Sometimes I forget to do that. I think we all forget, most of the time. So I try to work at it, to work at recognizing when things are okay, good even. I have a great job that is challenging me, the first time a job has ever been that way for me. I have a roof over my head, a few dollars in the bank, fresh milk in the refrigerator. I am going to New York City on Saturday to meet two friends whom I haven't seen since I left Los Angeles in June of 1997. I have parents who love me and are cooking me dinner when I go to their house tomorrow night to do laundry for my trip.

Every once in a while, I am content.

So, I think I might be going to a fourth bridal shower for Susannah.

I think I mentioned before about how her future mother-in-law was at the last one and told me as I was leaving that I was welcome to come to hers? Well, she sent me an invitation in the mail. I would not have even thought twice about declining except that in the invitation, she wrote, "Please (underlined three times), we don't expect a gift - just come and enjoy the afternoon with us."

So now I might go. I don't know if Susannah has mentioned to her fiance's mother that I've already been to three showers and brought a gift each time. Susannah is a very proper girl, that is, politeness and manners are very important to her, but I really thought that when I told her I was going to her sister's that she would emphasize that I wouldn't need to bring anything, but she didn't mention it, so I took one.

I'm sorry, but if it were me, I would be falling all over myself to make sure that anyone who came to more than one shower didn't bring any more gifts. That's just crazy, and she knows how poor I am (of course, not too poor to go to New York for a couple of days). Maybe she thinks it's rude to suggest that I not bring anything, the same way I think it's rude to go empty-handed unless she tells me it's okay.

Whatever. I suppose I'll go just for moral support, but she's not getting anything else from me. (Unless, of course, I see something perfect in New York!)

I had the oddest conversation with my friend Dana's lawyer yesterday.

Don't know if I've talked about this before, but my friend Dana (one of the girls I'm going to meet in NYC, also the one in law school in Boston) is involved in a lawsuit against her former boss in Los Angeles for sexual harrassment.

They're going to trial in late June, and the lawyer called me last night to see if I was available to be a witness. The problem is that, although the trial date is set, the court system in California is so backed up that it's in on-call mode, which means that they've agreed to 24 hours notice for the actual date for the trial to start.

I can get to California on 24 hours notice, but I can't afford to get to California on 24 hours notice. I was trying to explain this to this lawyer, but he didn't really seem to be getting it. I would very much like to be a witness for my friend, and I can afford to do it if I can arrange my travel on 21-day advance fares. All he kept saying to me was that "We'll resolve these issues." In the meantime, he's sending me a form to sign saying that I will be a witness. The firm is working on a contingency, so I highly doubt that they'd be willing to shell out the dough to give me a last-minute ticket to L.A., particularly when I'm not all that important of a witness. I'm basically a character witness, just testifying to how I saw this situation affect my friend. I can't imagine what the defense would have to cross me on.