Peace, love and understanding

Bob and I went to a concert last week. It was Elvis Costello and the NC Symphony. Now, Elvis is a blast from my past. He was very popular when I was in college. He toured and performed at UMASS. The big show was sold out. My boyfriend, at the time, and I managed to see him after his show. He played a set with his girlfriend, at the time, with the band The Pogues at the on-campus bar the Cage. In early 1993, I saw him on a snowy St. Patrick's Day concert at Boston Symphony Hall playing his collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet on The Juliet Letters. That was a wonderful night. Now, he's working with a full orchestra!


The concert was held at the Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary. It was an outdoor concert -- a beautiful night. His performance was strong. He emphasized his anti-war sentiments and love for America. He also seemed happier, talking about his happy marriage and infant twin sons. He joked and belted out some passionate oldies but goodies. He joked that he tries to imagine that we're all the hot young things we used to be when we first discovered him. It seems that the angry young man has grown up, just like the rest of us.

It was a late night for us. We didn't get home until midnight. I even had to wake up the sleeping babysitter--gulp! The very next morning I had to dash to the airport for a trip to Atlanta. I'm not sure why I had to go. I put in some face time with the boss and some VIP authors.

Now, back to the ususal work week...

Tomorrow is both the first day of school for Zoe (third grade!) and our wedding anniversary (15 years!). Zoe is excited about school. We all went to school on "meet the teacher" night last week. I've heard good things about her teacher. The word on the street is good. We are breathing a sigh of relief. That will be a huge improvement over last year.

We spent the weekend getting better organized. We put away old toys. It's a huge uphill battle at our house. We have too much stuff and more shows up every day.

We went to Target and bought some cube shelves and canvas bins to hold the zillions of Lego's and train tracks. We picked out some new clothes and school supplies. We're ready for what we need, but we're not quite mentally ready. The temps are still in the high 90s. We're still in shorts and t-shits. We want to languish a bit more at least until after Labor Day.

Alas, we don't get to determine the school schedule. It's going to rough getting up at 6 AM again. We got off schedule in June, and have not been able to get back on track yet. It takes more discipline than I can muster. I think it has to do with not getting enough vacation time. We're worn out and just plain tired.

As the kids get older, it will get better. Middle school starts an hour later than elementary school. High school start an hour later than middle school. Until then, I will get up earlier and be better prepared. We have at least ten more years of this, so we have to make peace with it. But, I do reserve the right to complain about it.

Puppy Love

At work today, we had a little visitor. This is Loki, a baby bassett hound. Isn't he the sweetest thing?

I wanted to put him in my bag and take him home.