Reading post: October

It's the last day of October -- happy Halloween! --so it's time for a reading post. Although I didn't read a huge number of books this month, several of the books I did read were really long -- and very rewarding! So it was a good month.

Instead of randomly drawing books from my "Briefly Noted" envelopes this month, I deliberately went through them and picked out books that seemed like they might be a little spooky. I chose four fiction and four nonfiction, and managed to read them all, which I never thought I'd do when I picked them out. I have to admit, I spent a LOT of time this past week reading, just because the goal seemed attainable. In general, I enjoyed the nonfiction more than the fiction. Spooky fiction is hard to write.

The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge (2017).  I picked this novel because it is about people who are obsessed with legendary horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Surely such a book would be spooky, no? 

No. 

Well, in the beginning it is, a little, but it gets less and less spooky as it goes on. There's a fairly erotic section, but that goes away too. The last 100 pages or so were positively boring. I was disappointed by this book. I think the author was trying to do something quite different from what I wanted him to do.

Living With a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth About Everything by Barbara Ehrenreich (2014). When she was a teenager, Ehrenreich (a lifelong atheist) had a mystical experience that she wasn't able to describe. Both before and after she also had episodes of "dissociation" triggered by sunlight. In this book, published 8 years before her death, she explores her difficult childhood and her lifelong attempt to reconcile her atheism and these experiences. She argues that the purpose of our minds may be "to condense all the chaos and mystery of the world into a palpable Other or Others," which, she says "may be seeking us out." Pretty spooky, I'd say.

The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey (2024). This is a novel about a girl, Lizzie, growing up on a Scottish farm in the late 1800s. She's based on the author's great-grandmother, who was said to be able to see the future (the author's mother was also psychic, and the author has also written a novel about her, which I might seek out). So that's kind of spooky, but the book doesn't focus on the spookiness -- it's mostly just kind of there, sort of a skill, like having absolute pitch. The scariest things about the book were what you'd expect: will they lose the farm, will Lizzie get pregnant out of wedlock, that kind of thing. There's a pet jackdaw named Alice -- I did like that.

Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis by Annie Jacobsen (2017). Ooooh, this was fun! Especially for me, because I've met some of the people mentioned. Back in 1973 I attended a Hanukkah party given by Elisabeth Targ (her father, Russell Targ, was a psychic researcher at SRI). I even remember the dress I wore, a pretty blue maxi. And Uri Geller was at the party and he bent a spoon! Also, the book discusses the psychic work of Gary Langford, who was my boss's husband back when I was a typesetter. Lauren had told me that Gary was psychic, but I didn't know he had predicted the kidnapping of a brigadier general in 1981. Anyway, even for someone who hasn't met any of the players, the book would be fun. The most interesting aspect of it, for me, was the way the people involved were either super skeptics, who refused to believe anything weird was happening, or went right off the deep end into nonsense, trying to get remote viewers to look for Atlantis, and that sort of thing. It's almost as though it's not possible to study this stuff seriously. Fascinating.

Model Home by Rivers Solomon (2024). I wanted to like this novel about three Black siblings returning to the home in Dallas that terrorized them when they were children. But the narrator was so annoying. Gender-fluid, possibly autistic, a Jewish convert, diabetic, fond of dating-app hook-ups, with a diabetic daughter who's also vegan -- it was just too much. I researched the author a little and they sound just like this character. The other problem was the pages of earnest discussion of childhood trauma, when the author should have been building up the suspense (if it were going to be the kind of book I wanted it to be). Maybe Solomon was trying to do too much in one book. Or maybe I'm just too old for this kind of thing.

Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are by Rebecca Boyle (2024). This wasn't terribly interesting, but parts of it were good. I learned a lot -- and then immediately forgot most of it. Still, it's fascinating to read that we still don't really know how the moon was formed and why we have it. And I didn't know the moon has colors! I also didn't know that most of the Apollo astronauts were emotionally unsettled by their moon trips -- many got divorced or became ultra-religious or took up art. Also, I didn't know the moon is gradually getting farther away and one day will leave entirely -- and that will be the end of us.

The Third Hotel by Laura van den Berg (2018). When I started reading this, I didn't like it at all. But it's short, a little over 200 pages, so I kept going, and I ended up liking it. "Liking" might not be the right word. I was a little freaked out by it. The book is about a woman whose husband died 5 weeks previously. She goes to a film festival in Cuba (featuring a movie about zombies) that they were both planning to attend (he was an academic film critic). And she sees him there. Does she really? Is he a ghost? Is he still alive? Is he something in between? Maybe... a zombie? Who knows? I finished the book not having any idea what happened. But it was interesting. A good October book.

Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula by David J. Skal (2016). Partway through this long biography (579 pages, plus notes, etc.), it occurred to me that it made no sense for me to be reading this when I've never read Dracula. But I kept reading, on and on and on. In Skal's attempt to give the WHOLE story, he includes a lot of information that really didn't need to be there, such as a biographical sketch of a woman who refused to edit Dracula. But I didn't mind learning more about Oscar Wilde, the stages of syphilis, and everything Dracula has become through the years. And now, of course, Dracula is on my to-be-read list.

Best books of the 21st century so far

In October I planned to read some spooky books off the New York Times list, but nothing on the list seemed particularly spooky, so I just read one book that I'd been looking forward to.

Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon (2012) was fascinating. It's about how parents cope with children who are very different from them, and different from most people -- children who are deaf, have autism, are dwarfs, have Down Syndrome, and many other conditions. It's a really long book (702 pages plus the notes), and I spent a couple of weeks reading it (while also reading my spooky books). It was worth it, though. Most of the "differences" ended up being things people could live with, somehow, and even be proud of, ultimately. There were exceptions, such as schizophrenia, which no one seemed to be able to see any good in. The long chapter on transgender children was illuminating. Really, everything about the book was. Someday I'll read his book on depression (The Noonday Demon), which comes highly recommended, but hmm, might be a bit too much for me when I'm feeling low! Anyway, I do highly recommend Far from the Tree, if you have a spare month to read it. You could also skip around and only read the chapters that interest you.

So I've now read 56 of the books on the list of the top 100. I still have a good chance of reaching 60 by the end of the year, but we'll see.

 

Other reading

I didn't particularly want to read the book for the book group (The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides), since it wasn't spooky, and I put off starting it until a few days before we met. In fact, it's a pretty interesting book, and if we'd read it in September or November I would have been fine with it. But it interrupted my spooky book reading, so it annoyed me (one of our members doesn't like anything spooky, so I've given up suggesting that type of book). I will say, it's very well written and tells an interesting story. But it's such a sad story in so many ways. Cook was a really good explorer, for his time (the 1700s), and did his best not to destroy the new lands and peoples he encountered. But they got destroyed anyway, by people following in his footsteps. I was especially saddened by the annihilation of the sea otters. Oh well.

Next month

In November I like to read about Indians and American history in general. So I will try to pick some books that match those categories from my "Briefly Noted" envelopes, and maybe also read a couple more from the NY Times list. I'm also going to try to read a massive biography of Harry Truman, since I like to read presidential biographies in November. So, we'll see what actually gets read, but those are my guidelines.

Spooky doings

It's so fun this year, having Halloween on Friday. Next year of course will be even better, with Halloween on Saturday. But they're both really good times for the holiday. Having Halloween on Friday means kids can go to school in their costumes, later go trick-or-treating, and then not have to get up early the next day for anything. Having Halloween on, say, a Tuesday, is a lot less fun.

My children's book set in October has these exact dates, and so I am living it this year. The book starts on Saturday the 25th, so yesterday I went out and tried to "walk the book," following the path my characters take (they go around the neighborhood a lot). I'm going to try to do that every day this week. 

And then the next book starts on Tuesday, November 4th, so I'll keep walking that book, even though it's not finished yet. Walking it should help me finish writing it. I hope.

We're having a delightfully spooky weekend. On Friday evening we went on the "Ghost Walk, Ghost Talk" tour, sponsored by Historic Boulder. Teen B even agreed to come, although he complained vociferously the whole time: "This is SO dumb!" "This is SO boring!" "Why do we have to walk SO far?" etc. 

The tour started at the Odd Fellows hall on Pearl Street (see Rocket Boy talking to someone in costume in the big hall on the 2nd floor). Then we drove to Mapleton Avenue and walked to the other four houses on the tour. I think we were most impressed by the McInnes House, also known as the wedding cake house, but the Grill Mansion was empty -- it was recently sold to a new owner -- so you could go all over, basement to attic, which was very fun. And it was also fun to spend time in the Carnegie Library. Rocket Boy remembers when that was THE library in Boulder (now it's the local history library). 

I didn't feel the slightest whiff of ghosts on the tour, but it was fun nonetheless.

When we were still in the Odd Fellows Hall, up at the top there was a room where they had psychics who would read your palm or do other types of divination. Teen B wanted me to do it, but there was a long line, and honestly, I didn't want to know my future. I suggested we ask them for a reading for HIM, but he didn't want to do it. But me -- I mean, what could they tell me? I'm 65, I'm basically retired, I'm married with two teenagers. I'm planning to stay married "as long as we both shall live." We'll probably stay in this house. The kids will grow up, do whatever they're going to do. I'll keep trying to write books. We'll travel, if we're able. Eventually we'll die. I just can't see anything exciting happening -- to me, personally -- from here on out. And that was a queer thought. I had strange dreams that night -- can't remember any of them, though.

