I'm finally listening to David O. Russell on Fresh Air, and it's so good!

Connie, do you feel like you drove through a portal or an invisible wardrobe door

No, just over the hill and around the curve. Apparently that's where all the people who have alledgedly been moving into my area have been going. Unfortunately, ten years ago it was wonderful undeveloped meadows full of wildlife on the edge of a national forest.

Fair enough. Whenever I find myself in an area that I didn't even realize existed, part of my brain suspects I went through a portal.

I keep having dreams like that, when I open a small door in my house and discover there's a whole other, nicer wing to the place. Or the basement is furnished and I never knew.

In my dreams like that, it's a huge barn (or attic) full of stuff that has to be sorted, and the place I started in is not recognizably any place I ever lived, although in the dream it is "home".

Stuff is happening at work. Couple of people are leaving, not necessarily being fully replaced. Not going to change my day-to-day much at this point, but I'll be reporting to a different manager (my current manager is not leaving, she'll have other direct reports) and might pick up more accounts which...I don't know if I can handle that, honestly. I feel pretty close to my limit, although that is partially because several of my less active accounts got more active this month and needed a lot of support one way or another. They'll probably go dormant again for a bit. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, the Well Red wine has benefited greatly from sitting for a week, much more drinkable. I am having it with my assorted tapas from Trader Joe's, which I am serving to myself on a large plate, ironically. Not ironically: yum.

I was working in Norwood for the better part of 12 months before I realized a major mall (with useful things like LL Bean and Whole Foods) was just beyond the intersection where I usually got on the highway home.

It's so easy to only know the places you have to go. I'm trying to at least get to all the municipal parks nearby (because I can find lists of them online easily) but it's hard to find the time.

I have found Geocaching to be a great springboard for that sort of exploration.

Blargh. How bad an idea is it if I have a glass of hard cider now that I've taken pill #3 of a Z-pak? I'm taking them as standard procedure post root canal. I was all set to sit down and have myself a nice drink when I realized that this might not be a great idea.

I keep having dreams like that, when I open a small door in my house and discover there's a whole other, nicer wing to the place. Or the basement is furnished and I never knew.

I've totally had those dreams, where I open some door I didn't realize in my apartment and find a whole room or rooms I didn't realize I had.