Happy Fourth of July!

I'm writing this the night Rachel was scheduled to be born, except that as we all know, she took her sweet time leaving Mommy's tummy. In six days she'll be 3!! How did that happen?!?!

Drew wanted some daddy-daughter time yesterday, so he took Rachel to the zoo while I continued the Massive De-cluttering Project From Hell. The high chair is now in the garage; Rachel's toys are in her room or upstairs; the attic is cleared of boxes of clothing (so Richard, you have room to actually move around when you come visit this weekend:)) and I made some headway with the piles of paper on the dining room table that have no home because Craig and Brenna, my tenants, are here until July 14th (but they've graciously agreed to leave this coming weekend, so the house will feel almost like our own again).

Anyway, Drew and Rachel had a great time. They saw giraffes, and a hippopotamus, and Rachel at first didn't like the orangutan but was fascinated when he? she? hung upside down.

I met them at the Waterfront Blues Festival and we had a grand old time. Just before I got there, Drew and Rachel were DANCING because apparently she likes the blues! (I had the radio station tuned to classical music on Saturday and was about to change it because it sounded like dead violin music, but Rachel said, "I like this music!" so I kept it on). And people kept asking why Rachel was in a cast -- it was a great conversation starter, Drew said, because she is so adorable and is even more so with a cast. We all had dinner there, with Rachel eating most of the chicken in my pita sandwich and lots of fries, so we figured she deserved some dessert. She ate vanilla ice cream from a cup and took a couple of licks from my waffle cone of Rocky Road ice cream.

Drew and Rachel left before the fireworks started; Rachel was dubious about the idea of fireworks being VERY LOUD, so I watched them myself. It was OK, except that I felt very lonely in a crowd full of cheerful, drinking people. Next year I will insist we all go together or just stay home.

It took me two hours to get back; that included walking time to the MAX and then walking time home with a nice guy named Stuart and his grown daughter Alison from California who were lost and staying at a B&B in our neighborhood. So I played tour guide and we had a nice talk. I didn't get to bed until 1 a.m., which is why I was exhausted today and am getting ready to head to bed. 'Night, all!