Doing the Garden, Digging the Weeds...

Who could ask for more?

Well, a gardener would be nice. Unfortunately, we didn't budget for one, so we have to take care of the yard ourselves. Eugene's been diligent about mowing the lawn, but I've had trouble finding time to take care of the flowers in front of our house. I don't want to bring Alex outside while I work, and there's so much to do inside that I've let the flowers slide. But lately the weeds have been drawing my attention, so today, after Alex went down for a nap, I put him in his crib, started another load of laundry, grabbed the monitor, found my pair of gloves, and went outside.

It had just rained, but the ground wasn't too wet. I hoped that the rain would soften the ground and make it easier to pull the weeds. Before I could get started, Eugene came home from work and decided to mow the lawn before it rained again. So we worked outside together.

I don't know much about gardening, but I did know we had a lot of nettles. Since the garden had been neglected for so long, they were huge. Some of them were probably four feet tall. I didn't have a trowel, so I pulled on the weed, as close to the ground as possible, and hoped for the best. Some of them came out fairly easily; others were so stubborn I had to ask Eugene to pull them. As if nettles weren't enough to deal with, we have lots of roses--with thorns. My arms got scratched when I had to reach among the roses to get the nettles. I made a mistake and grabbed a rose by accident, so I brought it inside and placed it in a vase.

I finished about the same time as Eugene finished the lawn. I took a picture of the nettles (since they were so big) before I bagged them for disposal.

My timing was good; shortly after I finished bagging the nettles, Alex woke up. At least the flowerbed looks much better now, although I'm not sure I got everything. But I bet the neighbors will be happy I finally weeded!

The Eyes Have It

Sunday morning, Alex's eyelashes were partly crusted when he woke up. The only time I'd seen that before was when he had a very severe cold, but this time he didn't seem to be congested or sick. So we went about our day as I described previously. He still had the eye discharge that evening and Monday morning, but I brought him to daycare anyway. A couple of hours later, they called me. Apparently Alex's eyes were worse; his right eye was now red and swollen. Another child had brought pinkeye into the infant room, and Alex most likely had it. That meant I had to take him to a doctor and keep him at home for at least 24 hours.

As upsetting as it is to learn your child is sick and that you didn't catch it sooner, this news came at a bad time. My company is attending a trade show next week, and I had to prepare some samples for the show. I'm the only one who has any experience making the samples; in fact, I had started working on them before daycare called me. Alex's health is of prime importance, but this project was also important. Somehow, I had to be able to go into work the next day in order to finish the samples.

Luckily, Eugene was able to rearrange his schedule a bit. I went to work in the morning while he stayed home with Alex. I stayed at work until almost 2:00; then I returned home so Eugene could go in for a few hours. Alex is getting antibiotic eye drops and returned to daycare today, and my samples are done and ready to be shipped.

Strawberry Fests Aren't Forever

So you have to attend them while they last.

It's been a couple of years since we last attended the Strawberry Festival in Long Grove; in fact, I think the last time we went was before we got married. So it was high time to go.

Long Grove is a quaint little town with lots of boutiques. We arrived in the early afternoon, with the grounds already packed. We parked in the first available parking lot (which was way out there) and took a dirt path to the center of the action.

There were supposed to be strawberry foods galore at the fest; they advertised strawberry donuts, smoothies, teas, scones, daiquiris, and much more. Ironically, all we had were a chocolate-covered strawberry apiece and strawberry lemonade. We did spend more time perusing a selection of salsas, BBQ sauce, and marmalade (and no, not all of it was strawberry):














After buying a few jars, we walked around. I went into some of the boutiques, but since Eugene couldn't take the stroller into the stores, I didn't stay long. There was a store specializing in Irish things that tempted me with a few sweaters, but ultimately I didn't get anything. Meanwhile, Alex got a balloon dog. We walked over to the kids area, but Alex is still too young for the rides. Meanwhile, a few sprinkles landed on us. We decided to call it an afternoon and headed back. The rain got harder for a bit, but by the time we reached our car, it had stopped. We were tired enough to want to go home, anyway. Maybe when it's a little cooler -- and less crowded -- we can go back and enjoy Long Grove a bit more.

