These Boots Are Made for Walking

Back to School Fashion Show

Claudia in her new outfit

Enough of that Meowing

Garrett has begun a plea for a dog. This morning he told me:

"I'm really tired of all the meowing around here. What we need is some woofing.

Alas, Alice/Muffin/Kitty is old news. She did kiss him today, which is kind of dog like and made him happy.

Claudia is concentrating on Back to School shopping. She won't take off her new boots. Photo is coming...

Watching That Mailbox

Andrew took his state EMT exam right before he left for Virginia Tech. He is anxiously waiting for the results. He IMs/calls me about it at least once a day.

Thought for the Day

I got this in an email today.

"Art is not, by definition, a sure thing. Buying real estate in certain neighborhoods is a sure thing. Being a certain kind of lawyer is a sure thing. Making art is making a conscious commitment to uncertainty, to risk, to unpredictability."
From “The Uses of Doubt” by Stacey D'Erasmo

Time to Face the Music

As another birthday looms, people keep telling me I am not middle aged. According to Terri Hatcher, 40 is the new 30. Maybe for her. I think everyone just can't face it that they are old.

Are They Having Fun Yet?

Hmmmm. Hard to say. Art took this picture one of our last days at the Banks.

The Gang

Here is our little gang at the pool. This was Friday night. The only one missing was Ethan. It is pretty stinkin' hot here. We went again on Saturday. This time we took some of the Salinskys with us. We will probably go again today.

We started our back to school shopping with the purchase of back packs. Garrett got a Spiderman back pack. Claudia's features Lil Bratz. No surprises there. Now we have to concentrate on school supplies and clothes.

Claudia's open house is on Sept. 1. We are still waiting to hear who her teacher is.

See This Movie

For me the greatest compliment for a book or film is "I wish it was mine." I wish I was this good of a writer. I wish I had this woman's vision. Shona Auerbach is a first-time director. Watch this movie tonight. You won't be sorry.

If I only had a maid...

I've discovered from polling my peers that I am the only working mom without a cleaning lady. Why should I clean my own toilets? One wm said, "I think that might be grounds for divorce."

Diving Diva

I got pretty far writing this post and then Garrett touched the mouse. I have no idea where it went.

We had a hectic weekend with a birthday party and our one bathroom situation. Claudia is quite happy showering in the master bath. We may have to kick her out when the leak is fixed.

Claudia began diving on her own this weekend. She said she just figured it out. She and her friends at the pool birthday really put those diving boards to use.

On the Garrett side, he had a huge fight with his best friend and there was a great deal of drama. Although Garrett swore they could never be friends again, they worked it out in roughly 20 minutes.

And if people thought Garrett was overreacting, they should have seen Arthur Sunday night when he couldn't get his stereo to work. NOT pleasant. Turns out someone hit the mute button (who knew stereos had mute buttons!). Who knows who did that. Could it be the boy who touched my mouse. Hmmmmm. He does regularly scale the entertainment center for well... entertainment.

Then Arthur accidently let Alice/Kitty/Muffin out. I suggested he call it a night at that point. She had a grand night out (I saw her briefly harassing toads on the driveway in the dark) and returned this morning. That's more than Andrew did.

We're Back!!!!

The family is slowly recovering from their depression at being home (except Colleen, she was delighted to be home). We were met with a leak in the kitchen that Andrew prepared us for (kind of). We now have a huge hole in the ceiling and a bucket. I am already looking at paint colors! Art says not to get my hopes up--repainting is definitely a winter job. I'm thinking about a melon color.

We are now trying to gently move our minds toward school. Andrew is due back on the 16th. Time sure does fly.