I was really dragging today–I blame CLL–but dragged myself to A’s anyway to keep up my momentum.  Sleep when we die.  Today I started direct-sewing some fall greens, starting from the front with blue kale and spinach.  I’ll continue to fill up all the empty spaces with other cool weather crops.

Y made dinner tonight–bruschetta!  (The basil was homegrown.)  It was excellent.

I thought I’d try out a fun new gimmick on my photos.  I apologize if any of the info is wrong; it was mostly just to play around with colorful captions.

Yesterday as I was about to cross evil Watson, I witnessed a huge traffic accident right in front of me, and called it in.  It was like in a movie–a car darted out of 7-eleven and smashed into an suv, which flipped over multiple times and landed right-side-up in the middle of the road.  Vehicles were skewed all over the place, blocking the road, or trying to find a way out.

Somehow the elderly couple in the suv survived with minor injuries, and chose not to go to the hospital.  I don’t think the other guy died, but it was a head-on collision, so it couldn’t have ended well.  I stayed with the couple as the emergency teams checked them over.  I think I was almost as in shock as they were.

So much can happen in a split second to change your life, or end it.  I have so much respect for EMTs who respond to emergencies with professionalism and efficiency.

That pretty much set the tone of my day!  Avdi said, “Touch grass”, so I dug up the rest of the potatoes, and watered the garden.  Then I decorated for K’s birthday, and did other housey things.  Avdi took K out for sushi, while I made dinner for the rest of us.  Y and I played in the kitchen.  Later we had cheesecake.  J drove me home and I collapsed.

When I finally got myself to Avdi’s today it was quiet, with all four kids at school.  I think I was having one of my CLL “off” days, where I’m fatigued and lightheaded.  Fortunately, it was gorgeous out, so I got some gardening in.  I cleared the whole potato area, then started digging.  Lots of white and red potatoes!  I left most of it for later, as Y had expressed interest in helping dig.

The kids came home in varying degrees of non-amusement, but mostly their first day went well.  We all hung out talking about it and distracting Avdi, who was trying to work.  Y had fun digging potatoes using the spading fork with bare feet.  E jumped in the pool and then of course started baking some more.

Lately I’ve been feeling much more at home and relaxed over there, probably since the kids and I have gotten to know and trust each other more.  I like listening to them and learning the lingo.

Yesterday was S’s first day at school (the “special” school), and he seems to have survived.  The other kids start their respective schools today.  We’ll see how that goes.

I got more garden cleanup done to where you can actually see the garden for the weeds.  I’ve been laying down cardboard as I go, to keep the weeds down.  I even began the digging of the potatoes, but didn’t get far.  I’m finally starting to get peppers and tomatoes.  E has been harvesting okra and processing it for pickling, and the odd tiny watermelon here and there.

My latest plan is to direct-seed some cool-weather crops for fall as I clean up and harvest the summer veggies.  Keep it productive as long as possible, then eventually add compost and leaf mulch to be tilled in later.  I’ve stopped following gardening manuals for the most part, and just do what seems logical and intuitive.  Something’s bound to work!

Also, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve dialed down my purist natives-only “religion”, in light of reality.  I still love that I keep discovering more natives in the landscape by not weeding them out, but I’m much more inclusive, as long as no harm is done.

The last few days went by in a whirlwind of resuming erev Shabbat baking and preps, a revolving door of kids’ open houses and orientations, last minute hanging out with their friends, preps for the back-to-school edition of B&B, featuring lots of delicacies by E, and a successful B&B lasting all afternoon and evening.

I spent the night and did much of the setup for the B&B, then exhaustedly adjourned to the pool, where Y and I spent hours playing, until we were joined by other kids and parents.  In fact, Y and I have been spending a lot of time together lately, which is a good thing.

