7 Grumpy Takes

1. I have a cold. It's not the flu, it's not going to kill me, it's just really annoying. I had forgot that a week's worth of not sleeping through the night = a cold for me. It's made me really grumpy to be around. Actually, today is better than yesterday. Yesterday was my Pierre day: I didn't care that the house was trashed, I didn't care about making myself a real dinner (Marshall had a meeting at church so he went straight there from work) so I had a hot fudge sundae, I was going to sit in my room and watch slightly-trashy television on Hulu. Today I am feeling a little better and have the house half-cleaned and after I drop Miranda at school, I am meeting my mother-in-law for lunch at Panera's. The sun is shining, which helps.

2. My copy of River Marked came in the mail on Wednesday and I read it all the way through in one sitting, even while cooking dinner for the children. Eventually, I'm going to run out of Patricia Briggs books to read.

3. I also started Storm Front on audio book and continue to be impressed by Jim Butcher's writing. The slightly-trashy TV programs I was watching last night were the first 5 episodes of The Dresden Files. The problem with the show, which is loosely based on the novels, is that they filed off all the sharp edges from Butcher's characters, so they're not very interesting. And everyone's too pretty. And Bob is a person instead of just a skull. Still, it passes the time.

4. I finished The Armada on Friday night and read another hundred pages in Von Braun over the weekend. But I am starting to get the itch to start stitching again. Maybe I'll get it all set up again in the living room next week, stand and everything.

5. Miranda's soccer season starts tomorrow morning, if it's not raining. She's pretty excited. Chance of rain looks 50/50, though.

6. I think the whole saga with the bed bugs this summer finally broke my love affair with laundry. I just don't have the desire to wash everything in sight right this moment like I used to. Stupid bugs.

7. So, if you haven't read my mother's book yet, Bathsheba's Lament for any of you not paying attention for the last year, won't you tell me why? Everyone needs to be challenged to be reexamine how they feel about forgiveness. Even me.

Bonus 8. Sorry, for those who didn't get the news via FB, Miranda was transferred back to her original school on Tuesday afternoon, so all is going well there. We could have made it work at our sending school, but I feel so much more comfortable having Miranda where she is now. But I'm sure the stress of the situation contributed to my insomnia which in turn led to the cold. Ugh.

And here's Jen.