JOAN!

We went to see Joan Armatrading in concert last night. Absolutely amazing. She is one of my top 3 favorite singer/songwriters. Right up there with Tracy Chapman and Gilberto Gil. Excellent show. We were in the FIRST Row!!!! I've never ever been in the first row before. She looked at me, smiled at me, sang to me, danced with me. And the techies let us take her song list at the end of the show! Amazing.

ready to retire

Why is it that people retire at 62 but not 42? I'm quite ready to retire now. Although there was a good bit of stress on my vacation, it's nothing compared to the stress of returning to work.

Good Trip, Great Boys

I really couldn't ask for better behaved EIGHT year old boys. A has been an absolute angel. Puts his dirty clothes in the basket in the laundry room, clears his plate off the table and puts it in the sink when he is done eating, asks to go pee-pee when he has to. Total pleasure. B has done a great job, too. Other than climbing up on to the glass dining room table to spin the chandelier, he has been remarkably well behaved. Yelled a handful of times. Drinks the pool water. But nothing major, no big problems. Both very lovey with my grandma, especially A. A, B and Nana were sitting together on the couch this afternoon, A really cuddling with her and interacting with her, and B right there next to them, not missing any of the action. My folks have really been good with the boys, too. I have to give my mom a lot of credit. She really has assumed responsibility for them in many ways. It's been good practice -- quite possibly for August, when maybe she'll take one of them back here for a week. And we've all been ok without T. Although I do miss his company/companionship/partnership/love, in many ways it is less stressful and calmer and less work without him at my folks house. Interesting, I wasn't really expecting it to be that way.

Nana

A bonded with his 94 year old great-grandmother today. They sat at the table together reading a train book. They counted 1-2-3-4-5 trains. They pointed at the passengers and the trees and the conductor. They had a great time. When I got ready to drive Nana home at the end of the evening, B ran to put his shoes on. He decided he was coming with us. Pressed the right buttons on the elevator. Greeted Nana's friend in the hallway (said bye instead of hi, but it was still appropriate because we were on our way out.). Very good boys.

Florida

I've told Grandma she's in charge. Today she and grandpa took the boys to Gee Whiz, the children's science museum in Sarasota, while I had a lovely afternoon with my grandmother. She told me stories of how my grandfather's mother got divorced when my grandfather was a toddler, because her husband, who was a milkman, was cheating on her. And how she and a woman friend invested $400 in stock in the 1960s and that it's worth a lot more than that now.

The boys are loving the pool. B has swallowed about half of it already. A is teaching himself to swim. He puts his face in the water and blows bubbles. And he is jumping in off the side of the pool. I know he is preparing himself for the diving board at the RM pool, which he is fascinated by.

B did just fine on the plane. A did great on his own with Grandma/pa. I'm very proud of them both.

Airplane

Next week we are flying to Florida. Grandma is here now, and is leaving on the plane with A on Tuesday. Then B and I fly down on Thursday. I'm freaking out a bit about this all. About how A is going to handle being just with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of days. About how I am going to handle both boys without T for a whole week. This will be the longest time T and I have been apart since I was pregnant. This is one vacation I am not really looking forward to.

Anniversary

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary! We are celebrating with a dinner date tomorrow evening. A wonderful opportunity to reflect on how blessed I am with my amazing family.

A

A and his tutor are in session. Tutor points to a picture of a car taped to a whiteboard easel.
T: "What's that?"
A replies in his whisper voice, "car".
T: "point to the car" A points.
T: "write the word car" A takes the dry erase marker and writes CAR.

B

B is hooked on airborne. I don't know if what he likes is the fizz, the flavor, the color, or the cool cylinder that they come in, or a combination of all of the above, or something I'm overlooking. In any case, he found the tube in the kitchen this morning, and put one in his tea. Then he wanted another one. I told him no, he already had one, and asked him if he wanted a vitamin. "Vite" . So of course he got one. Then he tricked me to get out of the way, and grabbed the airborne tube again. This time his papa intervened. "Open". (sounds more like uhpuh, but the intent was crystal clear). T replies with "Uno" trying to get B to agree in advance to just one more. B: "Uhpuh". T tries again, "uno" and holds up one finger. B responds by holding up one finger. Gets his second fizz of the morning.