Toasted the Holy Father with apple cider after dinner. Then tried to walk in from the backyard and tripped on the back steps. Could I stub my toe like a normal person? Nope, because when you're weird like me, you can't even get hurt in normal ways. Caught my toes on the stairs and skinned the underside of two of my toes. Good grief. You probably didn't need to know that, but I thought I'd tell you anyway.

This afternoon was interesting. I had my first proposal of marriage. No, it wasn't from my sweetheart. I took my mentor and his wife up on their offer to "drop by." I called first, of course, because that's how I was raised. They said a lot of people drop by unnanounced and uninvited, and Mr. Riley grumbled that some of them even stay a few days. I just was not brought up to do things that way, though. As a visitor, you don't want to inconvenience other people. I apparently wasn't inconveniencing them, though. I stayed for two hours, and they seemed sorry to see me go. Mr. and Mrs. Riley were lovely and hospitable, and their three children not badly behaved. They weren't lovely and quiet, but at 6, 4, and 3, lovely and quiet would have been very surprising indeed. The three year old, a boy, is absolutely charming and I think handsomer than the other two. He has an extremely sweet smile, and a sweet disposition too, at least as long as he's getting his way, but that is normal for three year olds. He was shy and didn't even want to come out of his room at first, but eventually he warmed up. He came out and sat on his mother's lap and smiled at me. His 6 year old brother teased him about liking me and told him to come give me a hug, but he shook his head and said no. After about half an hour, he did come over and give me a hug, and then another hug, and then he sat on a chair about his size and faced me. His parents and siblings and I were carrying on about three conversations, but he looked at me, smiled his adorable smile, and said "Will you marry me?" I said, "I think you're too young for me." Then he asked me how old I was, and I told him, and then our little conversation got interrupted by his brother announcing to their parents what was going on. It was so cute, really. The little guy didn't want me to leave--he asked if I would eat dinner with them, and when I said no he asked me to come back tomorrow, and then his mother suggested that he just request that I come back soon, to which I relented. So, my first proposal at age 18, and it's from a three year old who can't even say my name correctly. We do have the same birthday, though. And his brother now says I'm Ben's "girlfwend." I wonder if my sweetheart will object to his competition.

By-the-by, Mr. Riley has now published an ebook of his poetry.