Another crazy weekend

Busy day today -- my friend Charon and her 8-year-old son, Cameron, came over to help with some gardening tasks this morning. Rachel helped us pull weeds and rake up the soil, and we filled four yard waste bags. I stopped when I realized we needed more yard waste bags and some wooden strips for our planters, plus the kids were hungry and Rachel needed to go to her swim lesson.

I took Charon and Cameron out to lunch as a thank-you for helping us, then went to the bank, came back home, changed clothes and headed to Rachel's tee-ball game where I saw her scoop up the ball at third base and throw it to the first baseman. YAY RACHEL!!! I shouted, beside myself with excitement. Now I know why parents get insane at their kids' sports accomplishments!

Then we headed home for a playdate; Rachel's friend Simone came over and they spent much of the time...reading. Seriously. Simone's parents call her G.G. (Gorgeous Genius), and so she and Rachel have decided that Rachel's nickname is G.G. 2 (Gorgeous Genius 2). So we refer to them when they're together as G.G.1 and G.G. 2. It is beyond adorable.

I raced to Home Depot, where I found everything except the wooden strips, and got home just in time to change again for a party at Ivy's parents' house. Billy, her dad, is a Foreign Service officer who is headed to Afghanistan on his second (and hopefully last) hardship assignment next week. They had a spread of Mexican food and Jenny, Ivy's mom, made an awesome Tres Leches cake. I got into a long conversation with a Secret Service officer and his Estonian wife. He gave me a rundown of the history of the Secret Service and told me a little about what he does (he's in cybersecurity). I got into another long conversation with a woman who I've volunteered with at McKinley, and we were trading horror stories about the property management companies that are managing the houses we're renting (we have had a leak in the downstairs closet since Thursday and the company promised to send someone out on Friday to look at it, but we've heard nothing. NOTHING. Meanwhile we've soaked two towels trying to sop up the leak and two of the boxes holding Drew's stuff were ruined, and now Drew says we may be liable for the damage if the management company decides were were liable for not shutting off the pipes fast enough when it got cold -- an idea that sickens me, since we DON'T OWN THIS HOUSE AND I AM NOT PUTTING ONE CENT OF MY HARD-EARNED MONEY INTO FIXING SOMETHING THAT'S NOT OUR FAULT). Of course, this woman at the party has a far worse situation than ours, so, really, I should be more thankful.

And then at 8:30 it started getting chilly outside so we left. A very typical day in D.C., and a wonderful one.