Skipping Town

We invited our realtor over this morning to take a look at all the work we've done on this house so far and give us her opinion on whether our potential kitchen plans are aligned with the house's value. Not that we're selling--we just wanted her thoughts about the project. When we told her the cost we were looking at, she said, "Are you sure that's all?", which obviously was not our reaction, but made us feel better about the numbers at hand.  The girls came with me to work after that to help me with some orientation tasks involving stickers and notebooks. They set themselves up at a table in my office, in front of two big bags of Pittsburgh Popcorn left over from another department's event, and ate popcorn and stuck stickers and shared earbuds so they could watch a show on Lucia's phone. They of course managed to turn the work into a race, which was loud and silly enough to be annoying to other people in the office (eye roll). Then they walked home an...

Andrew and I both went into work today and left the kids home to do summer things. Greta cleaned up and organized her room, practiced piano, and did some math review and reading. Lucia practiced piano and did some math, then had two friends over to hang out.  In the late afternoon, we all went to Bakery Square so Lucia could get much-needed new running shoes. Greta and I went to Anthropologie; I bought a dress for an upcoming event. Greta actually spotted it at the back of a rack, behind another group of dresses, and we both knew immediately it was exactly what I was looking for.  Andrew made delicious steak sandwiches for dinner, which we ate outside on the deck. Then I played a round of Shuttles with Greta and then Lucia (I got this vintage game at a yard sale this weekend; one might still be in my parents' attic), and then all of us played Rummikub. Look at us, fitting in family games on a regular evening--and it was at Lucia's request.  A nice summer day all around....

Andrew and I went to the farmer's market this morning--it's the height of summer now, the very best time for corn and fruit. We got some enormous plums, a basket of tomatoes, corn, basil. I still hate cooking dinner but I do love food.  Both kids had plans today--Greta carpooled to a swim birthday party, and Lucia went sidewalk-sale-shopping in Shadyside with a friend--so Andrew and I stole an hour to ourselves to go up to the pool. I also food prepped for the week, cleaned up the house, and read. Andrew helped Lucia hang a few things in her room. For dinner, Andrew made a delicious low-country boil from a recipe in the last Cook's Illustrated--shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and corn. We ate outside on the deck. It was delicious.

It was a lovely summer Saturday. Mom and Dad came over in the morning and we all set out for the Friendship neighborhood yard sale. We had some successful yard-saling, and then went to lunch at Ritter's diner. After lunch, Mom and Dad helped me repot my giant jade, into a pot I'd gotten when I visited them earlier in the summer. It was a precarious repotting--the jade is enormous, and had been leading against the window where it lives; moving it even slightly made it fall over. I had to support its many branches while Mom filled the pot with dirt. Then it fell over. We had to add some bricks to the pot to keep it upright. I arranged all the leaves that fell off into a new pot, and I hope to nurture them into little jade babies. You can never have enough jades. Andrew and the kids went for a run later in the afternoon, and then we went up to the pool for dinner and a swim. We made the kids watch Good Will Hunting tonight, which was not at all well-received. 

Final two days of 5:30am trips to Verona for crew. The activities this summer have been amazing, but the kids are completely wiped out. Greta has dramatic and appalling callouses across her palms and can barely stay upright past 8pm. Lucia, a pillar of energy and enthusiasm for her camp of two-year-olds, came down with a cold this week thanks to a couple of sniffly twins. They're both sad to see their crew/camp end, but it will be nice for them to have a restful August. Summer is going so fast. They've had a really great one. I myself am emotionally pummelled because, this week, the girls and I watched the most difficult episodes of This Is Us: the fire and Jack's death. They're no easier to watch this time around. We are all very invested in the Pearson family. In Maplewood, Andrew made me watch these episodes in the basement so my reaction wouldn't upset the kids. Work for me has gone beyond crazy into a kind of gray zone of mania. Just one more week until orienta...

Another insane day.  6:00 am - Greta crew 8:15 am - Lucia work 8:30 am - Andrew work 10:00 am - Margo PT 11:00 am - Margo work 11:00 am - Greta pickup 4:30 pm - Lucia pickup  5:00 - 7:00 pm - late work meeting for Margo After all that, the four of us managed to get to the pool for dinner and swimming. Only two more days of the kids' summer crew/work activities; then at least we can eliminate all the driving around.