Portia sent me a really sweet and supportive email and that cheered me a lot. While I still don�t hold out any great hope that the thing I�ve been kind of sad about will right itself, it�s so good to know that there�s someone who cares and understands why it�s cut me so deeply. Dear, sweet, wonderful Alvie signed my guestbook and left me a really sweet �cheer-up� message. I love Alvie�s diary. It�s so candid, and I think he must be very brave to accomplish the things he has. Any time I start feeling sorry for myself, I can read his diary and it picks me up. This is a human being who�s battled some pretty tough stuff and still retains his sense of humour and a sense of fun. If he says to cheer up, I will.

I�m getting past it. Like I said before, it�ll make me sad for a bit, but I will be okay and I�ll remember for next time. Beaupeep says that if I truly desire to get into politics someday, I�ll have to be prepared to see more of that kind of thing and not take it so personally. I know he�s right, and I know I have to toughen up. It�s a tough old world out there.

Oscar decided this morning that we weren�t getting up, that it was just cuddle-time. He weaseled his way up to plop his head on my pillow and look at me with those adoring little black eyes. I can never feel the world is that bad when my baby loves me so much. We just lay like that for a good hour, him making happy little doggie noises and licking my nose every once in a while, me rubbing his back and scratching behind his ears and telling him what a good boy he is. Everyone needs a dog.

I just wish I could go back to bed with him and just lie there feeling comfy again.

Last night I spent a good part of the evening scrubbing the wall grout in the men�s bathroom. Lovely. And of course, no-one can just let me be and let me do the yukky job, they have to come in and ask me questions like �do you enjoy doing that?� Oh, suuuuuuure. I adore scrubbing the splatters from a thousand strange men off the walls. I had a dream that I got to scrub urine stains off the wall, and look! It came true!