Quiet Day

Eugene and I are still recovering from Alex's party last week. I started describing it on his own blog, but I still need to finish the story and add some pictures. Basically, Alex was overtired and very shy around all of the guests, but after he had some of his cake, he mellowed out. There were about 50 people there, and the party lasted for about six hours. There was a lot of food; in addition to the roast pig, there were three kinds of grilled meat, eggrolls, two types of ponsit (Filipino noodle casserole), Greek food my parents had catered in, and other food some of the guests brought. Plus there was a Filipino cake from my in-laws and two half-sheets of cake we ordered. Luckily for us, some of Eugene's aunts took over the kitchen; they not only set up the food but cleaned up afterwards. If it weren't for them, we'd still be cleaning up. Alex got some very nice presents, but I don't want to list them here. We still have nine thank-you cards to write, but we should be able to finish in the next day or two.

Part of the reason we're still recovering is that Alex had a streak of poor nights. He woke up at odd hours, which wasn't good for our own sleep. He might be teething again. At least he's back to sleeping through the night again (I hope I haven't jinxed things for tonight now.) But with our chronic fatigue, not to mention that we've been busy for several weekends in a row, I suggested to Eugene that we just hang out at home today. He agreed. So we spent Father's Day chilling out. We did a couple of chores--he mowed the lawn, I sorted through Alex's clothes and put some in storage--but all three of us took a much-needed nap this afternoon.

Writing--I'm almost ready to post my query package to the OWW wiki space. I still need to revise my synopsis--I have suggestions from the synopsis workshop that I haven't had time to review properly. Hopefully I can do that in the next couple of days. Then maybe I can go back to working on some of my short stories or continue the final pass on my book. I think I'm going to use Across Two Universes as the title--unless I think of something better.

Cookies, Don't Crumble!

Alex's birthday party is Sunday. We still don't know exactly how many people are coming, as not all of them RSVPed but may still show up. That makes planning difficult, but I'm assuming about 70-80 people will come. (I figure it's better to plan for more than for less.) Since many of them will be driving a good distance, I thought it would be nice to have a little favor for them in addition to all the food and cake we'll have available. I came up with making cookies to tie into the party's theme (which I'll keep under wraps for another couple of days.) But what I thought would be a quick project has been more time-comsuming than I thought it would be. Of course, I don't have much free time to begin with after working and taking care of Alex. But here's what the last few days have been like:

Sunday--After returning home from Kristi's shower, I started making a double batch of dough for sugar cookies. Then I realized I was out of an ingredient and had to go to the store. I mixed the dough and put it in the refrigerator to cool. The dough seemed a little dry, but I thought it would improve after cooling. Unfortunately, it was still too dry. I realized I hadn't put in enough butter but figured it was too late to add it. So I had to dump it and make another batch. By then it was too late to actually make the cookies, so I had to store the dough in the refrigerator for another night.

Monday--I started rolling out the dough--which worked much better this time--while Alex was still up. It was harder than I remembered to roll it out, and the first couple of cookies were a little too thin. It was my night to put him down for the night, so I had to take a break. By the time I returned to the kitchen, some of the dough had warmed up too much to roll out well. At least I managed to make about two dozen cookies and prep more dough for the next day.

Tuesday--Eugene offered to help me, and it was much easier with two of us. Eugene rolled out the dough (which was between two sheets of wax paper) while I held the paper down. We finished all of the baking that night.

Wednesday--Before Alex went to bed, I made homemade buttercream frosting. Afterwards, I split it in half and colored it blue and green. Eugene again offered to help me frost the cookies, which allowed us to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Thursday--Almost done; I just had to bag the cookies and find someplace to put them.


So the cookies are finally done, but there's still a lot left to do. I just hope people enjoy them. We did lose a few cookies due to breakage, but they found good homes in our stomachs. If some of the cookies we hand out are broken, I hope people don't mind.

Our Son is One! (And Other Wonderful Things)

I'm a little late on this, but Alex turned one on Friday. At daycare, he got to wear a little crown (I'm not sure how much he liked that), and they sang, "Happy Birthday" to him. That evening, a photographer came out to our house to take pictures. We know her so well we invited her, her husband, another photographer from the same company, and the second photographer's husband (do you have all of that?), to stay for dinner. It was a relatively simple meal, but Eugene more than made up for that with his mile-high apple pie, made with two dozen apples. (I'm not kidding; this pie is huge.) Too bad we didn't have enough time to make our own vanilla ice cream. It was fun having them over.

