Mouse played hooky yesterday afternoon, to shake off the tired feeling that has been following her around. Instead of work:

1. Went to mall

2. Bought red espadrilles to match red and white polka-dot sundress*

3. Went to movie by myself

4. Ate nothing but gigantic box of popcorn for dinner

5. Drank a Cherry Coke**

It was nice. Happy weekend!

*Hoping to wear these tomorrow, but today is dark and gloomy, so who knows.

**Cherry Coke reminds me of Being Seven.

(Image from the Life photo archive, here.)

Since I cannot hop a plane to Argentina right this minute, I think what I will do instead is cook delicious things with these gorgeously packaged Argentinean spices. Mmmm. Via Dieline, obv.

Somebody stole the new Japanese maple tree right out of Mouse's front yard! Bastards.

Back in the beginning, Boyfriend and Mouse took a trip to Mexico City, right as they fell in love. They stayed at Hotel Gillow, where this was their view. They didn't have a balcony so much as a big windowsill, and Mouse sat there all the time in a bathrobe of white eyelet lace and watched the city go by. We get to stay there again this month, on our way somewhere else, and Mouse is yearning for this view, for the chaos, for the smell. El D.F. today reminds her of Paris in the 1920s. Mouse's mouth is watering for the Cafe Blanca chilaquiles, she's aching to see that soft glow of contentment on Boyfriend's face.

(This was before my digital cameras, so this photo is borrowed from Mechanix blog.)

Mouse is a big fan of therapists. As a person with nothing particularly unusual going on, psychologically, it's still such a relief to have someone neutral to talk to when life gets complicated (which it always does, sooner or later). Talking with my shrink deepens my relationships with family and friends, because I am able to say the things I really want to say to them. Three cheers for therapy. I highly recommend it.

And my therapist gives me HOMEWORK, which I love.* This week's homework: "You really need to take more time for yourself, and you need to watch some more television."

Okee dokee!

*Mouse is a big nerd and also loves gold stars, A+'s, and classrooms.

P.S. Just in case: there are all kinds of mental health resources available to you on a sliding scale. If any blog readers need help finding them, call the psychiatry department at a university in your area or e-mail Mouse. I missed mental health month in May, but this stuff is important. Grow big like a tree.

Mouse is a little bit gloomy today. A little bit cranky, a little bit tired, a little bit under the weather. But I will be back when the clouds clear (the metaphorical clouds, because, ironically, it is gorgeous outside).

Squeak! Check out the tiny cottages on teeny tiny islands over at the Tiny House blog! I really want this one. Just enough space for me and Boyfriend. I could even dangle my toes in the river and fish out of the window.

A secret: Mouse does not like big crowds of people. She sort of worries that the big crowd of people will turn into an Angry Mob of Stupid People, which always seems imminent, especially when people are drunk. She suspects that this comes from spending too much time around big crowds of angry people, like protesters.* However, Boyfriend was being extremely cute and persuasive and talked Mouse into going to Taste of Chicago with him this weekend. On the Fourth of July, no less. With big crowds of people holding umbrellas. Which could easily poke your eye out. Anyway, it turned out okay. We:

1. Ate mediocre comfort food

2. Got our feet very very wet and cold

3. Hugged a lot

4. Ate weird rice pudding served in a plastic martini glass which probably would've stayed in there if you turned the glass upside-down**

5. Did not get our eyes poked out, but did get hit on the head repeatedly with various umbrellas of other people

6. Did not hit anyone in the head with our own umbrella

7. Realized that Boyfriend's favorite tote bag bleeds red dye all over everything when wet, including bleeding red dye on Mouse's favorite tote bag (boo, hiss)

8. Saw a neat concert featuring Buddy Guy and this kid

9. Held hands all the way home

10. Got Boyfriend's iPhone wet but did not eff it up

11. Ended up too tired to bother with watching fireworks and instead watched "Return of the Jedi" on TV (much better anyway)

*Mouse likes protesters, the act of protest, and the whole social impact of protesting but does not like being abandoned in the middle of a bunch of angry protesters with only a steno notebook and a cell phone.

**Sorry, no photo. It was raining too hard. That photo up there is by kennethrood on Flickr.