I am...

A winner!
We had a contest at work and I happened to win free gasoline for a year. Every time I stop to fill my tank, I have this mental picture of throwing up my arms and cheering, "I'm a winner!" Same mental image when I go in to pay with my gift cards. And again as I pull away from the pump and back into traffic. I now feel utterly awesome during a normally-onerous chore. So while I was pleased upon being awarded my prize, it's even better now that I have it.

Productive
I have been playing Paradise Pet Salon (you wish I was kidding - I'm so not.) when I'm stressed or moody or not able to sleep. (In other words, I've been playing Paradise Pet Salon a lot.) The game has somehow drilled into my consciousness that there's always too much to do. Some people's little hearts will go away because their dogs don't get bathed and clipped and treated medically as quickly as they'd like. So the dogs bark and cats screech as they lose patience but it gets easier to ignore it as I click and click and click and somehow things get done.

When I went to the office today - after taking Chienne for a walk and meeting some friends for brunch - I found it shockingly simple to ignore the angry emails and let demands for attention fade into the background as they blared from voice mails. Instead, I relaxed into the quiet darkness that encompassed the office and did the tasks I'd come to finish. While files were transferring and documents downloading, I went to tackle a pain-in-the-ass experiment and found more errors than I fixed. When I got tired of it after a few hours, I decided to quit and emailed my findings to the team before straightening up, grabbing my bag and heading home. No guilt. No irritation (well, little irritation). I was just calm and capable.

Cozy
Upon getting home, I greeted a puppy who'd been lazing in the sunshine and took a quick shower before snuggling into pajamas. I started my first fire of the season (how I love gas fireplaces) and put together a spinach and blueberry salad.

I have one email to finish for work - I brought detailed notes home so I don't forget anything. I considered a bath but decided against it - it's rather lovely to stay dry, enjoy the fire and wait to get sleepy before starting another week.