(no subject)

I’ve been getting CDs from the library by artists I liked in high school. Sadly, what I’m finding is that I only like the songs that I knew then and not the new-to-me stuff. I guess it kind of underlines that this is not a style of music that really appeals strongly to me. Some of it, I don’t mind listening to once. Some of it, I start and immediately wish for the album to be done so that I don’t have to listen to more. I’m getting better about skipping songs and/or stopping in the middle of albums that aren’t working for me.

Cordelia’s best friend and her brother came over yesterday afternoon and stayed into the evening. The girls wanted to go to the band concert at their school. I think it was more because it was an Event than because they were strongly interested.

We had two friends over in the evening, and we played a cooperative board game where we were a team of firefighters. We ended up losing, but we were playing with the advanced rules, so we kind of expected to. If we’d been able to make it through two more rounds, we’d have won, but I really don’t see how we could have done it. We’d have had to be incredibly lucky on seven rolls of the dice (after each player’s turn, one rolls to see where new smoke appears. The location of that relative to existing smoke or fire determines whether what results is smoke, fire, or and explosion). At any rate, the game ended with the building collapsing.

I walked down to the church with cherydactyl to hack the portal. I was pretty out of breath by the time we got back here, so I guess that walk is something I really, really need to keep doing. It’s just hard as it gets warmer. I’m still not tolerating heat very well.

I think I’ve almost got the house ready for when the cleaning lady comes. I’m trying to get it done now because I’ve got a friend, evalerie, coming over in about an hour. I don’t want to have to be tidying after she arrives or to rush back here after we go out for lunch in order to load the dishwasher or whatever. I think, right now, all I have to deal with some laundry. I could be wrong, though. At the very least, I need to give the counters a once over because the cleaning lady will sweep small bits of foil or plastic into the garbage disposal.

Right now, we’re planning to go to lunch downtown, at Jerusalem Garden. That will let me run some errands after lunch. I want to go to the post office (to return the shirts) and the library (to deal with the missing CD problem), and both of those are less than a block from Jerusalem Garden. The bus station is right there, too, so I won’t have to go far to catch that home. Whether or not I walk around, doing Ingress stuff, will depend on how hot it is and how that’s affecting me. I told the cleaning lady that I might not be here when she arrives this week. I’ll be a bit surprised if I’m out that late, though, and I’ll certainly be back before she leaves.

I think that it will be slightly cheaper for me to pay the postage to mail back the shirts up front. I’m not absolutely certain, though, because I’m not sure how much they weigh. I don’t think, though, that it will save me more than a couple of dollars, so I’m trying to decide if that’s worth the extra trouble involved. I’m also debating boxes. I’ve got two possibilities. There’s an old Amazon box that’s about twice the size I actually need and a shoe box that’s exactly the right size but heavier than the Amazon box because each wall has a double layer of cardboard. The shirts won’t be damaged at all by tumbling around in the larger box, but carrying it will be more awkward (it’s a short box that’s quite long and wide).

Cordelia has a concert tonight. The seventh grade orchestra plays last, after the fifth graders and the sixth graders. This means that we’ll have Cordelia’s best friend and her brother after school again because the best friend is also in the orchestra. She plays violin while Cordelia plays viola. We’ll also have them tomorrow, but I’m not sure if we’ll have them next week at all because I’m not sure if Cross Country Kids will still be going on and because I’m not sure if Cordelia’s friend will be fasting for Ramadan. I’m pretty sure her brother won’t be because he’s nine, but she might. I’m mainly thinking that she might not want to come over here if she’s fasting because no one here will be and that’s sure to make it much harder. I suppose it’s up to her and her parents and what they all think is best for her.

The friend’s mother offered to take Cordelia clothes shopping for stuff she needs to try on but won’t look at with me or her grandmother. We’re hoping that going with a friend will make it more appealing. At the time of the offer, Cordelia was still on crutches, and I haven’t followed up now that she’s able to walk. I don’t think it’s even remotely urgent, so I’m going to email the other mother and suggest that some time after Ramadan might be appropriate.