Doggies, Stoves, Baseball, Babies and the Undead

I was really pleased with myself last night. I remembered to pick up my copy of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer that was on hold at the public library.  So many folks in my Reader have been talking about how this book takes over their lives that I thought it would be the perfect thing to keep me from working on The Thesis.

Boy, I hit the jackpot.

I curled up in bed with the book at 9:30 p.m. last night. The first time it occurred to me to put the book down and go to sleep was over 200 pages later at 1:00 a.m.

My ass? It is dragging.

***

A., myself, A.'s parents and his older sister, K. and her 2-year-old daughter, S. spent the weekend in Denver watching the Rockies/Astros series. SO. FUN.

A.'s family stayed with us on Friday before we headed to Denver. (A. and I went to Denver Friday night and drove back home. It really was the best thing to do, logistically.)  My dogs woke A.'s niece, S., up in the middle of Friday night with wet noses and doggie kisses. They were wondering who was in the guest bedroom, and they snuck in there to find out, the little shits. This, apparently, delighted her like nothing else the entire weekend. All Saturday morning she chased them around, put her hand up to their mouths and said, "kisses? kisses?" When we returned home from Denver on Sunday night, she walked into my living room, looked up at me and went, "Where's Belle?" She wanted more kisses. I told her the dogs were outside and she ran to the back window to see them and proceeded to chatter at them through the window until it was time to hit the road again.

A.'s niece, S. is hilarious. She is fearless. (Except she has a complete melt down whenever her mom is away. Hoping she'll grow out of that!) She will try anything, including any kind of food. She learned how to dip ciabatta bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar this trip. She loved it! She also took her first ride on public transportation! Yay, public transportation! I may have taken a ridiculous number of photos of her on the light rail. I was so proud! I am really hoping the experience molds her in some way to be a huge advocate for public transit. We will have to wait and see, I suppose.

A.'s cousin plays for the Astros, so we were in Denver to cheer him on. It was hard not to cheer outright for my beloved Rockies, but Houston has a shot at the wild card and it would be great to see A.'s cousin have another go in the post-season, and possibly the World Series. He's played in one World Series before -- and they won! He hasn't been with the Astros for long.

I am not going to say outright who he is because 1) I've never asked him if I could mention him here; and 2)it would make this half-assed anonymous blog suddenly quarter-assed anonymous. Besides, it will be fun to sprinkle little tid-bits in here and see if you can figure it out! If you think you know who it is, e-mail me your guess and I'll let you know if you are correct or not. Please don't leave any guesses in the comments, though. Shauna at Pickles and Dimes guessed who he was with only a couple of clues. Think you can match that?

A.'s cousin played in both the first two games, and played well. He didn't play in the final game, but came in as a pinch hitter. He hit the tying RBI and was then brought in for the winning run! I was horse throughout Monday I'd been cheering so loud on Sunday.

We met his cousin's little ones. (Most family gatherings are in the summer, and they can't make it, obviously.) His daughter is three and his son is 10 month old. So chubby and adorable and I immediately understood why people threaten to eat babies. (I don't go ga ga over babies. I am telling you, he was ADORABLE.) He was getting tired and a little fussy and he was doing that thing where he just snuggled into his grandpa's neck? You know what I am talking about? *melt* He kept fussing, so Grandma gave him his little blankie. I am not exaggerating when I say that the instant he touched his blankie he sighed and cooed and was generally the happiest, most contented baby in the stadium that night. Even A. went, "awwwww...."

This probably sounds boring as hell, but damn, I loved being around the family all weekend.

***

It has already been getting chilly. Last week most of the highs were in the 50s and we've had at least five nights dipping into the 30s. A. hasn't hesitated to start a fire in the new stove. We are getting better at figuring out how to fire it so it is efficient, but so far it has always burned clean. Woohoo!

I started my first fire last night! Woo hoo! And holy cow, that thing is WARM. We haven't even run it long or very hot and the entire house has been plenty warm. Winter doesn't look so scary. For us. So, I've decided to volunteer to help get the information about the heat assistance program out to my neighbors and some low-income neighborhoods in town.

***

A. talked to the mechanic yesterday. The truck started fine and ran for ages. Of course. We couldn't,t get it started for days! (Oh, Universe. You are funny.) The mechanic said the fuel pump was getting really, really hot and that was the only thing he could think of that was causing the problems. We are having it replaced. Hopefully we will be back in the mountains getting our last couple of cords of wood this weekend.

I am considering driving the car, too. Just in case. A. thinks I am being ridiculous. I think I am making sure we get home again. What do you think?