Fumbling towards Stability

The Great Hotel Shuffle has ended and we are now in an apartment less than a mile from the house. Unfortunately we had to sign a three month lease, but the reality is that the cost of a not so great hotel for a month was roughly the same price as the three month lease. {Sigh}

Angie is better now that we are in our "Snug, little apartment." Her appetite has improved. If we would just get cable back, I think she would feel somewhat normal.

I still have not managed to peak at the state of my stitching. We saw black soot on the inside of the cabinet where I kept the silks and fabrics and I dread what I will find. I also unfortunately did not get to drop in the shopping mart at Hershey CATS this weekend. I was actually just a few minutes away, but we had more pressing family issues (my Grandfather in Law had surgery earlier this week) so I couldn't in good conscience go. I really only wanted to hit the Dinky Dyes stall--the wall of silks is a thing of beauty. Maybe next year. It was not what I would call a relaxing weekend, but we survived and returned home mostly okay.

And since I haven't stitched during the last few weeks, we are all going to pretend that the post titled, "Stitching Summary and September Goals," actually reads, "October Goals" and move on from there.

And again, in the absence of stitching, I have been reading.

The Artemis Fowl book was great. I'll be interested to see if this series continues.

The Little Grey Men is a wonderful children's book. Incredibly detailed descriptions of nature--I'm a bit envious because I could never pack that much detail into my stories. The woodland came alive and the last gnomes in Britain had quite a nail-biting adventure. I'm not quite ready to read it to Angie (just a bit more violence than I think she should handle at the moment), but probably in a few years, she'll hear it.

Sophie's World is subtitled "A History of Philosophy" and that is no exaggeration. I wish that my professors in college had made philosophy and political theory so interesting. There is a bit of a mystery attached too. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was very heavy reading. Not a book to pick up if you just want some brain candy, but a good book to read at some point. The really amusing thing to me was that while reading it, my real life was presented with quotes and ideas, and then I would read those same quotes and ideas in Sophie's World shortly afterwards.

Love in the Driest Season is a "Family Memoir" about a couple's attempt to adopt a Zimbabwean orphan just as the country is collapsing around them. The fact that the husband is an American journalist on assignment in that country at the time complicates things. An excellent book too. The Chapter "The Girl-Child" is wholly heart-wrenching. So many children lost--I can't even imagine how the woman running the orphanage felt--devastating to read. The end will bring tears to your eyes as well. I wanted to "do something" after reading this book, but I don't know what yet. Maybe it's that restless feeling of needing a change (other than the temporary change of scenery) rearing into my life again. I could not put the book down and finished reading it around midnight yesterday.

The only other news I can think of right now is that my SIL (technically my brother's girlfriend but close enough) was diagnosed with Lymphoma.

I can't even tell you how pleased I am that September is over. Not that October in Northeastern Ohio is a ray of sunshine, but at least September is done for the year.

I hope everyone has a good October.