Is It Really October?

Every year October catches me by surprise. I know it's coming. It's fairly predictable, and a huge majority of people I love were born in October so it's filled with important dates. I see the leaves changing color; a little here, a little there. But as if overnight, I wake up and the trees have exploded into flame, my son's birthday is a week away and I haven't planned a party, and the Christmas decorations are in the stores (that's a different blog. Disgust!) My last blog was in August, I noticed. So I'll share a brief digest (is brief digest redundant?) of what's been happening. In September, I sent the kids off to school and then just sat here looking out the window for a couple of weeks. After a summer of "Camp Mommy" I was ready for a little solitude. I listened to a lot of Iron & Wine in my melancholy mood and unpacked more books. If we ever move again, we are having a book sale...we've been accumulating books since college and with five readers in the family....we're going to be one of those pack rat families you see on Oprah. The ones who walk through narrow aisles of crap to get to the kitchen. I'm going to donate many of them to a literacy project but it's hard to let go....the titles remind me of different ideas and influences and phases of our lives. Some of them are embarrassing like Organization for Dummies. (I think Dan bought that one.)
So here are some of my favorite titles/things from this fall.

On the bedside table:
Finding Your Inner Mama, edited by Eden Steinberg
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Painting Chinese, Herbert Cole
Deep Economy, Bill McKibben
The Collected Stories, Amy Hempel
Savage Beauty, the Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Nancy Milford

In the car (c.d.'s):
Beethoven's Wig (kids love this)
Bach (because I think Bach should be part of everyone's personal soundtrack)
KEXP radio (if you have satellite, tune into this station)
(why doesn't Chicago have good radio?)
The Shins, of course
The Dead, of course

T.V.
Weeds (that show is hilarious)
MadMen (you should be watching this)
Kid Nation (my kids are fascinated)
Flight of the Conchord (HBO) so funny!

Okay...that's my 2 cents........

Kid Report:

Fifi quietly confided in me the other day. As if some deep concern had been brewing.
"Mommy?"
"Yes hun?"
"Well, it's just that...it's..well...I've never really liked the Shins."
(sigh of relief)
"Oh. That's okay. You can have your own opinions on music."
"Thanks Mom."

C-Lub turned 11 with a Zombie Pizza Party. We had a huge party with bloody legs and body parts and eyeballs and a horror movie. That was my first impression on all the new fifth grade parents and kids. Dale Carnegie here I come!

E. has become a total Star Wars freak. We've watched the entire trilogy and the other trilogy, what is that the sextology (that doesn't sound right). We watched in order of release AND in order of the narrative. I must confess that I never fully appreciated it before. I'd actually never even seen it before. But now I'm fully conversant on the matter. Ask me anything?

That's all for now.....I wish you Peace.