A treasury (?) of trivia

Where did October go? I can’t believe tomorrow is Halloween and the time changes and we are about to be plunged into winter. Seems I was just dreading summer. As I write thunder is rolling around in the sky, and the TV tells me we are due another round of storms. I woke this morning to a great crash of thunder and the immediate question, “How do I get Jacob to school?” When he was up and coherent (takes a while) I said I’d call his parents and ask one of them to bring his poncho.

“I don’t need it.”

“It’s pouring down rain.”

Scornfully, “Who wears a poncho to school?”

I guess only nerds who don’t want to get wet. A neighbor grabbed him from the porch on her way with her boys—and commodious umbrellas—and he apparently survived nicely. Though he blames me for the fact that he can’t get wifi on his iPad at my house. It does little good to point out that my computer and iPad get it just fine. He’s sure it’s all my fault.

Sophie went to the salon today—well, the salon came to her. But she looks adorable with her new “do.” (See above.) I will say that the young woman who drove that mobile grooming station hitched to I don’t know what was talented—she backed it up perfectly into my skinny 1920s driveway. I know grown men who can’t drive up that driveway, and lots of friends can’t drive down. I bless one who said since it made it so much easier for me, she made a point of learning.

At one point, I had the substitute cleaning lady (sent by the woman who usually cleans), the groomer in the driveway, and a crew from the tile company who came to install a small shelf in the new bathroom. I only wanted them all to go away so I could take a shower—finally got a shower at three-thirty.

Lesson learned: I have to eat something in the morning. This morning my honey-sweetened green tea was so good and took the edge off any hunger. I thought I wasn’t hungry, wasn’t shaky, would eat an early lunch. By the time I fixed my lunch—cottage cheese and veggies—I was so shaky the lady who was cleaning heard the dishes clattering, came and insisted on carrying my plate to my desk. With a bit of food in me, I was much better. It’s a lesson I keep learning over and over again.

Worried a bit about my Austin family with storms and flooding, though my daughter assures me they’re all safe. Boys were under tornado alert all day at school, and the pictures coming out of Central Texas are pretty horrifying. Our rain hasn’t been anything like that!

It’s been a clear-my-desk kind of week, and I have it almost cleared. Today I read—finished one novel, started Susan Elia McNeal’s Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante. Nothing like rainy-day reading, but I know I’ll want a project soon. Ideas flickering around in the back of my mind.

Halloween is not my favorite holiday, though I remember enjoying it as a kid. Today, I was a bit annoyed by the cast from TODAY in their silly costumes. Jacob had a costume parade and went as—Jacob. No costume. But for all of you who celebrate, happy days. I hope it doesn’t rain on your parade.