It isn't winter, but we are under a French Toast Alert warning due to Hurricane Irene coming up the coast.
This week has been kind of exciting here in New England and on the East Coast.
We had our first memorable earthquake, centered up in Virginia, impacting Washington DC, NYC and was said to have been felt even here in our neighborhood. Doug and I didn't feel it, but I think our dogs did because they lost their little minds and ran all over the house and yard freaking out.
And the past week has been filled with news about how this category four kill storm would be coming to our house to crush us all to death. The storm was thousands of miles away and the prognosticators were singing Cassandra songs of shrieking doom about how this storm would come here, with a storm surge to wipe out the Cape and Islands!
The storm is down in Virginia right now, has to come through New York City and Long Island, and I think that it will peter out into a tropical storm or depression before it gets here. I am more concerned for Long Island and my friends and family there than I am for us. To be completely honest, we've had worse snow storms and ice storms than what they're predicting for with this hurricane. They are saying 50 to 60 mile gusts, and I distinctly remember two or three storms in the last year with sustained winds of 50 miles an hour, not just gusts.
I'm more worried about the amount of rain that we are expecting instead of the speed of the wind. I hate having to deal with the basement when it gets wet. An earthen floor was cool in 1774. Not so much now.
Also, I'm not looking forward to the possibility of losing power, or losing DirectTV because of one of these stupid wind gusts. Because it'll be boring here without my TV and Internet to keep me entertained through the storm.
Never have I wanted a smarty phone more in my life.
Top it off with the fact that I'm here solo with Geoff. Doug took Jess to college this week.
I was originally going to do it but Doug would have had to take the days off to make sure Geoff got to football practice and all that. Plus, he wanted to see family.
He and Jess left at about 10am on Thursday. She took relatively few things with her, just like last year. They got to Diane's house late on Thursday night, went down to Pitt at about lunch time on Friday, got her student ID in record time (there were 3 people in line), and had her fully moved in by 2pm.
They wandered around campus, went to the Catholic Cathedral because it was open. Doug said it was gorgeous in there, and he loved it and wished I was there to see it, and that next time I'm there I simply MUST go inside and see... They then enjoyed a late lunch together at the Union Grille, my favorite spot to eat near Pitt, a step up in classy compared to Primantis and Fuel & Faddle... so I was jealous when they told me of their adventures...
I talked to her at about 6 last night and she was unpacking. She sounded very tired and so I didn't keep her long. She has a single room again in the same building, a few floors up from where she was last year.
Doug was going to leave to head back this way tomorrow morning. I wish he had left this morning. That way he'd be here pretty much by now.
But this isn't a scary storm or anything. I don't "need" him here. I like when he goes away and has time to himself with his family and whatnot. I just am getting bored, waiting for the Nonicane to come here. And be over with.
I miss Jessica already. In May she told me she didn't want to go back to school. Part of me was happy about that, because I truly miss her when she is not here. But she changed her mind quietly sometime over the summer. I told her she would. Spending a month or so home with Geoff, I knew that she would adjust her attitude.
The boy is a cure-all for some things.
It was such a joy to have her here this summer. Even when she retreated to her room to have her alone time, it was so nice to have her right there. Close. And it helped that she liked to bake cookies in the middle of the night while we would be sleeping.
So I'm hoping Doug can make it home okay tomorrow. It looks like west of us will get a lot more rain -- across that I-84 corridor. I hope that he'll be okay.
As mentioned, Geoff and football are friends again. He had quit playing it because it wasn't fun after the 7th grade season. They went 1-9, and he just didn't like it. So he didn't play for 8th grade. And we didnt' make him.
When he didn't get into the high school that he wanted to, and realized that he was going to have to stay at our district, he decided to play football to try and be more involved, try and fit in. He really does try hard, and it makes me sad sometimes watching him trying to be there with people that he doesn't know, they don't know or don't like him.
He's friends with a couple of the upperclassmen through Boy Scouts. One of them told me that he keeps an eye out for Geoff and gives him "props" whenever he can during practice. So kind, that kid. And that boy's dad and I sat together today at the scrimmage,
He had a scrimmage today, the whole team, Varsity, JV and Freshmen all present. The Varsity guys (including the kid I mentioned above) played for a good 40 minutes and then they started subbing in the second, third and fourth string. The third string (mostly sophomores) and fourth string (all freshmen) got a good 15-20 minutes of play time, which was nice. Pay off for standing there in the 88 degree heat and high humidity.
Side note: I do not now how the heck kids in Texas do Two-A-Days in Houston in 111 degree heat all summer long. That's just sick.
Geoff did really well, very strong and on his feet the whole time. Knocked a couple guys down, but then he doesn't pursue the play. He just stands there and watches the ball go down field. I think he thinks that he did his job and he's all set. I think he's supposed to pursue the play? Maybe? Someone with more football smarts than I have should let me know.
He was happy and tired and pleased. I'm not sure how the system works. They are supposed to have a Freshman Team, but I don't know that they have enough boys to field a team. It doesn't look that way to me. So ??? Do these kids automatically get on JV? And do the better kids get bumped up to Varsity? Geoff has no idea. Overall, I'm not pleased with the communication from the team management and coaches. They still haven't cashed my fee check, which I gave them at the beginning of August. Geoff didn't receive his shorts/t-shirt/sweats even though I gave them a check for that. So I've repeatedly asked when they're going to cash the checks. They HAVE them, they've told me this. But man. Frustrating.
On Wednesday night I went to see the kids that I used to work with do their Shakespeare play. I didn't go in July because I was too sad about not working with them. But one of the cast members and her mom insisted I come. So... I had to. I was very glad I did. This particular girl played the male lead, and was outstanding. Balls to the wall, perfect. And I love her. Absolutely love her.
I did my usual take a million pictures thing, and for two seconds I felt a lot of joy, and then was sad and missed it all again.
The play was cut very short - only an hour. And Jessica commented to me that they seemed to leave out all the stuff about how Pertuchio actually TAMED the shrew. There was like one scene where he withholds food from her, but that didn't seem like it would tame anyone. We both thought it odd. But who cares. They were funny... it was good. And a perfect way to end Jess' time here with us, going to see her Shakespeare friends.
And finally, yesterday's Shenanigans with Dave was a great time, a wonderful time, I have to link over to it so you can read it. Go. Read. Enjoy.
Alright then, that's the latest and greatest. I hope to report about the non-event of the storm here tomorrow. Prayers for NYC and the Island. I hope that all will be okay down there.
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