I keep an eye on your weather through the Davis Center webcam (very cool, btw), and noticed that wow! you're having a lot of rain these days! Better, I suppose, than having the snow fall, but unpleasant to plod around in just the same.
We've now had our hard frost; all of the annuals have given up the ghost and been plucked from the ground. The garden is completely cut down, and the bags of debris hauled away. Leaves from our two maples haven't really started falling in earnest, though there is always a sprinking of leaves coated with frost on the grass when I take Lily out in the mornings. It's been really cold when Lydia and I leave, cold enough for me to haul out a pair of skating gloves to leave in my car for driving. That steering wheel is really cold until the car heater kicks in.
Following in your footsteps, Lydia's had fun the past couple of weeks making her own rocket in Tech class - far more high tech than the water-powered bottle rockets you made, I must say! Her new "Technology, Aeronautics and ???" class used actual blasting caps and gun powder, triggered by an electrical charge from a pair of lantern batteries and a cable! The goal of their rocket launch was to propel the rocket straight up as far as it could go; the teacher had a fancy gizmo which sighted on the rocket at its peak to determine the height. Lydia's group was "the Bomb," as her teacher termed it, getting the prize for going the highest: 425 feet straight up! As much as she thought she'd had the class, it's turned out to actually be her favorite - the students get a whole lot of hands-on project experience, and get to use cool computer programs.
Today, however, she's worried about her Geometry quiz - getting started with the whole proofs, postulates, theorems and definitions topic. We've spent all weekend and the past two nights, quizzing back and forth on flashcards for all 26 items she's supposed to know for the quiz. But it's tough! after a while, they all sound the same to me!
Other than that, it's fairly quiet on the home front, though your dad and I have started some heart-to-heart discussions on what separating and/or divorcing would really entail. I'm not saying that it's a foregone conclusion at this point, but it's good to talk through the possibilities. It doesn't seem likely that dad it going to "change his spots" at this point - he refuses to go to any sort of counseling, he doesn't want to admit that he really does have a drinking problem, and I'm just too weary to put up with this for the next forty years. We are at an impasse, and unfortunately, it's affecting Lydia too much for us to let it go. Dad wants to wait five years, for her to finish high school, but I don't think it's wise to let the whole sorry situation drag on that long. I'll keep you posted, but please don't worry too much. We'll be here when you get home from your first year, next summer, and you'll be around as we work through things then.
In all fairness, however, I must mention that your father found an ad on Craigslist (courtesy of Mark Adler), and he drove 75 miles to Mayer, MN to purchase yet another piccolo trumpet, to the tune of $900. It was too much of a "deal" for him to pass up - I could have killed him. He took the money out of our savings account. Now I am expected to photograph and write up an advertisement to sell the old horn on eBay (which means, no doubt, I am expected to pay the listing fees and the PayPal fees and the postage fees). I believe I'll pass on that one.....grrrr
So sorry to have had to cut short our phone call this morning. My new boss was standing behind me with a project in hand that I needed to drop everything and tackle. Perhaps we can chat later tonight? Lydia has her Halloween party at Confirmation Class tonight, so I'll be free to chat whenever you have time, if you want. Otherwise, we'll reconnect on Thursday!
Hope you had a great lunch with Owen,
Love,
Mom
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