What Ana Does

 After years of homework, tests, presentations, reports and bus rides ... Leah is a high school graduate!!Wohoo!!  I remember, all those years ago when Leah started kindergarten, she was put into the "Class of 2024" and thinking how far away that is. So far into the future it was crazy. I might have even turned to Dave and said "can you imagine? I wonder where we'll be?"  And here we are. Just a blink later.  At first, I thought of it as an ENDING. It's ending. No more first day of school, waiting for the bus, buying school supplies, picking up backpacks, packing lunches, going to teacher conferences (not that I really ever went), checking on homework -- 12 years of being in this schedule and it's over. I'll never hear that door open and shut at 3pm and hear whatever crazy thing happened at school today. And that made me really sad. I really liked that chapter of our lives and it's closed.   So I mourned that for a while.  Then I started thinkin...

 We've now spent a bit of time the last four months touring colleges with Leah. Either through official visits or swinging by the campus and walk through. And it's such a weird feeling on a few accounts.  First, perspective for me is so different. When I was looking at colleges and making this decision, it was obviously a much different time, a different world, everything. Totally different. And looking back on what I used to decide on college was probably totally wrong. 40-something me would look at so many other things than the things I looked at then.  Mostly, I wouldn't look so hard at the $$. Because regardless, that whole "how to pay for college" sucked and to a point it almost didn't matter what the price tag was. I was going to be applying for loans and repaying it into my 40s no matter what.  What I should have paid attention to was the equipment and who could get me the job at the end of the four years in the field I thought I wanted to do. Experienc...

This weekend we celebrated Leah's sweet 16. 16?! How?!   Had a great time. And can't even SAY how proud we are of this girl. 

 I just love this picture ...  Princeton in the fall. Dreamy. 

Welcome to freshman year, Leah! It is not at all what we thought it would be.  Due to the pandemic and concerns about safety, our school district decided to make the first few months of the school year (through October, at this point) 100% distance learning. Meaning, meeting over video conference calls and working through assignments on-line. While I know it was the right thing to do, and I'm pretty proud of our teachers for pulling together to adjust lesson plans, etc., it's still hard.  However, the girls are pretty excited about the idea of working at their own pace, in their own homes and figuring things out. It's an adventure for all of us. (They hate the bus?!) So, we went and picked up Leah's laptop and textbooks from school and this is pretty much the only "getting on the bus" back-to-school picture I'm going to get. Given that she's "too old" for such traditions, I'm actually pretty glad to have snapped the photos that I did. Mu...

Now that I've reinstated my working mom status, I'm developing a whole new set of daily routines. I like routines. I like a predictable framework especially in difficult parts of my day. And I especially like my mornings to be efficient and clear of stumbling blocks. (I mean, who doesn't!?) After a few months of feeling around the natural rhythms of my day and considering important daily tasks, here's what I've developed: My internal clock usually rouses me just before 6am, likely because Dave's up and moving by 5:30 to get to a 6 gym class. Instead of snoozing for 30 minutes (which I love to do), I get out of bed and head down to the basement for a 20 minute jog on the treadmill. Getting into an exercise habit is one of my BIG five-year goals and, so far, this is working well. Not only do I get a 1+ mile jog and 10 minutes of stretching at the start of my day, I finally get to catch up on podcasts again. Hooray! Without much of a commute (I swear I...

When I was in grade school, an elderly lady used to come to my classroom and tell us stories. We'd sit in a circle around her and marvel at her tales. And in my memory she was angelic and bright and lovely and I wanted to be just like her when I was older. She started each session with this little song: One misty moisty morning when cloudy was the weather I chance to meet an old man a-clothed all in leather He was clothed all in leather with a cap beneath his chin Singing how do you do and how do you do and how do you do again We'd shake hands with the kids around us ... the lucky kids at the front got to shake her hands. I've since taught my girls the song, especially as we're walking to the bus stop and the weather is misty and moisty (we pronounced it "moss-ty"). This morning was one of these mornings ...  Like a cloud fell on the street. Bruce is getting pretty good with the leash, most mornings. Related posts: More Bus Stop stories and ph...

