It was a rainy day.

That's the first line in The Puddle by David McPhail, a gift from the B's on Harper's third birthday, which has been a favorite of all three kids.

It gets easier and easier not to blog, so I decided to open up the screen and do another random post in which I sit and jot down thoughts in between the Monday house and school work. Here goes:

1. It IS a rainy day here in Houston. Is it wrong that I am super happy to home school on days like today, when the thought of hauling everyone into the car in the pouring rain in order to drop kids off at school makes me panic.

2. Helena does NOT like thunder. She calls it "boom boom boom" like in Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? She is also highly opposed to leaf blowers and lawn mowers, and uses all three as an excuse to cry inconsolably, especially when she is awakened from her nap. I guess the good news is that she'll rarely have to experience all three noises at once.

3. We are getting a little more serious about the house search. We drove out to see some new construction, and I was greatly dismayed to note that in the house just across the street from the model home, there was a group of guys watching the big game in comfy chairs out in their garage. Their cars were parked elsewhere. Then I felt bad for being so judgmental and snobby, because it really was a nice evening to be outside. Then I felt even worse to discover that this particular neighborhood was above our desired price range.

4. Speaking of class bias, I watched a little of the New Hampshire debates Saturday night and I liked when Rick Santorum lectured Mitt Romney about using the term "middle class," because of how it exacerbates class warfare. Though I'm not sure that switching to "middle income wage earners" is going to assuage any doubts I have about whether or not it is okay to consider one's garage a "media room."

5. Hudson loves socks. He wears them at all times (even with Keens. ESPECIALLY with Keens.) unless he is in the bath. IF the socks have to be removed for some reason (play-doh infestation, for example, as happened yesterday evening) there is extreme consternation expressed.

6. Two hours have passed, it is still pouring (flash flooding, in fact), and Hudson is squealing at Helena over rights to a certain firetruck. I am now beginning to realize that maybe getting out in the rain to drop everyone off might not be so bad after all. He just asked her to "please go elsewhere!" and she ran into the kitchen and yelled, "I'm elsewhere!" then she ran back in and tried to convince him to let her put his hair into a ponytail. He declined, and not very politely. In fact, there may have been a scatological reference. Also, there is play-doh all over the floor.

7. I just had to dispose of a very large dead roach. Better than a live roach, but still. My mother-in-law, who was here this weekend, refers to roaches as "water bugs." I think I might write a short story entitled "Let's Call a Roach a Roach, Shall We?"

8. Now it's time to review our memory work because our co-op starts back this Friday. Harper has already informed me that SHE doesn't NEED to review because she remembers it all perfectly. I shall attempt not to gloat when I have to prompt her on "Magellan Circumnavigates the Earth."

9. I have decided fairly recently that I think college and professional sports are mostly STUPID. I realize this is a highly unorthodox opinion. I realize it puts me at odds, not just with the guys who were enjoying a game in their garage, but also with every single person on Facebook, and, possibly, on the planet, regardless of their "low, middle, or upper income status." HOWEVER, we watched the final quarter of the Denver-Pittsburg game last night (I confess to wanting to see the Tebowing with my own eyes) and I might have softened my opinion just a touch. I will not be painting my face or yelling like a savage with my fist raised in the air anytime soon, but maybe I get it a little more than I did. I told the kids that the Tebow was home schooled and they thought that was nifty. Harper said, "Plus he has curly hair!" and I agreed that the Tebow would indeed fit right into our family.

10. And there is now drumming. Which is the sound that makes me want to cry inconsolably.

11. Helena has learned to ride the scooter. It has its own verb in our family: "scootering."

12. I just boiled some eggs for myself and Harper duly noted that the refrigerator now smells flatulent.

13. I have 5 library books about Albert Schweitzer sitting on my desk. He was referenced in a novel I read over Christmas and I remembered he was one of those fellows I'd always wanted to know more about. I have already realized that a biography that includes lines like, "The obligation of truth prohibits all tendentiousness," is going to be, in the words of my favorite pithy philosopher Donald Rumsfeld, "a long hard slog."

14. I haven't taken a decent picture in weeks. There is very little natural light in our house this time of year. See?
This was actually a very touching moment in which Helena dressed up in a Cinderella costume and my reading glasses from the Target Dollar Spot and pretended to be an elderly Russian ballet instructress schooling her student in the exacting art of the arabesque.

Well, the rain has stopped, and so will I.