It's here!! It's really HERE!!!!

I love the weather, I love the weather, I love the weather!!! It's so wonderfully cold!! It's so damp feeling!! So shivery!! Such sweater weather!!!!!! When I got dressed this morning I was not happy with what I was wearing--khaki pants, white button-down, red silk scarf in my hair and my new brown Keens (of course.) But I felt like I needed to dress not so much like a homeless person to go to St. Boniface to sing for the kids, so I wore that. But as soon as I got home I changed into jeans and this cute stripey shirt that looks like a t-shirt with a long-sleeved white shirt underneath it, but really it's all one piece and very comfy. And I'm still wearing my Keens. But I'm much cozier now!! I'm in the big back room and the window is wide open and all the leaves are blowing all over the place and it's getting nice and cold in here!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Last week Mrs. Hasser called me and asked me if I would be the guest composer for the music classes today at St. Boniface. I have never thought of myself as a composer, but I agreed. I woke up this morning not knowing what I was going to play or what I was going to say to these kids to fill 40 minutes of music class, but luckily it all worked out (as it always does.) When I got there Mrs. Hasser had written out some questions and it was more like a little interview session than a speech. The kids asked questions, and I played 4 songs for each class. (There were 3 classes.) The kids were all so good! And so interested!! They started asking questions as soon as they sat down, before Mrs. Hasser and I had started talking at all. It was really funny. It's also funny how 4th graders seem so much younger than 5th and 6th graders. They haven't yet grown out of that "I'm going to say something completely random and you have to smile and pretend it made sense" way of conversing. Their questions were more like comments, and their comments were things like, "I have this friend, his name is Jackson, he's my best friend, his dad is in a band." Funny stuff. Very random. But I liked them! Of course in the 6th grade is Clay, the Child Prodigy, so I felt a little stupid telling HIM about writing and playing music. It's funny to feel completely inadequate next to an 11-year-old.

I'm beginning to feel a lot of jealousy toward Theodore. I know that if he had hands and feet and wore shoes, he would definitely be able to tie them. Unlike me. I sit on the couch struggling to get my shoes and socks on every morning while Theodore sits there with one leg in the air, effortlessly licking his private parts. And while I obviously would never actually do that, I find myself wishing that I could at least have the option of being able to, if I really wanted. And Theodore is morbidly obese!!

Last night I was sitting in the living room talking on the phone with Perkins when I heard this crash out on the porch roof and the tree was shaking. At first I thought a branch had broken, but then I thought it might be the raccoons! So I ran upstairs to the bedroom and sure enough, there on the roof outside our window was a big fat raccoon! I'm glad they're still hanging around. I like them.