First

Today was Jarrah's first day of first grade. I'd like to give you details, but a certain someone is so jaded now that all I heard about was the chocolate chip cookies the teacher NEXT DOOR gave her kids. Though apparently chip-withholding, New Teacher is nice, classmates are nice (she made friends with a Jessica and a Hope) room is nice, and really, everything is nice. Next!

San Diego is apparently striving to become a cross between Florida and Boston, as the day dawned with thundershowers and morphed into the most extreme, sticky heat I've felt in like a year. I mean, it was 100 in El Cajon. (Yeah, maybe you're not impressed by that.)

The sticky continued into the afternoon, where we had a park date with Dani and Sophias' moms (I missed them!) and tried not to die of heat stroke. I'm referring to the moms, and all we were doing was sitting on a bench.

It was just as hot when I drove to the airport to pick up my friend Claire, and we headed for Little Italy for some dinner and a glass of wine at an outdoor table. No jacket required, or really, any sort of clothing, had it been that sort of place, and the neighborhood was chock-a-block with scantily-clad revelers, even on a Tuesday night after Labor Day. It's been a long time since we've had such a steamy night.

The type of night that leads directly to our next adventure. When I dropped Claire at Paradise Point, I was lounging on her couch and feeling jealous of her cool tiki-style casita when there was a dread skittering sound right next to my ear. A cockroach the size of a stylish clutch was scrambling up the wall. As I screamed (and screamed and screamed), I decided my house isn't so bad. Poor Claire, on East Coast time after a six-hour flight, struggled to stay upright while the cheerful porter whacked the walls with a towel and I cowered. Since I was trying to keep my eyes closed, I didn't see the intruder again until the porter came sprinting out the front door, bearing our little friend aloft on a couch cushion.

Seriously, dudes, biggest roach I ever saw. Shudder. Just to balance out a beautiful night.