A Very L-O-N-G Updatey Sort of Post. One you will probably not want to read unless you really love me. Hi Dad.

The summer feels like it's sliding under my feet, every time I think I have a plan that is solid enough to stand on, another friend calls and wants to come stay, or I remember something I wanted to do that I had forgotten. I love my friends, love spending time with them, taking the kids to the lake or a museum, I miss the summers when that was all I had to do. Because it's not finding time for all the things I want to do, as it is finding time for all the things I don't want to do, like work. and do laundry.

Bar Harbor was great, no work, all play, and the craziness that belongs to someone else's family. We ate popovers and took walks and shopped and played and dug in the sand. We bought five dollar ice cream cones and watched the fourth of July parade and fireworks. We ate lobster for Andrea's mom's birthday and played bocce with a local six year old boy who was better at the game than the rest of us put together. Or maybe that was because he was the only one not drinking blueberry ale. (Lots of pictures from the trip are here.)

Steve has arrived in Peru, safe and sound:

"After 24 grueling hours of travel we made it to Lima where we successfully navigated through customs, avoided getting ripped off and were able to secure a taxi to our hostel. This place is great."

He has promised to update his own blog with details on the trip as they make their way to Cuzco and Machu Picchu.

This week Andrea and her two children are staying with us since all of their things are now in Los Angeles two weeks ahead of them and they really have no where else to go. Besides, I will miss them all terribly once they've gone, so it's nice to have them here for a while.

Next week is a slight breather from the madness, except for the fact that Steve will still be in Peru and the girls and I will be all alone here with no Daddy.

The following week, Matilda has camp. In a random drawing at the mall a few weeks ago, I won a free week of camp for Matilda. I guess I can't say I never win anything anymore, but up until this drawing that was true. So the last week this month I will be shuttling Matilda back and forth to camp. She's pretty thrilled.

Also there are the Italian lessons, did I mention the Italian lessons? A friend of mine is teaching me Italian in exchange for watching her super cute baby for a few hours, which is great, but is also one more thing to squeeze in, not to mention trying to practice between lessons. The Italian is part of my master plan for getting into a good graduate program for next year. This plan also includes a lot more reading and writing than I have been doing.

Last week one of my oldest, dearest friends asked if she could stay here while she looks for an apartment in Boston, so she will be arriving right around the time Steve returns from Peru and she and her cat will be staying with us until she finds another place to live, hopefully somewhere where she will not have a three hour commute to school. I am very excited about this, but have I mentioned that my house is only 912 square feet? We'll be cozy.

Yesterday another west coast friend emailed that she will be in town around the beginning of August, so of course we must get together. We will, it will be fun.

The car is broken this week, I have left it at the shop and am nervously awaiting a phone call from the shop. They will tell me how much of the money I don't have I will need to give them if I don't want the wheel of my car to fly off at any moment on the highway, with the children in the back. We all know how well I drive.

None of these things are a problem, well, except for the broken car. The problem is that I also have another job, besides the full-time gig as mother. A twenty-hour-a-week, flexible job, which is great, but when exactly am I supposed to get any work done this summer? Tell me. Please. I really need to know.