September 21

Today is the last day of summer and it promises to be a beauty.  I've always loved autumn with its cool blue sky days and crisp clear nights...there's a nostalgia for the carefree early days of college too.

So I'm seriously considering Moms offer to take care of Enzo through the move.  He's definitely getting easier to care for...more independent, less attention-seeking, even if he is mischievous and rambuntious at times.  He might offer some sweet companionship to Mom at what could be a hard time for her, coming up on a year after Dad died.  And I have to admit that it would be a lot easier to do all that I need to do here without having to work around him.  The thing is, I've grown to love the fuzzy little thing...I'd miss his antics and his companionship.  But when I think about having the house on the market, needing to keep it clean enough for potential buyers (a lot cleaner than it is right now...) needing to devote long hours to school...it kind of makes sense to do this.  I'll talk with Mark about it later today.  I could bring him up the weekend after next.

We're starting to get emails from the real estate agents in Boulder, but the houses they're showing us are expensive behemoths...modern, angular...not me.  I'm trying not to be anxious about the housing thing and to let Mark do most of the real estate legwork out there and just concentrate on the top real estate stuff here.  Maybe we will end up renting something in town for a while.  Id rather do that than live in a behemoth.

Lea Ann came over last night for sushi and packing...I let her attack my kitchen cupboards...she has this knack for making order out of chaos...turning all the labels so they face out, all the round containers together, boxes ordered from talk to short...it's a gift, really.  And I love her for just telling me she was coming over, not asking.  She knows that I'm likely to say no, I don't need help.  But clearly I do...a lot!

Is there a way to buy food so that you don't end up with a quarter full box of whole wheat pancake mix...half a container of black currants you bought to make rice pilaf 6 years ago...?  I want to be
more careful about the food I buy and subsequently waste.

I really miss Mark this morning.  A lot.  13 days till I go back out.