Last night we went to the Haunted House at Boulder High, which is always fun. There was the usual long line (we arrived at about 8 pm and went in around 9:30), but it wasn't super cold, unlike some years, and I always enjoy watching the people (mostly young teens, out with their friends). The theme this year was "Shipwrecked Souls," and so there were actors dressed as fish, mermaids, sailors, and flappers (I guess the flappers were supposed to be on the ships that sank -- think Titanic). Teen B thought it was the dumbest theme they've ever done, but I thought it was better than some. Two years ago, with the Haunted Toys theme -- that was dumb. And Haunted Alice in Wonderland last year -- hmm. But this year wasn't bad. It's not super scary to me anymore because I know no one's going to touch me, I'm not going to die. Also, I know where in the basement they're going to put someone following us, or a loud noise, or someone with a knife stuck in them, or someone hanging from up above. So there's less suspense than there would be the first time you go to it. But it's still fun.

We finally got all our Halloween stuff down and decorated the house a little, nothing too complicated. I set out all my little dolls. I looked on eBay to see if there were any I wanted to buy this year, but nothing appealed to me. There are three or four dolls that I don't have, but I didn't feel the urge to spend $30 or whatever to obtain them. Instead, I ordered myself some long-sleeved shirts (pre-owned, not expensive). Since I'm a little thinner this year, I feel the cold a little more, probably won't want to wear short-sleeved t-shirts every day all winter.

It was hard for Rocket Boy to reach the Halloween boxes, up on high shelves in the garage, and get them down with his injured rotator cuff. Speaking of which, he has an MRI scheduled for Monday, i.e., tomorrow afternoon. We went back to the orthopedist this week and she said yup, better have that MRI right away. Monday is also the day he starts his new job, at 8 am (online from home, no driving yet). This seems problematic to me, but it's his rodeo, not mine. I just have to remember to be quiet while he's working.

The company he's going to be working for sent him a big box of swag -- a t-shirt, a water bottle, a mousepad, a pad of paper and a pen, a paper clip container, a book written by the company founder, a shopping bag, and I forget what else. Just ridiculous. "More junk to fill up the house," he said, as I pulled out item after item. Yup.

What else? It wasn't a good cooking week, although I would say it was a good eating out week (the photo is of my Spooky Pizookie at BJ's last night -- I could only eat about a third of it, but it was yummy). I made a new Indian dish on Monday, and that was OK, but on Tuesday I made a new recipe for tortellini soup and I screwed it up. It called for a 28-oz can of tomato puree. I saw the 28-oz cans of tomato puree at the grocery store, reached for one, put it in my cart -- and it turned out to be a 28-oz can of tomato SAUCE, something I didn't notice until I was doing the dishes Tuesday night. I had wondered why the soup was so thin. Puree would have made it a lot thicker. Oh well. The soup still tasted good, but it would have been better with puree. I'll save the recipe and maybe make it again next year, after everyone's forgotten about it, using the correct ingredients.

This week I'm planning to make a couple of recipes I printed out that are supposed to appeal to kids, such as Cheesy Tuna and Tomato Orzo and Skillet Broccoli-Cheddar Rice. But first Rocket Boy plans to make veggie pot pie. As soon as I finish writing this we're going to go out to Munson's Farms, finally get our pumpkins, and some other veggies for the pot pie. 

I also probably need to buy more candy. The kids and I have been eating the Halloween candy as fast as I can buy it (well, maybe if I didn't put it in the Halloween candy dish it would last longer, but where's the fun in that?). 

I didn't do anything political this week -- I'm just gobsmacked by what's been going on in Washington. But this coming week (in fact, maybe today), Rocket Boy and I will vote, and that's something. Everyone running for City Council here in Boulder is a liberal of some sort, but still, it feels good to be able to choose between them. Good to have the right to choose.

And so, on that note I will bid you adieu for this week. Five more days of October. Happy Halloween! 

October revving up -- No Kings!

Another fun-filled October week! Actually, it started off badly, with Teen B's neuropsych evaluation on Monday. He was so angry about having to get up early and spend the day doing this. Anger was just sparking off him, like he was about to burst into flame. I don't know if the evaluation will even be that good, because he filled out his forms so quickly that he finished about three hours early. We met with the head psychologist (while another one administered the tests) and he went through a few things with us. It sounded like Teen B did not meet the criteria for ADHD at all, and while he had some of the criteria for ASD, it didn't sound like it was going to be enough. I expressed unhappiness with the fact that there seem to be no other categories, and the psychologist agreed with me. He said "The DSM is a work in progress, and I often feel that it's missing things."

