Write this down: zoo, illness, flowers.

Now: write a short story using those three words. (I actually have an assignment like this, but my words are arugula, wondrous, and bandit. Strangely, an idea came to me right away.)

Zoo: I took my Little Sis to the Austin Zoo on Sunday. Note to self: don't go to the zoo in the middle of the afternoon during the summer. I have done this twice now. All you get for your trouble is heat stroke and animals holed up their dens. Nothing frolicing, nothing roaring at you, nothing to make you thankful for the thin, chain-linked line between them and you.

Except we did see some tigers fighting in their swimming pool. That was pretty awesome.

This tiger would totally kill you and use your torso as a floatation device in the pool.

Illness: I've not been feeling so hot lately, so I called my boss yesterday morning to tell her I wasn't coming in. When I told her I was sick, she said this: "Well, it's not that you can't be sick, but [co-worker] said that after that cold front came through last week her allergies have really been acting up."

Ok...so I'm not sick? Now, I won't deny that I've developed allergies since moving here, but this was definitely a cold: it had a beginning, middle, and end. Anyway, I wasn't sure where I was supposed to go after that. So I coughed a little in the phone to build my case and told her I'd be in the next day.

Flowers: Chris brought me flowers on Monday. I really had to scramble to find a suitable vase, since I can't remember the last time someone brought me flowers or that I bought them for myself. Had to dump all the random sea glass and Pottery Barn potpourri out (...which makes it sound like I live in a Michael's or Hobby Lobby). Anyway, it was sweet.