Sara has been sleeping in her own bed for several months. We wondered if it would ever happen, and now it's routine. Children seem to grow like that. I watch her pretend to read - flipping through book pages and making up stories to go with the pictures. I know she'll be doing it for real soon, and it will seem quite natural. There are so many details involved in growing up; it's a wonder we ever manage to do it. Then we get grown up and forget what a wonderful thing it is.

I'm so busy at work that I got cited by the fire marshall for having such a cluttered office. This is not a joke. The only reason the fire marchall didn't take a photograph of my office for his report was that Linda, the departmental maintenance supervisor, is a good friend, and she was able to promise him I was in the process of cleaning up. This is actually true. I started cleaning up at the beginning of the semester, and just got sidetracked.

This has been a lovely autumn. The leaves are falling and covering the ground with beautiful shapes and colors. It looks like a jigsaw puzzle photograph, and provides a lot of amusement for Sara and me as we collect leaves, nuts, and berries most days. It has also been quite cool, and there have been no hurricanes.

The recent midterm elections didn't turn out entirely according to my personal preferences, but I suppose it's just as well to have some balance in government. Each party should have the opportunity to make a mess of things. That way we don't forget why we have a two-party system. My guess is that the newly elected people will ride high for a few months, and then get down to the business of botching things up as badly as the previous people.