Skipping Town

Another double-length beach day. I went running this morning on the boardwalk (2.75 miles) and then we all relaxed for a bit at the house. We went to the beach around 10, and it was another windy day--windier than yesterday. But the kids didn't care, especially because Molly and Jeremy went to Big Lots to get the kids skim boards. They spent a long time figuring out how to use them and eventually found some success. Then they used their boogie boards in the extremely rough water.  When we felt windblown enough, around 2:30, we left the beach and put ourselves back together at home. Then we rode our bikes (Mom and Dad walked) into town to do a little shopping and have some pre-dinner Kohr's. Lucia bought a purse at Across the Way and a handful of Good Luck Minis, a tradition. Greta bought a tiny glass shark at Swede Things and Good Luck Minis.  We made dinner at home (pasta with cauliflower, carrots, and grilled chicken), and while we cooked the kids went onto the second-floor ...

Beach Week! The most highly anticipated week of the year. We all arrived on Saturday after a tearful goodbye to the pets. Mom and Dad rode with us. We are in the same house we rented last year, a short walk down a path to the beach. We unpacked and then went to the beach for a bit, and the kids got in the water. Dinner was pasta and sauce that Mom brought with us. Then we walked into town for the first Kohr's of the week. We went into a couple of shops, and Lucia and Greta found the sweatshirts they want to buy. (It's a firm tradition that every year they get a new Cape May sweatshirt.) We set up the puzzle Molly brought and planned our dinners for the week. Sunday, Molly and I got up at 6am and went to the grocery store to stock up. Then we went on a family run--Mom and Dad walked on the boardwalk while the rest of us ran. I'm up to 28 minutes now, about 2.75 miles. It was very pleasant to be running on the boardwalk in the morning.  We prepped lunches and bags for the bea...

I came home around 2 today to work from home, and when I walked in the door I could hear loud singing from upstairs. Both girls were in Greta's room. Lucia was singing a made-up song at the top of her lungs and playing a ukulele, while Greta was doubled up with laughter on her bed. They barely even registered that I was home. Sometimes, like yesterday, when I learned that Lucia ate nothing all day but a bowl of instant ramen, I feel bad about them being home by themselves all day. Sometimes, like today, I feel like they're just fine. We played two rounds of Unstable Unicorns when I was done with work. We went to the club tonight for dinner and a quick swim, then came home to watch Biden's address and then a couple of episodes of Schitt's Creek.  What We're Reading Margo: The Sequel Andrew: finished The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason (a novel!); started Los Genios by Jaime Bayly (he bought it in Lima this week) (He texted me a reading update today for me to include i...

Worked, took the kids to math tutoring, hung out at home, went to Frick Park so Lucia could run with her XC team. Greta and I went on a run in the park too. Greta did 3.5 miles and I ran for 25 minutes without stopping--I'm proud of myself! Especially because the prospect of that 25-minute run scared me off from running at all on Sunday and Monday. I just could not generate the will to do it. But lo, today I did. It's actually very nice to run in the park. Greta got lost, but she was able to call my watch, and found her way back to the right trail. She is way, way faster than me, so was off on her own; it's better when Andrew is here too so they can run together.  We watched two episodes of Schitt's Creek tonight and had leftovers for dinner.  This week is literally speeding to a conclusion and there is so much to do before we leave for Cape May. 

I forgot to mention that last night the girls and I watched the new Descendents movie, #4, The Rise of Red. It was not good, not good at all. So disappointing, especially after how much we all loved the first two. We watched the first Descendants movie when Lucia was five and Greta was three, and I can't even count how many times we watched that and the second one. They were Mal and Uma for Halloween one year. But this new one was, I think, one Descendants too many.  I had to work today but worked from home for the afternoon. We played Unstable Unicorns. Greta baked sugar cookies. Lucia baked brownies. We watched a few episodes of Schitt's Creek tonight--Lucia had heard about it from friends. I forgot how much I love this show. What We're Reading Margo: The Sequel Andrew: who knows where Andrew even is right now Lucia: Throne of Glass Greta: rereading something that I'm sure isn't too different from "Fall of the Wicked Thorn Queen" 

The girls and I went to Target and Trader Joe's this morning. Greta needed some running shorts and we got groceries for the week. I spent a lot of the day food prepping, which is something I always say I want to do and then never actually do. But today I made slow-cooker burrito chicken, two batches of brown rice, roasted eggplant, roasted zucchini, pico de Gallo, a Greek salad, homemade tzatziki, and cilantro pesto. These components will make up a few days of rice bowls of varying types, which I think will be delicious and something the girls will probably (grudgingly) eat. Tonight we had burrito bowls. When I wasn't cooking, I read a lot on the porch today while Lucia had a couple of friends over, and did my best to avoid losing the day to CNN. What a day of politics. Lucia told me she and her friends decided they'd "probably get through their freshman year" before the education system shuts down and we all have to move out of the country. "At least we can ...

