I has been a busy week and somewhat disjointed. Sunday Victoria and I were working on clearing the yard of thistles. I doubt we will ever succeed, since they're in everyone's yards all over the neighborhood, but during this dry spell they are especially easy to spot. They thrive in this weather, while the rest of the yard obligingly withers away to let them stand out in prickly splendor. Just as I was starting to see spots before my eyes our neighbors across the street asked if we wanted to go to the fun fair one town over. We did, and Victoria was a runner-up in the hula hoop contest.

Monday Brian came home when we were about to leave for movie night at the library. He took her instead and I stayed home and read The Richest Man in Babylon. This is the latest of Brian's recommendations for the kids to read. As usual, it is information--all of which would easily fit on a 3x5 card--about managing personal finances wrapped in a poorly-edited frame, this time an irritating "ancient" voice. I asked Brian later why he kept handing them books that said the same things (The Millionaire Next Door, Economics in One Lesson, etc.) and his answer was that he was hoping to eventually find the one that would inspire them to follow the advice in them. I doubt this is the one.

Tuesday Victoria started tennis lessons. What a bargain! It turns out they're 90-minute lessons (I had thought they were half that long), $35 for six lessons. There were four kids in the first class, but the sky was gray on Thursday for the next class and we were the only people to show up. Private lesson! She's enjoying it and maybe I'll learn how to play, too.

Wednesday night was Wednesday Night! So cool! ednoria, kugelblitz, their DS, starfyrone, muzikmaker21, and chickenhat are all in Columbus for Origins and it was the first Wednesday after all. Brian was home, too, so you know it was a real party.

Today we had the aforementioned DS as a guest and thus learned about an important ice cream store nearby. We were going to go to McDonald's, but upon driving to the one I'd seen I learned that it was a McDonald's "Classic", which is shorthand for McDonald's "Useless for Entertaining Kids". We decided to go to the park instead--to play, sure, and to find a grownup who knew where a good McDonald's is. The grownups we found did know where a McDonald's is but they also recommended Graeter's across the street because the playground is inside and because these two grownups had just finished playing tennis on a hot afternoon and were projecting a bit, I think. So what? I prefer ice cream, myself. We went there and it was perfect.

Well, that's everything, or a lot of it at any rate.