Skipping Town

It's very strange to be back into the school schedule. After so many weeks of the summer being away, or having the kids get home at 9pm from XC practice, or being overwhelmed with work chaos, the past week has felt--at least for me and Andrew--much calmer. Of course the kids are adjusting to new classes and routines. But everyone's home by 6pm, we've been eating dinner together, we've been cooking real food, and we've actually seen the kids for more than a second at a time. Friday, 8/28, we had no plans after school/work. Unheard of. Lucia went shopping on Walnut Street with two friends, Greta came home to relax (she's somehow gotten a summer cold), and Andrew and I went to the pool for a while. Then the kids joined us at the pool so we could all have dinner together, and then we came home to watch Ted Lasso. Saturday, the kids had XC practice in the morning at Frick. Andrew took a run and I went walking with a friend. After that, Andrew made crepes for lunch, a...

The final week of summer flew by. The kids had official XC pre-season and were running every evening until 9 or later. We had a fun start to the weekend with Barbra and her family stopping overnight on their way from OH to NYC--such a great visit.  We went to Ross Park Mall on Sunday for long-promised, pre-school-year ear piercing at Rowan: third holes for Lucia, second holes for Greta. We even fit in a game of Scrabble and some Ted Lasso in the evening, a final free summer evening. Greta had Upper School orientation on Monday, where she met all her teachers and got her locker assignment. Then the kids had a XC scrimmage in Schenley, and then went to a teammate's house for a team pool party.  Yesterday was the first day of school, two Upper Schoolers to drop off now, and the school year begins. They already had homework last night. It's going to be a busy year, but they seem ready for it. It's always hard to leave summer behind; but we had a great one. Two weeks in NH, a we...

The past couple of weeks have been a blur of final preparations for graduate orientation, my office's biggest undertaking of the year. It is no easy feat organizing three days of events (35+) for almost a thousand grad students when the office consists of two people. This is my fourth orientation, and it has always been exhausting, but this year we added more events and it nearly did us in. I'm still recovering. And now I have to return forty black linens that I panic-ordered from Amazon when it looked like the catering team had dropped the ball on my massive linen order. Hassle upon hassle. But it's over. Unlike last weekend, when I had to work every day on preparations, I had a nice relaxing weekend. Some pool time, some nice meals, actually seeing Andrew and the kids.  On Saturday, Mom and Dad came in and we went to our favorite book sale of the year. It's a fill-a-bag for $15 sale, and we always find amazing things. We all filled a bag (or two). Then we went to a fe...

Our return from Cape May and re-entry into our crazy life did not go smoothly last week. Our return, from July 27 through July 31, was so busy and chaotic I didn't think we would get to the other side of it.  Monday: Greta had crew from 6-8am, requiring one of us to drive her to Verona at 5:30am and then sit in the Oakmont Bakery until pickup. One of us, meanwhile, drove Lucia to work. Then both of us went to work. Greta did geometry. One of us picked up Lucia. Andrew took Greta to math tutoring from 6-7pm. I had to lead a webinar for 400 grad students from 7:30-8:30pm. Tuesday: Same. Crew, Lucia work, our work, geometry, then piano lessons from 6-7pm and then XC for Lucia until nearly 9pm. Did we eat dinner? That question will be answered later. Wednesday: Crew, Lucia work, our work, geometry. Andrew had to wait at home for the gas company to come for a required gas meter update, which we'd put off so long we were notified that our gas was going to be turned off. Lucia had vir...

Greta and I got up very early Saturday morning and made a quick visit to Sunset Beach before the packing up began. The tide was in, so we didn't have much luck sifting for Cape May diamonds, but we did find a handful of polished pebbles, almost as good.  Then it was time to pack up the house and car, and get on the road, sadly. Our 11th annual Beach Week, our 8th in Cape May, has come to an end.  We were very happy to get home to the pets. We missed them. Today, Sunday, was a settling-back-in day. Groceries, farmer's market, menu planning, laundry. Greta hung out with friends for most of the day to celebrate a birthday. Lucia did some SAT studying and put up acrylic shelving in her room to showcase her expansive collection of Unicornos. I chatted with Beth at the pool for an hour.  And now we're facing a week of just mind-numbing busyness. The schedule we're juggling is just unsustainable--figuring out who's driving who where, and who's picking them up and when,...

It was our last day in Cape May. I got up early for a bike ride to Cove Beach, and then walked on the beach for a bit before biking back home. I spent time on the porch punch-needling and drinking coffee until finally gearing up for the beach. It was another beautiful day, and we stayed on the beach until 3:30. Lots of swimming and Spike Ball and reading. Greta had a long morning of geometry but took a break at lunchtime so she could have some beach time.  We'd planned on going out for dinner but changed our minds and just ordered some food from Mermaids Restaurant and Quincy's so we could fit more into our evening. After we ate, we went to the beach and got a couple of friendly strangers to take our family photo.  We had to return the golf cart tonight, so we made our way into town in a variety of vehicles, a logistical puzzle worthy of a McKinsey interview: Jeremy drove the golf cart with all three kids and one bike balanced on the back; I drove the Volvo with Molly, Mom, an...