Double fake-out

I got faked out twice today.

The first time was just after noon, when I finally got done rewriting the previous post (the first version got eaten by the computer during a spell-check). I opened the front door to check for the mail, and lo and behold, my front lawn was carpeted with a mix of Oak and Japanese Red Maple leaves. Both trees are still holding onto most of their leaves, but enough were on the ground to justify a raking, with everything that entails.

Since I spent nearly twice as much time blogging this morning as I had originally budgeted, and since I had already assumed I would be getting off the leaf-raking hook, the rest of my Saturday schedule was thrown into disarray. After bagging the leaves I put away my tools, took a quick shower, and headed off for an oil change. I raced from the oil change to Saturday afternoon Mass, strolling in only a minute or so late instead of my usual 5 minutes late. And that's where I got my second fake-out.

No fire-and-brimstone sermon on the evils of voting for John Kerry. (Not that my priest is much up to that, unless the topic is money and how to get it out of parishioners' pockets.) No guest lecturer on the topic of the election. No attempts at moral suasion. Not even mass leafletting in the parking lot (my car did get a pamphlet jammed in the door, probably due to the Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker prominently displayed in my rear window, but it didn't look like many other cars were similarly targeted.) I was pleasantly surprised.

Looks like tonight's Blue Sundaze show will go off as planned. I've got my fingers crossed. Hopefully I won't have a triple fake-out!