Bookmark

Yesterday I was given this rather nice bookmark by a Christian family we know:



Isn't that nice? It's actually metal, rather than the typical flimsy cardboard. And it's got a quote from "Prufrock" on it! How cool is that?

According to them, they saw it in a store and said "That would be perfect for Clumsy! It's all about coffee and T. S. Eliot!"

I'm touched.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I made some rhubarb pies (with rhubarb I bought for $2.89 a pound !?!) to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving tomorrow. To all my Canadian friends: Happy Thanksgiving!


We've been trying to clear out our house to match the unreasonable expectations of the realtor. That is, we're trying to make it look like Ken and Barbie live in our house, rather than five real people. We rented a spot in one of those storage places, and started putting stuff in there today. We're also throwing out a lot of dreck.

So far the kids have been real troupers. We'll see how long that lasts.


Speaking of the kids, they asked me to bury a robin they found in the back yard. I was going out there to get a shovel and perform the grim task, when the youngest shouted "Wait! Wait! I need to get a hat with a veil to lift up!" After they got their hats, I was allowed to perform the funeral.

They all declined to say a few words over the grave, but they were stylin' in their funeral hats.


In final news, the drought here has caused a lot of cracked mortar and even cracked bricks in the houses in our area. As the clay continues to dry out, it shrinks; and all the brick houses are settling into it. The most common advice is "don't worry about it, rain will fix it;" which is probably true. But it doesn't show well in the meantime, and it could potentially cost some money to "fix" the foundations (which will presumably become "unfixed" when the drought breaks). Hopefully the ugly cracks won't be deal-breakers on getting our house sold. If they are a problem, we might be able to get them "fixed", but it could cost a few thousand dollars. We'd appreciate everyone's prayers.

Such is life

I've half-written some posts here and on my other blog. That is to say, I've been wanting to contribute more to the online conversation I've been having with family and friends for the last 10 or 11 months. But honestly, I've very little to say, and what I want to say I'm having trouble saying.

This might be what's commonly referred to as "writer's block."

Work is keeping me occupied: not "busy" so much as "unavailable." We're trying to sell our house, and that has brought a huge list of new tasks, as well as some serious excitement. Additionally, I've reconnected with several friends (some of whom I taught in high school) over the last few weeks. So not only do I have less time, but it's divided into many more, smaller parts.

I've not even really been cooking over the last week or so, which is almost depressing.

One annoyance is the weather in Charlotte. It's been the worst drought anyone can remember, and it shows no signs of breaking. It's October, and the weather is still in the 80s (that's 30s to you Canadians). They're predicting a tough winter, but so far autumn is just a cooler summer. And the drought is wreaking havoc with everything around here.

So life's too full. Work will reach a fever pitch on November 3 and stay that way for the whole month. I'll be working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for the month except Thanksgiving weekend (the fourth weekend in November for all my Canadian friends).

But we all have our trials...