An Inauspicious Beginning

I had misgivings about the day when it started like this:

First, the 10-yr-old spills his bowl of cereal all over the table. We rush to clean it and manage to keep it from getting on the floor, his clothes, etc. Phew.

Second---we're running late by now---the 8-yr-old spills his entire bowl of cereal. All over his lap, his chair, the floor. All. Over. The. FLOOR. It takes much longer to clean this spill. He goes to change his clothes. By now we are definitely late.

On the way out of the driveway, I notice a bird behaving strangely. I watch for a few seconds and realize he's swooping down out of the sky, diving for a big cat and jabbing at him, flying back up and swooping down--peck--over and over. The bird was chasing the cat.

At this point I'm wondering if we should all go back inside, climb into bed, fall asleep, wake up and then start over.


**Nothing stranger than usual happened the rest of the day, though I kept waiting and watching over my shoulder.