I Left a Surprise in Your Purse

When I was a kid (and even a college student) my mom would sometimes leave me little love notes on slips of paper she hid in my lunchbox. It was always so exciting to find her words stowed away under my sandwiches, letting me know that she was thinking of me. These love notes aren't so common anymore since I've moved out and now live in a busy household where the morning lunch-packing routine means throwing an apple and protein bar hastily into my purse while I'm trying to remember my phone, my laptop cord, and the papers I graded last night. To put it plainly, not much thought goes into lunchtime anymore.

A Tale of Two Vomits

One of the little luxuries I have been enjoying lately is the fact that I don't have to take the dogs, Link and Yoshi, out on leashes in the morning. When R. and I lived at our apartment, it was my responsibility every morning at dark o'clock to get two wiggling furry bodies out of their crate, clipped into leashes, and out the door without too much fuss. The morning business routine went something like this: