Pixie knocked the protective cardboard box off of the phone and erased everything on the answering machine. She's still curled up next to the phone. Pleased with herself, I'm guessing.

I way prefer the French almond macarons to the coconut macaroons, but I do like a good coconut macaroon (when I find one that is). Franny tells me that the pumpkin macarons at TJs are her new favorites, but have you tried the vanilla ones they sell in packages of chocolate and vanilla? Oh. My. God. Unbelievably good!

I have to grade 10 papers today, and visit my sister if I can find the time. Oh, and do the grocery shopping. Better get cracking.

For once, I don't have to grade over the weekend (I usually give a quiz each week, but I was a bit behind schedule and needed to catch up before the midterm, so I used the usual quiz time for an extra lecture this week), but since the midterm is tomorrow, I'm going to have a ton of grading during the week. I also have to respond to a student who keeps sending me emails like "There is a problem with the homework" where I have to email back and forth with him about three or four times before I can find out what he's actually trying to tell me.

I had crutches handy from when I was a kid until I was in my 20s. Aikido helped me cut down in ankle twists a lot. But not entirely--or maybe the grace has worn off in the years since I stopped practicing. I had to borrow Amyth's crutches a few years ago.

"There is a problem in the homework in that I have problems o solve in the homework you assigned. Please explain the stuff you explained in class over e-mail, because it is homework."

Like that?

Mmm. I have been to the store already, and have chili on the stove. And a cat glommed tight onto my lap -- I know it's fall.

I have never had to use crutches, either, which is a damned miracle considering that for years I consistently tripped over air and dirt and my own feet enough that it was a running joke: "Strix fell; must be a day ending in -y."

We should have known that a tropical storm/hurricane sharing a name with Karen from Will & Grace would head for the largest concentration of booze available but stumble and fall before it got there.

Now I want macarons. There's a place near my gym (how counterproductive is that?) that makes them in all kinds of flavors, including passionfruit, Earl Grey tea, and whiskey.

"There is a problem with the homework"

I'd be so tempted to say, yes, I gave you a whole set of problems to solve. That's what math homework looks like. I get the same kind of thing, students telling me they are having trouble writing the paper. Yes, that's right, that's how you learn in a writing class. You write the papers, and you tackle the challenges that come up during the writing.

Earl Grey! Oh, that sounds good. Maybe I'll bake something later.

I've been reading on my laptop all morning, and my eyes need a break. I have to look into computer glasses, I think.

That's what math homework looks like. I get the same kind of thing, students telling me they are having trouble writing the paper. Yes, that's right, that's how you learn in a writing class. You write the papers, and you tackle the challenges that come up during the writing.

I work in a corporate training department, and one of the things that has been a hard, hard sell for us is that one of the ways people learn best is by having a challenging time of it and actually - horror of horrors! - getting things wrong.

In other news, Finnbarr Fancypants has settled in like a champ. Unlike Jeeves, he's willing to eat things other than kibble. So far this has included not only wet food but rice, applesauce, coffee, and chicken. He even made an attempt at the bleach, but was foiled.