Dinner parties, farmers market, finally the World Cup draws to an end

People, can you believe that the World Cup has still not ended? I mean, what are these guys' families doing? I'd be over it by now if I were a German or Argentinian wife. So, good thing I'm not. This has been a very nice weekend over all. It's hot as Hades outside today but the sun is shining and all the rain we received last week has made for a lawn that almost looks healthy. On Friday, we went to a seriously lovely dinner party at some friends' house. Great food, company, conversation and the delightful opportunity to don a dress and heels. Thank you M² for such a thoughtful and beautiful evening.

About three weeks ago, we finally admitted to the children that we owned a Wii and had for years.

"Is it IN the house?" they asked. "Yes, in the basement." "OHMYGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Fast forward, and Tom has ordered a second controller and he and Jack have become obsessive fruit ninjas and golfers. The intense chatter emanating from the basement right now is hilarious. Oliver is patiently serving as the most enthusiastic peanut gallery ever.

Why do cats mash their front paws back and forth on soft things, all the while purring and blinking their eyes? Nutmeg is so obviously in pleasure right now, just over my left shoulder (I'm on the couch). It weirds Tom out when he witnesses the massaging paws in action. How handsome is the Nut I ask you!?

This morning, Ol and I went to the farmers market where, per the usual, he ate the entire time that I shopped: popsicle, buffalo stick, apple cider, all manner of samples. GUESS WHAT I SAW -n- BOUGHT??? The first yellow plums of the season. This means plum-basil jam and a very happy Em-i-lis. We also came home with sour cherries, eggplant, rhubarb and some other treats. Beautiful stuff, isn't it?

Ten-year Thursday

Today has been a.day. Hubs let me sleep in the basement last night which was restorative until an early-6s argument between the boys over who got to feed Nutmeg commenced immediately outside of the door of the room in which I was slumbering. I pretended I didn't wake, but I did. Not longer afterwards, while T was in the bath and I was running the recycling out, I heard Ol say nonchalantly, "there is a strange man at the door." In Ol-speak, that's "veh-uh is a stwange man at veh dorh-uh."

Bless his bizarre and utterly appealing accent.

The cat had tried to escape from one door, so he was in my arms as I flung the front door open to identify the strange man. However, the top bolt was still fastened, and so, basically, cat and I flung ourselves into the very locked door. Flustered, I finally got the damn door open and found that the roofers were here. We signed a contract a month ago and have never seen them since. The latest info I had suggested they were to come tomorrow. But you take it when it comes, so I apologized for my insane gruffness, said something about my husband and shut the door.

Tom took over even though that's not always his forte.

I got the boys to camp and had to come home and take a brief nap with the cat. That cat is kinda the love of my life. He was extremely vexed about the noise from above but his curiosity made for good pics. I had an appointment so shaved my legs. You know, it's the little things. Best foot forward really. I swear this small act made a difference. Afterwards, god-awful starving and cognizant of the fact that I was not a quarter-mile from the best bakery in DC -Baked & Wired. As mentioned earlier today, lunch =d cupcakes.

Then to the market before picking the boys up at camp before dropping Ol with the babysitter so I could take Jack to his 8 year old well-child exam and then, mercifully, to the long-lost grail of my life that is: a pedicure.

On the way home after yet another trip to the damn market, the skies opened. I began to feel extremely grateful for the surprise visit from the roofers because leaking after heavy snows and rains was why we enlisted their help in the first place. So thank you, lack-of-communication roofing team.

For dinner, fried bread with tomatoes and homemade ricotta. Was it awesome? No. Was it good enough? Yes. And isn't that good enough sometimes. Should be. Yes.

Names and cakes

It is my opinion that Goodluck Jonathan is not a good man. That said, his name is magnificent. Seems only fitting that he married a woman named Patience. Know what I had for lunch? Multiple bites of each of these!