Weekly Update

This week (or weeks--it's been awhile since I've done an update) this is what we've been up to:

- We observed the annual zombie walk in our town.  A little too gruesome to post pictures, but a fascinating phenomenon.   I wondered if it was related to the quote from Tacitus that C. S. Lewis uses in The Great Divorce: "They terrify, lest they should fear."  Perhaps if we play at being dead we won't mind its inevitability so much.  (Or perhaps we English profs overthink things....)

- Our friends Doug and Gen gave us strawberry rhubarb jelly made from some of the strawberries we missed out on since our garden was producing while we were gone.  What a classy thing to do!  I was really delighted.

- We got a check from the insurance company.  They retroactively switched me to a carpooling policy so we got the difference from our premium since early June when we paid our bill.  I am entitled to the discount as long as I drive less than 7,000 miles a year, which shouldn't be a problem.

- I sold some books at our popular local used bookstore, A Novel Idea.  Here is Catherine and a cat examining them:

- My niece Arwen  and I went to the Hillestad Gallery to see an exhibit of African artifacts.

- Arwen and I also played dress-up:

  - I came back from the thrift store's $1 bag sale with three bags.  I walked to Mass without a wallet because I knew I'd be volunteering afterwards and I told myself I had no $ to buy stuff and no car to get it home in.  But I succumbed anyway.  I bought three bags worth and dear Judy gave me a lift home and waited while I went to fetch the $3.  But I have all these cool upcylce ideas!

- Thanks to the above shopping spree, I started a project in a medium I rarely use: glass.  (Stay tuned!)

- I organized the den.

Here's before:

Here's after:

 It may not look like much, but I'm slowly taming the paper tiger....

Next week I'm looking forward to writer's group, hanging out with Marcia of Marcia's Musings, and some high quality board games time with Stacy.  Much to be grateful for, even if the basement is still a question mark and it's supposed to rain....