Skipping Town

Finally, Greta's birthday was yesterday. The two weeks she has to wait after Lucia's birthday always seems to last a hundred years. But today was her day. It was not as I'd planned, for many reasons, too numerous and complex to go into tonight, in a birthday post.  But it began as our birthdays always do, with a giant 9 balloon, flowers, and two presents at the table when Greta came down in the morning. She requested pancakes with chocolate-chip faces for breakfast. Then the school day began--the kids are doing virtual school for two weeks--and went fine. The kids are really self-sufficient with it and navigate the platforms with ease. They had an exciting morning break, where they opened presents from Gra and Pop-Pop (who'd split their gifts for the kids between the two birthdays).  While the girls were schooling, I was working on Greta's room revamp--another beautiful transformation, if I do say so myself. There's a reading nook, a canopy over her bed, and lot...

Lucia turned 11 today, a day she's been looking forward to for MONTHS. I know all kids get excited about their birthdays but Lucia always seems to be next-level excited. It's such a momentous day. Of course, we couldn't go anywhere this year--last year we went to the Statue of Liberty the weekend between the girls' birthdays--but we had a fantastic day right here. Mom and Dad came over yesterday and spent the night so they could be here for the whole birthday. There were giant number balloons and a bouquet of flowers waiting for Lucia in the morning, and two small presents: a new Mad Libs book and a blind-item thing called Mini Brands, which is a golden plastic ball containing five mini food items, like a tiny box of Shake n' Bake. She took chocolate Hostess cupcakes to school.  While the kids were at school, Mom, Dad, Andrew, and I got to work on her big gift, a "room revamp," which included a new reading nook and bedding. We closed the door so we could m...

Early last week, my parents called to see if they could stop by for a brief visit with my aunt and uncle and give them a tour of the house. They did; we exchanged a few items and chatted; they left. Later in the week, they called again, saying they were heading to the Strip District with friends and wanted to stop over to show them the house. They did; we chatted; they left. Yesterday, Andrew, the kids, and I drove to Connellsville in the morning and spent the day at my parents' house. Andrew and I went out to do some final kids' birthday shopping, while the girls visited my parents' friend with a new cotton candy maker, played dress-up, and practiced walking on stilts. We all had dinner together, and then we went home.  I know the world is totally upside down right now, but these casual visits--popping in! visiting for the day!--are my own life's version of being through the looking glass, in a good way. We knew in theory it would be this way, and here we are. It's...