Homework

 

I'm taking today off. I can't pretend that it's not exhausting, making the long commute, being in the office and concentrating on various things with the big event--the upcoming operation--hanging over my head. I don't know how other people handle it, but I'm finding it hard to go more than two or three days without a break. So, instead of rushing out in the morning while everyone else is just finishing breakfast, I got to hang around, and watch M get m's free-spirited curly hair under control, and send her off to school.

 

Watching her upload that fairly heavy schoolbag with all its attachments on her skinny frame had me in stitches. She's off to pick up her friend at her house, and then they continue picking up other friends until they have a whole posse of kids making the 1k trek to the school. There aren't a lot of sidewalks in this area, but most of it is down backstreets, and the pack of kids definitely is more visible than if she were alone. 

I think I'll spend the day just staying healthy, maybe take a long walk down the coast. I don't know how long the recuperation will take before I can do yard work, and we figured it would be best to get the heavy stuff done now. So last weekend, I shoveled a ton of dirt we'd ordered from the pile where they dumped it in the yard (below) to the vegetable garden area to start preparing for next spring (though we might try to do a few winter vegetables, like broccoli or something).