We had a visit from Beth Martinez and her adorable daughters Gabrielle and Sydney today. Beth was my neighbor and walking partner for years, and it was great to catch up with her. Man, we were so good about walking (because Beth is really disciplined), we walked 5 miles several mornings per week, at insanely early hours. Whew. As soon as I moved, I of course totally fell out of that habit. We (pretty much) walked rain or shine, one time in a flat-out blizzard, that was craziness and probably more than a bit dangerous. But mostly we had alot of fun. And I was certainly in the best shape of my life in those days, without question. Damn!

They were here for lunch which was particularly fun because Gabrielle, age 9, is quite the epicurean. She happily ate broccoli soup, as well as the garlic toast I made to dip in tomato sauce topped with ham. The girls and Nathan swam their brains out - Nathan and I had so much fun we damn near forgot that Nathan had a baseball game tonight! Luckily John said, as I was casually making dinner, doesn't Nathan have a game? Nathan and I just stared blankly at each other, and the clock, thinking OMG, then he ran one way and I ran the other, pulling together his uniform and getting our butts out the door. I dropped him just in time, whew, then hoofed it back here to finish making dinner for John and A - fettucine alfredo, a Nathan request. I set some aside when I was done to make sure he would have access when he got home. Then I rushed back to the game, for no good reason, because it was a three-hour (!) endeavor, ack, those bleachers are hard. Luckily it's a gorgeous night, the Floridians won, Nathan has polished off his fettucine, and this family is going to BED. Wiped.