The leaves are falling (or have fallen)

When Rocket Boy and I went for a walk yesterday afternoon, I was very surprised to come upon a pretty tree, all orange and red and delightful (see picture). But most of the trees have lost their leaves, or are mostly bare. And still no snow. People are starting to worry. There's a chance of rain/snow on Friday, but the low is predicted to be 37 and the high on Saturday 57. Those aren't snow temperatures.

I mean, it's not unusual for it to snow heavily in October (or even September) and then be dry and warm for weeks. But we haven't had that first snow. Over the last ten years, our first snow has occurred in September once, October four times, November four times, and December once. The November snows all occurred in early November (4th or 5th) except one on the 17th. The December first snow was in 2021, the year of the Marshall Fire (which occurred about two weeks after that very very late first snow).

We wanted to get new tires on the Prius v before the first snow this year, but kept putting it off. (We put new tires on Rocket Boy's car back in September.) We might do it this week, Monday or Tuesday. Plenty of time -- no snow in sight.

This past week was an easy week, made easier (kind of) by the fact that Rocket Boy's first day on base did not go as planned. He was there in plenty of time on Monday, but they had misplaced his paperwork and he was given bad directions to his building, and he got there too late for his "indoctrination." So it had to be rescheduled -- for the week after this coming one.

When he walked back into the house around 10:30 am, I thought it was one of the kids having some sort of emergency. And when I realized it was him, and he looked depressed, I thought maybe he'd been fired. But no, just working from home for two more weeks. That's when I started to get angry. Not so much at him -- how could I be? None of it was his fault. Just at the universe, I guess. I wanted my time alone! I was so happy that morning -- he was off at his new job, the twins were at school, and I had the house to myself. I had so many plans! And then he came home and wrecked them all (unintentionally). I couldn't tell him how disappointed I was -- it would have hurt his feelings. But I was in a bad mood for a couple of days about it. Tuesday was the worst. By Wednesday I was doing better. And on we go. 

It did make it easier, not having him getting up in the dark every morning and all that. We are doing our best to go to bed earlier -- 11:30 most nights, with the goal of moving that back to 11 when he really starts commuting. That means I have to get the house put to bed sooner, feed the cats when they want to be fed, all that, if I want to have time to read in bed (which I do). I've learned that I don't have to send the twins to bed before I go to bed. They are capable of turning off the lights by themselves. (I just make sure the doors are locked.) Also, if we go to bed and turn off our light, they're more likely to go to bed too -- more likely than if I run around saying, "Guys, it's bedtime, come on, let's go to bed," etc., etc. Nagging doesn't work -- actions work.

Tuesday, we enjoyed hearing about the election results. Too bad more people/things weren't on the ballot, but I was happy about Virginia and New Jersey and Pennsylvania and Georgia and Mississippi and of course California. And even Colorado! Free lunch lives! Also, the Boulder City Council will be a little more moderate now, although my least favorite council member, Nicole Speer, was unfortunately reelected. I would have preferred her fellow progressive, Lauren Folkerts, but I didn't vote for either of them, so can't really say anything. 

It was a relatively quiet week, otherwise. No appointments, other than one massage for RB (his poor leg). Both twins had a cold (which I may or may not be catching). Cooking went OK. I guess.

• Monday we had Brenda's sticky tofu (because it's a new month) and broccoli. I made a double recipe and for once we had leftovers -- which Rocket Boy ate for lunch the next day, infuriating Teen B who was planning to have them for dinner.
• Tuesday we had salmon, rice, and roasted butternut squash (diced, tossed with olive oil and garlic, sprinkled with parmesan, roasted in the oven for an hour). I accidentally bought brown basmati rice, so it wasn't done when we took it out of the steamer, so had to put it back in with more water, and the squash took longer than everything else, and Teen B complained because we were having salmon again and WHY DID DAD HAVE TO EAT THE LEFTOVER BRENDA'S TOFU, and I wanted to kill every single member of my family. Imagine complaining about salmon when there are people in this country who can't even afford basic groceries.
• Wednesday we had Baked Tomato Pasta with Harissa and Halloumi (NY Times recipe), which I thought was delicious, but Teen B didn't like it ("too tomato-y" -- he doesn't like tomatoes) and Teen A refused to try it.
• Thursday we had leftovers, which neither twin ate.
• Friday I made Roasted Veggie Enchilada Casserole (from Cookie & Kate). Teen B had a little, Teen A was out somewhere and skipped it. Rocket Boy and I ate it (it's a good recipe, just takes a lot of time because you have to roast the veggies first -- I do that in the morning). 

