July can be divided into three parts: before and after Seattle/Kauai, and oddly enough, Seattle and Kauai. The periods before and after the trips were pretty similar. My life was dominated by classes, either preparing for lecture (I had three in one week), meeting with students (conferences, practice talks), or commenting on assignments. I was able to clear my plate of assignments right before leaving town, but the Monday I returned, I was slammed with 16 first drafts, plus another 16 by the end of the week. I also had to deal with CDP-related items such as our progress report, a poster and brief presentation for our annual meeting, then finally a conference grant that’s due at the end of this week. When we got back from Kauai, Igor and I dealt with deciding about refinancing our mortgage (we didn’t), and how to get a German schoolbag for Nikita (find a website that ships here).
The boys were their rambunctious selves, despite the heat at the beginning of the month and oppressive humidity at the end of the month. Nikita’s music and chess lessons continued as much as his teachers’ schedules allowed. Nikita’s piano teacher is still impressed with his ability to sightread given his age (he still can’t really read books); his violin teacher plans to schedule him in one of his fall recitals.
The major development with Ivan is that he now does everything Nikita does. If Nikita wants a yogurt, he does, too. If Nikita wants to wear a particular T-shirt, so does Ivan. It’s like listening to requests in stereo. Ivan also has taken to bicycling: he’s quite good at it, and fast enough that I can’t keep up with him by walking (as it should be).
As for me, my seemingly monthly visit to the doctor resulted in the knowledge that I had bursitis in my left hip. So, once again with the ibuprofen (600 mg x 3/day), ice, and stretches throughout the month. Thankfully, the bursitis seems to be gone. I also finished two fantastic books: A Suitable Boy (but I don’t agree with Lata’s choice) and slide:ology. I got a fair amount of knitting done for my lotus blossom tank, but then realized that I had used yarn meant for Nikita’s Transformer hat. Argh. At least I finished the tulip bud garter belt for my future sister-in-law, Brielle. And I just got the beads and ribbon for it this week.
