Daybook -- 8/23/10

Outside my window... the air is cool. There is no doubt that fall is coming. Where did the summer go??!!

I am thinking... that I will miss Kelson when he is at college. Right now he is sitting with his computer at the dining room table, but his plane flies out Thursday afternoon. It will be different around here.

I am thankful for... cruise control! My van doesn't have it, and I thought I was fine without it. But Branwen and Larry's van -- which we used to take Miriel to Virginia -- has it, and I think I got more tired driving the 100 miles from Arwen's house to home today than I did driving the almost 500 miles I did yesterday. Of course, I was already tired... But I think for any future vehicle I get cruise control is going to be a "must have."

From the kitchen...a cheese sandwich. Roger has begun teaching an evening class at the community college on Mondays, and Kelson went out with friends. So I went for very simple.

I am wearing... a green t-shirt, tan pants, and tan sandals.

I am creating... the grocery list. Which mostly right now includes the fixin's for reuben sandwiches, which Kelson loves. It's not a "big grocery shopping" week.

I am going... back to Arwen's tomorrow, with a stop at Penzey's and New York Bagels on the way home. Actually, we are picking some friends up at the bus station and dropping them near Arwen's, but how can we pass up the opportunity to see the grandchildren?! And the round trip gives us to opportunity to restock our spices, and pick up 6 or 7 dozen bagels to freeze. Back when all the kids were home we used to get twice that many.

I am reading... Living More-with-Less, a companion volume to my much-loved More-with-Less Cookbook. Unfortunately it's fairly dated, having been published in 1980. The principles are sound, but the examples remind me of the pictures in my high school yearbook.

I am hoping...that Branwen's baby arrives soon. Of course, I've been hoping that for two weeks, and she is hoping even harder!

I am hearing... Kelson drumming and tapping along with the music he is playing. I'm pretty sure that is one thing I WON'T miss.

Around the house... are signs of Kelson's "packing." Of course it will be an untidy mess until he is actually out the door on Thursday.

A few plans for the rest of the week: see above. On Friday I am going to sit as still as possible all day and do nothing, except maybe read.

Words I'm pondering : "A snuggie's just a backwards robe! How stupid are you people?!" A bit of Twitter wisdom from one of Kelson's friends.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing.... We went to Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday. It was the first time I had been there, and I was awed at how well people obeyed the signs. It was easily the quietest tourist attraction I have ever been to.