Saturday we had another couple of guests over for Alex's first playdate. We hit it off with a couple in our childbirth class last year, so the mother and her daughter came over. I'm not sure what Alex thought about another baby exploring his house and playing with his toys, though he did watch the little girl try to climb the stairs. I'm afraid that may have put ideas into his head--not what Mommy and Daddy need! We may go visit them in a couple of weeks.

Today Alex and I went to a friend's bridal shower. I had to wake him up from a nap, but we were still late. He behaved pretty well, though towards the end he was a little fussy. We let him nap before going shopping.

As for the other wonderful thing I mentioned, Firestorm of Dragons is now available through Amazon.com and other online outlets! Order early, order often! Now, all I need to do is find some writing time. With Alex's party next week, it may be tough to find any time at night to work.

A Momentary Taste of WisCon

That's the name of WisCon's official newsletter (though this year they're doing it as a blog), and it sums up my con experience this year.

Although I took Friday off, Eugene had an important errand to run in the afternoon, so we didn't leave for Madison until close to 5:00. We stopped along the way, so we didn't arrive at our hotel until nearly 8:00. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a room in the con hotel this year, so we were in an overflow hotel. The silver lining was that we had a suite, which is nice because we could put Alex to sleep in one room and stay up in the bedroom. But this meant we had to tote everything we needed for Alex and Eugene's photography equipment with us for a few blocks. It's also the main reason I skipped all of the nighttime activities at the con, even the dessert function I'd prepaid for; I didn’t want to be walking around by myself late at night.

After visiting the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, I picked up my registration packet and brought Alex to the on-site daycare. (He clung to me every time I brought him there because it was strange to him; he's much better at his normal daycare. But this afternoon, he was playing like a whirling dervish.) I also brought some copies of the anthology to the BroadUniverse table for sale. Then I went to my first panel while Eugene bummed up and down State Street. We met for lunch (picking up Alex so the daycare providers could have their own break). After lunch, I participated in a rapid-fire reading with a dozen other members of BroadUniverse; people told me afterwards my reading went well. I went to another panel, then volunteered at the BroadUniverse table for an hour. We had dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant. Alex did OK for a while but got fussy toward the end.

On Sunday, I went to three panels. I skipped a panel in the middle of the afternoon to bum around State Street myself. I could have splurged in Wintersilks--there was a teal silk blazer I came within a hair's-breath of buying--but limited myself to one silk tee. (The near-purchase gave me an idea for a short story, though.) We had dinner at a tapas restaurant before returning to our hotel; I had to leave early with Alex because the noise got to be too much for him.

I never do much at the con on Monday. We checked out of our hotel and immediately went to the con hotel to make reservations for next year. Then we left Madison. We stopped along the way to visit my parents. Now we’re trying to unwind before going back to work tomorrow.

It was great to be back in Madison in the spring again; when the weather is good for Memorial Day weekend, it doesn't get much better than it did this weekend. It was also good to be back at WisCon again, though I did feel a little isolated by not going to the parties and other nighttime events. I didn't get much time with my friend Margie either. Apologies to our Madison friends that we weren’t able to get together this time. We definitely will in the fall for our yearly reunion.

Writing News

Lots of writing stuff to post today.

First, I'd like to spread the news about a dialogue contest being run on Nathan Bransford's blog. Nathan is a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. He's challenging people to post up to 250 words of dialogue and supporting description. The contest ends tomorrow at 5:00 Pacific Time (he's out of California). I posted a snippet from Thine Own Self. There are nearly 400 entries already, so we'll see Thursday morning if I made it to the finalist round.

Second, one of the writers I know, Maria Zannini, is celebrating the release of her debut novel, Touch of Fire, a fantasy romance. It's available here as an e-book and will be in print late next year.

Finally, and most exciting personally, I found out from Dragon Moon Press that copies of Firestorm of Dragons are on their way to me. I should receive them Thursday in time to bring them to WisCon. I'm planning to be part of Broad Universe's Rapid-Fire Reading there (reading from my short story) and will be selling copies of the anthology at their table in the Dealer's Room. I can't wait to see the book!

A Walk in Lilacia Park

Lilacs are one of my favorite flowers. I didn't get to see much of them last year since I was in my third trimester and couldn't get around very well. This year, we introduced Alex to the lilacs at Lilacia Park. The lilac season is past its peak, but there were still plenty of bushes in bloom. As you can see below, there were also lots of tulips too.

