I love how in about mid-August this magic occurs in which the daytime temperature can be the very same it was in mid-July but it feels different. You can sense the promise of a gentle breeze and cooler nights even when it's still 90 degrees outside.

I am amazed at how good food and good friends can make the world right for a few hours.

I can't tell you how grateful I am to know my nine-year-old has the best fourth grade teacher in the world. I think I may be as excited about fourth grade as he is. Best part? He had her last year, too. We love her!

I got a letter today from my friend Lil. One of these days I need to write about Lil. She has done a very brave thing. It's something I want to do sometime--when the time is right--but it is something that I know takes her way out of both her comfortable and warm and loving home as well as out of her comfort zone. She and her husband Phil are serving in the Louisiana New Orleans mission. In an area that is too scary for sister missionaries. And they are speaking Spanish, which language Lil is just now learning. I miss Lil's sweet smile and her gentle ways and her kindness and friendship to me. But I am so very proud of her. She wrote in an e-mail how because of the language barrier the most the people get from her right now is a hug and a smile. I've been blessed by both Lil's hugs and Lil's smile and I think the people of Louisiana are coming out OK on this one.

Tonight I went to Guru's to hear Lil's sweet daughter Amara sing. I gave her a hug in between songs. It was from me, but I hope she knew it was also on behalf of her mother, who I'm sure misses her dearly.

Someone said something to me today that meant so very much to me. I'm not quite sure how to record it, but I need to because I don't want to ever forget it. Some friends of mine have moved back to Utah after living in Georgia for a year. I knew they had mixed feelings about coming back, but I've been so happy to see them again. Today he told me part of the reason they felt OK about coming back was because I made them feel like they were coming back to family. I know what it means to me when someone makes me feel like more than a friend--like family--and I'm humbled and happy to be able to share that kind of love and acceptance with someone else.