I’ve been a bad, neglectful blogger. So to the few of you who actually read the blog and wait for new stuff, I apologize. Here is a bunch of new and unrelated stuff that has been going on around here:

Coach Graeme has made his long awaited debut back here in our house. We picked him up at the airport on Wednesday evening and have been having lots of fun (and eating) since he arrived. This is the poster that the boys made for Graeme, which we brought to the airport. No pictures of Graeme yet, but he promised that I would get to take some sometime soon…

Really, the boys couldn’t be any happier that he is here (sorry, Nelson).

Today I had the pleasure of taking pictures at a surprise 70th birthday party. It was for (see if you can follow this one…) Patrick’s teacher from first grade’s father. It was a super party, great location (and great light for me), super weather, and he was really surprised. Working on the post processing so look for those later this week.

I went to Robin’s bachelorette party Saturday night in the city. Had a great time and it was really nice to meet some of the other wedding party girls. Had dinner at an awesome restaurant in the Lower East Side called the Stanton Social . They have a great concept there. All the dishes they offer are pretty much appetizers. So you just order a ton of different dishes for your table and they keep coming out and you all just pick and try everything. Love eating that way. I highly reccommend the edamame there. It was so delicious.

After dinner we saw a show called Absinthe at Speigelworld which is at the South Street Seaport. The reviews called it Cirque du Soleil on acid. It sure was! Crazy, crazy stuff going on in that tent! Quite ummm…provacative, funny, naughty, wild, gasp out loud kind of stuff. I think my favorite was the rollerskating act. They were flying around and around that 4ft circle so fast. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Although the boxing guy was quite lovely to look at too. The girls who did the (I don’t even know what to call it really) high wire acrobatic twin act were so incredible. They were so strong and graceful but the music and the whole thing were enough to give you the creeps a bit. Ok, a lot a bit.  And it took me all the rest of the night until we hit Jamaica on the train ride home to figure out the name of the Rocky Horror character that the main stage hand guy looked like…RiffRaff. A fun night in the city. I think Robin had a good time too. She and two of the girls were going out dancing after the show but I had to bail. I made it home at 1:30am as it was. Wish I had the occassion to do that kind of thing more often. I really like going into the city. Just the people watching alone is enough to keep you amused for days on end.

And for two days in a row, I left the beach before anyone else. Drove home alone. Came home to a completely empty house. Took a shower in total peace. Only carried a teeny tiny bag. Only did stuff for myself for a few hours. Weird. But oh so nice. I really cannot remember the last time I was home in the house totally alone. Don’t know when it might happen again either.

For those of you who know me, you know how ummm…obsessive I am about my calendar and my lists. These days the list is IN the calendar, which really makes me happy! However, if I have a bunch of errands to do or if I need certain things from the stupid-market or someplace else, a new list is made to bring along. I LOVE crossing things off as I do them during the day- it gives me such a sense of accomplishment. And on the other side, it bugs me to no end when something on the day’s list is not crossed off THAT day. And (this part is really bad) sometimes when I’m out doing errands and I run in someplace that was not originally on the list, I will go home and write it down JUST so I can cross it off! How do ya like that one?

Not all weeks look as busy as the one in the above picture, but most are pretty close especially during the school year. Who has gym, soccer, school, a school event, baseball, a drum lesson, a playdate, music, a birthday party, a mets game, religion. And for me what laundry, grocery shopping, errands, birthdays, appointments, carpools, trips, doctor appointments, dinners out, photoshoots…It’s enough to put you (me) over the edge if I couldn’t write it all down and then, more importantly, cross it all off.

I now do a college planner calendar book as it goes from August to August which is really the way my year is best organized. I just finished last year’s book last night and I really cannot believe that another year has passed so quickly. Of course, I save every year’s book so if I ever need to know where I was or what I was doing on a certain date…there it is. And it’s kinda fun looking back and seeing what we were up to during that year.

Better run…the list is calling for me to throw in more laundry. Ugh. But then I can at least cross it off!

No beach, no pool, no mets game today. Saturday was too iffy to go down to the beach (anyway, I had a looooong overdue hair appt in the morning and John didn’t want to head down without me. I didn’t get back til around 12:30 so by then it was too late anyway). And today it was cloudy in the morning and then way stormy. John was going to go to the Mets game with the big boys, Nelson, and his dad, but when they all arrived over here, it was thundering and lightning like crazy, so they skipped it. The boys played video games and worked on their school summer packets a bit. It finally stopped pouring after Timmy’s nap so we headed outside for a few pictures (I know you must be so surprised by that!) so that John could take his nap in a little peace. So you can still have some outside fun on a rainy day. As long as you have your ribbits…

Every year the country club that we joined does a pool party where the pool is open extra late, floats are allowed in (there are usually no floats allowed), and they show a movie on a BIG screen while the kids hang out in the pool. A super cool idea.This was one of the events we most looked forward to when we joined this year. I took the big boys and we had a great time. Patrick had one of his terrible stomach aches while we were there and we were seconds away from bagging the whole thing and running out of there before he threw up (I kept telling him NO PUKING allowed at the country club!). Thankfully he recovered and didn’t throw up so we were able to stay and enjoy the night. The weather somehow held out- it had been so humid and hot and thundershowers were in the forcast, but it was clear for the movie. And the moon was full and sooooo orange- quite a sight. They showed Night at the Museum and Jack spent the first half of it in the pool. When I finally got him out, we sat at the table in bathing suits eating popcorn. Didn’t get home until around 11pm. Love that about summer. I just wish they would do this more than once during the summer.