Daily blogging got away from me this week. Some highlights: Lucia continued to diligently study geometry and took her exam yesterday, Friday. We are all anxious to get her score. She was so stressed out when she got home that she cleaned out the Tupperware cupboard, organized the dishware cupboard, organized the snack cupboard, and baked pumpkin bread.  We went on a family run on Thursday at Frick Park. Well, more or less. Lucia was joining the upper school XC team for a "fun run," and the rest of us ran too (not with the team, of course). Andrew and Greta ran three miles while I heaved through whatever mileage was my allotment for the day.  Greta spent Friday afternoon with some friends, hanging out and swimming at a friend's house. Lucia also went to a friend's house Friday night. Meanwhile, I went to the pool to have a glass of prosecco, read, and chat darkly with my friend about the state of the world while we floated. Andrew and Greta eventually joined me and we ...

I drove with the girls early this morning to Cville for a day of geometry boot camp with Pop-Pop. I worked from there, while Greta read and then helped Mom cook dinner. Farrah came too. Andrew had to go into the office and also had a dentist appointment, so he had to stay home. But it was a fun day, with lots of good studying for Lucia and some downtime too. 

St. Rita's Street Fair day! Unlike last year, when it rained, this year was blazing hot. We met Molly and Jeremy in Cville and headed early to the fair, where we sat at a shady table until the energy of the crowd started to shift and we took our assigned places in line: me on cavatelli, Molly on manicotti, Andrew on pierogi, and Jeremy on fried dough and bottled water. We got our food very quickly once the fair opened, and ignored the heat as best we could as we ate it. Truly delicious, as always. My favorite is the cavatelli. If I had to choose only one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it might be that. Jeremy was pulled into actually WORKING at the cavatelli station, which was a huge honor and responsibility, and he excelled. The rest of us played BINGO for a while and then bought tickets for the basket raffle. Andrew won Lucia a plush snail at the pig-racing game.  Then it was back to Mom and Dad's house to cool off for a bit, and then home. A fun day.

Truly, the week has been a blur. Lucia and Andrew (and Dad, via phone) have been working on geometry, and today was a milestone in this process--Lucia has finished all the course content. Good thing, because today was the deadline. She's scheduled her exam for next Friday. We have two Pop-Pop in-person study sessions lined up, and Andrew has blocked his calendar, refusing a trip to Peru until the following week, so she'll have lots of support and review.  Other than that, it's been hot; I've been at work; I've done my C25K run/walks on schedule. I still absolutely hate these sessions, especially now that they have me running for 8 minutes at a stretch, but there have been a few palm-sized baby buns this week, which keeps me going (except when I stop running to coo over and talk to the buns). Greta has been occupying herself with re-learning the cup song from Pitch Perfect, creating altars around her room in worship of her current favorite books, occasionally crying ...

Back in real life, where the days seem insanely short and busy and there's no time to read. Monday Andrew went to work and I worked from home. Lucia toiled at geometry--she has to finish the coursework by the end of the week.  After work I went to the eye clinic at Mercy Hospital to try to find a solution for the stye that won't go away. I came away with a prescription for steroid eye drops and an appointment for a surgical procedure in one month if those don't help. I DO NOT WANT to do this procedure. In desperation, I placed an Amazon order for a couple of things that random strangers have recommended on Reddit. Who knows? Maybe one of them will work. Today Andrew and I both went to work but Andrew came home early because the AC in his office was broken and it's hot as Hades here. We did sneak out to the pool after work for a quick dip while Lucia took a break from geometry. At some point today, Lucia kept Pop-Pop on the phone for hours helping with geometry. Don'...

Saturday was so hot. Just absolutely blazing. It poured in the morning, and we thought that would cool things off, but somehow it just intensified the heat. Andrew claims he enjoys the heat, but the girls and I could barely move. Could barely think or function. It was stifling in the house; I worried for the pets. The kids swam in the pond a lot, doing a lot of filming of themselves jumping off the dock into the water, and got some terrifying up-close photos of the turtle. Later in the afternoon, we went for a swim in our cousin's pool--I felt like this swim actually saved my life.  It was hard to do anything in heat like that, but unfortunately we had to do ALL the things, since it was our last day and we had to unwind ourselves from the house: take down the hammocks, take down the swing, deflate all the inflatables, take down the rope across the pond, put all the yard furniture into the barn, wash all the sheets and towels, pack, clean, clean out the fridge, make lunches for the ...

