{Virtual Coffee}

Can you believe it's Tuesday again and the end of September already? If we were meeting for coffee today I would say let's sit outside because I want to soak up every minute of this sun and 70 degree weather.

If we were really meeting for coffee today you might ask me what happened to my foot

and I would tell you that this karate class Riley and I are taking is much tougher than I thought it would be. Last night I thought I had broken my foot but this morning it wasn't swollen, only bruised and I can walk on it with minimal pain. The teacher reminded us that karate is a combat sport and not ballet and that she didn't want to hear any, "Ow! Ow! Ow!s" or any "Boo Hoo Hoo's". I have an inkling I may be in over my head. Especially when, during the last ten minutes of the class the more advanced belts stopped, suited up and did actual combat. What really freaked me out about it was how much Riley was a keener - my usual peaceful, non-confrontational son was so excited at the thought of getting to that level. Help.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would tell you about my girls' night out last week, the first one in two years and show you Linnear's Killer Shoes*.

I would also tell you that while I was out partying iMan and Riley engaged in some property defacing and would admit that this particular act of vandalism, writing in wet cement

is something I have always wanted to do.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would tell you about a new unpaid and thankless job I have been corralled into, that being a third grade math tutor. Riley's teacher this year is new to the school and more or less new to the profession. She offers a stark and welcome contrast to his grade two teacher who retired at the end of last year and who was wonderfully old-school. But his new teacher has very high expectations, in my opinion a little lofty for the beginning of grade three. Nightly Riley and I are working math until we are both nauseous, we even had 8 pages of math over the weekend that had me both cross-eyed and seeing red. Then I would also admit that the house has succumbed to its first of the school year viruses which, all in all, is pretty good since we usually get invaded within the first days of school.

If we were meeting for coffee today I would say I am woefully short of photos this week and short of words so maybe we would just go over to Amy's Lucky Number 13 and see if she has any extra of those Hillbilly Lattes laying about.

*These are not my shoes, but Linnear's. I could never wear these for even a minute, I'm not nearly that brave.