He's still waking up in the middle of the night, and during the day he'll sleep for 10 minutes and then scream for 30. Suggestions?

Some are old and recently downloaded from my bluetooth-enabled phone, others are more recent. Enjoy!

A pretty equal split of running and walking today, with some good distance for good measure. I hadn't planned to go as far as I did, but halfway through the BK fell asleep and I wanted to prolong his nap as much as possible. Every day makes me a little more frantic that this warm weather's going to leave soon and we'll be left with snow. I think I seriously need to consider some cross-country ski options. Wonder if I could make that work with the Super Jogger stroller?

A great run today. I'm walking on concrete but running on asphalt. Was out for 1.25 hours, and for the first time since this all began, today when I started getting tired, instead of slowing down, I sped up. Fantastic. I feel strong and alive! Also, I figured out how to get the farmshare produce home on the jogging stroller without displacing BK. Take that, physics!

Haven't posted a training log — or, for that matter, anything — lately; it's just that it's been so damn busy around here I hardly can manage to breathe. Or maybe that's just the autumnal leaf mildew. Either way, it's wicked hectic.

Most of the busy-ness has taken place outside the home, so I wrote big checks to babysitters four days in a row. Friday night's Oktoberfest in Springfield was ganz wunderbar; the oompah band was astounding and played my favorite song from when I was two: “It's a Small World After All.” Had a bordering-on-naughty repartee (having to do with Schlag) with the hunky German managing the on-site chefs. The Student Prince food was amazing — fried camembert, anyone? — and the beer was Spaten Optimator, which is pretty much all I need to say about that. I had looked up the German word for “bitches” but was not given the opportunity to use it, though my talk with Herr Schlagmann had me blushing for an hour. Then, we went back to our friend Chris's house in Agawam and played Beatles Rock Band, which is going to be THE must-have game of the season. You can connect three microphones to it for harmonizing. Astounding. It has “Dear Prudence” and “All You Need is Love,” but not “Penny Lane.” Unfortunately, it does have “Yellow Submarine,” which for me is the song version of llamas or gourd art.

Saturday was World Dungeons and Dragons Day, so most of our cohort met up at the local comix shop and participated in the festivities of the holiday. First we created an adventure, and then we played the adventure made up by another group. I ate too much junk food and had a marvelous time.

Sunday I went on a butt-kicking run with the BK, then Bible study (we've picked up where we left off: the book of Revelation), then MORE D&D with our crew for our regularly scheduled, Monstro-run adventure. I killed, rather, Isdra the Deva Bard, killed herself a mess o'minions. Quite satisfying.

And then yesterday, Monday, I did some brilliant work for one client and no work for another. Some days, that's how it goes. Nevertheless, it's time to get back on the horse/stick/moneytrain, so ttfn, Weibchen. 🙂

Jason: Another evening of enforced relaxation, thanks to my bum leg.

Motormouthdotcom: Better a bum leg than a hobo elbow.

Because it ain't great at the fair where the rides are, but it's not exactly hell, either. Though this was the sketchiest midway I'd attended, and yeah, I've seen a few. Not enough to qualify for carny status but even so. Lex was excited to ride the rides and was not happy when it was time to go. He didn't like the fried dough, so his indoctrination into the supreme yumminess of Fair Food must wait another year, or at least until The Big E, which starts, I think, this week.

Anyway, if you want to know about the socio-physiological aspects of the reminds-me-of-a-dirt-mall Franklin County Fair, Monstro'll be happy to elucidate. As for me, well, we got out of the house on a beautiful warm afternoon, Lex and BK had a blast, and we spent just under fifty bucks for the entire excursion, which isn't bad considering before we'd even entered the gates we'd confirmed the existence of our awesome God.

I'm just glad I didn't have to ride a Ferris wheel or see any llamas.

Please, caffeine, work your magic!

9/11/2001

New York City Shuts Down

The whole of lower Manhattan is coated in half an inch of dust.

The mayor closed lower Manhattan this morning.

Thousands of people left by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Election called off, airports closed, Wall Street suspended, UN evacuated,

Children kept in school because their parents could not get to them.

The entire ER entrance was lined with stretchers covered with white sheets.

Nurses in scrubs. Doctors in uniforms,

waiting for the next wave

At St. Vincent's Hospital in the Greenwich Village.

Hundreds of people are burned from head to toe.

Remain calm and try to assist in the rescue effort and pray,

Have these streets open so we can move people out of there.

The line to give blood was over 100 people long.

Hanging up in frustration at the profusion of busy signals

According to a spokesman, who declined to give his name.

Bob Slovak said all subway lines stopped running,

and Rockefeller Center urged its tenants to go home.

— Found in “New York City Shuts Down,” Associated Press Report, The New York Times Online: 09/11/2001, 10:00 a.m. PDT. Poem copyright 2001-2009, Lynn B. Johnson. All rights reserved.

Running madness today with BK in the Super Jogger: walking, running distance, running hills, running speedwork (5×60, 1×100) and running home. Got home right as Monstro and Lex were unbundling themselves from the car. Great timing, great run!