August 1^st – Playing piano for church without the perspiring palms or misplayed notes that usually plague me.

August 2^nd – Giving Natalie my pink pen and encouraging her to go to town on letters; this teaching process is making my English-nerdy heart so happy.

August 3^rd – Compensating for the lack in stores by making bread and butter pickles from scratch (with coriander picked from our balcony, no less!).

August 4^th – Spending a family evening at the park to breathe fresh air and recharge.

August 5^th – Catching a mesmerizing sunrise mere seconds before the day turned overcast.

August 6^th – Chilling with my brother-in-law over lunch, grateful for family who are also friends.

August 7^th – Deciding on the spur of the moment to pack our lunch and go camping near Pitigliano.

August 8^th – Spending the most delightfully lazy Sunday swimming in the pond, picking fruit, and relaxing as a family in the great outdoors.

August 9^th – Indulging the compulsion to write despite a jillion-long to-do list.

August 10^th – Appreciating and clinging to my dear husband all the more in light of a friend’s divorce.

August 11^th – Cracking up over the girls’ lyrical interpretation of a light saber fight.

August 12^th – Waking up to the first morning of Dan’s unexpected mini-vacation.

August 13^th – Getting a free jazz dance performance by Natalie in front of the Duomo in Orvieto.

August 14^th – Introducing our house guests to the magical, laughter-producing power of the Wii.

August 15^th –Slurping up homemade Nutella malt milkshakes—with cherries and chocolate sprinkles, of course—in  four-part harmony.

August 16^th – Spending the last day of Dan’s work vacation doing nothing, glorious nothing.

August 17^th – Finding a wiggly tooth in my five-year-old’s mouth and cheering together for the fantastic process of growing up.

August 18^th – Watching my husband step up and offer unconditional love and support to friends in need.

August 19^th – Hiding safely inside while Dan and his brother played a hilarious version of tennis with the bees infesting our balcony.

August 20^th – Baking cherry chocolate cupcakes with Sophie, who kept smiling up with a chocolate-smeared face to exclaim, “We are the best bakers!”

August 21^st – Giving some family TLC to our balcony garden; home improvement projects always make me happy.

August 22^nd – Unexpectedly not having to play piano for church, performance pressure dissolved instantly.

August 23^rd – Taking myself out to shop for clothes in  luxurious solitude.

August 24^th – Enjoying our typical summer evening of freshly-baked baguette slathered in stracchino and a side of ripe, red watermelon, eaten together on our balcony while the sun melts out of sight.

August 25^th – Journaling through some tangles in my brain and gaining perspective in the process.

August 26^th – Scanning approximately 50,000 pages of the girls’ artwork from the last month, like taking a vacation  in their funny, colorful worlds.

August 27^th – Rising above a heavy rejection letter to work on a story and finding I still have the capacity to enjoy writing after all.

August 28^th – Taking a spontaneous trip with friends to Isola Polvese for a day of ferrying, picnicking, and playing on the beach.

August 29^th – Watching and trying out circus acts with the girls at the children’s festival in the park below our house.

August 30^th – Being blown away once again by the brilliant, saturated colors in the evening sky.

August 31^st – Falling even more in love with my creative Miss Natalie upon reading her color chart.

July 1^st – Poking around the kitchen at Eilean Donan Castle and thanking the Powers That Be that I’m not actually a scullery maid.

July 2^nd – Hiking through Glen Affric hand-in-hand with Natalie who sang her superspeed version of “You Are My Sunshine” to me on repeat.

July 3^rd – Careening with my crazy little family down the grassy dunes at Nairn Beach.

July 4^th – Catching the total glee of the girls as they spent the morning whizzing down water slides.

July 5^th – Eating Indian takeout on the floor and laughing over mis-translated menus with my very favorite husband of seven years.

July 6^th – Surviving the hike up to Arthur’s Seat as a family and feeling on top of the world.

July 7^th – Finding, in a very Private Eye move, the Tesco Superstore whose address had been written wrong. Without GPS. In an unfamiliar city. In which one is expected to drive on the wrong side of the road.

July 8^th – Chowing down on piping hot fish and chips to bid farewell to a wonderful two weeks in the UK.

July 9^th – Sharing a chair lift with my wide-eyed Sophie up above the quaint streets, serene river, and fairy-tale castle of Vianden.

July 10^th – Splashing away the afternoon sweat in a Munich creek with dear friends, water cannons, and plenty of giggles.

July 11^th – Spending time with friends in two different countries and finally falling asleep in our own soft beds; it’s good to be home!

July 12^th – Opening a care package from a friend who somehow knew I needed to start the week with glitter and a good book.

July 13^th – Watching an episode of Wipeout with the girls and cracking up together at all the good, clean painful, mud-splattered fun.

July 14^th – Seeing the thrill radiating from Sophie as we watched Toy Story 3 in the theater.

July 15^th – Sorting photos of our trip, each click a newly-minted memory.

July 16^th – Taking the afternoon off to read a fantastic book guilt-free.

July 17^th – Cracking up as my fearless husband swatted wasps out of the air so his much-more-fearful wife could enjoy her evening outdoors.

July 18^th – Hosting a pool party only hours after setting up the girls’ inflatable pool… and it being a smash hit!

July 19^th – Joining in the girls’ silliness in the pool and remembering the magical combination of water and children’s imaginations.

July 20^th – Driving through a gold-tinged evening with the windows down and the music up—one of my favorite simple pleasures in the world.

July 21^st – Filling an even trillion bottles with bright pineapple limoncello with Dan and thrilling to think of the friends who will enjoy them at Christmas.

July 22^nd – Beating the heat with popsicles and pools and realizing I don’t miss air conditioning anymore.

July 23^rd – Modeling my old ballet gear for my star-struck girls and dancing the morning away with them.

July 24^th – Bobbing around in the turquoise waves of the Adriatic with my little fish of a Natalie.

July 25^th – Chilling in our friends’ Brazilian hammock in the beach breeze.

July 26^th – Playing airplane (now with turbulence!) with the girls until my legs gave out and we were all breathless with laughter.

July 27^th – Doing my first reading lesson with Natalie and catching the infectious joy on her face as she read “Zac the Rat” cover to cover on her own.

July 28^th – Doing my second reading lesson with Natalie and discovering the joy hadn’t worn off.

July 29^th – Picking richly brown coriander seeds one at a time from June’s cilantro patch as my thoughts shifted from salsa to pickles.

July 30^th – Impulsively inviting friends over for games… and having them accept just as impulsively.

July 31^st – Finally getting all the photos from our Scotland trip captioned and neatly distributed online; it’s so good to be done!