So. Tonight I learned that a strong part of my routine brain will remind me to take the dog outside when returning home late in the evening, even when I am coming home from taking the old girl for her last trip to the vet, where we peacefully put her to sleep at the age of fifteen.

My wife was the same: she promptly refilled her water dish when we got home. Longtime habits don’t go easily I guess. For the first time in many years we don’t have dog footsteps tracking around the kitchen.

This makes two old girls we have said goodbye to in the past few months.

So. Dammit.

#tinychallenges

Some of these daily things I learn are not so much new lessons as things I observe that I would like to take forward.

Today didn’t feel productive at work. It didn’t start as well as I like, and never got back on the right foot. I need to develop some better ways to come back from those unsatisfying and un-energizing starts. When I encounter this kind of day my best response is to start identifying and ticking off small, doable bits of work, but today I wasn’t quite organized enough to pull even that off. So I need to work on that, to notice when I’m not focused and be deliberate about getting myself back at it. Tomorrow is another day to do it.

#tinychallenges

Today I learned that when the recipe says to press the gluten free pizza dough out very thin, it means it. This recipe tasted good but I made the pizza a little thick so it came out a bit doughy in the middle. I’ll try it again!

#tinychallenges

I’m playing a lot of Destiny lately, and today went adventuring on my first strike playlist. This is a shorthand for a set of hard missions the game sets up for a set of players. I have been reluctant to go on these missions because I’m sort of an asocial social gamer, but really enjoyed the games we played thorough, me and two other strangers. Getting over my initial anxiety about the multiplayer matchmaking was good for me and produced some fun times.

Also, I picked up a great bit of loot on the run, and learned that the so-called 1000-yard state special weapon really is all that.

#tinychallenges

It’s never too late to take your spouse out on a date. We had a nice time tonight at one of our favorite places in town, where they always make a pretty good Manhattan, and in an hour or so we can catch up with one another while our boy plays with the neighbors. Babysitting co-op is a pretty good idea, gang.

#tinychallenges

Today I read this study about emotional and mental health impacts of food allergies. It suggests that food allergies can result in depression and anxiety from youth through at least young adulthood. It’s one more difficult potential outcome of my son’s allergies that I will worry about.

Bonus Friday TIL: watching my son un-self-consciously poke his tongue out while drawing at the kitchen counter after school, is so so great.

#tinychallenges

Today I got confirmation that a small part of a plan I put together at work … Is going to work. This nicely advances a broader project in a concrete way and I’m pleased with that. As usual it took a bunch of conversations to get to this point and will require many more; I’m happy that it feels like a good collaboration right now.

#tinychallenges

I’m a hard person to travel with, I think, because once we’re on our way somewhere, it’s all destination for me: how quickly can we get there? That aphorism about how it’s not the destination but the journey? Mostly bogus.

Today I was conscientious about not rushing, and on the last day of our vacation we had a leisurely breakfast, a nice walk and an easy drive. So maybe I learned just a bit about relaxing today.

But dang I wish I was on vacation still.

Also, I learned that I can freehand a pretty adequate Hawkman mask for a five-year old superhero.

#tinychallenges

Today I learned about a nice and functional clipboard manager for iOS: Copied. I used it several times today, including in writing up this quick post. Among its best features: it has a share sheet extension, so using it is nearly as easy in iOS as the native copy function. Good stuff.

#tinychallenges

Learned a lot today about VACATION OWNERSHIP (in its substance as well as the deeply aspirational tools used to sell sell sell it), which learning was the price of our deeply discounted resort stay this week. Ninety minutes of my day? Sure. I’m still not ready to buy.

#tinychallenges