Following Colin's nose

Monday, while the children were at school, I retrieved their books from their rooms and set them up on the kitchen counter. This was meant as a suggestion for when they arrived home. The read-a-thon is in full swing. Their teachers had also encouraged them to spend time reading at school, so they were initially reluctant to dive in again, but by the end of the night, they had all participated.

I tried to get Colin going after I finished work, but he wanted to read The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson #3), and we didn't have it. I looked on Libby, but all copies were in use at both libraries. I didn't want to pay $6 for an ebook. I checked the library for physical copies, and some were available, but not at the Queen Anne branch. I told Colin he could put it on hold and have it tomorrow or Wednesday. He asked if any of the copies were nearby. I looked again at the list and saw Magnolia branch. He asked if we could go. I checked their hours—open until eight. So, we drove over there while Nicole was making dinner. Rachel came, too. Colin set to reading right there in the library while we waited for Rachel to browse the shelves, and kept his nose in the book while walking back to the car.

I managed to sneak in one chapter of my book—Of Human Bondage—after dinner before Maisel time. I'm about three quarters of the way through. We watched one episode, and then one of Demon Slayer, too. That can't go on for too many more days before we run out.

It was Rachel's first Monday post-basketball. She was excited to be less sore. But then she was demonstrating how high she could kick in her socks and slipped on the wood floor and fell on her butt, so she might have new bruises again tomorrow.

The word of the day is atout, which rhymes with a sneeze but means trump as in cards. It also means an opportunity for success, by analogy, which is how the book used it, talking about Madagascar's history of self-sabotage.