Every Breath You Take...

Yesterday was a busy day. (Actually, all of my weekends for the next month will be busier than normal. At least that should be good blog material.) I did laundry and then ran errands with Alex. We went to the bank, to the bakery to order the cake for his party, and to the grocery store. Eugene came home early from work so he could mow the lawn before it rained today. But we were rewarded for doing all of our chores, for we had tickets for the Police/Elvis Costello concert. My parents came down to watch Alex while we were gone. They arrived early so he had time to get used to them (he's got stranger anxiety) before we left.

We got to the concert about a half hour before it was supposed to start. We had seats on the second level--I wasn't going to pay more. I brought binoculars so we could get a better view of the stage. Amazingly enough, the concert started on time, with Elvis Costello opening the show. We knew only a couple of the songs he played (I never got into his music). The music was fine, but it didn't have an emotional resonance for me. Someone came out to duet with Elvis on one of the songs; Eugene identified the singer as Sting. It was hard to recognize him, since he had a hat pulled partly over his face, and his beard was scruffy.

After a break, the Police came out. I could tell from the first song that this was going to be a better show than the one we saw last year with Genesis. There was much more energy in the songs. I have to admit I didn't recognize all of them, since I have only two of their albums. But they did play the two songs I really wanted them to play, "Invisible Sun" and "King of Pain." (They did "Every Breath You Take" during the encore.) They played for less than two hours, but it didn't feel like that. Even so, I have to admit I just don't have the energy I used to. Gee, I wonder why?

Today, for Mother's Day, Eugene gave me tulips and a gift certificate to a spa. I also got a card from Alex with a partial tracing of his hand. (He doesn't sit still long enough for a full tracing.) We had both sets of parents and my grandmother over for lunch. Eugene did most of the cooking since I was busy with Alex; we had pork loin, orange and almond salad, eggrolls, rice, breadsticks, and vegetables. Eugene's mom also brought over more eggrolls and shrimp. The grandparents really enjoyed the time with their grandson. As for me, I'm looking forward to my spa trip.

Top Ten Reasons I Haven't Blogged Lately

10. I look at the floor, and I see it needs sweeping.

9. I have to sleep sometime.

8. Still waiting to get copies of the anthology...

7. so I can pick a section to read at WisCon.

6. There's still a lot to do before WisCon but precious little time to do it.

5. Getting ready for Alex's first birthday party.

4. I'm working on a short story, but I'm stalled, as usual.

3. I'm still trying to develop a query package for Thine Own Self.

2. Eugene needs quality time too.

1. All Alex, all the time.

We're Out and About!

It seems like work and chores and all the various little projects I want/need to do never end. Still, when the weather is as nice as it was today, it's time to get out and enjoy it. We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden this morning; we even beat the crowds. Here are a few pictures. I don't know why the top two are sideways; I rotated them when I uploaded them to my computer.

New Links

I added a couple of new links to the sidebar. The first and most important one is a link to the website for Firestorm of Dragons, the anthology which will contain my first published story. The list of authors on the site is currently incomplete (I'm one of the missing), but my short story is mentioned. The listing is also available on Amazon, though Amazon says it won't be available until June 1, while the website says it's coming out in mid-May. I hope the latter date is correct so I can bring copies to WisCon. There's already a book review available here, and it's a good one. It's going to be so exciting to see this book in print.

The second link I added is to the website for the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, or SPOGG. The site is actually pretty sparse at the moment, though the blog contains listings of bad grammar in action (so it can be corrected, of course). Still, it's important to promote good grammar, so I figure it's worth doing my part to spread the word.

The Ransom Note Birthday Card

In an effort to save some money, I'm trying to make my own greeting cards. I'm getting tired of spending $3 or $4 per card, especially when I may need several cards for one holiday. I don't have much experience with paper handling, although Eugene and I did make some things, such as our programs and rehearsal dinner invitations, for our wedding. I still wish we could have used some of the cool invitations from Paper Source, but that would have been too much and too stressful givn the size of our wedding. But we are going to make the inviations for Alex's first birthday party, and I'm also planning to make birthday cards for some of my friends. I already ordered some of the supplies I need from Paper Source.

