My job is OK today

.
Today, I ran a taste-test of 11 types of chocolate chip cookies from the best bakeries in Manhattan. (Of course, all the bakeries sent extras, and most of them were freshly baked... and warm. Yummmm.....)

This afternoon, I was also an expert in basil... and last week, knew just about everything there was to know about mixing lightweight concrete and planting shallow-rooting plants like ferns.

Before that, it was succulent plants - types, care of, how to make cuttings of, and create a living wreath with sphagnum moss. Before that, a very thorough lesson on bonsai trees - both tropical and hardy versions. I've learned how to make chalkboard paint, become versed in the numerous applications of eco-friendly bamboo - did you know it is a form of grass, is used in China as replacement for steel beams in buildings, and can be made into clothing? I know the basic guidelines of the ancient Japanese art of Ikebana floral arranging. I've bleached shirts, exfoliated skin, moved a $40,000 book that weighed nearly 90 pounds, and learned the history of the yo-yo. I've held baby binterongs, hissing cockroaches, rescued grayhounds, owls, falcons, 200-pound snakes, and monkeys. I've played with technology prototypes, met Olympic athletes who have just won their gold medals, and tasted cuisine cooked by the finest chefs in the world.

This is just a fraction of what I do for a living... and this is why I love it. Sure, there are times when I want to quit, take all my money, move to a small town in Colorado, buy a small house, get a dog, meet a boring guy, have dumb babies and grow tomatoes.

But not today.

Today, I'm eating chocolate chip cookies and doing okay dokay.
.