Phew.

This is not a restful holiday. Not only are we attempting to buy a house, which apparently isn't fun or easy at any time, but is particularly frustrating when key people in the process insist on taking vacation time, but we're trying to get many other elements of our life in order. The grownup kind of things, involving money and planning for the future* and other stuff we've been ignoring for a long time. Today I busted out a book I bought (cheap!) ten years ago - it's subtitled "Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties" and I'm running out of time to use it!

Also, it's raining a lot. I'm home with the girls this week, and we're kind of sick of eachother. I'm too ashamed to tell you how unpleasant I've been with both kids, as I scramble to get house-buying and adulthood-type chores done.However, this has given Dutch an opportunity to do some serious reading. She's picked up a ton of momentum suddenly, and spent this morning stretched out on the couch, devouring several of the terrible Rainbow Magic books. She reads out loud to herself still, and so I've been listening to a steady babble of fairy prattle. In spite of the tedious content, it's really fun to see her just take off into the world of books. ** Cook often marvels (sometimes balefully) at my ability to disappear into a book and totally ignore the world around me, and I hope Dutch has inherited it.

In other news, Skipper is chatting up a storm, and she counts ("Wun, Too, Six!"), expresses opinions ("Not LIKE el-vay-tah"), and joins in elaborate pretend games ("Over river. Dark pond!") orchestrated by her sister.

That's about it. We're busy. Should we buy a tankless water heater?

*Crap. That reminds me, we still have no will.

**I also suddenly realized that I need to start stashing my trashy books out of her reach, in order to avoid embarrassing conversations. It's bad enough that I've occasionally found her poring over the trashy covers of my bodice-rippers, trying to figure out what, exactly, this guy is doing to that lady. (Not that I can tell. I don't know who makes those covers, but in general their anatomical accuracy is seriously questionable.)