What I Did on My October Vacation

5 - Number of consecutive days away from the office (three workdays, two weekend days)


148 - Minimum number of photos taken over those five days (don't worry; more than half got junked, and only a third made it into tonight's big Flickr dump)


3-2 - Final tally, in my favor, of the best-of-five series of Scrabble games with my mother-in-law


3 - Approximate number of miles Julia big-wheeled over the weekend, in four long rides


11 - Number of Halloween pumpkin cookies which Julia made with her Nonna


5:45 a.m. - Genevieve's estimated average waking time


55 - Estimated average daily high temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit


1 - Number of parked Cadillac Sevilles which Genevieve stopped to kiss repeatedly on the rear bumper (sadly, I didn't have a camera handy to capture this display of precocious consumerism)


34 - Number of kilometers (about 21 miles) traveled in a long-anticipated rollerski on the Cannon Valley Trail (documented on Flickr, if you're into that kind of thing)


93 - Age of Shannon's Grammy, whom we visited with early happy birthday wishes


1 - Number of nocturnal charleyhorses in my left leg


5 - Estimated total number of additional hours Shannon was able to sleep while I was home


4 - Number of sights which sent Vivi into a tizzy of concern and worry on our Monday afternoon walk (a passing school bus, a tipped-over garbage bin, an elaborate set of jack-o'-lanterns, and an abandoned basketball)


1000 - Percentage increase in my personal happiness

Forecast: Significant blowing and drifting, with the possibility of heavy accumulation in rural areas.