The rest of the day (after we brought Teen B home) was also bad, but on Tuesday (the last day of their little fall vacation) he was better, and by that evening he was downright cheerful. So on we went. Rocket Boy and I had to fill out a lot of forms too, and we obviously could only do them when the kids weren't around listening (we did them together, reading the questions aloud and discussing them), but we finally finished those on Thursday and I drove them over. And now we wait for the results. I'm not optimistic that we'll learn anything useful. But at least we did this and now I don't have to feel guilty about not doing it.

One fun thing I did this week was plant bulbs. Last week Rocket Boy went to McGuckin's to get something, and he called me from there to ask a question and also asked if I wanted anything. I suddenly remembered that McGuckin's carries bulbs! "Could you get me about six bulbs?" I asked. "Anything, doesn't matter what kind. Ask the staff there to recommend something." So he did, and came home with six tulip bulbs, all different varieties. Thinking it over, I kind of wished I'd asked for something else, like hyacinths, which I love, but it's OK, tulips are good too. So on Thursday I planted them, in the sunniest corner of the flower bed in the front yard, because tulips like sun. And now I get to watch for them to come up -- in about 5-6 months.

I haven't had any bulbs (except our weird iris, that hardly ever bloom, and the grape hyacinth in the backyard -- well, and of course the alliums) since we added the porch, back in 2008. The cement step went right on top of my crocuses and they never found their way out from under it. I'm always jealous of the bulbs of everyone else in the neighborhood. So maybe in the spring of 2026 I will have some!

My book group got rescheduled from last week to this week, so I stopped reading the book for it and went back to my spooky books. That means that tonight I will have to start reading The Wide Wide Sea again. It seems like a good book -- just not what I want to read in October. 

I've really been struggling with trying to do political tasks the last several months, mainly because everything is so depressing. I just cannot believe what is going on with our country right now, and I have trouble distilling my concerns into letters to the editor, when what I really want to do is burst into tears. So I appreciated it that there was another protest to go to this weekend, because it meant I wouldn't have to think, just march along. We decided to go to the protest in Longmont because we could see our friends. We thought we would go to the Boulder protest afterwards, but in the end it got too late (and we were so tired, after two hours walking the streets in Longmont, plus another few hanging out with our friends afterwards). But we drove through the Boulder protest and honked.

There were thousands of people at the Longmont protest (the estimate was 2000-3000) and for the first hour or so we couldn't find our friends, even though we were trying to use the "share your location" device on our phones. We walked up and down Main Street looking for them. Finally Rocket Boy found them, but by then he and I had gotten separated. So he phoned me: "I'm on the northwest corner of 6th and Main," he shouted. "I'm on the northeast corner!" I shouted back. "I'll cross over." But that was easier said than done, because there were so many people everywhere. Finally I found them all. Dave and Kathy were wearing yellow windbreakers. We had read that you were supposed to wear yellow, but we don't have a lot of yellow clothing. I actually went to Target the night before the protest, to try to find some yellow clothes, but the pickings were slim and I can't stand mustard yellow. In the end I gave up and wore a green shirt and a brown hoodie. Rocket Boy wore an orange t-shirt under a pale yellow shirt under a brown sweater. It was fine. Only a small percentage of the people were wearing yellow. Some were in Halloween costumes, including inflatable ones. 

Participating in protests doesn't give me the high that it did when we first started doing this, back in February, but it still feels good. And it was amazing how many people came out for this one. I thought maybe since there's a peace deal in Gaza (which seems to be disintegrating, but oh well) there wouldn't be as many people there, but there were far more than before. The cars driving by and honking seemed secondary -- you could hardly see them anyway. So many people around here are angry. And from what I've read, people all over the country are really angry too. So that's something. I guess.

So, on with the fourth week of October! This will be Rocket Boy's last week before he starts his new job, so we have a lot of things we should get done. He has multiple appointments and I should have my book group meeting, unless it gets postponed again. It's going to be colder this week, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s. Tomorrow's forecast is for "Patchy, blowing dust between 11 am and 5 pm." Patchy, blowing dust sounds like a Ridgecrest forecast. Very weird.