Later, very stoned (don’t ask), I got to enjoy “socializing”, an uncommon concept for me.  Interestingly, two separate circles of conversation, the teens and the adults, merged into one as the former realized the latter were discussing mutual subjects of interest.  I thought that spoke well of the unique quality of gatherings we have at Avdi’s.  Everyone feels at home.  It really has become an extended family of choice for all stages and spectrums.

Somewhere in there I got some more garden cleanup done, but mostly I spent time with kids, sometimes just diffusing volatile situations.  S has developed a few more interesting symptoms (of stress or a disorder?), but I found removing him and me to a quieter situation to just chill and do gaming seems to avert some of it.

In between rains, I managed to get more garden cleanup done, but the real action was happening indoors.

E had been on one of their baking whirlwinds, turning out dozens of delectable sweet confections.  They tasted as good as they looked.  I did some housework, made a pasta dinner with Y’s help, but mostly ended up just spending time with Y, playing and hanging out.  Some of the time I was mediating between Y and S, who tries to crash the party whenever it’s not all centered around him.

The living room became Y’s big fort, and some hide-and-seek took place.  Eventually Y and I ended up lying around on my bed talking and doing smartphone stuff, while Avdi was out at yet another school orientation.  Since they’ve been back, Y seems to be spending more time with me, which is a good new development.  I’m also learning more of the latest slang.  Rizz.  Sigma.  Skibidi toilet.  It’s literally a different language.

I really got down and dirty in the garden yesterday, and E enjoyed helping out.  We were astounded at each new gorgeous discovery.  No two popcorn ears were alike, and the “glass gem” really does live up to its name.  E found some large mystery beans that looked like pink and purple precious stones.  They harvested okra for pickling, and as I cut back greens, they rescued some and used them for making dinner.  K even came out to the patio and read his book.

It was hard work, digging and chopping out all the stubborn crabgrass and other weeds that had taken over, but eventually it began to look like a garden again.  More baby melons and cucumbers emerged from the rubble.  A few more days of intensive labor and it should be under control.  Next up: digging up potatoes.

Meanwhile, Y was doing their creative crafting thing, accessorizing their new school backpack, and making bead jewelry, including a bracelet for me.  E was bustling around in the kitchen making dinner for everyone.  S was doing his usual thing, in his imaginary gaming world.  Avdi was back to juggling work, multiple food orders, upcoming school orientations, and more school shopping trips with kids.  I helped hold down the fort.  He was back to his exhausted self.

I got to join the school shopping expedition yesterday, with K and Y.  Half a dozen or more stores later, we made it to Avdi’s, where E and S completed the reunion.  Back in the saddle again.

Y really attached themself to me and we spent some time on their latest craft project.  I threw together a casual buffet-like dinner.  E and Y and I visited the garden in the rain and discovered the colorful Indian popcorn was ready to shuck.  Also a small round watermelon, which we proceeded to eat.  Meanwhile, Avdi, who was exhausted from mopping up puke, the long round trip, and little sleep, collapsed on his bed.  Back to “normal”.

Somehow the only photo I thought to take was of this “fruit salad” margarita I made Avdi.

Our last kid-free day was spent getting lots of outdoor work done.  I watered, harvested the last of the leeks and onions, and dug up the weeds in the now-empty rows.  Avdi mowed the lawn and did some trimming.  I did some yard cleanup, and helped Avdi while he scrubbed out and vacuumed the pool.

In the evening we had pizza and watched Sense8, which I turned Avdi on to.  It was a pleasant evening to walk home, with tiny droplets in the clear air.  Tomorrow Avdi will go pick up the kids in Chicago.

Last night Avdi and I had our “last supper” before the kids descend upon us.  He was tired and distracted by things, so we kept it close to home in Old Webster, at The Block for steaks.  The weather was perfectly comfortable, so we ate out on the patio and watched the sunset.  He said it must be the beginning of “the long autumn” in MO.  I hadn’t had a good steak in decades or centuries, so it was a fitting finale to our freedom!  Hopefully next summer he’ll get to enjoy a full summer kid-free, not trying to compress work and grownup relaxation into an abbreviated time frame.