I have an update for you about how we have been sleeping. The next night after Max was up all night (I think that this was the night before last?), Max was fine and sleeping well. Then at 3:30 this horrible super loud trilling began. You know how it's sometimes hard to figure things out when you're sleeping? In my dream, someone handed me an old-style phone, like the kind from 30 years ago, and I was dialing, and then the phone made this awful noise. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, then woke up enough to know that the sound was real, and that it was a cricket. I groggily closed the window, since we have lots of crickets outside. But the cricket was still loud, so I thought that maybe we had left the back door open. I got up to close it. And I want to emphasize how loud that cricket was. LOUD. At least as loud as our smoke alarm. When I left the room, I found that 1. the back door was closed, and 2. the cricket sound was so loud because it WAS IN OUR ROOM! I couldn't believe it. It sounded like it was coming from the closet, so I headed over there as Spencer cried out from the bed, "I'm doomed to never sleep again!"

Story paused: We understand this happens with babies, for those of you who are starting to get ready to comment "Just wait until you have a baby!". Calm yourself. The beauty of our situation right now, however, is that we don't have a baby, and we very much enjoy sleeping through the night with that appreciation.

Story resumed: Anyhow, I saw a bug on the closet door, but it didn't really look like a cricket. Not willing to take any chances, though, I got the vacuum and deftly sucked it up. It would suck to have it escape into the depths of the closet. So in the morning I opened up the vacuum canister to see if the bug was still alive. Coincidentally, I had emptied the canister after I vacuumed last weekend, so it was empty except for the bug! The bug was still alive, so I took its picture:


I noticed that its wing broke a little during the vacuuming. Upon some internet researching, I found that this bug is a California Tree Cricket. It's a male, which you can tell from its broad, flat wings, and males are the only ones who chirp. They chirp by rubbing their wings together, so it's possible this one was unable to do so after his capture since his wing broke.

Last night there were no interruptions to our sleep, and we slept all night, though the night was short for Spencer because he didn't go to bed until around 2 I think. He got his grant proposal turned in today though, and I read it this morning and it's awesome.

In other news, my knee mri showed that I have a torn meniscus. I see the orthopedic surgeon on Monday to discuss the next course of action, which might be surgery.

Also, don't forget that tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day! I learned today that it was invented by a couple of guys from Albany, Oregon. Yarrrrr!

In other other news, my bread and butter pickles are done! They are delicious. Thanks for the recipe, Grama.