Skipping Town

Monday was our Reykjavik exploration day, and after breakfast at home we set out for the city. We got an email from the rental car company warning of bad weather, with a reminder to hold onto the car doors with both hand when opening them, since high winds can push the doors wide open and break the hinges. We set out nonetheless, persevering even though there was snow blowing all over the roads.  In Reykjavik, we followed a Rick Steves self-guided walking tour for a while, learning some history of the city. We got hot dogs at Baejarins Beztu Pylsur. We then began walking up the rainbow street, Skolavordustigur, toward the church Hallgrimskirkja, stopping to browse in shops along the way. We went into a couple of secondhand shops and some souvenir shops on Laugavegur. Greta quickly selected the two souvenirs she'd planned on getting: a small plush puffin and a children's book in Icelandic. I found the jewelry store--Anna Maria--where I bought a silver ring back in 2005; we went ...

I missed a few days of blogging but it was only because my time was completely taken up by a big work event on 3/20 plus preparing for our big Spring Break trip to Iceland. And that's where I am right now--Iceland! We left Saturday morning (wrenchingly, as Farrah gave us heartbroken looks of betrayal) and drove to Molly's house, where we spent a few hours and had lunch before driving to BWI for our direct flight to Keflavik. The Icelandair flight was incredibly cramped and uncomfortable, but we got there more or less on time. Snow was falling when we landed. It took a little figuring out to pick up our rental car, but Andrew found it in the lot and picked the rest of us (and all our bags) up from the terminal. We were on our way. Our first stop--a big one: the Blue Lagoon. We'd booked our tickets for 8am, opening time, but didn't make it there until 9am; we were slightly worried but our late arrival was unremarked on. We all changed into our swimsuits, stored our coats ...

The Mystery of No Cold Water has been solved! I was working from home on Thursday, in the middle of a call, when a plumber called up to me from the attic stairs. "Let me ask you this," he said. "Do you have water in your garage?" This is the kind of unhinged question one gets regularly when renovating a hundred-year-old house. "Um, yes," I said. "But we've never used it." "I think I've fixed your water," he announced, pride in his voice. He took out his phone and showed me a picture: a selection of pipes with a knob in the middle, taken from the dark recesses of our basement pantry. He gave a detailed explanation of how the pipes connected, what the knob did, why one of the pipes had been closed off and diverted, etc etc, but the overall point was that he turned the knob and now the water is cold where it should be. HE TURNED THE KNOB. We've been living in this house for five and half years with no cold water and all we had ...

Lucia has been on Instagram for a few months now, and the algorithm has taken note, feeding her content fine-tuned to her interests and personality. It's evil/amazing. Anyway, she came to me last week and announced she'd seen something on Instagram and had a new craft she wanted to start doing: junk journaling. The pride in my heart! Junk journaling is something I, too, have had on my radar for a while now. We looped in Greta, who was also excited about it. And so it shall be. We never need to look very hard for an excuse to buy an ungodly amount of stickers and fun paper items, and to screech at Andrew in horror as he tries to put a piece of "garbage" in the recycling. "I need that for a craft!!!" is his favorite recurring instruction.  Monday night, Lucia had what I can only describe as a junk journaling-related manic episode at 11pm. I went in to say goodnight to her and found her in a highly excited state, sitting in the middle of her floor, surrounded b...

On Saturday, I went to Beth's to watch the Lilith Fair documentary with some college friends. It was exceptionally strange to watch what was essentially a historical documentary, complete with grainy video footage and photos of young people in outlandish outfits. It looked like something from the distant, distant past. And it was! It was the 90s which, to me, seems like twenty years ago, but which was actually thirty years ago. More than a quarter century. There were no digital cameras. Etc etc etc. The dark ages. Later, when I asked my kids if they'd ever heard of Lilith Fair, they shook their heads pityingly. I, however, do remember Lilith Fair. More accurately, I remember having tickets to Lilith Fair, driving to Pittsburgh with Molly and the Ainsley sisters, then sitting for hours in a long line of cars stuck outside of Starlake, until it began to pour and we heard on the radio (!) that anyone waiting to get into the venue should instead turn around and leave. We stopped at...

