A great day!

March 1st came in with a bang today with 73-degree weather, the True/False Film Festival all over town, and citizens coming outside in droves to enjoy the day. Neil got up (much) earlier than I did, and went running, where he said the trail was packed. Dad played tennis with Doug, for the first time in a while, and we even saw them playing at Southwest as we passed the courts on Stadium.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was irritable and restless, so it was a great change to feel excited and motivated to make something out of today. Neil and I set out to get some sports equipment (swimming and running-related), first to Red Weir and then, when that proved to be very shrunken from the store I remember as a soccer-playing pre-teen, drove over to Tryathletics for a much better sports-shopping experience. They had the most awesome bike I have ever seen: a shiny, light-seafoamy green metal, with brown stitched-contrast leather seat and handlebars. It sounds weird, but it totally worked: kinda retro and striking and new all at once.

Then, we went on to a couple of pet stores for mice, but really also checking out their animals and accessories. It all renewed my longing to get a bearded dragon, and we figured that with our existing materials, it wouldn't really be a big deal to get it set up sometime soon. I'd really like one of those brightly colored ones, so Neil might take a day trip to St Louis while I'm in LA to that reptile convention we attended last year to get one.

To cap off our outings, we picked up Dad for his birthday dinner at Bangkok Gardens, and met Joe downtown. It was so delicious--Neil and Dad had Phat Thai, and I had this weird coconut milk chicken soup that was sublime. I also tried a crock (I don't know a better word for it) of Asian-pear flavored sake. Very strong, that stuff!

Currently Neil is watching the big UFC fight as I prepare for the Sunday NYTX adventure. What a terrific day, this March 1st!