Aug 31,
And so it goes ... the girls had their first day of school today - from home. I want to be hopeful and think that at some point they will make their way back to school, but right now it is not looking so good. May we all make the best of it, and keep our spirits up through it all.
Aug 30,
With everything going on I didn't think the girls would be particularly motivated to make their 1st day of school signs, so I made them myself at the end of the day.
Aug 30,
When the boys still lived in Cincinnati my parents picked them up, and Bella, from school and took them to their house to feed them and take care of them until we could pick them up. One of their activities was watching Curious George together, so Curious George has a special place in Bella's heart. Today, at a store, she saw a little stuffed monkey and decided to get it for Abuelito. She gave it to him when we went to check on them.
Aug 30,
The Queen Bee is going virtual this year. That means you can register and run any day during October, with any 13.1 mile route you want. I considered not doing it, because clearly it will not be the same, but it felt wrong not to do it. After all, I have done every single one of the Queen Bee half marathons since the race started almost 7 years ago. To encourage people to train for it, the organizers are asking people to post their training pictures with the hashtag #QueeBeeHalf. So I did, and this week I am the proud winner of the Queen Bee of the week.
Aug 30,
This morning Bella spent a lot of time in the kitchen making macarons. They turned out better looking than the last time, and they are very good.
Aug 30,
This morning we removed all the painting tape and drop cloths, and put the office back together. I like it! And I like that we still have a small space reserved for the Lego artist.
Aug 29,
Since we already had all the painting stuff out, and we thought it was going to be a gloomy day all day, I decided to paint the office - and just get it over with. I liked the color we had in there before, but Lionel and Sofia did not. And I agreed that we probably needed a more neutral color now that it is the office, and not the playroom anymore. So when we went to buy paint for Sofia's room we also bought paint for the office.
It was a lot of work as well, but Sofia helped and it took us a bit less time than her room, since it is a smaller space. We are waiting for it to fully dry, and will probably not have time to put it all back together tonight, so we will have to wait until tomorrow to take pictures of the final look.
Aug 27,
Today Bella and I made pizza for lunch. Half for her and half for me. Clearly her idea of "half" was a little off today, but it was all good.
Aug 25,
Bella made this today. She said it was a dinosaur costume. None of us got it, but at least she had fun with it.
Aug 22,
This morning I completed my first 8 mile run in a while. Lionel went out running as well, and Zoey welcomed us both back.
Aug 21,
After almost 6 months of not seeing each other, my friend Molly came over to my house to catch up. We sat on the front patio, respecting social distancing, and talked for a while. Bella also came out to say hi
Aug 18,
For our 19th anniversary Bella made us a cake and lovingly decorated it. We, of course, are the strawberries at the top.
Aug 16,
Today was a full Sunday. I went for a run, we went to the farmer's market, Bella built an obstacle course for Zoey that she had no interest in, we dropped off some books at a local book exchange box, we did some shopping, and we visited my parents. And we even made a yummy apple pie. We are now ready for Monday.
Aug 10,
Last week was Bella's first soccer practice and she complained a lot. She also said she did not want to go back. We of course told her that she could not quit after just one practice, so she went back today ... and she complained a lot less. Change is not easy, but it can not be avoided.
Aug 9,
Today is the 10th and last day of our vacation ... well, at least officially. It has not felt quite like a vacation day, since we have been working hard getting ready for the week. That included a trip to the farmers market, a trip to Trader Joe, removing old food from the fridge, several trips to the compost, washing by hands lots of dishes and water bottles that can not go on the dishwasher, etc. Also, while I had a great week, it appears that my team at work had the worst week ever. So I need to mentally prepare for what I am sure is going to be a crazy busy and tough week ahead. Here we go again...
Aug 7,
During this vacation I finally got to read a book I bought last summer in Boston. I knew I would have a hard time finding time to read once we are back home, and back to the routine, so I really wanted to finish it here.
I did not love it or hate it. It has some funny parts, but mostly I found it sad.
Aug 7,
For our last day in Baltimore we stayed closed to home. We took a walk around Fort McHenry, bought take out lunch and ate outdoors, and walked around Fells Point. Bella was bummed on and off throughout the day. She didn't say why, and maybe she didn't really know why, but I am sure it is because tomorrow we are heading home. She has spent every waking hour with the boys, and she is going to miss them lots.
