Transitioning

Yesterday, we drove back to Massachusetts.  Time to transition back to life here, getting ready for the academic year and for the upcoming trip to Ecuador in January. 

I'm sad to see the summer come to an end.  It was a time of tremendous productivity with my new book, and lots of ordinary magic with the kids.  There are things that I will particularly miss:

This lovely stove, with Anya's artwork above it:

My pantry (I do so love pantries):

Sam's moon painting:

Walks along the breakwater:

Sam's rediscovery of sketching:

Anya discovering a love of reading while snacking:

And, of course, there's the tub.  I might just miss the tub most of all:



But, although I am not looking forward to a rushed pace when the school year starts, there are reasons that it's good to be back:

It's so interesting seeing how lush things have gotten since I left in late May.  On my morning walk, I went past sunflowers taller than me!  (I adore sunflowers).

Oh, and we have a sitter coming over tonight!  First time in about 3 months. 

The kids were getting antsy toward the end of our time in Maine.  It is time for them to get back to their regular school year routines.

And, although I hope to keep the craziness at bay during the semester, I think it's time for me to be around more people in my daily life than I was over the summer.

We did bring some things back from Maine.  The kids are still doing lots of art, and we plan trips to the library soon.  And they've already requested pancakes for dinner:

What will you miss from summer?  What do you look forward to as fall approaches?

The smell of sadness

Tonight, while getting a drink of water from the kitchen tap, I caught an odd, sweet, distinctive smell.  For a moment I tried to place it, then it was obvious: insulin.  Sam's been running in the 300s with his blood glucose all day, so Howard changed his reservior tonight in case there were bubbles in the tubing that were keeping the insulin from getting into the boy.

It's a smell that, when it catches me off guard like this, makes me so sad.  Not weeping sad--nothing that dramatic.  Just a hollow kind of sadness that Sam has to deal with this crap every day of his life.  It was four years last Saturday.  Mostly I am grateful every day for insulin, because my son is healthy and funny and vibrant.  But today, taking me by surprise, it made me blue.

Summer time

I keep thinking about posting, but there isn't anything particularly noteworthy going on around here these days--just writing (a lot), lots and lots and lots of board games, walks along the ocean, much time spent in libraries, etc.  I often let the kids decide what we're going to have for dinner (which means that we eat things like spaghetti and meatballs or pancakes quite often).  We read a lot.  And the kids are drawing a ton. 


We do some "special outings," of course.  One of the best was when we went to the independent (one-screen) theater in town to see three silent movies from the 1910s and 1920s, accompanied by a live orchestra (just as they would have originally been seen). 

But, mostly, it's just life, on summer schedule. 

The board games I can live with, and sometimes they are a lot of fun...but oh, that day this week when the kids came to the library with me and just hung out, reading, for over an hour...

Heaven.

What's your summer all about?

Charting Family

Yesterday, for some reason, Samuel got it in his head that he wanted to see/make family trees.  So, we did his Dad's side of the family:

....and then mine:

In case you want to see the details, I'll split that last one up:

And, yes: that's just from my grandparents through the current (outcoming) generation.  No wonder I can't stand a crowd...

What stands out on your family tree?

Catmunication

My cat, Toonces,* thinks that she has telekinetic powers.  If she stares at my hand long enough, it will surely pet her.

Usually, she's right.

*Toonces was the driving cat on Saturday Night Live in the late 1980s or early 1990s. You can probably find him on You tube (I think we found "Toonces without a Cause" there). 

July 5th

The fourth of July came and went--we didn't do any work, but it was a kind of a grey day, ending with dense fog that postponed the fireworks that Anya desperately wanted to see (having never seen them in her "whole life").

And then, magically, the next day turned out to be great. 

1) Howard let me work a little longer than usual, and I got through some really sticky parts of writing chapter 5.

2) At 3:30 I went to art class (at the library) with Anya where, because it was not at its usual time, she was the only one to turn up.  Private lesson!

3) After dinner, we went back to the library to watch the 1940 film version of "The Mask of Zorro." (with Tyrone Powers)

(Okay, it was a socio-historically incredibly inaccurate.  But, it was also a good and funny movie.)

4) Then, finally, Anya got to see the Camden fireworks. 

Needless to say, my wee girl was very, very tired when she got home after that.

When have things just "fallen into place" for you lately?

Playtime with Barbie

I think it is unlikely that my sweet, seven-year-old daughter is going to grow up to be a serial killer.  Thus, I assume that Barbie is simply fed up with making sure that her hair is perfect all the time, and she has taken up naked bungee jumping.  In fact, this gives me more hope for my child than if Barbie had to conform to her image all the time.

What a girl.