Can you believe I made it more than 14 months without painting a single room?! But the girls wanted to update their room colors and I couldn't help but oblige. I mean, any excuse to paint is a good one. And my constant quest to re-move in is in full swing, so a painting project or two was a quick and easy update. Leah's room color hadn't been changed since we moved in seven years ago, so she was certainly due for an upgrade. (Here's the 2012 post for proof.) My almost-13-year-old picked a very cool blue to go with the "beach theme" in her room. The new color is on the left, and the old color is on the right. Leah At Work! New Color on the Left, Old Color on the Right (Notice the Nasty Baseboard Color) Alice started by looking at mustard yellows and oranges -- and I did my best to steer her toward a more palpable color. She ended up with a spring green called "Green Fees." It's definitely more mature than the little-girl lavender I pain...

Halloween in Paris has been quite an experience. This is my favorite holiday to decorate for but there's not a cobweb or over-sized spider in my entire apartment.  In fact, I thought the entire holiday would pass us by, but the girls are always discussing Halloween costumes, starting in November for the following year, and they'd find some reason to wear them. Which they did.  The American Library in Paris hosted a halloween party on Saturday evening, with some "cool" teen events. They even got a few local businesses involved so the kids could "trick or treat." So, we found a local fabric store and crafted-up some costumes. Leah was Ms. Marvel using an old dress and some cool, shiny fabric. Alice was a woodland elf with fake ears I found on Amazon. It took a bit of time, but you know I love making costumes.  They turned out cute! And they were able to wear them to school on Friday and show them off to their friends.  An Elf and a Super ...

On Monday I dropped Leah off at the train station for her first week-long school field trip. This is the longest Leah's been away from me -- without an aunt following her around taking pictures and reporting back to me (which is what happened when she stayed at my sister's summer camp for a week). And while I was walking away from her, doing my best to keep my chin up, I had this nagging feeling that I'd forgotten something. Despite having packed her myself, using a long checklist of items provided by the school. I had forgotten her. In the middle of a huge Paris train station. Though, with her friends and teachers who will supervise the entire trip. It took me a minute to compose myself. It really did. This is her first real adventure away from us, as an independent person in the world. Independence is a trait I always wanted to encourage in my girls. But since I've been home with them, this trait has been tough to grow. When I'm always around, how inde...

Because she's older, Leah got the room furthest from the master. It's also the only one with a (nonworking) fireplace and double ("french") doors. It's got a pretty view of the garden and connects to the main hallway, which makes it less private. In fact, it's probably used as an office or den. But it's the perfect 12-year-old space, we think. Leah's design direction was "fill it with rainbows." View from the Doorway  View From the Window Her Marble Fireplace With Faux Fire  I cleaned it up recently, so I snapped some photos. You can see the other rooms in our Paris Apartment by clicking here. It's been fun documenting the rooms for future reference.

Leah's school is opening a new Middle School campus next Fall and I got to tour it last week. It is two buildings that were once a business complex, I believe, that are now in the final stages of converting to a school.  Just imagine how a private school in the Paris would set up state-of-the-art classrooms and you can start to picture all the little touches of awesome inside these buildings. Standing desks, huge science labs, a sunny art room and a green screen room in the basement with the theater department. Just to start.  I'm pea green with envy.  The Historic Building, Science Labs are on the Lower Floors The Newer Building and the Brick Courtyard The Drama Classroom The one downfall is there is very little outdoors space within this campus location. So their after lunch "park" time will be in an enclosed space instead of the large Eiffel Tower-facing park they get to hang out in now. Leah's pretty excited about the whole thing, too...

And it continues! So these two boards held-up the mattress on the trundle part of Leah's bed . They're heavy but a very smooth white finish, so obviously I thought two blackboards. Here they are set up for painting. I made a white boarder by taping out around the edges. Step One: Paint Prep Next, I painted two coats of chalkboard paint. And YES! I used up the last of the chalkboard paint pint I bought several years ago. Step Two: Chalkboard Paint. Pro Tip: Paint Chalkboard Paint on Thick. And then they were done! I've got a few ideas where I'll place them. They're SUPER HEAVY so I'm opting NOT to hang them, and to just find strategic places to lean them against a wall. Finished Blackboards! The point is, more bed pieces that didn't get tossed out. And they're cute and useful. I've got two more projects to go until I've probably hit the end of what I can successfully up-cycle. Related posts: Leah's bed died, here...

