Parallel paths weekend

Jeremy originally wanted to call it the divorce weekend, but that sounds a little inflammatory and would imply that we aren't getting along and I would never want you to think things were anything but peachy keen around here, so "parallel paths" it is.

It was already decided that Jeremy and Sebastian would take a little trip down to 6 Flags on Sunday, leaving me and DeeDee to our own devices for the day since he is too little for, and I get horrible motion sickness on, most rides. Half the time I can barely watch my own knitting needles at work, much less ride a roller coaster.

Then this morning Sebastian and I wanted to go to the lake, but Dorian and Jeremy wanted to go for a hike. Finally we realized that there was no reason why we had to compromise, so I took one kid and he took the other. And it was nice. I got to have some alone time with Sebastian and not have to scan the water constantly for 2 children or deal with one who wants to swim out in the deep part and one who wants to be on the beach. And Dorian got someone to take him to Putney Mtn, a request he has been making for weeks that I have for no real reason been ignoring.

We were a happy foursome again for dinner and grocery shopping this evening, so don't worry. Nobody's going to be asking to crash on your couch. At least, nobody from this house.

Happy House-iversary!

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of when we bought our house. Twelve months ago, Christine watched the boys so we could sign our lives away and initial repeatedly to be handed 10 copies of the key to our house. And a very short time after that, we embarked on 11 crazy days of getting the house somewhat ready for us to move in. I'm still working on making the house livable and from what I hear, I will spend the rest of the time that I own it doing so. Fine by me.

And the good news is that the insurance company was satisfied with the purple garage and the fixed window and the invoice for the trim being painted and has graciously allowed us to pay them hundreds of dollars to continue having their insurance. They had our back during that whole sewer pipe debacle, so it's definitely worth it.

So, here's to our half-painted, 129 year old, humble abode-- well worth the expense and effort!

I never should have disappointed Cortney in this way

She said she'd never have a friend who belonged to the PTA, and even though she promised me we'd still be friends even though I allowed myself to become treasurer of the organization, I know a little part of her love for me died that day. As well it should have, since I was clearly demonstrating that I was a person with no sense, totally blind to reason.

The two hour meeting the other night actually lasted 2 and a half hours and would have gone longer had I not announced that it must have been after 9 at that point and discussions were devolving into committee level detail. A vodka cranberry later, I was on the verge of quitting. However, I did make a commitment and I don't like to be a quitter, so the only solution that I could see was to air my grievances to the rest of the board.

This resulted in a shit storm of approximately 10 million emails back and forth-- some defensive, some productive, all tiresome (including mine). And now we get to have another meeting immediately before the meeting that we are scheduled, according to the bylaws, to have a meeting immediately after.

All of this just makes me realize that I should just be doing what I enjoy and actually impacts the students, like puppet shows about snowflakes, and not what makes me frustrated, like sitting through seemingly endless meetings about fundraising which was the part I thought we should be spending less time on, not more.

Why didn't I focus more on clinging to a friend 3000 miles away instead of my misguided do-goodery? Because I am a fool.

It's finally summer...

It is hot. So hot that even though I am feeling excessively lazy and a smidgen burnt out on sand these days, I got everything together to take the kids to the lake. Well, everything except Dorian's sandwich which I managed to leave on the counter instead of bringing for his lunch. You can imagine how disappointed he was that I was forced to buy him a hot dog.

I even got in the water pretty much first thing instead of postponing because (not enough sun/too windy/needed a Dr. Pepper first/too lazy). But after each child had his respective breakdown (lost plastic man/slipped underwater), it was clearly time to return home.

Now I just get to stew until it's time to go to a fucking midsummer PTA meeting from 7-9pm. Why, oh why, did I get myself into this?

I finally got my purple fix

The garage is finally done, and since it required the purchase of a second gallon of paint, I had enough left over to do the 2 back doors.

And today we went blueberry picking and I made some nice purple jam. Never did get raspberries, I'm sorry to say. But that's okay. The blueberry jam tasted pretty awesome on the corn fritters I made with my first Walker Farm corn of the year. No better corn in the world. And I also managed to put three bags of kernels in the freezer to enjoy throughout the winter. Good stuff.

The vacation so far

So far on this trip I have:

• Done some of the best boogie boarding of my life.
• Put in some "work" on my tan.
• Gone on a date with Jeremy that involved outlet shopping, an Indian dinner, wandering around Portsmouth with a yummy ice cream cone, and a walk on the beach in the moonlight.
• Given my children 4 desserts in one day-- the ice cream cone cookies pictured below for breakfast dessert, Starburst for lunch dessert, a pint of ice cream masquerading as a "kiddie" cone in the afternoon, and a slice of fudge cake after dinner. Can you say, "Vay-cay-shun"?

• Received a fantabulous present from my sister-in-law of some totally amazing crafting books, as well as some gorgeous yarn from her trip to Ireland. Lucky me!
• Had the following conversation while trying to boogie board:: Man: So, where did you get your board? Me: squinting without my glasses It's my father-in-law's. Man: Oh, because this one belongs to my friend, but it's only rated up to 150 lbs and I'm bigger than that. :: Now, I don't know what he wanted me to say; perhaps, [sultrily] "Just how big a man are you?" I never should have let Dorian talk me into wearing the cute suit today. Either way, when he continued to try to befriend me, I just rode the next wave to the shore and gave Jeremy a turn. Oddly, he didn't try to make Jeremy's acquaintance.
• Finished a pair of arm warmers for the fall with the yarn I got for free. I love the yarn and I am quite happy with the arm warmers. I am also quite happy that I do not need them at this particular moment.

Now I've got my DDR shirt on and I'm ready to head down to the boardwalk and the shooting gallery (not the heroin kind) and the fireworks.

It's done! I'm done! And we're off!

Blurry, artistically angled photos by Sebastian

I finally finished the sweater last night-- well, other than putting on the button I never got around to purchasing. It fits. It is now too hot to wear, but it fits. I'm hoping for some nice sea breezes and long walks along the ocean that will necessitate this sort of attire this week while we are away.

Have a good week!