Monday Update, Arid Edition

small town life.

Another weekend of yard work:  trimming back some overgrown hedges, weeding some of the flowerbeds, planting some mums, pulling up the roses that had more or less given up on us.  Also, more neglecting the garden, which has been a major disappointment this year.  We can't water it enough to make it grow stuff, so we're hoping that we can make a fall/winter harvest of greens--i.e. spinach and kale.  No rain, which makes for crispy grass.

Sunday mishap:  we got all ready for church, each of us freshly scrubbed and respectable looking.  Then we drove over to the church to find most people in shorts, getting lawn chairs out of their cars.  Oh, that's right, I thought, it's that special Sunday that they kept mentioning and that I never understood what was going on.  Outdoor worship.  Cookout.  We turned around and went home.  There's bound to be a newsletter or something we can subscribe to.


Sunday mishap #2:  Little Red found out the hard way that a hot iron is hot.  Poor guy just likes to touch things to find out what they're like.  He went to sleep with an ice pack on his hand, held there by a tube sock. 

Great news I just found out:  the principal at Number One Son's school (MPS) is allegedly planning to retire at the end of this school year.  Let us pray that her pension holds out so that she will. This year seems crucial for Number One Son . . . he needs to be put in as much advanced programming as they can offer, but frankly, they're not all that accustomed to having intelligent kids.  Fortunately, we have a double-secret ally that may help us get some results.

Hitting my stride for the semester:  last week I lost my voice on Wednesday and felt sick as a dog.  Then there was a late afternoon/evening meeting on Thursday.  I wandered around in a weary haze.  Need to do better this week, and hopefully in a couple of days I'll find that I've built up my stamina to the demands of a full term.

The Runner listens:  people talk.  She hears an awful lot of pretty awful stuff, and has the sense to keep her opinions to herself.  Good for her.