Thoughts on a rainy day

• Rainy days are perfect when you can stay at home, read books, simmer soup, and drink coffee. Today we had company, doctors appointments, piano lessons, and work meetings. It is a very long, wet day. 
• I've read over 60 books this year and it's not even November yet. I was internally feeling pretty proud of this accomplishment and then the other night Roy mentioned, "Hey, guess what? I'm closing in on reading 150 books this year!" #whatever
• Owen is reading a Clifford book next to me and he looks like he's about to burst into tears. I know of no Clifford story tragic enough to induce such emotion. (I just checked. It was called "Clifford and the Grouchy Neighbors." I suppose an extrovert could find that distressing.)
• I've been put on a running sabbatical by my doctor. I've had mild hip pain since the summer that's progressed into round-the-clock aching. Especially annoying in bed. I'm on week two of three and today I walked on the treadmill and didn't feel my hips pop with every step. Progress! I miss running a lot--I miss the endorphins and excuse to indulge in mindless entertainment and actually feeling WARM.
• Last week we had a ham. I've never bought a real ham before. This was an 8 lb sucker (smallest I could find) and I've eaten enough ham since Friday to last a lifetime. The recipe included a mustard mornay sauce that is divine. The past two mornings we've had thick slices of toasted bakery bread topped with ham, eggs, and mornay. Sick as I am of ham, that is one tasty breakfast. (Did I mention that I've missed running?) 
• Our church, in light of the recent resignation of our pastoral team, has been on FIRE lately with guest speakers. It's like a best-of-Free-Methodism masterclass. I've been refreshed and am even journeying down the path to restoration. (Something I wouldn't have guessed if you had asked me two months ago.) It's been a real treat to plan services knowing that the Word of God will be presented with such wisdom, experience, and humility.
• Simone Biles is probably not human. It's so hard to describe to anyone (and I'm aware that it's probably embarrassing for me to try because next to zero people care) how superior her gymnastics is to any other. You can watch her routines and it's like, "Wow!" But I dare you to sit down and watch a 2 hour gymnastics meet, full of dozens of other elite, world-class athletes, and fit her routines into that context. "Wow!" turns into "... ... ..." There are no words. (And, quite honestly, I get tired hearing the announcers try to put it into words. So watch that two hour meet with the volume off.)

Time to get the babe up so I can pack up the boys and splash our way over to some very wet, cold piano lessons.