Solomon was on to something.

I got up [relatively] early today because Dad called and gave me a big chore for the afternoon.  Surprise.  So I wet down my poofy hair, then went to work without breakfast.  (Shh... don't tell grandma.)  I talked about generosity for several hours with Renee and Dr. Crumley.  We presented ideas, altered the questionnaire, planned for next week.  We worked hard.

Then I went home and ate a big lunch.  (Thank you, Grandma.)

After that it was time for the big chore.  So Kiko and I loaded up the lawn mower into my trunk and I head to my former home on Sunkist Terrace.  For the next two hours I mowed that yard good.  And even though I had to take breaks once in a while to cool my body temperature down and grab water to keep salivating, and even though the sun was hot on my bare shoulders and the grass made my ankles itch, and the sweat got in my eyes, and even the branches raked across my face and the thorns scratched my feet, it felt good to work again.  Maybe because of all those things.

I don't feel like it, but I must be growing up a little, slowly but surely.  I enjoyed the feeling of getting something accomplished like that on my own, of taking responsibility for something, of putting effort and a bit of sacrifice into it.  It was a strange satisfaction.

I hope I keep finding it.  Maybe it will help make life meaningful somehow.