It was a muggy, hot, buggy day today. We all got up early for a run, and it was almost impossible to move in all that humidity. Clouds of bugs surrounded us. It was not pleasant. We'd planned to do our Mt. Ascutney hike, but couldn't imagine doing it in this weather, so we changed our plan. Instead, after Lucia and Andrew did some geometry, we drove out to the recycling center to drop off our recycling, then made a final stop at Books-A-Million. We had lunch at Panera. Back home, Greta did some video-ing for her own book trailer, doing something she's been eagerly anticipating since yesterday: jumping into the pond fully clothed. That was the first thing she said to me this morning when she woke up: "Today I'm going to jump in the pond fully clothed." She actually did this twice throughout the day, in different outfits, all in service to various book trailers she's making. She also found another dress in a closet here and did some filming in that too. Note...

Happy Fourth! Kind of ironic that today is meant to celebrate the independence of our country from a monarchy, etc etc etc etc, but onward! The day started off with a sighting of two big parent-turkeys in our yard, along with EIGHT turkey babies. They were so cute, hopping and trying to fly. A wildlife win. We went into Plainfield this morning for the annual festivities. Alas, there were no haunted dolls for sale this year, which was disappointing. However, at the rummage sale Lucia found a quiver of old arrows for $3, and there was a big metal box of old watches for $1 (Greta bought five, Lucia one); and across the street the girls found some great gnarled wooden walking sticks at an antiques store, where the owner chatted amiably with shoppers while a "side arm" hung brazenly at his side. (Never know when you'll need that!) So they definitely came away with some fun things. The parade is always fun to watch, though the girls are now clearly teenagers so hardly anyone th...

I had to work half a day today. Greta read and Lucia worked on geometry. After lunch, we read in hammocks, my favorite activity, then went to pick up some groceries. Andrew then went on his annual long run (6.5 miles) while the girls and I went to the pond. The turtle made an immediate appearance, and then just kept appearing. The girls stayed mostly on the dock but did venture off to float around on inflatables, occasionally falling off into the turtle-infested water. At one point, when they were both on the dock, the turtle sidled right up next to them--and they both REACHED INTO THE WATER TO TOUCH ITS SHELL, like they were at the touch-tank at a children's zoo. Meanwhile, just moments prior, they'd watched the turtle snap out and devour a tadpole. "My feet were in the water when it did that!" Greta said excitedly. Wow. Anyway, they said touching the turtle felt like "touching a rock." The turtle did not seem to be aware of what was happening.  The girls a...

No work for me again today, another day of "PTO" as they say (paid time off). Lucia and Andrew worked on geometry this morning until Andrew had to get to some meetings. The girls and I gathered in our hammocks to read, but we quickly realized that none of us had *exactly* what we wanted to be reading today; so we headed to Books-A-Million to make our perfect selections. We also went to the comics store next door, where the girls each bought a new Funko Pop for their collections (Lucia got Elsa; Greta got Pocahontas). After coming home and having lunch, we spent the next couple of hours--two? three?--in our hammocks, silent, reading. A perfect afternoon. Then the girls met with their math tutors online, I made dinner, and we ate dinner outside. A nice, quiet, bookish day. Last night, long after I wrote my post, Andrew convinced us to go outside to look at the stars since the sky was very clear. The girls and Andrew lay on a blanket for a while in the front yard; I stayed close...

Five years ago, a tiny baby doodle was born at Creampuff Farm, a doodle that would, eight weeks later, become our Farrah. Happy 5th birthday to the sweetest doodle in the world!  To celebrate, we all piled in the car to get ice cream at our favorite spot, because they have Pup Cups--ice cream topped with a strip of bacon. We were horrified to discover that they are closed all week for vacation. Instead, we bought ice cream and bacon at the grocery store and made Farrah a Pup Cup at home. We gave her two new frisbee-like toys, her favorite thing to chase around the yard here. Can't believe we've had her for five years. Can't imagine life without her. Greta and I got up early and went running. She did 2.5 miles while I wheezed through my run/walk. However, to be fair to myself, my training program now has me running for 5 minutes at a time--as a non-runner, being able to run for five minutes straight without keeling over or injuring myself is an accomplishment. Every morning ...