The Bed, Right When We Moved In A few months ago, just as we were going to sleep, we jumped at the noise of Leah's bed cracking and splitting. It was pretty dramatic. The bed was about eight years old from Costco and wasn't made to be taken apart and put together as many times as we did it, so we knew the end was coming. I tried to salvage the headboard and footboard, but eventually we decided just to get her a boxspring and frame and figure out the pretty parts later. Sure, we were bummed about losing the bed, but OH GOLLY all that raw material for house projects. Cha-ching! Or Huzzah! Or whichever jubilation makes sense in this situation. Our reusable assets: there was a footboard and headboard, some long side rails, the slates that held up the mattress, and the trundle parts. I started with building a set of hooks from one of the slates that held up the mattress. Leah has been requesting a spot to display her soccer medals and you know I'm a sucker for ho...

School year kicked off on the same day as the eclipse. Coincidence? I've now got a third grader and a sixth grader. And since I'm still doing the freelance-from-home thing, I get to see them off and welcome them home every day. Lucky me! Related Posts: All "Back to School" posts

We all had a great time in London and I have lots to share about it. But for now, here's Leah's little movie trailer she made with iMovie. It's a good summary. And I'd honestly want to see this full movie, if it actually existed.

Here's an update on Leah's bedroom. In this post , I was trying to figure out where to put the bed once Leah moves out of Alice's room. They'd been roommates since September ( see this post ) but now the almost-11-year-old wants to be in her own room again. The room is oddly laid out, and Leah requested the bed doesn't take up the middle of the room. So the solution we came up with is pushing it up against the built-in desk.  It's not perfect but it's kind of neat to sit in bed and work on art projects or on her school-issues Chrome book on the desk. And she's created a hiding place under the desk, too.  AFTER: Leah's Bedroom  Well, at least that's where it will stay for the time. We're always moving things around in this house.  Related Posts: When the girls became roommates and why Leah's bedroom layout

A few months ago, the girls became roommates and Leah's room got turned into a crazy-messy play room. It's pretty much been that way ever since. But lately, the girls have talked about NOT sharing a room anymore. Alice might want to sleep in a little later on a school day. And I don't blame her. But we've always had a challenge with arranging the furniture in Leah's room ... the bed specifically. There's really only ONE way to do it and that's with the bed running down the middle of the room. I made a quick drawing of the layout ... And here's a photo of the bed and the niche from when we moved in and decorated back in 2012 ... While the bed looks good in the middle of the room, it takes up a lot of valuable floorspace. And Leah has requested an alternative location for the bed when she moves back in. Where oh WHERE can I put it? Related Links: The 2012 post of Leah's room complete An idea of how to get rid of that nook that did...

For months, and maybe even since Christmas, the girls have been sleeping in the same room. They are going through that stage where they are afraid of just about everything. And I mean, everything that could possible go wrong in the world. (Eg. Leah watched a fire safety video at school and she's now convinced of a fire in our house.) And sleeping together makes them feel safer. When we had the bunk beds, this was convenient. But since we got the daybed, Leah's been sleeping on a mattress on the floor... Not awesome. So, this weekend it was time to make this sleeping arrangement permanent. It wasn't easy, because that bed was pretty tough to move, but after a day's work, Leah has a real bed. Hooray! And after a sleepover the night before, she was more than ready to use it. The Beds All Lined Up! It's too bad this room isn't a little larger -- when my sister I shared a room we had enough space to run the dressers down the middle. But, I guess at that...

Monday was the first day of school and it was a DOOZIE! Leah, my newly-minted 5th grader!, was excited to go ... but her bus was 30 minutes late! Luckily, the sun was shining and a light breeze was blowing. A lovely morning to wait around for the school bus. Waiting and Waiting At the Bus Stop!  The Bus Finally Arrived!  Then, Alice's bus was on time but she wasn't. Long story short: She ran back into the house to get a book and couldn't find it. I was left to hold the bus while she ran sobbing up the street and into the bus. SOBBING.  Crying In Every Picture ...  Crying in Every Single Picture Reminder to myself: For Alice's graduation party, find these pictures and blow them up into poster size. This falls under the "it will be funny someday" parenting category.  Update: She reportedly calmed down on the bus and had a rockstar first day of 2nd grade!  Alice Was All Smiles After School