Last week wasn't a good cooking week, although I did make a new lasagna recipe from the New York Times that my sister recommended and that everyone liked. Rocket Boy made spaetzle and we had that for a few nights, but he put lion's mane mushrooms in the gravy and they ended up with the consistency of liver, which made me feel nauseous (I don't like liver). I chewed and chewed, feeling sicker and sicker. Fortunately I didn't actually throw up, but it was a close thing. The next night RB made another batch of gravy with no mushrooms.

This week I'm planning to make a couple more new dishes: a tortellini soup and a new Indian dish. And maybe some other things. The NY Times had a cooking article called something like "Dishes kids will eat" and I printed out three recipes from that. My kids aren't THAT fussy, but recipes for kids often turn out to be things that teenagers will eat too. 

OK, I should finish this up and go to the store, plus Teen B has a ton of homework, so we should work on that. It's important that he not flunk all his classes, while applying to college. And I'd like to take a walk. It's windy, but better than the "patchy, blowing dust" predicted for tomorrow. And I'll wear shoes.

A couple days ago I took a walk, wearing the Keen sandals I've been wearing almost exclusively since May, and I got a splinter! I had to call Rocket Boy to come get me, so ridiculous. I get rocks in my sandals all the time, but I simply could not get that splinter out of my foot and it hurt! And I thought, once he has his surgery, he won't be able to come get me (for six weeks or so, something like that). I'd better start wearing shoes on my walks. So I will do so today. 

Anyway, summer is over.

October doings

Woo-hoo! It's October for sure. The trees are turning, the temperature is dropping, and the sky is as blue as blue can be. Actually, we had some gray skies this week, and even some rain, but today the blue is dazzling. I don't want to go out and take more pictures, though, because it's windy! So you can just imagine a vibrant blue instead of the cloudy skies in some of my pics (taken a few days ago, on various walks).

The week started out busy, with lots of appointments (for Rocket Boy -- I think he had five? six?), but quieted down toward the end. On the plus side, he can now drive, even with the busted rotator cuff, so he took himself to most of the appointments. On the minus side, his physical therapist thinks the rotator cuff is a mess, totally ripped, not fixable with PT. RB's regular doctor had told us last week that he himself had recovered from TWO rotator cuff tears with physical therapy, giving us hope that it might be possible. But the physical therapist crushed that hope. Oh well. So now we just go through the motions of going to therapy, because Blue Cross requires it before they'll even let you have an MRI.

He went ahead and accepted the job offer he received the week before, but told them about his situation. His new manager suggested he have the surgery right away, so he can recover from it while he waits for his clearances, but of course that's not possible. So we'll just see how it goes. He's thinking of lots of things -- like, how will he get his lymphedema stockings on, with only one functioning arm? (He's struggling already, now.) My answer: I'll have to help. But also, he's arranging to get weekly lymphatic massages again, at least until he has to go to work at Buckley fulltime. He's also getting a special brace made for his arthritic ankle. Honestly, so much of his body is falling apart -- if it were me, I'd just give up. But that's not how he rolls. 

We still have to figure out where to get a recliner, because Rocket Boy will have to sleep in one for several weeks after the surgery. The partner of someone in the book group had this surgery, or something like it, a few months ago, and they got a recliner fairly cheaply, so I will ask her about it when we meet this week. Of course, we have no place to put it. Details.

We are in the middle of a four-day weekend. Indigenous Peoples Day tomorrow, followed by an extra day off (together they make up the new "fall break"). We probably should have planned some fun activities, but I think we're feeling a little drained by Rocket Boy's injury and job offer and everything we have to do regarding those two things. 

Tomorrow, Teen B is going in for a day of neuro-psych testing, assuming I can get him out of bed (it starts at 8:30 in the morning and we've gotten up VERY late the last two days). Rocket Boy suggested offering him money to go to it, and I think I probably will do that. I'll start with a small offer, maybe $10, and work my way up to as much as I have to. I don't have high hopes for the testing. I just feel as though it's something we should do. If the psychologist doesn't come up with anything we'll say, fine, OK, guess he's "normal," and move on. We have a history of receiving that sort of diagnosis, from previous testing: "low normal," "just barely in the normal range," "expressive language disorder -- but that doesn't really mean anything," etc. I've always been anti-meds, but I wish now (since he's almost 18) that there were a pill we could give him that would make his life easier. There probably isn't. We'll see.

Thinking of the future, this week Teen B and I completed his applications to two colleges: CU Boulder and CU Denver. He's also going to apply to CSU, but they're free to apply to all the time, so we didn't have to do it this week. Maybe next week. I also need to help Teen A apply to Metro, but again, it's free, so no rush. Teen B asked a teacher to write a recommendation for him and she said she would, so that's good. Now I have to fill out the financial aid forms, the FAFSA and maybe there's a state one too, not sure. I don't think we'll qualify for (much? any?) aid this year, because we have lots of money in their college funds, plus we own three houses, and it's based on our income in 2024, when Rocket Boy earned a lot of money. You fill out the form every year, so next year it will be different because we had much less income this year, and as we gradually drain the college funds, we're more likely to be considered. I think. I don't really know how it works. They'll probably expect us to sell the cabin.

