Summer was fun. We went to the cabin in Colorado. We went to Oregon for a month. We visited the coast, something we haven't done in 10 years. I got to see my sister Rachel, which I haven't done in two years. I got to spend a lot of time with my cool sis in law, Elyn, and it was super fun getting to know her better. I took tons of pictures and some video, but we all know how much I can't stand uploading pictures so use your imagination. (You are permitted, while you are using your imagination, to picture me looking exactly the same as I did about 15 years ago.)
My highlights:
We were blessedly away from our psychotic neighbor for most of the summer.
There was help with dinner and clean up every night.
Jogging in the perfect temperature of an Eastern Oregon early morning under the shade of trees.
Garage sale-ing with my mom and sisters.
The kids' highlights:
Not having to practice piano for six weeks.
Having to change clothes only once every three days or so.
The dessert marathon that was Grandma's house.
Cousins, cousins, cousins!
Now we are back in school. Rune at Jr. High, which he loves. I am so happy that he is having such a great time. Eliseo and Lily at homeschool. We are doing K12 this year. We'll see how it goes. Alma and Violet manage to decrease our productivity by about 50% every day which is not exactly fun, but it can be funny.
I've recently developed an intense interest in investing and acquiring assets. I've always been a scientist at heart and never thought I would have any interest in financial matters, but it's been very fun so far. I even bought the book Investing Online for Dummies. Rune was very proud of me. He said, "Hey! You bought one of those Dummies books!" Even if I never become a savvy investor I'm thoroughly enjoying learning something entirely new.
You notice I haven't mentioned Grant. That is because archaeologists disappear into the 'field' during the summer. (You must mentally say the word field in a mysterious voice.) As far as Grant is concerned I think our summerly interaction largely consisted of me nagging him about sunscreen, long sleeved shirts and wide brimmed hats. As much as I hate winter it will be nice to see Grant again (and WITHOUT a sunburn). I can't say how much he will enjoy seeing me, though, after all my nagging!
Lastly, just this Saturday I had the awesome experience of meeting Billy Blanks. Who, for those of you who don't know, is the creator of Tae Bo. Although he was unaware of it, he and I go waaaay back. For about 7 years I stayed in shape through two of his DVD's. The Basic one when pregnant and the Advanced one when not pregnant. Billy Blanks and his blue (Basic video) and red (Advanced video) singlets are permanently etched in my brain. Unfortunately, he no longer wears singlets.
9 comments:
Love the update! so sorry about the psycho neighbor, though. I remember living next to a psycho dog once. The bain of my existence for two years...
Glad you had such a nice summer. Let me know when you want to meet up in the mountains. =)
You got to meet Billy Blanks?! So cool! Sounds like you had a great summer and I hope all goes well for Grant out in the "field".. :)
I am glad that you meeting Billy Blanks was the kids highlight. You must have been in a really good mood afterwords. :) I still am waiting for pictures and will probably stop working for you until you get some pictures up!
Sally, would it help you if I wore a blue singlet and did some jumping jacks?
I'm glad you had a nice summer, Slook! Next time you're in Oregon, let me know, and maybe we can get together! Happy School Year!
You crack me up about Billy Blanks! Good for you on the homeschooling I know my homeschooling sisters like k12 and lots of other things. I can put you in touch with my sis who has been doing it for 20 years. But I am sure you have it all figured out...you are a brainiac that way! Oh...and I am trying to picture Rune wondering the halls of JR. High...he is just too young in my mind.
You crack me up, Sal! I love reading your posts. I would've been excited to meet Billy, too. =)
I totally laughed out loud when I read the parts about your kids wearing the same clothes for a couple days during the summer, and how having young children while trying to do home school decreases productivity (tell me about it!).
We have been wondering if I might have to home school Kate while living here in Moscow. The thought terrified me because I knew how hard it would be while taking care of three other young children (one an infant and the anther starting potty training). It made my head swim. Yesterday I tried to go through the Cyrillic alphabet with Kate, and James and Bruce were crawling all over us. I wanted to pull my hair out!!!
You'll have to tell me how you like K12. I've heard some good things about it, but when I looked into it, it was going to cost a lot since we are out of the country. I need to know if it's worth it.
I wonder if the psychotic neighbor had the same highlight for his summer?
Anyway, I've also recently purchased a dummies book to learn some investing basics. It always amazes me that there are so many dummies in the world. I hope you enjoy it. I also hope you will invest responsibly when you win the lottery.
As always, great to see your post!
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