The Dress Rehearsal

Well, M my boy is off to visit C and De and their little kidlets for a few days. "For a few days" is the operative phrase; he will still be back. But next time he takes off, he will be gone, not to be seen again until Christmas (with a slight possibility of seeing him for Thanksgiving, but not counting on that).

So, when reality comes barging in after I forget and start to wander around looking for him, I am just going to pretend he is off on a speech, choir, or some-other-such related trip and will be home after I have tucked myself into bed.

Two weeks to R-Day.

Quiet Night

Wow, it has been middle-of-the-night quiet here tonight for the past three or four hours. Very, very unusual, so it feels a LOT later than it really is.

M went to play paintball today with his cousin and a couple of friends. They stayed out there all day in that hot Texas sun shooting at each other. Doesn't that sound like fun? M assured me he drank plenty of water, and he was already sunburned from swimming the other day, so what the heck.

He got home around 6, drank a lot of water, and hit the shower. Then he came out to the kitchen and drank some more water. And then he went to his room. I figured he was computing in there, but when I went to ask/tell him something, he was laid out on his bed, fast asleep. He is down for the count, and I won't be waking him up. It is inalterably against my policy to wake a sleeper (unless the house is on fire and I have to get him out). Besides, this particular sleeper definitely needs all he can get (and then some). He has been operating on a serious sleep deficit for the last two years, and the next four years don't look so promising in that department. Maybe he can store some up?

And then there's the Man of the House. He went to work at 4:30 this morning, so his day was already long. We were watching The Red Green Show, and I was, as usual, laughing out loud (Ok, I confess. I find it hilarious.). But only silence from the Man, so I looked over only to see him snoring away, sitting straight up. I removed the hot little computer off his lap, which woke him up, but only long enough to get off the couch and into bed.

It is getting later by the minute, and now...Well, now that it is as late as it feels, I can get busy on the things I still need to get ready for tomorrow. And, since I do not generally enjoy getting up to the dirty dishes, I really oughta think about doing them. Miles to go before I sleep...

Friday the 13th

Everybody's favorite bad-lucky day. Sometimes I feel like if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any, but today my bad luck was seriously curtailed, so it was certainly a favorite day for me.

Tim Russert, the big NBC Bureau Chief, suddenly dropped dead from an apparent heart attack this afternoon. That was a shock. Definitely a bad luck-y day for him. The man was only a few years older than I am, so, as always when something like that happens, it was a sobering reality check...coulda been me.

On his way home from work, the Man of the House came upon an accident, one requiring three ambulances, one helicopter, and the closing down of the east side of the freeway for three hours. Another sobering reality check there. If he'd left work a little bit earlier it coulda been him. News update... one dead, four injured. Severely unlucky day for them.

Worst luck of my day: After rushing through every usually-leisurely morning activity to get to my 10:00 appointment on time, I walked in the door to hear, "Your client canceled. I was going to call you and tell you, but I didn't know if you were coming for the appointment." Huh?

Well, if that's my worst bad luck, I am ashamed to complain about it, and anyway, it was my own fault. Someday I am going to quit depending on other people to be competent and/or courteous.

We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Welcome home, D and the Princess and the Gingerbread Cookie! I bet it's a c-o-l-d day in the Promised Land before Kansas sees the likes of you again!

Saving $ Saving Gas

Yeah, right...

Just this morning I was contemplating going to the post office. Considering the almost $4 price of gas, I started thinking of all these extra things I could do while I was out. You know, combine the trips and save $ by saving gas.

Well, things started coming to mind: Since I will be at the post office, I might as well stop by the bank next door and make a deposit. Oh, but before I do that, why don't I go by and pick up my check from the weekend and include that in the deposit. And since I have to pass by the other bank on the way, I might as well take all those coins we rolled to add to our "pool fund." Oh, and you know, I need to pass by the church, so let me just run in and use the paper cutter and dump off my donations for the clothing room. But wait, I need to finish rounding them up and loading them in the van first. And I oughta take advantage of being out and run by WalMart to return that cute little lady bug book I got which I CANNOT get the price tag off of. And then while I'm there I should just go ahead and get a gift card and put some 3c-off gas in the van. You get the picture.

And that doesn't even count getting the Blue-Eyed Boy in and out of the van a hundred times. Nope, I think I'll just stay home. Well, that saves energy, too, so...Mission Accomplished.

By the way, if the exorbitant price of gas is truly due to supply and demand, how come with demand going down now the price is still going up? Has anyone considered putting a muzzle on Wall Street?

Home Alone With the Blue-Eyed Boy

"Poke, I need to wash my hands." "Poke, can I have a drink?" "Poke, I'm hungry." "Poke, I need some yogurt." "Poke, let's play that game with the timer." "Poke, I want to play checkers." "Poke, can we go fishing tonight?" "Poke, will you help me clean up this mess I made?" "Poke, will you cut my fingernails?" "Poke, tell me stories." "Poke, let's go outside." "Poke, I don't wanna rest." "Poke, I spilled the marbles." "Poke, where's the hammer?" (Uh-oh, I wonder what that was about?!) "Poke, where's Papa?" WOW, how I wish I knew!

HOTWOOPS

We are definitely moving up in the world! We spent the afternoon in the high society company of every sort of distinction. Generals and other West Point graduates and military retirees everywhere we looked. Decidedly not our usual crowd. However, they are just a bunch of people, and if you talk to them they talk to you. If you don't talk to them, they come up and introduce themselves. Nice guys in any event, so, either way, get ready to be regaled with all manner of war sagas. It makes a very entertaining afternoon.

We spent quite awhile chatting with a man named Prosper. I love his cool name! He used to be a country boy from Abilene before he was transformed into world-class by West Point and the U.S. Army (class of 54). He had a lot of funny stories, but he called M "cannon fodder." ACK!!!

It was interesting to meet a number of people who knew us or of us, whom we did not know. I'll tell you one thing, it pays to keep your nose clean, because you never know who is checking you out!

And, we finally were able to hook up with the mythical parents' club. That is one hard-to-get group of people. I was actually beginning to doubt their existence, but apparently they are for real ~ presently headed by a lovely Dutch couple, parents of QUADRUPLETS!, one of whom will be a Firstie ("senior" in civilian) at West Point next year (Now there is a woman who deserves a medal! She survived college applications for four children in the same year.).

So tonight, it's like the old folks home around here. The Man of the House is already fast asleep, and I'm thinking I will be soon, while M is off with a friend to the movies and maybe the batting cage.

Three weeks to R-Day.