October 27, 1991

We return to Middleton before 5.  JoAnna and I have started to talk more seriously about our December schedules and a holiday without Barb's oppressive omnipresence.  I spend the evening watching the World Series after finishing a paint-by-numbers police procedural, Exceptional Clearance.

October 26, 1991

After an uneventful day -- it rains nonstop practically, no chance to go for a walk to the park -- JoAnna and I spend the evening at her 10-year high school reunion.  I manage to find someone in my predicament -- Dan from Green Bay whom I met earlier at Gonya's -- and we watch game 6 of the World Series in the bar.

October 24, 1991

Is it post-award letdown?  An incipient case of Middleton burnout?  I'm not really very enthusiastic today, but I do conduct an effective Area Leaders meeting.   We're all agreed on how to deal with the noise issues; we're not a study hall.  Sharon reiterates her willingness to participate in the Saturday rotation again, which will begin in June.  I fast-forward to September.  Do we cut programming so I don't have to work every other Saturday?

When I return home, JoAnna is ready for bed.  She's not feeling well.  I fix myself 2/3s of a martini, which supplies me with a knockout punch at 8:00.  I crash, the excitement of the World Series not even registering.

October 22, 1991

I spend the morning taping tunes and otherwise putzing around.  During most of the afternoon, I stare at my workroom computer and continue to my nuts and bolts notes.  I've been ignoring this project for the past three weeks.  I take an early supper break so I can be at the reference desk from quarter of 5 to closing.  Chris Robbins just about drives me berserk.  Then the senior teen queens take their turn.  I walk home feeling exhausted and trying to bury the thought that I'm overpolicing the library.  I watch the final innings of the World Series (game 3) before going to sleep.

October 20, 1991

Sunday is basically a quiet and relaxing stay-at-home kind of time.  JoAnna and I finish up the yardwork.  I draw the line at digging up and turning over the garden area with a mattock.  Maybe we can rent a rototiller after all the leaves have fallen, I suggest.  After lunch, Andy and I ride our bikes to Marshall  Park.  (Eddie comes along, too.)  This is quite an undertaking for a 4 year old, and although he complains a little bit on the way home, he holds up very well.  As a result of our hour and a half of outdoor activity, both boys take long naps and I even doze off for a little bit during the late afternoon.

JoAnna fixes a fantastic supper:  roast chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes.  After kitchen cleanup, I catch glimpses of Game 2 of the World Series while continuing to force myself to get into what I'm beginning to consider a much overpraised new novel by Pete Dexter, "Brotherly Love".