Friday Night

It's Friday evening, and the kids are occupied with Mario on the Wii, the dog has taken over the bed, and outside it is raining.

Today we registered the boat with the state, and paid the user tax (like a sales tax on an out-of-state purchase when you don't pay sales tax in that state) so we could get the title and registration, along with the required stickers.

College football season starts tomorrow; Purdue plays Toledo and will hopefully win the game. Although no one is expecting Purdue to burst out in the first year under Coach Hope, there is always a possibility that they will have a great season -- Purdue went to a bowl game following a dismal year in their first year under Coach Tiller; Minnesota went to a bowl game their first year under Coach Holtz. Precedent!

The Betsy-Tacy high school books are being reissued, and I'm very excited! Each book contains two volumes, and the covers are using the original Vera Neville artwork. (See the covers and read what the editor in charge has to say about them on her blog.) They were my favorite books growing up, and I reread them often, even more than the Little House books and the Louisa Mae Alcott books. I readily confess that, as an adult, I have continued to reread them. Maud Hart Lovelace's fine writing and attention to historic accuracy, along with her focus on family dynamics, gives the books an authenticity that lasts.

I read the books to my own girls when they were small, and they went on to read them on their own. (When my older daughter realized she could read independently, it was Betsy-Tacy she chose to tackle, rereading the first chapter for two weeks until she could read it smoothly.) These days I often hear one or the other of them say, "That is just like what happened to Betsy!" or "Didn't (fill in here) happen in one of the Betsy Tacy books, Mom?" In October I will be buying the new editions. As often as we reread them, we can never have too many copies.

The kids have gone up to bed, and it is quiet in the kitchen except for the soft patter of rain outside and the tick of the clock over the doorway. Another Friday night draws to a close.