Matching Tracksuits

around the house

Spring Showers

Monday 6 May 2024

We’re entering the phase of afternoon thunderstorms, when the day can turn to near-night almost instantly and a deluge appears seemingly out of nowhere. (You know the saying about spring showers: April showers bring May flowers, and Mayflowers bring smallpox.) I get a little nervous this time of year: our basement likes to flood, and while it’s never happened while we’ve been gone, I know it most likely will at some point.

Today, though, all we had to worry about was K getting in the house semi-dry.

Lessons and Blooms

Thursday 11 April 2024

“I need to work on my Polish,” the Boy recently declared, so he and K have been working on Polish lessons again. He doesn’t look enthusiastic all the time, but he is (still) willing.

Almost as lovely as his effort were the azaleas blooming this morning.

Playful Monday

Monday 8 April 2024

It used to be something we did fairly frequently in the spring: all four of us would go outside and do something together: swings, trampoline, badminton, or just a walk. I guess we all took it for granted, but soon enough, schedules shifted, kids grew up, calendars filled up, and these evening family times disappeared.

But we still have the net up from Easter; and we still have two kids who enjoy badminton. So all four of us were out playing, though never at the same time — that schedule thing again.

First I took on the Boy. He’s getting so much better, but he flubs some that should have been fairly easy. No pictures of that one.

Then K came out and played with the Boy. I snapped a couple of pictures, but not many — not even one of K playing.

Then the Boy went inside while K and I played a bit. We’re down to two working rackets, so options were limited.

Finally, the Girl returned home from getting crickets for her Australian Tree Frog — I don’t know that we have a single picture of her, but L has had her since eighth grade.

She plays with the Boy for a while, but then I suggest I take the Boy’s part and the Boy take the camera.

And so I promptly have fun while making a bit of a fool of myself. L wins at everything — it’s time we face it.

K, for her part, was inside, studying.

When will the stars align again for such a day?

Cheat Day

Thursday 21 March 2024

Just to keep the streak going — we finished L’s new bed, did some stuff in the yard…

First Bonfire

Wednesday 20 March 2024

It’s not that we haven’t had the weather; we haven’t made the time…

Spring Sunday

Sunday 10 March 2024

Today was such lovely weather that we knew we had to head to our favorite park for a walk. The plan was to head out after lunch. It would just be K, E, and I because L was out all day, working and completing various obligations.

It’s just the three of us more and more often, which is understandable: the Girl is about to finish her junior year of high school, and she’s increasingly independent. She’s always been independent, but with a car, a job, and social life, K and I sometimes worry that she might be a little too independent.

Just before lunch, though, plans changed: E’s close friend invited him over for the afternoon.

“So I guess it’s just the two of us,” K said.

We’re used to that, in theory, but we’ve been a four of us for so long that it’s a distant memory more than anything else.

A distant memory that’s becoming an ever-nearing future.

After the walk, K and I spend some time in the yard. She trimmed the roses and hedges; I mowed the lawn for the first time this year.

All in all, a perfect little Sunday.

Saturday

Saturday 9 March 2024

K talked with Babcia again.

The Boy had another soccer game, which they won 6-2.

And spring is everywhere.

Morning

Thursday 7 March 2024

Still out for the count…

Preparing

Monday 8 January 2024

We’re supposed to get a hell of a storm through here tomorrow, with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and three to five inches of rain. Two separate concerns.

We have a forest in our backyard: wind gusts of 60 miles an hour could take down one of those beasts, and some of them are so big they would do significant damage to the house — like having to move out level of damage.

And we know how easily we can flood with less rain than predicted.

And so we went ahead and got ready for what’s sure to be come tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be rough.

Single Picture

Wednesday 20 December 2023

A walk with the dog gave us the single picture from the day — a day of doctor visits and yard work.

December Friday

Friday 8 December 2023

Today was our annual trip to the district’s vocational school to give our soon-to-be-high-schoolers an overview of what’s available to them there: everything from cosmetology to firefighting, from diesel engine repair to culinary arts, from mechatronics to nail tech. It’s quite an impressive variety.

Once I got back home, I saw that the inevitable has begun: our poor widowed neighbor has moved out of her house and family and friends have already started on the house — they took down the back deck that looked to be made of nothing but rotten boards.

“Wonder what kind of neighbors we’ll get,” will become a common topic of discussion, I’m sure — not that we have any say in the matter.

For dinner, Babcia made placki ziemniaczane with mushroom sauce — utter heaven.

And after dinner, a walk with the dog while the rest of the family went to church, a walk that included a street I haven’t been on in ages. I’d forgotten about the holiday scene they create.

Before

Wednesday 22 November 2023

Babcia Has Arrived

Tuesday 21 November 2023

It’s been ten years since Babcia last came for a visit here. She wanted to, but then again, there was always something: the noclegi business; Covid; other obligations; a bit of nervousness about the whole process.

But now the noclegi business is history, Covid is a manageable worry, and other obligations no longer are. It was still a stressful process for her.

Babcia

Saturday

Saturday 18 November 2023

This morning started with a mystery: an unknown dog was roaming around our driveway. When I went out to see if it was okay, he ran down to the fence and hid behind a bush there.

And he stayed there. I took him food; I took him water; I let him sniff me and then tried petting him. He took the food; he drank the water; he let me stroke him a little. We took some pictures, posted them on social media, and hoped for the best.

In the meantime, I set about trimming our second crape myrtle. We had to trim the one because it was sick, infested with some kind of insect that seemed to be killing the upper branches. And after we trimmed one, we couldn’t leave the other untrimmed.

By the time I had it almost completed, I got a notification from one of our social media posts about the dog: “That’s my dog!” So I shared our address, and she came to pick up her terrified pup.

The rest of the day passes as a usual Saturday: I’m in the yard; K works in the house.

And even when the last light has passed, she finds things to do.