Great day

Woke up very late this morning, almost 10 a.m., because a) I haven't been getting very much sleep lately and b) I had taken a Benadryl late last night for my allergies. When I opened the bedroom door, Rachel was standing at the hall window, looking out to the yard. When she heard me, she turned around and handed me a heart-shaped cutout. I opened it and it read:

Roses are Red
Violets are blue
You love me
And I love you

"love you" was next to a picture of Mommy and Daddy.

I gave her a huge hug and thanked her for being so sweet. (Turns out that, as Drew later discovered, Rachel had spent the time before we woke up WORKING ON SOME PAGES OF HER MATH WORKBOOKS THAT DREW BOUGHT HER A WHILE AGO. Voluntarily. I don't know how we got this child, but I'm glad we get to raise her!)

Then I showered because I had a phone interview I had to do for a magazine story I'm working on. When I came downstairs, Drew was about to take Rachel to swim lessons, and he informed that she -- without being asked -- had watered the plants this morning, a task I don't really like to do. "THANK YOU!" I exclaimed, hugging her. "You saved me a task!"

Then I read the paper for an hour and ate breakfast. Around 1:30 p.m. I headed to Potomac Mills, an outlet mall that is an hour or so away (ugh) to return some shoes and clothes that don't fit -- then raced back home in time to dress for dinner and a concert at Wolf Trap. Libby's mom invited Rachel over for a playdate, so Drew dropped her off at 4:30 and I changed quickly so we could head out to a great restaurant that Drew's co-worker had recommended. The food was quite good (although served in small portions and expensive), and then we went to Wolf Trap, a well-known outdoor concert venue like Ravinia and Tanglewood.

The Philadelphia Orchestra played some Benjamin Britten and then Beethoven's 9th. The acoustics were incredible, the weather was perfect -- warm and breezy and definitely not too hot -- and transportation a snap -- we parked at the West Falls Church Metro station and caught a shuttle bus to Wolf Trap. Parking at the station was free since it was a weekend, and we avoided all the traffic getting there and coming back. Drew and I were quite impressed with how organized everything was compared to some events we've experienced in Portland.

Tomorrow I have to do one more phone interview, weed the garden out back and then hopefully we can all snag some family time before I leave for work. I am quite happy.