Parent-teacher conferences were this week, on Monday night, so that was interesting. We had particularly good interactions with the teachers we DIDN'T need to talk to: culinary, pottery, and life management. Nobody was in line to talk to them and they all looked bored, so we spent a lot of time chatting. Apparently Teen A is excelling at pottery, even showing other students how to work the wheel. "I think he must have done this before," the pottery teacher told us. No, we told her, not unless he's been doing it secretly. He's just good at figuring out how things work.

I was unimpressed by Teen A's physics teacher, which is too bad since he isn't doing well. Physics! Such an impossible subject. I liked his math teacher a lot, though, and also Teen B's senior lit teacher was good. Teen A's senior lit teacher, maybe not so much, and Teen B's geology teacher, hmm, meh. Teen B's math teacher was off coaching the golf team, so we'll try to meet online with him this week. And we skipped the band teacher. I've spoken to him multiple times before.

It was a decent cooking week. Monday we just had a frozen pizza, due to conferences. On Tuesday, Rocket Boy made his famous French onion soup, and we had the leftovers on Wednesday. On Thursday, I made cauliflower marranca, from the old Moosewood cookbook, and that was a hit, and on Friday, I made Arabian squash-cheese casserole, also from Moosewood, and although that was less of a hit, everyone ate it. Last night we had dinner at Red Robin and tonight of course is forage night.

I think this week I might do what I did last week and choose one cookbook to cook from. I'll see. Have to do something to make cooking bearable. I'm really trying to be less negative about cooking, lean into it as a strength I have rather than a burden to bear, but it's hard. On Thursday I was really tired, hadn't slept well, and cauliflower marranca is a complicated recipe (though none of the steps are actually hard). At one point I burned myself on the steam from the rice cooker at the same moment I was trying to saute the cauliflower and the oil was leaping out of the pan and stinging me, and I started screaming. Rocket Boy came out to see what was the matter: "Can I help?" "You could have helped if you'd come out half an hour ago!" I screamed at him, which was totally not fair, since he always helps if I ask, and I didn't ask.

Anyway, eventually I got it done and everyone really liked it. But god I hate cooking.

I also hate cleaning. This week I started thinking about how all the tasks I do lead to other tasks. I cook dinner, which leads to a big heap of dishes which I then have to do. I load the dishwasher and run it, which means later I'm going to have to unload it, which I do not enjoy doing. I feed the cats, which means later they're going to poop and pee and I'll have to clean the litter boxes, which I hate. I throw a load of laundry into the washer, which means later I'm going to have to put the clean clothes away, which I don't mind that much, but it's just ONE MORE THING.

I wish I could figure out a way to make the tasks not lead to other tasks, but I think it's impossible.

Oh, almost forgot to mention the fire! A few nights ago, almost the entire business district up in Nederland burned to the ground, including a lot of little animals at the Wild Bear Center -- a turtle, some salamanders, things like that. Salamanders with NAMES. Also, I heard that two orange cats died, that lived in one of the clothing stores, but I haven't had that confirmed. So far they have no idea what caused it, but of course everyone is wondering about arson. It started at about 3 am. So sad. At least the Carousel of Happiness didn't burn down, nor the grocery store, but about 18 other businesses did. It's awful. 

On a more cheerful note, I had a pretty good week, personally. I read a lot, two different spooky books plus part of a non-spooky book that I'm also enjoying, and also managed to do some writing on a few days, maybe three. I am trying to finish a draft of my November book by the end of October, so that I can spend November revising it on the days that it takes place. I always forget exactly what the weather is like at different times of the year (of course, it differs some from year to year), so it's helpful to work on these books right when they would be happening. If that makes sense. Even things like how dark it is at different times of the days. Anyway, it was a good writing week. I'd like to be able to write at least five days a week, but three is good.

I also decorated the spider web on the front porch -- forgot to take a picture, but I'll take one for next week. The spider web has been up since last October, but yesterday I tied a whole lot more little insects and things to it, so it looks like the spider has been really busy. 

We don't have any pumpkins yet, maybe next weekend. I was amused by all the Halloween stuff at Home Depot, where we went yesterday to get furnace filters, but didn't buy anything. Our neighborhood is already FULL of skeletons and ghosts, however. People here really enjoy this holiday.

