Wednesday Before Leaving

Departure week continues. More goodbyes with friends last night. Yesterday L&G played with the girls across the street, and today L&G had an all-day (masked) playdate with all the neighbor kids, running feral from yard to yard with a gang that ranged from first grade through fifth. They played games, ran around, swung, bought ice cream from the ice cream truck. They didn't come home until 7:00pm. It was exactly the kind of suburban summer day we imagined long ago. And, of course, we're leaving right when the kids can start playing together after the long spring. We should have FORBIDDEN them to play this week just so we could have had an easier departure. Alas.

Today we got some surprising news: the girls will be going to school in-person on September 8 (Lucia) and September 10 (Greta), instead of the originally planned end of September. All the things I'd put off doing, thinking I had several weeks, I suddenly had to do--most crucially, order uniforms and masks. I actually had to spend this entire day on the porch, because we had a team of painters here doing some repairs and touchups, and Farrah couldn't be inside since there were guys all over the house; so we hung out on the porch instead of Preparing For The Move, which drove me crazy. 

Tomorrow the buyers are doing their home inspection, which will take most of the day, so we're going into the city for a final (for now) visit. 

There's not enough time for any of this. We leave in three days.