I have gotten out of the habit of writing in the weblog, but as usual I want to change that. Maybe this entry will do the trick.

After a very cool spring and early summer, there is a veritable heat wave in Seattle right now. It’s too hot to work in the office, especially when the sun starts pouring in through the windows in the afternoon.
We have been looking for another house, but finding one is proving problematic. People seriously want too much for their places.

Amanda and I went to dinner at Verve for our anniversary. We did not have a babysitter so we took the Kai with us. It was stressful with him, but not as bad as it could have been. We had a nice wine from WillaKenzie Estate; we have been there and one of the owner’s daughters lived at the Cramm (though not when either Amanda or I lived there).

Amanda had a crazy spa treatment on July 4th, so I took the Kai to the zoo for the first time in a while. We met MC and kiddies there.

Amanda went off to find presents for LK’s teachers as he is moving to a different classroom next week. When it finally gets too hot, I will go out and do some gardening.

I ended up not joining Amanda and the Kai on their camping adventure. Instead today I worked, caught up on gardening tasks, and cleaned up the house. I did a lot of weeding and thinning in the garden. And mulched the tomatoes. The house is pretty messy. Most of todays cleaning efforts were in the office… it tends to get a lot of stuff dumped in it. And there was a lot of debris from my new computer system. I also caught up on filing and various other life admin tasks.

I’ve been eating boca burgers for every meal since the family left. I should stop.

There is a pair of crows that always nests near the garden. I have seen them raise their young (always one?) before. This year, though, the youngster died near the entrance to the garden. The parents still watch from the power lines and mournfully caw every now and then. Sad.

It was a very nice day today, but other than working in the garden, I spent it inside working and cleaning.

I had to take a nap because I have not been using my CPAP regularly again. I will use it tonight, though.

It is late. With the fam gone, my schedule has immediately shifted over to night-owlness, although I still get up early.

Amanda, her dad, and the Kai are on a camping trip in the Olympics. She has eight straight days off, but, alas, I do not. I may try to join up with them this weekend. She is unsure of their plans, though, and as they might be many hours away from her, it might not be worth it for me to drive all that way for one evening out. And I would have to rent a car.

It is odd not having her and the little one around.

Her mom was also here interviewing for jobs, and she was already offered one before she left yesterday. Clearly the medical industry is the place to be.

I should go downtown and go clubbing and/or bar hopping. But I am old and really want to take a nap.

Obviously many things have happened since the last real entry. But today, Amanda and I just had a dinner at Lark sans progeny (who was at home with his grandmother). We had

• yummy bread and butter
• cow, sheep, and goat cheese with yummy hunny
• wine! (pinot noir and a tempranillo)
• olives and almonds
• cheesy dish with pesto and tasty crouton thingies
• yellowtail carpaccio with onions, green olives, and sea salt
• asparagus with some type of greens and yummy unknown cheese
• wild mushrooms and garlicks
• grilled rare ahi tuna with greens and a tasty broth
• the best mashed potatoes ever
• chocolate madelines
• apricot tarte
• a sauturnes
• coffee

Dinner was very good. I miss adult decadent dinners. And we had a $100 coupon from Living Social! Lark is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle even though they don’t have any cheap wine. A picture would have accompanied this entry, Amanda was not feeling photogenic.

I have been negligent with writing on my weblog.

Today I went to the dentist. No lectures on flossing this time. He still has Glitter Girl on the ceiling of the room where routine cleaning is done. The original does not have a blue background like the card in the previous link; the background is a very glittery silver instead.

I also got a few boxes to send some defective computer equipment back. I ordered a barebones system a couple of weeks ago, but both the motherboard and CPU were subtly defective. A major waste of time fiddling with it all.

A couple of days ago we saw JB, Amanda’s old bf and Crammie. He is still in grad school at MIT. He is here for a conference downtown. We had a tasty dinner of orzo and vegetables. Good times.

AC/MC family came over yesterday for dinner. I had to go to Seattle U for a informational session as I am going to apply for a master’s program there. I did get back in time for dessert.