboards and floorboards, and I hope that will take care of things.

Bugs and ickiness notwithstanding, last night I made hummus and tabbouleh in my little kitchen from things I had lying around. Shane came over, and we ate everything out of glass bowls with cucumbers, olive oil, and warmed pita. I have a lot of tabbouleh chilling in my fridge, and I’m looking forward to eating more of it tonight.

This has been an exceptionally difficult week for me for a variety of reasons that I’m not going to go into – here, or anywhere else – so please don’t ask. I have a lot on my mind and heart right now as I wrap up a long semester and prepare for a trip that is going to be exhausting and challenging physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The other day my friend Leslie posted a list of songs she’s calling “Hoppity Hop Songs” – songs that evoke some kind of powerful emotion – happiness, sadness, anger, love, frustration – even if they have no logical association with anything that’s happened in her life. They are called “Hoppity Hop Songs” because of her exhilarating memories of her Hoppity Hop toy which she continued to play with long after she’d outgrown it, and which was cruelly taken from her by her parents. Here is one of mine:

Jem- Falling For You (right/command click, save as)