Big Catch Up

Princess Ivi is now officially a seventh grader. She received her report card yesterday (which was the last day of school). She got a C in math which is good for her given her LD. She got As and Bs in everything else. She also got her reading list for the summer and her school supply list. I hate the school supply list. It seems it gets longer and more complicated each year. Of course, that means that school supplies also get more expensive each year.

But I love the reading list. She has to read at least three books this summer from fiction genres. Last summer I had a hard time getting her to read anything that wasn’t a graphic (anime) novel. So this year, I have limited her to one a month and told her that I will give her a dollar for every book she completes from cover to cover and 50 cents for every book that she makes it halfway through (the rule for books we don’t like is that we have to get at least halfway). I think that will motivate her to read more.

She is incredibly boy crazy right now. She has a crush on the boy who lives in the apartment upstairs from us. I am pretending it isn’t happening. She knows my rules that she can’t have a boyfriend yet. She has to be 13 to have a boyfriend (the kind at school where they hold hands and tell everyone they are going out but never actually go anywhere), 14 to go on group dates with big groups including appropriate chaperones, 15 for smaller groups with appropriate chaperones, and 16 to date without an adult present.

She is all worried that the boy she likes won’t wait until she is 13. I tried explaining to her that if he doesn’t then he is wrong for her. I also pointed out that he is just one of many boys she will like and to not get too attached. We shall see how this progresses. I don’t like to think of her dating yet. She is still my baby…the thought of her dating makes me feel incredibly old and very, very overwhelmed.

This summer she will be doing some volunteer work at the library, art programs at the library, working two days a week at Ryan’s work filing and doing mailings, and hanging out with her aunt.

Oh, by the way, I am married…happily married. I can’t believe how lucky I am that we found each other again. It is interesting to be able to talk about dating when we were 17 and to talk about those memories. We loved each other then and we both now realize that we would have stayed together if we had been smarter.

But the love we have now is so much better because we are older and smarter. After experiencing so much crap in our lives, I think we both realized how rare the love we have really is.

Of course, we are still adjusting which is normal considering Ryan only moved here April 20. He and Princess Ivi are getting along great. It helps that he is really just a big kid. But I am just trying to stay patient and not be so anal. I am slowly learning to let go of some of my obsessive compulsive behaviors.

Summer Plans
June consists of the Greek festival on the 21st (yummm…spanakopita, baklava…need I say more), our one month anniversary, and the Highland Games and Scottish festival in Greenfield, MA.

July consists of the Boston Harborfest; our local 4th of July celebration; a coworker’s birthday; her sons’ birthday party (I committed to making a racecar cake); my boss’s 50th birthday; Ryan’s 30th birthday (where I am going to make his mother’s carrot cake and hope it turns out close to hers); some folk festivals.

August consists of more fairs and festivals and our trip to Florida.

Of course, August also brings the start of the school year (August 27th) and sees the official end to summer vacation. But I don’t mind because it means fall will be there soon. I love fall because September has fall festivals and apple picking (and Ryan’s mother’s visit) and October has Halloween events (this year we will take a trip to Salem). Then November brings Thanksgiving and then it is Christmas.

Since Ryan is now a part of our lives and since he has never been to New England, I find myself wanting to show him everything and experience everything with him.

As for knitting, I am making a sock. Of course, I realized last night that I have somehow managed to knit it inside out. I am not going to undo it though. I am going to post to some lists and see if anyone has any advice on how to fix it without ruining it. Considering I have unknitted it twice now, I am going to use a lifeline on the next one.

I still have a lot of unfinished projects but since it was unbelievably hot, I needed something small and easy to transport.