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Delia's school is doing Jump Rope for Heart again this year. They'll be jumping rope during gym class to raise funds for the American Heart Association. This year, we're feeling more strongly about heart related research and issues due to the situation with Scott's father. Delia's donation page is here if you feel inclined to give.

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Scott's been gone since Monday. He had a connecting flight in Charlotte which fortunately wasn't affected by Sandy. He actually arrived in Sarasota while his sister was waiting for her flight back to Michigan. They were at gates across from each other, so they were able to say a quick hello before she boarded. He says he should have brought her birthday present with him. As it is, it'll be a couple of weeks before he can give it to her.

Tuesday was so cold and wet that they canceled soccer practice. Left on their own, the high school kids who're the official coaches might not have gotten around to officially calling it or to letting people know that they'd called it. Scott's the one who actually sent out the e-mail telling people there was no practice. He told us the night before that, even if we didn't get word that practice was canceled, we shouldn't go. The weather was that miserable. Of course, it's going to be just as cold when we play at 9 a.m. on Saturday. It just won't be wet.

It's weird not getting phone calls from Scott during the day. He normally calls me while he's on his second break at work, so I expect a call between 1:00 and 2:30. Instead, he's been on AIM quite a bit, and we've talked that way. In the evenings, we do brief family video chats. Delia sits on my lap, and the three of us talk.

Wednesday morning, it was raining while I walked Delia to school. That didn't make me optimistic about the evening. I spent part of the day trying to figure out how to layer Delia's costume to keep her warm. The costume is sleeveless, but Scott bought a white shirt, a thin, white shirt, to wear under it. I dug out a pink shirt and had Delia wear both shirts. It didn't look great, but it was one more layer. I also gave her a thin shawl that she seemed to think was pretty. She wasn't willing to wear her coat or her jacket over her costume.

Our friend, dspitzle, came over to take Delia trick or treating. I would have problems walking far enough or long enough for trick or treating, and somebody needed to stay here to give out the candy. One of Delia's friends and her father, joined Delia and dspitzle.

There were a fair number of trick or treaters during the first hour, between six and seven, not as many as I expected based on years past, but still a respectable number. There was almost nobody after seven, and I think I got one person, a teenager, between seven-thirty and eight. We have quite a lot of tootsie rolls left over. I traded some of the leftovers to Delia and her friend for stuff they didn't want, but Delia only likes the fruit flavored tootsie rolls.

Our jack o'lantern this year had, as closely as Scott could approximate, the Greek tragedy and comedy masks carved into one side. I don't think it could be clearly seen in the dark, but that was the design Delia selected.

Today, I had lunch with odosgirl. It had been a few weeks, so we had quite a bit to talk about. She'd made two trips, one to Philadelphia to see a Thomas Paine play that she hopes to arrange to have put on locally and one to some place in New York for a conference on Thomas Paine.

Tomorrow, most of the day will be spent with one door or the other wide open to the elements. The process is supposed to take half a day per door. I'm going to ask them to work on the front door first, and while they do, I'll probably take refuge in the bedroom. If I close the door, it may stay warm a little longer. I'll likely stay in the living room while they do the back door.