How to accurately describe the sound made when you exhale in a deeply satisfying way? It's audible, to be sure; at least mine are. At the least there's the whoosh of air bidding the body adieu. Sometimes it's almost slightly horsey, like an equine's exhalatory snort though through the mouth rather than nostrils. In any case, a good exhale is one of life's simplest pleasures, and I have just experienced several. I was up many times last night , in part because of Ol's persistent beast of a fever which meant, wait for it, that he did not return to school today as I'd hoped. I felt full-scale lunatic this morning, don't remember driving Jack to school and only vaguely recall getting myself (and Ol) to the dermatologist. There I realized I'd never had breakfast, had a huge grocery list to wade through and a call to make at 10:30.

Oliver watched more TV today than I'd hoped/planned for.

Why on earth, you might be wondering, has she exhaled at all? Well, because my mother-in-law picked Ol up at 2:45, took him with her to get Jack and is now at baseball practice with them. As Tom is still out of town and I have to teach in Virginia in the morning, the boys are spending the night at Camp Grandparents tonight, and I am infinitely grateful and enormously relieved. I am so behind in all aspects of my life, and this afternoon intend to catch up in a few small ways.

It's gorgeous outside, and our sugar maple has started its annual speed-of-light transition from green to fluorescent yellow leaves; by tomorrow the full canopy will be a brilliant sunburst and by early next week, we'll have bags upon bags of leaves to rake up. Oliver and I raked the whole yard yesterday but you can't tell now; the leafy carpet is way too dense for even a blade of grass to peek through.

After a large party I'm catering a week from tomorrow and the one order I've taken for Thanksgiving, Em-i-lis Catering will be going on holiday via one-way ticket. The break will be welcome and good. Off to pull a pumpkin cheesecake out of the oven. It smells to the nines in here.