More beauty

I almost didn't want to blog today, but I think I will write a short post.  

It's been another beautiful week. The fall color in my neighborhood is just stunning right now, almost overwhelming. The yellows, the reds, the oranges. Some trees have more than one color, such as yellow with an orange undercoat, or orange with a red undercoat. I don't know what I mean by undercoat, exactly. I don't know what I'm seeing. I just know it's gorgeous. 

I find that my mood (depressed or cheerful or whatever) doesn't seem to matter when experiencing all this beauty. It's like riding a waterfall of color. All you can do is say "ooo" and "ahhh" -- you can't worry about your feelings.

***

The tile guy finally showed up on Tuesday, and then there were various delays, plus he couldn't be here Friday. But in three days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), he got the old tile off, dried out the wet wall, determined that it was still usable (no rotting wood), put new drywall up, and attached 50 tiles to the back wall (5 rows of 10 each). I won't include a photo, because he taped plastic up over the walls so that we could take showers, and you can't see it very well. Oh, well, OK, I will post one blurry photo. It gives you the general idea. This is happening.

The tile guy is a very pleasant person, not obnoxious and not over-friendly, just the right amount of friendly. He chats a little bit and then knows when to stop and go back to work. Also, he enjoys his work. He told me, "I love tile," and I could tell he meant it.

Still, it's stressful having him here. I can't drink as much tea and water as I want, because there's the bathroom problem. He told me (on Thursday) that whenever I need to go, I should just tell him, and he'll back out and leave it to me. But I'm sorry, I just can't do that when I need to poop. Just can't. The smell, the noises. Just can't do it. Our next-door neighbor told me to come over and use her bathroom whenever I need to, but I couldn't do that either. Nope, that's when I get in the car and drive three miles to Target. Yes, I did that one day. Wednesday, I think. Thank goodness for Target and its long row of anonymous stalls.

Now we have probably three more days with him. He thinks he'll get the rest of the tile up on Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday as a day to finish things off and install the new vanity. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) the kids will be home Monday also, because it's one of those weird days off that I've never understood. A conference exchange day they call it. I think it's supposed to make up for the extra time the teachers put in doing conferences, which are Tuesday and Wednesday evening. 

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I read two ghost stories this week, including the one that we're reading for book group this month, The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. I didn't like it much (and may have to apologize to the book group about it), although in parts it was gratifyingly spooky. The setting was the spooky part, not so much the ghosts. I requested the movie from the library, so maybe I'll watch it again and try to remember it.

I also read Unseen City by Amy Shearn, which was pretty good, but not really very spooky. I don't think Shearn has much practice writing ghost stories. The pacing is very tricky to get right. Also, her ghost was too active. Truly spooky ghosts in ghost stories don't do too much at once, you don't have every window and door opening and slamming shut, just one -- and then maybe one more. 

Now I am reading I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, and it's already too spooky. I read one chapter and then had to set it down. Maybe I'll try again tonight, though I think it's a book better read during the day!

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Cooking didn't go too well this week. This photo shows three of the dishes I made (this was leftovers night). At top are bean & cheese quesadillas, at left is pineapple tofu stir fry, and bottom right is the farro, squash, and apple salad that the twins wouldn't even try (no, Teen A had one small helping and then gave what was left on his plate to me). 

Sometimes meals just don't work. The quesadillas and stir fry are some of my standbys! But no one really wanted them this week. I still have stir fry (and of course salad) in the fridge, slowly rotting away. Maybe tomorrow I'll dump them in the compost.

And I see it is now almost 7 pm and I haven't made dinner yet, so I should go do that.