Social whirlwind weekend!

Ah, yes, this was the weekend where it seemed I hauled Rachel from one event to another (and we're having another weekend like that coming up in two weeks; TWO birthday parties in ONE day; yes I know this is just the beginning of a long train of activities that I will be taking her to over the next 14 or so years):

On Saturday, my sweet neighbor Doug dropped by to see how the house sale went, when we were leaving, etc. Doug has been particularly kind to me during the rougher times of my life, especially after I left the Oregonian and Drew went to Columbia and I was afraid I'd have to sell the house and our lives would be ruined. He pooh-poohed that idea and said the worst that would happen is that...well, I don't remember, but the point is that he never thought we'd have to leave involuntarily. And now we're leaving voluntarily, and I'm sad because I should have invited Doug and his partner Bruce over to dinner, but I never did (although we did trade sweets and home baked quick breads back and forth).

Then I raced Rachel to swim lessons ("this is the best swim lesson I've EVER had!" she said; her teacher is great), then home to meet with a moving company to give us bids, then to the farmers market where I picked up berries for breakfast and for a tart I'm making for a potluck in Salem next Saturday hosted by Warren Binford, the professor with whom I went to Africa, and then to a birthday party of a friend of Rachel's from preschool, Sawyer, then back home to pack up her dinner for St. James's monthly Parents Night Out (and my last one, since the next won't be until late August). I walked two blocks away to Higgins, a bar where Oregonian reporters used to hang out and met with Kathleen, the first editor I ever had at the paper (and who was fired in a huge scandal that is too long to go into here). She still fondly remembers meeting Mom and Dad years ago and asked about them again on Saturday. "I LOVE your Mom and Dad," she said, which is the usual reaction of folks who meet my parents.

We had a nice talk about all sorts of things, then she drove home with me and took the bus back after she, Rachel and I all had some chocolate ice cream.

On Sunday I hosted our chavurah. It was our turn to host in July and I desperately wanted to get out of it, but I couldn't bring myself to ask someone else to host so I just told everyone to show up at Sellwood Park. I didn't even get a reservation; just plunked myself down at a table with some homemade strawberry bread. The weather was perfect and three other families showed up, so it was a nice time. The kids played together and separately (Rachel is the youngest in the chavurah) and then, a couple of hours into it, we all trooped over the pool. I had thrown Rachel's and my bathing suits in the trunk, along with towels, and so I got to watch while Rachel practiced a bit of her swimming, splashed around in the water and "sunbathed," as she called it, while I dunked myself to cool off. Over the course of two hours there, I ran into the daughter of a former editor of mine who is headed to Northwestern in the fall (Go 'Cats!) and is a lifeguard at the pool; a former colleague of mine at the Oregonian who now works for Metro, the regional government agency; and a former candidate for Oregon attorney general whose debate I live-tweeted at the law school. All were really nice conversations and made me realize how rich a life I've built here and how hard that will be to replicate in DC. Sigh.