By far, my favorite book this summer has been Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I can’t really describe it – I tried to explain the plot to Eleanor but felt like an idiot. Basically, the same character is born and then dies in a variety of ways. Every life builds on the last and the choices that she makes and others make around her influence a variety of outcomes. That sounds clinical and a little too clever but it really, really worked for me. I think you would know after 25 pages if it’s your thing or not. Beautiful writing too. I had a cold on the 4th of July and this novel just got into my blood. I literally could not stop reading it.

Anyway! I updated two book pages on the blog (see top). One is a faithful book log of everything I have read since I graduated from college in 2001. It cracks me up. I left the James Patterson up there as well as the totally embarrassing amount of times I have read Persuasion. And, I am listening to it again as we speak. The other book page is to be very, very short reviews of books I have read. I have been doing this since May. I have kept a book journal since 2001 but I just can’t keep up with it anymore. This is my compromise. Hopefully I can manage to keep it updated…

Happy Summer! We are alive and doing well. An update:

This is on my mind lately. This summer I have been trying to leave my phone inside the house. I put my work email on my phone a few months which is probably one of the dumbest things I have ever done. But! If I leave my phone inside I can’t check it every five seconds. I am working on being more present with the girls. 

The hammock has found a home in Olympia! The girls look at this picture and Jane thinks it’s me every time. No honey, those are Daddy’s legs, not Mommy’s. I shave my legs remember? This has been the summer of the yard. We have put up a fence, a chicken coop, have grown tons and tons of lettuce and vegetables and have a patio in the back. We have eaten dinner outside every night for more than a month. The TV has stayed off and we are all getting massive doses of Vitamin D.

The chickens are so fun. They have been outside now for a month or so. We let them out in the early evenings to peck around the yard. Henry follows them around and every night at about 8:15 they all go back in the coop, climb the ladder upstairs and snuggle together for the night. Henry goes in and looks up at them and I think he would snuggle up there with the chickens if he could. One drawback: the amount of chicken poop on our patio is staggering. 

The girls are doing so well. Cate is really into coloring this summer. Her attention span is intense. Jane is looking like a 3-year-old more with each passing day and is quite funny. She went through a period where she was coming down the stairs multiple times a night but we figured out she can’t actually open her bedroom door…you can guess what we decided to do. She is nothing if not persistent.

Telfer and I celebrated our twelfth wedding anniversary and went to Astoria for three nights. Maresa came from Kansas City to watch the girls. We had a fabulous time. We hiked the Fort to Sea Trail, ate really good food (also still dreaming about Bowpicker’s fish & chips), stayed at a fun hotel and loved walking in Ft. Stevens State Park. We have had a packed few months and so it was kind of a necessary time away.

I could go on and on! Oh! We had a lovely visit with Anna and Amanda a few weeks ago. RaChelle is due with her second baby girl at any second. Alyssa and Nate are coming next weekend. I have read so many good books lately. And eaten such good food! Another day. If I posted more than once every two months…