Dear Readers,

I don't even know where to start - this is Jes. You've maybe read about me here, I am Karl's wife. I am so sorry to report that The Monkey, Karl Kopitske, passed away Friday, August 22. It's hard to find words to talk about someone who was so beloved, and so verbose. I feel like I should keep it short, but Karl never would. He'd know just how to stretch this out to 4 pages, but I'm not the writer he was.

For those in St. Louis, we will have a public memorial service for Karl on Saturday, Aug 30 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Soulard.

Everyone he met loved him, and we will miss him more than words can express.
Goodbye, my monkey.

-Jes

One teaching week down, thirty one to go until next summer. It was a good teaching week, but I am exhausted. Being who I am, a rigorous teacher, I assigned all my students papers and thus I get to spend my weekend grading them.

During O week, when it's just teachers getting ready for the return of the students, we had an intramural event for team building. I fell during a running event. The runners before and after me both fell as well, so there must have been a slick spot on the floor. I spun onto my back mid fall so I wouldn't hit my head, but I did manage to bruise my shoulder blade and have been suffering a bit since Wednesday last. I think I may have also torn some connective tissue betwixt blade and back, maybe a cracked rib.

I've never been all that athletic, so I have no idea what possessed me to run. The principal has been sharing the security camera footage of our falls with anyone he can get to watch them. All viewers agree that mine is the best. It's good to play the fool at times, laugh at yourself, as long as you have Advil handy.

Elliot has been off schedule since I've gone back to work. Yesterday was rough as he got us up at four a.m. and neither one of us was able to catch a nap later - so we each had eighteen hour days. I'm letting Jes sleep in now and will try to catch a snooze in the afternoon.

I have a yen to go hit estate sales again, but I don't think I can make the time. Elliot is helping Jes sleep in right now by running his metal rattle over the floor vent like a cup on prison bars. BRB.

He's getting better with his balance. Thursday he did two free stands where he pushed away from what he had pulled up on. He didn't stay up long as the realization of what he had achieved sent him sprawling. He met two new girlfriends last night at Third Degree's Third Friday event - Jes was working the kiln forming table. Both little girls were within two weeks of him in age. One of them was tiny and already walking, the other was slightly bigger than him and right about where he is in both crawling and pulling up - though she is using the knee crawl a little more. It was cool to meet someone with a baby his size, as there aren't many. Oddly the mother had taken Jes' ceramics class at U.M.S.L. - small world.

Not much else to report. Work, bills, bed: your typical L.O.Q.D.

I just checked my statcounter and, even though I haven't posted anything new in weeks, people are still drifting by to check in. Throw a dog a bone. As the summer has wound down I've been so busy trying to get all those last summer plans accomplished that I haven't taken the time to write. I've also been more active on Facebook, getting my internet communication fix that way. In comparison, blogging sometimes seems much more about monologue than communication.

So... life has been mostly about Elliot and going back to work. I start teaching again tomorrow. I've gone down to teaching four classes, three of which are all honors students. I like the material and I'm sure the kids will be great. The biggest downside is that my workday starts at 7:15. This means that I have to get up at five a.m. to be fully prepared for my day.

Elliot isn't walking yet, but he can pull himself up to standing and wobble around in a circle. He's eating solids now: sweet potato puffs and Cheerios. His top two teeth are breaking through and he's sad about it. He's still eating like a champ and actually went through two Gerber's step two meals in a single sitting today - that's a record. We took him to the park this morning and did swings. I'm going to miss a lot of happy mornings.

I had to work late the other night. He was still asleep when I left and already in bed when I got home. I remember my own father used to come in my room at night, if he had missed seeing me during the day, and he would just lay on my floor and listen to me breathe. Winning the bread at what cost...

I suppose there is no sense whining about the travails of everyman, especially after having two months to hang out. I should be excited about my return to intellectual life after lots of lazy liberty. Ah well, five a.m. will come quickly.