We had a nice…

We had a nice weekend; mostly puttered about on Saturday, gardening and cleaning, watching the kids, taking them to the park. Otto (neighbor kid) came over and played with them both weekend mornings, which was helpful. It makes more mess, but keeps them more occupied and lets me get more stuff done (or even lets me read). Sunday, Kev and I had an actual date, something we've been talking about doing for a long time, but have barely managed since Kavi was born. I think we did one weekend away before Anand, and...umm...that might be it. Yesterday, we got a babysitter and actually went to a play (Circle Theater's A Little Night Music) and dinner (at a restaurant/bar called Duckfat -- the pomegranate meatloaf was yummy), both local places we could walk to from our house. The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time.

We can't afford to do that kind of thing often -- with babysitting, it added up to quite a lot. But I think we can do a smaller version maybe once a month? I think we should -- the house stuff + small kids has added up to a lot of stress and marital tension; even though Kev and I rarely actually fight, we haven't had much time or energy to just enjoy each other's company for the past few years. It's nice to be able to make some space for that again. We probably should have done it a lot more often in the last four years; ah well.

Today, my main job is to keep the kids out of the way of the workmen; the pre-school is closed for intermission between spring / summer term until Wednesday, and I think I may rely a bit more on Dora to get through it than would be ideal. Oh well. George is continuing his mudroom tiling; Piotr is putting in pantry shelves, and Mark is adding some more lighting (and putting in plates in a few places where we decided we didn't actually need lights). Last week was kind of quiet on the construction front, but this week we should see some serious progress. I can't WAIT to be able to put away my pantry properly; cooking out of many grocery bags shoved into the closet is not a practice I would recommend to anyone.

And now, the to-do list again. Oh yes, again.

• order vacuum breakers -- Pam will do
• check height on faucet for kids' bath -- DONE
• ask for closet estimate breakout by section -- DONE
• run through electrical list and see if there are any more fixtures needed -- DONE
• count and then buy curtain rods -- DONE
• buy planter braces -- DONE
• read and respond to Nicole's essay -- in progress

• get fence letter and call Manny!
• call bookstore re: textbooks
• hang planters
• pick up dry cleaning
• return many things to IKEA

• try changing curtain in Anand's room (more opaque)
• talk to Kevin re: sash locks for old windows
• sew shower curtain and bench cushion
• send SLF grant award check
• check Think Galacticon program; set time / date for CBS meet & greet in early July
• register for Think Galacticon & sign up for programming
• start conversation with CBS board & Tempest re: workshop / literature discussion

  Wed:

• revise "Red Light" and send out to Ellery Queen
• finish drafting "The Language of Birds"
• start new Inspector Chandran story (bicycle theft? murder of WisCon character?)

  next Monday:

• prep syllabus & print
• teach first class of summer semester!
• file grade change