There's a lot going on, sports and kids' schoolwork and our work and our torn-up kitchen and travel planning for Spring Break. And Andrew left today for eight days, part weekend with college friends, the rest business trip to Peru. The girls and I remain here, basement dwellers, ready to shop for a week's worth of frozen prepared foods at Trader Joe's because cooking is just something I cannot do on top of everything else. Convenience foods will get us through. The kitchen is progressing. This week they put all the insulation in the walls. We selected our fireplace--more difficult than it may appear; there are a lot of options called "fyre features" (their spelling) with apps and automatic everything and glass beads instead of logs and I just cannot. I emailed Andrew a copy and pasted list of language from the brochure and typed, simply, "no" after each sentence. We did eventually find a suitable option (it does come with an app--inescapable--which w...

Saturday was a big day for Lucia: she got her driver's permit! She and Andrew went to the DMV first thing in the morning, and she passed her test. She has not yet had a chance to practice, but she has taken a big step forward.  While they did that, I took Greta to Steel City so she could participate in a fund-raising Erg-A-Thon. She erg'd the distance of a half marathon and was very pleased. (I spent the time reading at the Oakmont Bakery, then grocery shopping.) Lucia babysat on Saturday night, while Andrew watched sports and Greta and I watched Stranger Things.  Sunday, Greta and I went out early to check out the Carnegie Library book sale, which we'd never been to before. Though the long line out the door boded well, the sale turned out to be quite small. Andrew and I had brunch with the Clarks at Cafe Margaux. Later in the afternoon, Andrew, the kids, and I went thrifting at the Red, White, & Blue in Sewickley. We all got some fun things. It's a great thrift sto...

It was a long, busy, cold week. Greta is between winter and spring sports seasons, so it was a little bit of a juggle to figure out her 3pm pickup each day (luckily Andrew had lots of flexibility this week to get her). Lucia is between seasons too but is going to musical rehearsal every day and then running by herself afterward. Greta went to her first Science Bowl meet on Friday. Andrew somehow got a 24-hour stomach bug late this week, so we cranked up the air purifier, I grudgingly wore a mask around the house, and I slept in the attic. Having a battered immune system is such a hassle. However, knock on wood, I'm otherwise feeling completely fine, except for some minor swelling of my fingers (I checked with the nurse; nothing to be concerned about)--and finished the first cycle of meds on Friday. Now I have a week off (the four-week schedule is three weeks of pills and one week of no pills), and then the next cycle begins with another fulvestrant injection and a new round of kisq...

After the extreme busyness of Saturday, it was nice to head down to Connellsville for the day to celebrate Dad's birthday (which was yesterday). Mom made scrippelles (!!!), the most celebratory meal of all, as well as creme brulee for dessert. Dad got out his mini blowtorch and we all carmelized the sugar on our own creme brulees. Delicious and restorative.  Mom practiced piano with the kids; Mom, Lucia, Greta, and I played Sorry; Andrew went for a run; Andrew helped Dad fix a problem with their kitchen faucet. I dug around in my bedroom closet and found the box of journals I'd been looking for (after pushing aside my old violin shoulder rest and a stack of paper wrappers from our wedding invitations, because that's just how Connellsville is--you can't take a step without tripping over a relic of personal history).  Then Dad pulled out a box holding two of my sequined dresses from high school and the girls put them on--Lucia put on my junior-year prom dress, The Flame; ...

