Shit. Today is my mom’s birthday. Better send an email.

I’m slightly out of sorts tonight but I don’t mind. I read not long ago that marathon runners, triathletes, etc. take the day before their races easy. I work out six days a week, with Saturdays off, and tomorrow I’ll hit the gym, I hope, with new vigor.

I haven’t liked how I’ve felt this week. Maybe that’s why I’m out of sorts as well. I’ve felt slightly on-edge, scattered, although I’m not sure why. Most days I’ve felt unsure of what I should be doing and as if I’d rather be somewhere else.

Wednesday was good. I should talk about Wednesday. After sleeping a little later than usual and walking four miles with the puppies (they saw their first deer, a mom and two babies near Whitefish Park), I drove down to the Milwaukee Art Museum. For some reason I thought they had taken down “Edge of England” but the sculpture was there, as always, and I took a couple minutes to breathe in the space and covertly snap a few pics. The furniture show in the main galleries, the work of some Rolf (sp?) guy, was excellent as well. He created a candelabra in honor of his dead son. That stuck with me…the guy’s son dies and the best way he can honor him is to design a piece of furniture, what he does best, in his son’s name. I dug that. After the museum (I discovered, by the way, you can park a little north and not pay for the garage) I hit the Milwaukee Public Market and had a great organic sandwich. The MPM has improved over the last couple years. Nice place.

What else did I do this week? Meetings, I guess. Paperwork. Played with the puppies. Drove T back and forth to/from football practice. Watched Mad Men. Read Hemingway, but not as much as I would have liked. Today M and I took N to the Maritime festival since T and S were busy. That was fun. He bought a couple of rubber ducks and reveled in the exclusive attention. At one point he said, “Could I have the honor of choosing your duck?” That made me laugh.

So tomorrow I want to hit the gym and clean the rest of the house. The front porch is in pretty good shape but upstairs is a mess. Maybe I’ll read, too.

Today while sitting on the front porch and looking back toward the kitchen I felt this weird sense of past, present and future all at the same moment. I remember thinking, when we moved up to Wisconsin, that we would have seconds I should cherish with all of my heart and remember for potentially difficult later days. Watching my two puppies run to me while N followed, well, maybe I’ll be dying in a shitty nursing home someday. I hope I can remember today, sitting by the door, watching my son and puppies.