Bad news: I slept horribly, with something as close to an anxiety attack as I've ever had. I'm in mega-deadline mode with these two cookbooks, and it's the first time I've ever contemplated the possibility of not making a deadline. To be fair (to me), the second project came in 3 weeks late—but with the same end date as originally etched in stone! Huh? Yeah, right. Moreover, I grossly miscalculated the amount of working time I'd have during these few weeks between the end of school and the beginning of camp. Damn kids! And Andy's off this week, so I'm wanting to take advantage of this rare (annual) opportunity to do all kinds of family stuff. Like...
Good news: Today we went to the beach! We hit Good Harbor up in Gloucester, and it's just as lovely as we remembered from last year. It's such a pretty beach, with nice sand and water, plus they have a lifeguard/snack bar/bathroom/etc., they allow boogie boards, and it's just under an hour away. Win-win! So I got ready to relax....
Bad news: But I forgot to bring my book! I'd been thinking that a day at the beach would be a sort of "forced relaxation"—that is, I couldn't be expected to get any work done, so I might as well catch up on Bridge of Sighs, which I'm absolutely loving. I love it so much that I left it on the table in the mudroom as I walked out the door. D'oh! That's OK, because....
Good news: We had brought the Globe, and after reading it, I did the crossword and sudoku, then went to the car to retrieve the sudoku book that I keep there for those times when I'm too early to pick up a kid or whatever. So, it wasn't Richard Russo, but it wasn't nothing either. At that point....
Bad news: We started getting hungry but hadn't packed a lunch. So....
Good news: We decided to head over to J. T. Farnham's in Essex for fried clams! My verdict on Farnham's vs. Woodman's (our usual stop): The clams are comparable, but the fries were better (read: crispier) at Woodman's. (Your mileage may vary.) And then we went home, where we discovered...
Bad news: We each thought the other had put sunblock on Julie's back and shoulders (she can do it everywhere else), but apparently we didn't, as she got a wee bit of a burn. So we will stay home tomorrow, enforcing the T-shirt rule for her if we go to the pool, and then...
Good news: We're hoping to go back to the beach on Thursday!
I LOVE Richard Russo, one of the world's very best authors. "Bridge of Sighs" was good (as only Russo can write), but not my favorite of his.
Posted by: Tonya | July 01, 2008 at 11:30 PM