1. Yesterday, I walked down the street, introduced myself to a woman I’ve never met, and whisked her 9 month old away to my house. This is what happens in military life. Her husband is deployed, the movers were bringing her household goods, and a mutual friend, who is helping her with the mover’s inventory, texted me and asked if I could help out. I think I got the easy job- he’s a little red headed butterball and super sweet to boot. The best part is that my ovaries have in no way indicated that they’d like to see another Little Explorer after spending time with Butterball. It’s nice confirmation that baby fever does subside and four is a good number for us. Oh, and in a random twist, it turns out Butterball’s mom and dad are mutual friends of good friends of ours from college. (Cue “It’s a Small World.”)
2. The Labor Day holiday weekend was another short one for the Intrigue Family. As is so often the case, The International Man of Intrigue was traveling for most of the weekend. He returned from India on Sunday afternoon, and we did end up having an impromptu pizza and beer party in our driveway with some neighbors on Sunday night, as well as a cookout at the neighbors’ house on Monday. It ended up being a nice weekend, but clocking in at a day and a half, it was far too short.
3. The International Man of Intrigue and I just finished watching “Battlestar Galactica” and then binged watched Netflix’s “Stranger Things” in about three days. “Stranger Things” is part Stand By Me, part X-Files, and part Goonies. It is kind of scary, but really good!
4. I remember, when I was first out on my own, half my life ago, that I had a revelation. I was brought up to eat whatever was on my plate, even if I didn’t care for it. When I was at the grocery store, alone, with my own money, I realized I never had to eat canned creamed corn again. It’s taken me until recently to realize the same applies to books. I’ve always been a voracious reader. I’ll read about anything I can get my hands on, even the label on the creamed corn. Earlier this year, I started reading a book, realized it wasn’t my cup of tea, and quit reading it. That was sort of a watershed moment for me. I started thinking about what the books I really enjoy have in common and have done a better job of choosing what I want to read. It turns out I’ve been skipping out on mysteries and detective novels, which I love, because I don’t like scary books, and these often overlap with suspense or horror, but if I’m careful, I can find books in this genre I really enjoy. I also enjoy books set during either of the world wars. I discovered (thanks to Mrs. British Neighbor) the Ian Rutledge mysteries by Charles Todd. Detective novels set shortly after The Great War are currently my cup of tea.
5. I was texting with the mom of a student in Gertrude Bell’s class. We were bemoaning our kids’ after school behavior and I mentioned that I was having a late afternoon cup of coffee to hopefully make it through until bedtime. She said it was time to switch to wine. I got to wondering, why is there not caffeinated wine? Or caffeinated booze in general? Someone make this happen.