This weekend was an exceptionally busy sideshow.  Friday: 3:00 - 5:30: Lucia had musical rehearsal 3:00 - 10:30pm: Greta went to a friend's house directly after school for a birthday party 7:30 - 9:30: Margo and Andrew to a neighbor's party 10:30: Pickup Greta In the very constricted time slot I had to make dinner, I was almost done preparing linguini with clams when I asked Lucia to unload the dishwasher. The pasta was boiling in its pot; the clams were simmering in their pan. A one-cup Pyrex measuring cup was standing by to scoop up some pasta water when the time came. Lucia carried a (in retrospect, obviously too-heavy) stack of plates over to the cupboard, which is next to the stove. She somehow miscalculated where the shelf was (?) and dropped the entire stack straight down onto the measuring cup. None of the plates broke. The measuring cup, however, exploded into pieces that flew all over the stove, floor, and even onto the table. By "pieces," I mean "shard...

We are tired of living in the basement, shrouded in dust. But progress is being made every day. The old windows are out; new windows will be in by the end of the week. As usual, there is a new temporary wall to hold up the house while work is being done. I'm glad these construction guys know what they're doing.  I'm behind this week on blogging, for no reason other than the house is chaos, evenings are chaotic, and there's always a lil' piece of extra chaos each day to make things interesting.  For example, on Tuesday the cleaners came, at the exact moment a dumpster arrived and the street construction settled directly in front of our house for the day.  For example, last night Farrah managed to find, steal, and eat an entire chocolate bar Andrew had brought back from Germany. Fortunately, it was milk chocolate with a lot of peanuts, so she wasn't in too much danger. But there was a tense half hour of finding chocolate toxicity calculators online and using Googl...

The kids and Andrew had no school/work on Monday, but, alas, I did not have the day off. At least I was able to work from home. Andrew took the kids ice skating in Schenley in the afternoon, which they seemed to enjoy. And we all played Splendor.  We've been watching the Olympics each night, mostly figure skating. Lucia observed that the next time the Winter Olympics are on, she will be in college. I feel like the next two years are going to be a series of realizations like that. I've been trying to put together our schedule for the summer and it's almost complete. I registered Lucia for an SAT class, and Greta for a summer geometry class. Lucia will be applying for a job. Greta will do some summer rowing. We have our NH and Cape May plans in place. It is going to be a very full but fun summer.

Today, Skipping Town turns twenty. I have a lot of feelings about this. And so, a few words: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." --Faulkner On February 15, 2006, I sat down at my small desk by the window of my apartment on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn and created an account on a blogging platform called Blogger. After some thought, I titled my new blog Skipping Town. It made sense: I was just a few months away from moving from New York City to Barcelona, and “skipping town” was exactly what I was doing. The phrase was light, breezy, confident; a little reckless. Though this was unquestionably a major life move--it involved quitting my job as an editor at an office in Union Square, breaking my lease on a beautiful Park Slope one-bedroom, selling all my furniture, and closing a chapter on the city I loved most in the world, where I’d been building a life since 1999--“skipping town” left little room for what I was leaving behind. I was twenty-nine, moving abroad, chasing...

Lucia tested negative for covid on Friday so we have removed isolation and masking from the chaos of our household. There is still a lot of other chaos ("I'm just gonna rip up this whole floor" is not something one generally wants a plumber to announce) and our house is beyond filthy with dust. Are we halfway through the reno? Perhaps. Perhaps. Friday night the girls and I watched This Is Us while Andrew went to a rodeo downtown--it was a work event. He had a bit of difficulty deciding what to wear, truly uncomfortable with any deviation from his typical put-together ensembles of a tucked-in button-down shirt. He still wore a tucked-in button-down shirt, but it was flannel. He tried to wear a wool blazer. Greta and I said no. Saturday Lucia had a track meet in Youngstown, and Andrew, Greta, and I went to watch--my first track meet. She did well despite having been sick and not doing intense workouts this week. We stayed for her two events (a relay and the mile) and then w...

Lucia stayed home from school on Wednesday, though she's feeling mostly fine--a very mild Covid case. I'm still masking in the house which is a HUGE pain, but unavoidable. The week's renovation work is focused on plumbing and electrical. Sometimes the water is turned off; sometimes, after everyone leaves, we realize Greta's room has no electricity and she lights twenty candles so she can see while she gets ready for bed. One positive step forward is that the plumber is getting closer to solving The Mystery of No Cold Water. And I'm not going to make too bold a claim, but it's very possible that I provided the clue that unlocked the whole case. No, I haven't "examined the plumbing" or "tested any pipes" or "identified any crossed valves," but I did provide a logical path forward by pointing out to the plumber that the people we bought the house from had renovated all the bathrooms using very unskilled contractors, and that had to...