Yesterday, while I was at Target, I checked out their craft section, as they have some cardmaking supplies. I saw they had letter stamps and inkpads, so I thought those might come in handy. Since one of my co-workers has a birthday tomorrow, I decided to try making a birthday card for her. I wanted to put "Happy Birthday, Name" on the front of the card and "From All of Us" on the inside, using silver ink from an inkpad. I've never used stamps and inkpads before, so I wound up overinking the stamps, and the extra ink wound up on the card. Even though I used a ruler, the letters wound up unevenly spaced and not lined up properly. Eugene joked that it looks more like a ransom note than a birthday card. I'm still going to give it to my co-worker, but I'm a little embarrassed about passing it around for my other co-workers to sign. We'll see if I go ahead and do it anyway. I just hope Alex's invites turn out better!

Settling In

First, an update on Alex: we took him to a couple of doctors Monday to get opinions on how to handle his recurrent ear infections. We first saw an ear, nose, and throat specialist. He recommended surgery to insert ear tubes. The pediatrician suggested a few other things we could try first, such as removing dairy from Alex's diet and giving him a different type of antibioitic. So we switched to soy formula, which Alex seems to be taking well. Unfortunately, Alex wasn't able to tolerate the oral antibiotic, and he had to have more intramuscular injections. But at least he seems to be doing better, although he's still sensitive to loud noises. We bring him back for a recheck next week and will (no pun intended) play it by ear.

Now that Alex is improving, someone else in our family must get sick to keep the universe in balance. This time, it was Eugene's turn to visit urgent care. He has bronchitis -- again. I hope eventually everyone is healthy!

Yesterday, my dad came for a visit. He secured some of our bookshelves to the walls and also tried installing a safety gate. (We need something else to finish the job.) After that he played with his namesake for a while until he tried putting Alex down for a nap in his crib. That didn't work too well. But at least I was finally able to unpack some of my books. Seeing them again was like reuniting with lost friends. There's still more to unpack, but at least now I can work on my office area when time permits.

As for today, after we went to urgent care, we went grocery shopping, came home for a while, and then had dinner with my in-laws at a restaurant. They too were suffering from Alex withdrawal. He generally behaved OK, though he got a little fussy toward the end. We also discussed plans for Alex's first birthday party. It's coming up soon!

An ER Ear-ster

Alex spent his first Easter in the hospital.

Alex has had several ear infections since January. We brought him to urgent care last Monday after a very fussy night and found out he had yet another ear infection along with a sinus infection. The doctor put him on Omnicef, a very strong antibiotic, and for a few days Alex seemed to be improving. Thursday Alex was very sensitive to loud sounds at daycare, and they even noticed fluid coming out of his ear. We brought him back to urgent care that night, and the doctor said his ear was improving. So when he had a low-grade fever Saturday, I thought it was teething and kept giving him Tylenol. Unfortunately, the fever got worse in the evening, and at 12:30 a.m., when it still didn't improve despite the Tylenol, we went to ER. According the doctor there, Alex did have another ear infection. Bloodwork showed Alex had an elevated white blood count, and that's why he had to be admitted to the hospital.

The pediatric ward was very quiet, since there was only one other child in the wing. It was nicely decorated, with murals on the walls, a playroom, and a gameroom/gathering room. Alex's room had a fold-out bed so parents could stay in the room, and the staff even brought in lunch and dinner for us. But it still sucked having to be there, especially when it meant we couldn't celebrate Easter with Eugene's family. We did bring Alex his Easter basket, which had a couple of stuffed animals, a couple of books, and a couple of toys. At least he really liked the giant, colorful glowworm. None of us slept well, if at all, while we waited for the doctors in ER. Alex was so overtired he couldn't fall asleep; he screamed no matter what we did. He finally got some sleep in the afternoon, after we carried him around the hospital wing. He also didn't eat very well. His treatment was a pair of intramuscular injections of antibiotics. He got the first one in ER and the second one in the evening, when we were finally discharged. We've spent this afternoon in following up with more doctor visits. Alex may have to have surgery if the ear infections don't clear up, but we're going to try a couple of other things first. I also hope that if spring ever actually arrives, Alex will stop getting sick.

