Cloudy with a Chance of Tomatoes

Saturday, April 20, 2013 – Cloudy with a Chance of Tomatoes

When Elliott doesn’t put in his hearing aids, he becomes the master of creative communication.  The latest example of this unique form of entertainment occurred yesterday while we were out taking a short walk on our street.  Heavy rain was predicted and the sky looked stormy.  A jogger passed by and called out that there was a tornado watch in effect until 10 p.m.  Elliott looked puzzled.  I repeated the information.  Then he looked even more puzzled.  “A tomato watch?” he asked, incredulously. 

He seems to forget to put his hearing aids in quite often.  In fact, he forgot to take them along when we went up to New York last weekend.  However, that didn’t prevent him from hearing the big announcement from Elisa and Christian about their engagement.  One week later, we’re still sharing the news with friends and family, and I’m settling into my new role as mother-in-law-to-be.  And I’m back to operating on DC time.  (It was on our most recent visit to the Big Apple that I realized New York City is in its own time zone.  Whenever I’m there, I automatically switch over to a stay-up-late, get-up-late schedule.)  Fortunately, I didn’t have any problem getting up at 5 a.m. the past two days when I subbed at Annandale High. 

It was been a stressful week for everyone, with thoughts of the Boston Marathon ever-present.  While I was subbing on Friday, I kept the television in the classroom turned on to CNN throughout the day.  The Convento Crew convened at dinnertime yesterday to celebrate Bud’s birthday and the well-being of Ellen and Michael.  Michael ran in the Marathon and Ellen was waiting near the finish line to greet him.  Ellen was positioned between the two explosions, and Michael was half a mile from completing the course when the bombs went off.  I’m so grateful that both were unharmed.  

As usual, our gathering was a lively one.  Inspired by Elisa and Christian, we shared the stories of our own proposals before sitting down for a German dinner prepared by Pam.  (I brought the veggie-wurst.)   Then, just as we were finishing off the birthday cake, the news came in about the capture of the second bombing suspect in Watertown.  We ended the evening with a sense of relief and satisfaction, tempered by sorrow for all of the victims.