It's cooled off quite a bit today, thank God. There's a nice breeze blowing, and it was a perfect morning to take Bubba to the coffee shop. Panera has a nice dog-friendly patio where we can sit outside with our best, and now only, basset buddy. It made my day and his, too. When you look at him, you can just tell what he's thinking: "I love being a cafe canine. It makes me feel so...je ne sais quoi...continental." His dad is off work today, so he walked him around the neighboring streets while I sat and read for a while. Lovely.

Think I'll paint a bit today. It should be nice out on the patio. I bought some new pastels, a small set of Schmincke landscape colors. I don't have many Schmincke in my collection. Can't wait to try them out. Then later this afternoon I will do some editing on book 3. I'm glad to finally have some time to work on it now that Bow Wow!, the nonfiction book on keeping your dog happy, is finally finished. I plan to head for Tahoe soon to recharge my batteries for continuing work on the Beanie and Cruiser series and escape the valley heat. Seems like whenever I decide to head for the hills, though, it cools down here.