Updates From the Annoying Family

We had the most amazing weather this weekend. It's actually well within the normal range of temperatures for this time of year, but it was so miserably hot in August and September that in comparison I had the urge to pull out my parka. Peace and Fuzzy hosted a day of playing Bocce and Kubb at a local park and eating burgers for Peace's food and fake sport. We had fun with friends, e-baby had fun with 2 of her little friends, and we probably shouldn't have stayed so late because all three of the little people missed their naps. You might be thinking, "So what? Kid doesn't get a nap. Big deal, she'll sleep better that night" but kiddo has other ideas. Kid misses the nap? Kid is cranky. Kid tries to nap instead of eating dinner. Face resting on cheese toast and lima beans. Kid tries to nap instead of taking a bath. Leaning over the edge of the tub trying to climb into mommy's arms and dripping all over mommy's sweatshirt. Kid finally gets put in bed for the night, and is overtired and punchy. Alternates between maniacal laughter and psychotic screaming and crying. Finally falls asleep around 10, only to wake up again at 3:30. Thankfully she slept until 8:15 after that. It was a new record.

Have I mentioned that e-baby is an exceptionally good sleeper? So I can imagine that our friends must have had difficult nights as well. Still, it was worth it to have such a good time at the park yesterday.

Sunday we were determined to keep e-baby's schedule on schedule. She was still kind of a crab, and probably had a hangover from all the sunshine and wakefulness of the day before. She had her nap in the bike trailer while we rode and rode all over Umstead. In this kind of weather I dream of quitting my job to become a professional recreational bike rider and picnic eater. I'd be really good at it.

I also used the weather to do some yardwork. Our basil plants out front were reaching record heights of about 4 1/2 feet, and were each about 3-4 feet across. I cut them down to about 3 feet and harvested a big mixing bowl full of fresh leaves. What the heck do you do with a gallon bowl of fresh basil leaves? I know. You're right. Make pesto. It yielded 2 quarts of finished pesto. What the heck do you do with 2 quarts of pesto? I've put it into 2 oz jars, but they're not processed or vacuum sealed, so I'm really not sure what to do with them. They'll probably keep a couple of weeks in the fridge. That's a lot of pesto to eat in 2 weeks. Anybody want a jar of pesto?

In the middle of making the pesto, I needed parmesan and pine nuts, so we took our little crab to the grocery store and gave her one of those silly "Customer in Training" miniature shopping carts to push around. We were that annoying family whose kid is running into all the produce displays and blocking access to the free samples at the bakery. E-baby likes to hang on with her mouth and her hands. Luckily we only needed a few things and so the CiT cart was the only one we had to wrangle.

I guess really it's SNG who has to eat all the pesto, because I leave Tuesday for New York and then the next week I'm going to Atlanta. I'll be seeing my cousin Cosmopolitan in NY, so I'm really looking forward to the trip. I haven't called anyone in Atlanta yet since I always stay in an inconvenient part of town for anyone to visit and I won't have a car. Still, I might see if anyone is around. But it is a short trip and, you know, no car.

If it's quiet around here for the next couple of weeks, it's because I'm staying out late and eating at restaurants with BOTH hands free. Hee!