This week seems to be composed of a never-ending series of hoops helpfully provided through which the family has to jump. Nothing too serious- but it just seemed to keep on coming.
Last Friday: Olivia's school had a sort of street carnival in the parking lot, called West Fest. It was a tad underwhelming, but it's also having to compete with Ridgeway's wild and wooly Fun day, to which it pales in comparison. But it was fun to hang out with Olivia's teacher for a bit, watch her play with some of her school chums, enjoy some face painting and overly salty popcorn while swirls of kids ran around us like crazed dingoes. Kids never need much to entertain them, really.
Sunday was Mothers' Day. Abbey's mom has been heavily involved in a never-ending estate sale, and some of the bounty ended up as a gift to my mom; a lovely necklace and a very flattering lapis ring. Abbey was the proud recipient of a yoga mat, which you can see she's put into action already, showing Olivia some of the moves from her quite enjoyable yoga class.
The weather. God, the weather. This has been one of the squirelliest Springs ever. Granted, there are more storms during this time period (especially in the Midwest like we are), but this season seems to be taking cake. For once, the arctic air seems to be the equal of the moist Pacific and Gulf air; they hav a shootout that starts in Oklahoma and blasts its way nearly to Canada. Judging from weather maps, Iowa is having as much fun this season as we are. More often than not, days are rainy, rumbly, dark and unusually cold. This week was no exception, in fact I think it's been the most active week all season. We've made sure our emergency gear is working, in case we need to dash off to the basement in the middle of the night!
On Monday we fought the rain to get Louis to Gentry at 7:25 in order to catch an awards ceremony; Louis won an award for participation in the "technology" area. A chip off the old block, he is. Later, on Monday, I was convinced my pancreas was imploding. Only a few days later, Abbey manifest the same weird symptoms. I guess it's just a bug left over from cold and flu season. Either way I spent Monday morning donating my pee and blood to science, unaware this was a virus as it felt like no virus I've ever had. Fun times. Abbey and I have spent half the week complaining about things probably aching more than they would have ten or twenty years ago. Getting older is such a blast!
next time: garden update.
