More rain and reading

It's raining again, an early evening thunderstorm, and I am not happy about that. But I need to chill out and accept this as normal, which it is. The rains last week were really freaky, though -- people in the neighborhood were claiming to have PTSD, i.e., the rains seemed way too much like the floods of 2013. Our basement flooded slightly, and in fact the sump pump is still going on and off, spitting water down the driveway now and then. Colorado is weirdly unable to deal with water. Twenty months after 16 inches of rain caused floods, our soil is still overly saturated, water table still elevated, which is why we couldn't handle even 3 inches of rain last week. Very strange.

We did have a nice time at the ballgame on Mother's Day, though. Rocket Boy dropped us off near Coors Field and went to search for free parking, which was great except that I left the boys' coats in the car. So for the first part of the game, until their father finally showed up, Kid A made do with two shirts and Kid B with his Rockies blanket which he'd brought along. It was pretty chilly, but we warmed up with cotton candy, among other snacks (Cracker Jack, plain popcorn, Dippin' Dots, MORE cotton candy, etc.).


The ballpark had been completely covered in snow earlier, but when we showed up there was almost no sign of snow -- just a bit shoved under the seats, as you can see in this photo. You'd think it would melt and form a big puddle under the seats, but no. It was too cold for that. At one point a vendor came by with a tray of snow cones and hot chocolate -- guess which treat he sold out of? It was definitely not snow cone weather. We bought one cup of hot chocolate and shared it.

Our seats were good, almost right over home plate, but we were in the shade, which was not good. So after a few innings we moved over a few sections to find the sunshine. And then the sun went behind a cloud and the wind kicked up. After six innings I said it was OK with Mom, we could go home. We were home in time for me to make dinner! Happy Mother's Day! But no, really, it was a fun day and I enjoyed it, even if I did have to make my own special breakfast and dinner.

Now the second week of May is moving along and I'm (of course) not getting done nearly what I had hoped. So many things interfere with my plans, such as the dentist (had my second appointment today), some Professional Development stuff that my department is doing this week, and laundry. But it's OK. I did a little academic reading this week, though not my choice -- incomprehensible background reading for the faculty thing.

I'm also letting myself read for fun. I'm reading more Murakami -- Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It's not as easy to get through as some of his stuff, but I'm plodding along. I keep thinking I'm basically done with Murakami, and then I find myself reading more. I probably need to research more authors I'd like, because when I go to the library, I'm not enthralled by what I see on the shelf. For example, the dental hygienist last week saw my tortoise earrings and recommended that I read some books by Mary Alice Monroe which have something to do with sea turtles. So I dutifully looked up the books, even picked one up and opened it -- but then put it back on the shelf. I don't want to read heartwarming books about Women and their Families. Just not my thing, despite (or because of?) the fact that I am a Woman with a Family. So then I end up with Murakami again. Anyway, it's all good.

Back to my life, more later.