I've had a little more time to enjoy the mornings and afternoons this week.

Ariana has been attending Project Girl day camp at Intermedia Arts learning about positive body image, doing art, and girls that are in hip-hop and graffiti, etc.. This means that I am going back out to drop her off and picking her up just on the cusp of the afternoon turning into rush hour.

Yesterday we rode bikes in and enjoyed a calm, mild morning. On the way back, we rode in the rain, Ana riding through puddles trying to splash and spray me, laughing as she zoomed by. We took a break at Freewheel and the Midtown Global Exchange where we got veggies and snacks. Just like old times, before we started driving again. Our days were filled with bus stops and bike rides. We'd find fun stuff on the ground (even money!), played with stray cats and had time to bond each and every day. I keep telling myself that I need to stop using the van so much but all of the appointments and jobs I have cause me to have to be from one side of town to the next within a short amount of time and I hate being late! There is also the added point that Ana can't bike with me everywhere (especially if it's time senstive) - it's not like the old days when I could just hook her on the back of my bike in the trailer...

I suppose that soon enough, she will be a teenager and won't want to accompany me around anymore anyway...but maybe that's all the more reason to increase our time together now.