Miscellaneous

Mr. Healthy Gopher looked stunned the other day when it dawned upon him he's been living in the US for longer than he was in Sweden. (his last place of residence before coming here. I don't think the good ol' US of A will ever supplant it in his fond memories.) We had been discussing what to do on Saturday to celebrate our anniversary. #5. Or 10, depending on how we count. :)

Movie & dinner is on the schedule. Although, with the advent of Autumn, it is likely our plans to eat on top of Stella's Fish Cafe (i.e., outdoors) will come to naught. I find it annoying, if not down right aggravating, that movie theaters don't publish weekend schedules until Thursday. I want to make reservations for dinner. Can't do that unless I know when the movies are showing. We have the flexibility to go to a later show this time. We've got our older babysitter coming and don't need to worry about getting home late (well, sort 0f - she still needs to be able to drive home without worrying about the county-wide curfew). Aaargh.

This morning, while getting Michael dressed, he raised his arm and said "look at this". Wondering what prompted such a request, of course I looked. 4 year old armpit. He points at his armpit and tells me "I'm getting hair there. Almost!"

A couple weeks ago we were making our Sunday post-lunch walkabout in the cemetery up the street. It's from the turn of the last century, and in mild decay, being unused now. Michael kept running from headstone to headstone demanding to know, "who's this?" "why did they die"? An unfortunately apropos activity, since Peter's uncle Josef died that weekend. Michael never met him (neither have I), so we didn't mention it to him. While wandering around the graveyard, it was painfully obvious how many graves were for children. So many children under 2 years old. So very, very many tiny headstones.

My first exam is Friday. Epidemiology is soooo much fun! Go back to school! You too can take a course on how to define populations and calculate mortality rates!

Well, the only mortality going on in our family right now is our financial security. We could put our 4 year old son in charge of the Treasury and have greater confidence of our long-term financial stability.

Gotta go study for my exam. I want to be able to watch the Red Wings play tonight without guilt. Actually, I just want to be able to watch it. They're not playing the We-Sold-Our-Team-to-Texas-and-Are-Stuck-With-a-Dorky-Team-Name-Now, so it's not going to be on local TV. Not that our TV is working anyway.

Best autumnal wishes from all of us here in Minnesota!