A perfect day

Anne and David are visiting us from Seattle, and today we had the most perfect day we possibly could have had. We all woke up late -- Drew and I didn't get to bed until 1 a.m. -- and had homemade gingerbread for breakfast. Drew ran out to do some errands, Anne and David spent the morning working (David in the dining room, Anne outside because the weather was so warm and lovely), and so I decided to enlist Rachel's help in making a pumpkin cocoa cake for our early Thanksgiving celebration with Dan and Beryle tomorrow. I volunteered to bring a turkey with all the trimmings to their apartment.

Rachel was such a help; she now knows how to RUN THE MIXER ALL BY HERSELF! I was so proud of her. She's also a champion egg cracker, a skill I didn't master until much later than 5 years old. The cake isn't hard to make, but it's complicated because it involves multiple steps, so I was able to give her a task or two while I finished the rest of the cake-prep process. I really love having her in the kitchen with me, so much so that when she's not there, I feel kind of lonely.

When Drew got back we all went for a walk along a bike trail, although Rachel and I rode bikes. We can now do mother and daughter bike rides! Yay! I'm sure we'll do lots of rides together as long as the weather holds. Then Anne decided we should walk to the Metro station together; she was very impressed by how close it is to our house.

When we got back home, Drew helped Rachel do some extra math homework that her teacher gave to the kids while I made stuffing and cornbread. Then we all went to dinner at a Lebanese place near our house that I love. We had a fabulous dinner, I had a good conversation with David, plus two apple-flavored martinis that left me quite pleased with life in general. I think we've all decided that as soon as Rachel goes to college we're going to end up in a cool D.C. neighborhood together (Anne and David spending part of the year there, Drew and I living there, in Dupont Circle or somewhere else, full-time).

Altogether a perfectly wonderful, relaxing day!