Well, I should go eat some lunch and then help Rocket Boy install the furnace filters. It's just crazy windy today. I want to take a walk, but hmm, maybe I'll skip it today. I walked the last five days in a row -- I can take Sunday off. It's fun just to look outside and watch the leaves blow. We are going to have some raking to do this week, for sure.

Welcome, October

Well, it's been a busy week. As they all are, during the school year, and maybe especially in the fall. 

Our week really started last Sunday night, maybe even before I finished my blog post, when Rocket Boy went in the garage and managed to tear his right rotator cuff (we think, no MRI yet). He was in terrible pain that night, so Monday morning we went to Urgent Care and they said they thought that's what it was. They put his arm in a sling, made him an appointment with an orthopedics PA for Thursday, and sent us home to take ibuprofen and be careful with the arm. 

So that was a blow. He can't really do much with that arm, so I am doing all the driving for now. I reminded myself that I did all the driving for FIVE YEARS while he was in St. Louis, and anyway, Teen A has his driver's license now and can help out if need be. As the week went along I also reminded myself of the times during our marriage when I was incapacitated (my knee surgery, the various procedures I had when we were trying to get pregnant, pregnancy itself, delivery, etc.). More recently it's seemed as though I'm always the one taking care of Rocket Boy, but he has certainly taken plenty of care of me in the past.

A little while after we got home, he got a phone call from a recruiter, offering him a job. It's a contract job with the government, very much something he's qualified for and would like to do. Only problem: it's at Buckley, which is probably an hour's drive from here in rush hour traffic. Maybe even more (it's 37 miles, but EVERYONE is on the freeway then). He told them sure, maybe could start October 20th. How he will do this, with a torn rotator cuff, is anyone's guess. 

Monday was also Miss Sillers' birthday. We adopted her from the Longmont Humane Society in the fall of 2020 and she was three at the time, so she is now eight. I got her a little chocolate cake at King Soopers and that afternoon we put eight candles on it and sang happy birthday to her (Teen A did not participate, too horrified by the lameness of it all). Sillers did not appreciate her party, though she did sample the cake, as did Baby Kitty. Cats aren't supposed to have chocolate, but I don't think it's as bad for them as it is for dogs.

Monday was also the "Showcase" concert at the high school, which Teen B was in, so Rocket Boy and I went to that, him with his arm in the sling and heavily medicated. Normally, the Showcase is held on a Saturday afternoon and moves in between the auditorium and the outside courtyard, but they couldn't find a good Saturday this year, so it was on a Monday night, and it had rained heavily that day, so they moved the whole thing to the auditorium. We sat way up in the balcony.

Teen B played in two pieces: one with the advanced band, and one with the band and orchestra combined. He had warned us that when they practiced with the orchestra the week before, the orchestra director was very unhappy with their performance, so I was expecting the last piece (a Dvorak "Slavonic Dance") to be clumsy, but I didn't notice anything wrong with it at all. 

Teen B started playing the clarinet back in 2018, and even though he never practices, I think he's a decent player, just from all those years of playing. The rest of the advanced band (and orchestra) must be too.

I had another week of feeling lousy on Mounjaro, even on the lower dose, but maybe it's improving a little, I don't know. Cooking was a bit rough this week, with Rocket Boy injured. Monday night we just had a frozen pizza, since we were at Showcase until 8 pm. Tuesday I drove Rocket Boy to Sprouts and he picked out some swordfish to cook, so we had that for dinner, with rice and salad, but of course I had to help a lot. Wednesday I made my favorite dish, sweet potatoes with black beans and cheese, very easy; Thursday we had Brenda's tofu (since it was October by then -- we have it once a month), and Friday I made a delicious pumpkin soup, very easy and everyone liked it.

Since the first of the month was this week, I should do a Mounjaro report, but it's not very positive this time.

June 14, 2024: 254.6

July 1, 2025: 217.8
Aug 1, 2025: 214.8
Sep 1, 2025: 210.8
Oct 1, 2025: 211.4

Oops. The thing is, my weight was all over the place all through September, from a low of 210.6 on Sep. 7th to a high of 215.8 on Sep. 21st. On Oct. 2nd it was 209.2, but this morning it was 213.6. So I don't know. I'll just keep chugging along, trying to go for walks (only took three this week), trying to eat right for diabetes, all that.