As though we don't have enough chaos, Lucia tested positive for covid this morning and stayed home from school. She's mostly fine--no fever or cough; just a sore throat--but still. Covid? She's isolating in her bedroom and I'm masking in the house, which is the worst but necessary. Sigh. Our house continues to be chaotic. Having a basement kitchen is great...until the work moves to the basement. The electricians and plumbers both need to be down there this week, which has made things like preparing lunch or getting a glass of water a challenge. 

Behind on these posts. In a nutshell:  Andrew was supposed to come home from Germany on Friday but didn't get back until Sunday because of an ice storm in Berlin. We also had bad weather and I chickened out on taking Lucia for her permit test on Saturday morning. The girls and I hunkered down to play games and watch This Is Us. The basement is inconvenient...but also pretty cozy. Sunday was the Big Game. We usually host a Super Bowl party but, obviously, there is no hosting this year. So we went to the Clarks'. The girls and I brought our 'analog bags' and busied ourselves with various crafts while others watched the game. (We had some crafting company, too.) I did a Valentine's zentangle; Greta colored and worked on a puzzle; Lucia started bedazzling a book cover. We did watch the halftime show. Monday, Lucia came home from school saying she didn't feel well, so that's not great.  The house continues to be chaotic. Random areas of ceiling have been cut into...

Lucia is selecting classes for junior year. She is supposed to start choosing classes that create kind of 'narrative' for what she wants to study. We are trying to help (not that she wants our help), but she truly has no idea what she is interested in.  I can relate. I recently came across a bio I wrote during my summer at the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, which was the summer of 1994, when I'd just finished my junior year of high school. I was seventeen. This bio was to be included in a collection of pieces written by the other students in my poetry class:           Besides writing poetry, Margo "Violet" Orlando also enjoys writing in her journal, playing the violin, and acting. This year, she will be a senior at Geibel High School in Connellsville, PA. Margo's future plans are completely made--where she wants to go, what she wants to do, who she wants to be--and she's waiting for just the right moment to reveal these plans to the world...

I won't bury the lede: our insurance claim for ribociclib (kisqali) was APPROVED on Tuesday afternoon! I am, frankly, surprised. But so happy. The other medication choice was absolutely valid, and I'll likely be on it at some point; but the side effects are more intense, so I'm glad to be able to choose this fulvestrant + kisqali protocol right now. There are also side effects from this one, of course. But different. (A compromised/decimated immune system is one of them, so I'll be back to masking in public.)  After the peer-to-peer discussion failed to happen again on Monday, I'd pretty much assumed it would never happen. However, it actually did happen on Tuesday, and I was told I'd have an answer within 24-48 hours. But within one hour, I got a notification that the insurance has approved the treatment, and I was able to call the speciality pharmacy to arrange delivery of the pills for Thursday.  Glad to have this in place. The eighteen-wheeler is revving its...

We had a busy Sunday: Costco in the morning (I wanted a round of prepared/frozen foods to get me through this week since Andrew will be in Germany), brunch at the Clarks', and then a visit to the Center for Creative Reuse, which is basically a permanent rummage sale of craft supplies. Andrew escaped to get a coffee but the girls and I were in our element.  On our way there, knowing from a photo I found online that there would be a card catalog full of junk that you could purchase by the bag, Lucia said, "I'm going straight to the junk drawers," and my heart filled with pride, both in her for being a creative child and in myself for successfully parenting her into that child. I feel like there's a college application just waiting in that line--I can't articulate it yet, and she didn't buy it, but I think there's something to it.  Tonight, I went upstairs and found that the salad Greta had made for Nutmeg was sitting on her bedroom floor, untouched. This...