Yesterday was my mom’s birthday. She spent part of the morning and afternoon with me in the city. After years of her offering, I’d finally asked her a few weeks ago to show me some of her house-cleaning secrets, and Saturday was the day.

When I saw how much satisfaction she got from a sparkling floor, I understood where my craziness comes from. Only since I’ve started living alone again have I tapped into this side of myself that could contentedly spend a night scrubbing and mopping, but I’ll take it.

We took a lunch break at Dafni, a Greek restaurant in my neighborhood I don’t go to nearly enough. We split some appetizers and a salad with grilled calamari. 

I went back with her to New Jersey, where we took a 6:30 hot yoga class with my sister. One of the great things about doing hot yoga in NJ, I learned, is that I am not the only one in the room saying, “Holy sh!t” during half-pigeon.

Later, we went out for Vietnamese food (I had to order Pho, despite the warm temperature) and picked up cupcakes on the way home. 

Between the four of us, I don’t think we even finished half of these. So good but so sweet!

Today I’m catching up with some lady friends and giving a little extra TLC to Mick, my family’s 6-year-old golden retriever. We found out last week that he has a tumor on his heart and won’t be around much longer, so he’s relaxing at home, soaking up the love. 

Losing pets is always hard, but fortunately, Mick doesn’t seem to be in any pain, so we’re all hoping it stays that way. Everyone is happy to have him home for now, where he can be comfortable.

Have you ever dealt with a sick pet? What helped you cope?