_bossanova_

Yesterday my family celebrated my mama's 50th birthday at a Brazilian churrascaria with a bunch of her oldest friends. It was fantastic to see her so happy and to see people that played with me when I was little, or whose kids I played with when we were little. We ate good feijoada and other good Brazilian dishes, and there was a guy with a sweet voice playing samba standards on his acoustic guitar. It was a good night.

I finally got another job, and I love it! I'm working as an assistant to an adoption coordinator, so most of what I do is menial office work, but it's fascinating. I get to pore over legal and medical documents all day, and no matter how boring what I'm doing is, I'm contributing to something meaningful. The company I work for coordinates adoptions and fostercare, provides counseling for adoptive parents and adopted children, and has group homes for orphans and pregnant teens. I'm proud to work there. One of my former coworkers from the animal hospital I worked at for the past three years is now my boss, and I love working with her. It feels like things have come together in a very positive way in these past few weeks, in spite of a few obstacles.

Last night it felt like fall for the first time this year...it was gorgeous! I loved feeling the slight chill in the air. It's my favorite time of year, and I have all kinds of good plans for this fall.