Finally, the weekend log! This weekend had some pretty steep highs and lows. If I were to describe it to someone, I hope I’d highlight the positive. I read some fiction again (for the first time in ages). I spoke on a panel for Princeton reunions, and during the course of my talk, someone ordered 168 Hours on her phone (she told me afterwards). I love what technology can enable. I heard Naughty by Nature perform live. I saw great fireworks, I went strawberry picking with my kids. But there were low points too: being up with Sam for an hour in the middle of Friday night with him screaming the whole time, in a house with other people who woke up too. There was screaming in the car as well — agonizing minutes that seemed like hours. So which moments do we choose to remember? I’ll do a wrap-up thread this week to make some other observations.
Friday
6:30- up, get ready, hang out with kids
7:30- leave for Penn Station and get coffee
8:13-9:40 – train to Princeton, read sample of Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom on Kindle the whole way. Has anyone read it? I enjoyed much of the sample, but was a little tired of main character by the end of it.
9:40-10:15 – register for reunions, walk around beautiful campus, feel nostalgic
10:15-11:45 – my panel, talk about the internet, and how we spend our time.
11:45-3:30 – hang out at ’01 tent, talking with old friends, meeting their children, etc.
3:30-5 – Alumni Council Careers Committee conference
5:00-5:30 – catch up on email
5:30-12:15 – at ’01 reunions tent, eating dinner, waiting for Michael to show up (he drops kids at brother’s house) and later on listening to Naughty by Nature, the surprise band for the evening. Who’s down with OPP…?
12:15-12:25 – drive to brother’s house (I’m the designated driver), sleep…
Saturday
1:30-2:30AM – up with Sam, who screams much of the time, waking everyone up except Jasper (who is in the same room! How does that work?) and Michael.
2:30-6 – fitful sleep on floor next to Sam (he refused to sleep in crib) and then in bed with Jasper
6-6:45 – up with kids, give them breakfast
6:45-9:45 – hand kids off to others, sleep
9:45- noon, hanging out at house while kids play with older cousins’ abundance of really awesome toys.
12:00-12:10 – drive to Princeton, park in downtown garage
12:20-2 – eat lunch at ’01 tent, talk with people, show off children
2-5:00 – P-Rade. Lots of Princeton alums wearing strange costumes walking through campus. My kids get into giving bystanders high fives.
5-6:30 – hang out at Quad (my eating club), eat dinner
6:30-6:45 – kids having a big of meltdown, drive them home
6:45-8 hang out at brother’s house.
8-8:15 – drive back to Princeton
8:15-9:00 – talk with people at 10th reunion
9:15-10:00 – gigantic fireworks display. Lovely night and we have great seats by the running tack. It’s funny — I never visited the running track while I was in college, and now I think they’re great for doing speed work. How times change.
10-1:00 – At 10th tent hanging out, catching up, then drive home (I am designated driver again)
Sunday
6:00 – up with kids, feed breakfast
6:45-8:15 – hand them off again, try to sleep, and get a few catnaps in.
8:15-9:10 – up, breakfast, coffee, playing
9:10-9:25 – drive nanny to train station
9:25-10:10 – pack up, clean up brother’s house, load everyone in car
10:10-10:25 – drive to Terhune Orchards
10:25-noon – strawberry picking! Another highlight of the weekend. Finding bright juicy red strawberries buried in the greens is just an aesthetically pleasing experience. And the kids loved picking them and then (after paying!) gorging themselves on strawberries. Sitting on the porch of the Terhune store, eating strawberries and cider donuts was awesome.
noon -1pm – drive to our new home in Gladwyne PA. Make sure it hasn’t burned down.
1-3:30 – hang out at the house. Kids run around, we check out yard, which is even more beautiful than I remember. This house was very nicely landscaped — something I probably never would have paid for, and now love. So what does that tell us?
3:30-5 Costco in King of Prussia. Buy way too much stuff.
5-6:15- agonizing drive to Frenchtown, NJ. Sam screams big chunk of way.
6:15-7:30 – hang out in Frenchtown, get kids ice cream, go for short walk
7:30-9:10 – drive to apartment, with multiple stops along the way as kids are screaming for strawberry, milk, etc.
9:10-9:30 – unpack groceries, get very frustrated at inability to fit them all in fridge/freezer
9:30-10 – baths, bed for kids.
10-11 – catching up on emails, blogging for me. Now, hopefully to bed soon!