Saturday we ate out at the Gondolier (Teen A's choice). I had soup and salad, both were OK, and because I had a small meal I treated myself to dessert (they have good desserts there, especially the creme brulee). Teen A had the creme brulee and Teen B had spumoni ice cream (I told him about how much his grandfather, RB's dad, liked spumoni). I chose a "special" dessert -- a pumpkin crumble cake (see pic) -- but it wasn't very good. Too dense, almost impossible to cut with a fork. I ate maybe a third of it. Always disappointing to spend $8 on a not very good dessert, especially when there are all those people out there who can't afford groceries.

I think I must start giving money to food banks. Maybe I could do $25/week? I keep telling myself this, just have to start. Could be a goal for this coming week.

Tonight is Forage Night, so we can finish up the enchilada casserole. And then tomorrow is Monday and I will have to think of five more meals that my family will complain about and/or not eat.

In the NY Times, someone wrote to the Ethicist recently to ask if it was ethical for her to resign from cooking after 35 years (children grown, both she and her husband are retired). The ethicist actually said no -- she needed to find a way to keep making meals in order to preserve her marriage (OK, I'm paraphrasing, but that was the message). The comments section EXPLODED, with most of the women saying Holy Shit, Ethicist, what century were you born in? and most of the men saying Yeah, that's right, cooking is easy compared with lawn care, it's her duty to keep going. I almost had a heart attack, reading the comments.

Oh well. Maybe someday I can give up cooking, but not yet.

The one other exciting thing that happened this week was that Teen A didn't come home Friday night. I was very sleepy and turned off my light before midnight (Rocket Boy was on his pump, so couldn't turn off until it finished). I was aware that Teen A wasn't home, but I wasn't worried. Around 7 am (we were both still asleep) we heard the door open. So he stayed out all night, I thought to myself. He came in, took a shower, and crashed on the living room couch. Later, when I got up, I opened the curtains and turned on the light in the living room, so he fled to his bedroom, where he slept until, I don't know, 1:30 pm or so. 

I tried to talk to him about it later, but didn't get very far. He won't tell me whose house he stayed at (he'd sent me a text at 5:43 am which I didn't see until later, apologizing, and saying he was staying at a friend's). We spent a lot of time teasing him about it when we went out to dinner Saturday night, but didn't get any more information out of him. 

I know a lot of people would punish a teenager who did this, but I just have no energy for that. There's no evidence of drug or alcohol use (which of course doesn't mean he isn't using). No more police visits. I keep counting the days until he turns 18 (at which point I feel like I don't have to care so much). Bad mom. Tired mom.

Yesterday, Rocket Boy and I did some errands together. We went to McGuckin's, which was an absolute madhouse. Everyone in Boulder seemed to be there, including our next-door neighbor. We eventually figured out (actually, our neighbor told us) that it was "Free bucket day" -- grab a large plastic bucket and whatever you can fit into it is 20% off. So I bought a box of Christmas cards and a bag of mint M&Ms and a few other things. Rocket Boy got a new rug for a section of the living room floor that doesn't have a rug on it already. Then we went to Trader Joe's, which was also a madhouse (never go to Trader Joe's on a Saturday afternoon) and got various things. 

Even though everything was crowded, it felt nice to be out and about with my husband and everyone else in Boulder on a lovely sunny November Saturday. And then we went for our walk. This is the upside of no snow yet.

So, the week ahead. Monday and Tuesday are holidays for the twins, but Rocket Boy will have to "work" on Monday. I have to go back to the oral surgeon on Monday, find out if my mouth is ready for an implant, so that will be interesting. 

Other than that, I don't think there's anything on the calendar. Homework, cooking, laundry, cleaning, dishes, cat care, reading, maybe a little writing. I had one good writing day this past week -- I think it was Thursday. Yes, Thursday. I just decided the morning was for writing, never mind all that other nonsense. I wrote maybe 1000 words, maybe 800, I don't know, I don't keep track, but it was very enjoyable. I know I can't do that every day, or even every weekday, but it's nice to have a good writing day once in a while.