Saturday

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. It is finally over. And, just for the record, if you already called your congressman last week, you shouldn't call again on Monday, even if you don't like the response that you (intentionally) received late on Friday night when it was too late to call back. You only get counted once, so you're just wasting both of our times.

I have been attached to my blackberry (or, rather, it has been attached to me) for 12 days straight now, and it was strange to leave it home when I went to the grocery store this morning. Strange and wonderful. And it is sunny and lovely to boot. I'm wearing a long-sleeved T and jeans and the leaves on our pretty dogwood are turning reddish and the chrysanthemum that has been the bane of my existence all summer because it swallowed up everything else I planted in the flower bed is redeeming itself by bursting into lovely maroon flowers and there is a pretty red cardinal right outside the window and last night I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and ate them all by myself. All is most certainly right with the world.

Jason is in Toronto at a wedding, and I was originally planning to spend the weekend in New York for more of this, but alas, work interrupted. And now, recovery. Homework. Playing with Dawn. Finding a place for the 20 paper towels from Tuesday's trip to Costco. Pulling out the fall table linens. Taking a bubble bath. Baby gifts (is everyone pregnant? I am so not in the cool club.). And maybe even reading something that's not for school...?

Last night I dreamed that my dad and I decided to expand the garden, but for some reason we cut grass out of the front of the yard instead of the side. I woke up and thought I should do some gardening (for the first time in weeks). We're getting close to the fall gardening season--planting more bulbs, trimming bushes, and, yes, expanding the garden for next year. I'm already planning what I'll plant--onions and spinach next time, and no arugula.

Our garden has settled into its matronly state of middle age--the zucchini and cucumber both died early deaths, but the herbs and tomatoes and even the strawberries have been a rousing success. In fact, I have not had to buy a single tomato since the beginning of August, and until last week we were tripping over ripe tomatoes. Then suddenly, nothing--we ate our last ripe tomato and looked out the window to see plants full of lovely green ones, but even now they are not even close to ripe. We've been eating tomatoes without a break for months now, and I feel confused now at their absence.