It's 1:14 a.m. PST and I'm doing what I do best these days - amusing myself at strange hours because for one reason or another I can't sleep. This happened last night too, or rather this morning. Between 4-6 a.m., I was wide awake and trying not to make too much noise and wake up the husband. Then, I slept until 10. So, here I am...
Rain has come - endless amounts of it in drizzle and downpour. In moving some stuff out from under the deck, we knocked loose one of the drainpipes from the roof resulting in a partially flooded basement. Not something you want to mess with in a province where mildew is the provincial flower.
The rain does make for cozy days inside, though, the kind where you want to eat endless bowls of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Alas, there is work to do and, G-d willing, precious few weeks left in which to do it. On tomorrow's agenda? Finishing the window treatments in the bedroom and laundry. Wednesday: take old dishes to Goodwill and begin organizing kitchen and laundry. Thursday: Continue working on kitchen and set up spare room for Shabbos guests and laundry. Friday: Make Shabbos food before Shabbos starts at approximately 4:05 and try to have laundry put away. Fun, fun, fun.
We had a nice meal last Friday night at the home of the Other Orthodox Rabbi in town. It was a fun, heimishe crowd and the singing of familiar zemiros (Shabbos songs) made me nostalgic. Chabad sings some beautiful songs, but it's just not the same. A couple who attends the Other Shul will spend Shabbos by us this week since their rav and family are heading out of town for a few weeks. Looking forward to some afternoon rounds of Trivial Pursuit or Taboo (sans buzzer, of course).
Other than that, I'm, of course, pleased with the outcome of the election - not so much because the Dems took a majority in both houses, more because it will force some cooperation on the part of the two parties who have been at each other's throats for the past twelve years. I don't really think the Dems have any better solutions for solving the quagmire in Iraq, but at least maybe we can pitch some more ideas now instead of hurling blame. We'll see what happens.
My fingers and ankles are feeling evermore sausage-like. I wake up with swollen knuckles and toes. I ahd to abandon my rings last week for fear that they would have to be cut off if I didn't. I've also been fighting a head cold that has taken its sweet time to leave (over a week - not at all usual for me). Being up and around is actually the most comfortable position as long as I keep moving. Our walk home from dinner last Friday was over two miles and the only time I really felt the effects were on the uphills. I keep telling Soulmate that he'll need to get a crane in to hoist me out of bed, off the couch, and out of the bathtub eventually. On the plus side, our Little Rashi (as we've taken to calling him/her) provides me with lots of kicks, wiggles, and rolls to let me know that all is well, thank G-d.
I've finished my cinnamon tea and am going to try to go to sleep now. Much to Soulmate's (and my) displeasure, apparently I've started snoring quite loudly the past few weeks. Nothing says delicate femininity more than a wife who sounds like a buzzsaw half the night. Soulmate says it's no big deal (until it wakes him up, at least), but I confess to being quite embarrassed about the whole situation. G'night.