Synopsis Writing and Other Things

I haven't blogged much lately since I was busy with the synopsis writing workshop held through OWW's focus mailing list. If you're not familar with synopses (as I expect most of you are), they're summaries of a novel used to pitch them to agents and editors. They have to sum up an entire novel (which can be over 100,000 words) in just a couple of pages, all while being clear in conveying plot, setting, and character development. No wonder many novelists dread doing them. For this workshop, we started off by reading some "how-to" articles and sample snyopses, then writing one of our own. I wrote one for Thine Own Self, previously known as Lennon's Line. Three people commented on my synopsis. Unfortunately, I got so swamped with work and taking care of Alex (as usual, he's sick) that I haven't had a chance to revise and resubmit my synopsis. I'll probably post it on the OWW workshop once I've revised it.

In other writing news, I'm rewriting the first couple chapters TOS, trying to make my main character more sympathetic. I also signed up for a panel at WisCon, but it'll be a while before I learn if that goes through. Even if it doesn't, I'm participating in a rapid-fire reading with BroadUniverse. Also, the website for the anthology A Firestorm of Dragons is up; this anthology includes one of my short stories. I'll have to post a link to the website when I have more time.

Not much else going on otherwise, just trying to keep up with work and the house and everything else I have to do. I need to split myself into two or more people to get everything done!

Family Party

I'm a little behind reporting on this, since it happened Sunday night. My cousin threw a surprise birthday party for my aunt and uncle. Unfortunately, my parents couldn't make it since my mom is sick. Alex handled it pretty well, given that it interfered with his bedtime. Here are a few pictures:



My uncle and aunt are in the center, flanked by my cousins Sylvia, Ilonka, and Dirk. Sophia, one of my flowergirls, is visible above my aunt's shoulder.














More of the family, including my cousin-in-law and some of my cousin's children.

An Actual Writing Update

Since it's Leap Day, I figure it's a good time to post a little bit about my writing projects. The way things are going this week with Alex teething, it may be another four years before I make any progress.

--I've decided to put my NaNoWriMo novel on hold while I prepare Lennon's Line (the old title; I'm trying to come up with a new one) for submission to agents. There are too many projects I want to work on, so I figure I should start with the one closest to being done. Besides, I'm getting a bit frustated with the NaNoWriMo novel and need some time away from it. What I really need to do is go back and reread it from the beginning, but I'm dreading that. I do need to make sure I go back to this project eventually; I put too much effort in it and got too far in it to give it up completely.

--The other main thing I'm working on right now is editing a friend's novel. I work on both of these projects at lunch, which I guess is more productive than poker.

--As part of working on Lennon's Line, I'm writing a synopsis for it. This is good timing, as OWW is starting a workshop on writing synopses next month.

--WisCon has put up the programming participant signup sheet on its website. There are a few panels I'd like to be on, so I need to sign up in the next week or two.

--I'm debating what to do about my Locus subscription. I don't have time to read it anymore, but at the same time I feel like it's unprofessional to stop my subscription. Maybe I can just skim the magazine or read the website more frequently.


And now off to do something that won't occur again for another four years: relax.

Detour

If we named snowstorms the way we do hurricanes, we'd probably be at least in the middle of the alphabet by now. (I don't know exactly how many it's been, but it's been way too many for my tastes. When does spring arrive again?) Last night we had yet another snowstorm. It wasn't as bad as originally forecasted, but it made driving messy this morning.

After getting me ready for work and Alex ready for daycare, I set off around my usual time. I drove slowly, the way I always do post-snow. As I made my way to the street leading to the highway, I noticed the cars in front of me were going more slowly than normal. When I got up to the intersection, there was a police officer directing traffic, beckoning me to go straight. Of course, that didn't fit with my iternary, and I started to make my turn. That's when I realized the street was blocked off. I couldn't see why, other than the street being covered with snow. So I obeyed the officer and drove forward, trying to figure out what to do. Part of me wanted to turn around and go home, but I didn't want to miss too many days of work. Since I had to cross a river to get to work, there was only one alternate route, and that was over local streets, going south instead of north.

As before, I drove slowly, slowly enough to annoy the people behind me, I'm sure. While I was at a red light, I called work and let them know why I was delayed. The roads improved once I got to the street leading to daycare. At this point, I was about fifteen minutes late for work. I got in half an hour late, but my boss was understanding about it.

The sun came out mid-morning, and the streets were clear after work. I had thought about trying to call someone to find out if the street was still blocked, but I figured whatever had caused the problem had probably been taken care of, and it had been. I'm still not sure what it was, but it could be flooding. Water tends to accumulate on the exit to the highway. As annoying as it was to take a long way to work, it beats having the engine stall out, especially when I have Alex with me.