On his way home from work yesterday, Tom ordered the Corian for our kitchen counters. He's timing delivery for when James gets here in early July, so he'll have plenty of son aid in carrying, sanding, fitting, clamping, and so on. This is an exciting development: real countertop instead of plywood and random slabs of stone. Who knows? Someday we might even have cupboard doors.

Another yesterday event: I shipped out the last copyedited file sitting on my desk. This means I am now manuscript-free until July. Thank god. Work has been such a slog this spring--a dust storm of dense, complicated, needy projects and an olio of gratitude/anxiety about working at all.

I'm going to take a couple of days "off" before diving into final Frost Place prep . . . by which I mean I'll be taking part in meetings, sending emails, etc., but I'm going to give myself a break from actively writing curriculum, composing talks, and such. Today I'll attend a yoga class. I'll go for a bike ride. I'll make bread. I'll clean the refrigerator. I've started reading Toni Morrison's Love, and I'll also get back to my friend's novel. Tonight's dinner will be noodle bowls with freshly made chicken broth and big handfuls of garden herbs.

Here's to a quiet day in the sun and the shade.