Of course, the fact that I brought out my Halloween candy dish and filled it with treats this week is probably not going to help. I just love having it, though. To be able to walk by and grab a few M&Ms -- not a huge handful, not the whole bag, just a couple -- and eat them and be perfectly happy, that's a big deal for me. And the rest of the family is equally reasonable about it (they come by it naturally; I have to be drug-enhanced). The kids grab some to take to school with them in the morning -- that's probably not good, but I don't care. Teen A, yesterday, asked me if I could please buy GRAPES and canned pineapple the next time I go to the store. I said, "We have dried apricots." He said, "I don't want dried apricots, I want grapes and pineapple." And then he took an apple out of the fruit bowl and bit into it crossly. So I think we're OK.

The Halloween candy dish narrowly escaped disaster yesterday morning, though. Baby Kitty, he of the nervous stomach, jumped on the coffee table after breakfast and threw up all over it (the table, not the candy dish). I chased him off and he continued throwing up on the floor. So Sillers got a second breakfast, and I had to change the cloth on the table and wash off a few things (nothing big -- a clipboard and a remote control, plus a few old papers got thrown away). Not how I like to start my day.

Then later, that evening, Rocket Boy and Teen B and I drove to Westminster and had dinner at the Wishbone restaurant (a family-owned place specializing in chicken). I had chicken, even though I don't like it (still trying to get enough protein), and it was OK. Rocket Boy had salmon and just couldn't swallow it. He finally packed it all up and we left. But on the way home I realized he was in distress. We were on the highway, so I couldn't really pull over. I said to him, "You know, this car is old and has been through a lot. It won't matter if you throw up in it." He responded by rolling down his window and throwing up out of it. The rushing wind blew the vomit onto Teen B's window (which fortunately was closed) and even a little back into the car. Some got on my cheek! Then RB asked me to pull off onto the scenic overlook that's right before you go down into Boulder valley, so I did, and he jumped out of the car and threw up some more, into the bushes. 

That has never happened before. But you know, there's a first time for everything. I thought it was going to rain that night, so it would wash my car clean, but it didn't. It's supposed to rain tonight, so we'll see.

Backing up a bit, to Thursday, we saw the orthopedics PA at a 9 am appointment (after dropping Teen B off at school). She was very nice, manipulated RB's arm in lots of interesting ways, and said yeah, torn rotator cuff. We thought she would order an MRI, but she said our insurance won't cover it until RB has 2-3 weeks of physical therapy. So she gave us a list of PT places to call, and RB called them and set up an appointment for next Tuesday. 

Then, Thursday afternoon, he had an appointment with his regular doctor to discuss his recent bloodwork, and I went along to that one too, since I was still the driver. RB's blood pressure has increased significantly in the last six months or so, for some unknown reason. The doctor had put him on a diuretic a few months ago, but it hasn't helped, so now he is going to take lysinopril -- the drug I couldn't tolerate because it made me depressed (which is a very unusual reaction, by the way -- it gives most people a cough). RB's bad cholesterol is a little elevated now too, though he has WONDERFUL triglycerides, so the doctor considered putting him on a statin, but said as an alternative he could have a scan of his heart, which would show us what kind of shape his blood vessels are in. That sounded interesting, even though insurance won't pay for it, so he's going to have that done tomorrow afternoon. 

Tomorrow he should also receive his contract for the new job, so we'll see what they're offering him. Maybe it will be enough so that he can pay a Lyft to take him to and from Buckley every day. And I think he has an interview for another job, in the morning. La la la.

Tomorrow is also in-person conferences at the high school, from 4:30 to 7:30 pm, so we'll go to those after RB has his heart scan. Hopefully he won't be tired from the scan, but if he is, I could always go alone. Teen A has been struggling with physics, so I really want to talk to the physics teacher. Maybe he should have a tutor. I had a physics tutor in high school. I loved him and still think about him fondly.

I think I'll stop here -- I have a million things to do today and it's already 2:15. I slept until 10 am this morning -- we all did. It goes to show how much we don't get enough sleep on normal days. I was having a series of dreams about conferences -- we were late, we missed them entirely, we waited for the physics teacher to show up and consequently missed talking to all the other teachers, etc. Taylor Swift was also involved, somehow. Basic anxiety dreams. 

Earlier this week I had my dissertation dream again -- only this was a less positive version. In the usual version of the dream I realize that I haven't finished my dissertation (the one I finished in 1996) and need to hurry up and do it. But there's always a solution: if I buckle down and do it, I can get it done. In this week's version of the dream there were two problems. First, I decided that the last section of the dissertation would concern Armenian. I began studying Armenian, but it was too hard, I just couldn't learn it. Second, I made plans to work with a woman professor I am on bad terms with (since my professor died this past spring), but then I realized she retired a long time ago and couldn't help me. So at the end of the dream I concluded that I simply couldn't finish the dissertation and thus would not graduate. What does this mean?