Miscellaneous

• Rose has a cold, after a week of school.  She's biserable.
• Speaking of a week of school, it's not clear if she is feeling accepted in her class.  I am hoping she was just tired and achy as the cold descended, but she has been very reticent about her classmates and her teacher.  I am REALLY NEEDING this not to be a repeat of third grade.
• After an earthquake, Irene visits my friends on the east coast.  Thinking of them and hoping it's just a big rain storm.
• Art club today- it seems like forEVer since I've spent uninterrupted time just playing.  I am very excited about this.  We are working with plaster gauze- yes, that's right, the stuff they used to use for broken arms.  It's going to be messy fun!
• We had to have our sweet boy Rex- a.k.a. Arfie- put to sleep this week, as his cancer had invaded everywhere and he was failing.  Needless to say this has made it hard to be home. 
• The last time we had to do this, we did not have Rose or even Andy.  Rex was 14, and lived with us for almost as long as Andy has.  The personal devastation now has an added dimension as I grieve with my children.  Very, very painful.
• But let's not talk about that any more.
• My new job is keeping me on my toes as I face the challenges of coaching teachers both willing and unwilling, addressing large groups with little or no prep time, working on the district science website, mixing it up with the "suits" of the district on a regular basis (hence the new clothes) and spending a surprising amount of time with my head in professional literature.  I am enjoying it very  much.  I could, however, do without the record heat wave, as I spend a lot of time in my car.
• Andy  has changed high schools, after spending the summer trying to decide.  He chose a smaller school, with more emphasis on and access to sports, somewhat less rigorous academics, and a really stellar audio/visual lab.  He does not seem to have second-guessed this decision.  He and I attended his back-to-school night on Thursday, and it was apparent that he has already made an impression (good, so far!) on his teachers.
• Book club is coming here next week!  I haven't had my friends here in some time, and it does seem like forever since I had my head in the game.  A year or so of depression robbed me of the joy of reading, and hosting my friends was kind of a last-minute thing the last couple of times.  Sadly, one of the most memorable events was hosting them when I neither did my own cooking NOR read my own book choice.  Not so this time.  I did spend some time choosing the book- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie- and I did read it.
• I liked the beginning of the book, mostly because of the voice.  The main character is a quirky 11 year old amateur sleuth/gifted chemist.  Deeper into the book, plot takes over and the author doesn't have quite the zing in the prose, but I did enjoy it.  It's a 3, "Tell a Friend," on a scale of 1-5.
• I still haven't come up with a menu.  I remember the first time I hosted the book club I spent about a month researching recipes that fit the book.  Many, many times, I have subsequently ordered take-out, without apology. I am not an especially enthusiastic cook, and I am a nervous hostess.
• Very few friends make it into my house, because I am also a sloppy housekeeper who nevertheless wants to impress.  If I am hosting an event, I want the place to look its best, which requires more effort than I generally exert.  I think the book club suspects the truth, however, after a decade of friendship...
• Anyway.  It'll probably be takeout again, but I did arrange for the cleaning lady to come on the same day.  Ha.
• I HAVE TO GO TO THE DENTIST THAT AFTERNOON, TOO.  Timing is everything.  Yep, it'll probably be takeout again.