Wow, That Went Fast

And just like that, summer is over.

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. We went to the beach.

We had a big picnic in the backyard. Note Scout's intensity as he waits for Coop to throw the tennis ball. When Coop doesn't respond fast enough, Scout sneaks in and puts it even closer to Coop. Finally, (and you could just SEE this coming, right?) he drops it on Coop's face.

We did some hula-hooping. It seemed the thing to do. "Peace out, Sister!"

And THEN, on Monday, we went to the U.S. Open. No, really, we DID. Someone at Coop's office had (incredibly expensive) seats he wasn't using on Monday and he gave them to Coop.

It was SO MUCH FUN. First of all, there's the whole thing where you dress as if the television cameras were going to find you in the crowd of a bazillion people. (Um, you would have done that, too, right? RIGHT? I thought so. That's why we're likethis.) Look, a bazillion people! And there's Barb! Oh no, wait, that's totally someone else. THERE'S Barb! No, nope... That's some other woman wearing MAKE-UP who might or might not have ironed her very nicest khakis from Target.

Before we ever got to the stadium, we stopped and bought the kids some ice cream and we bought drinks that came in this cup from the Grey Goose stand. (Grey Goose vodka always reminds me of my friend Marianne, who is the first person I ever met who drank it.) Anyway, the drink that came in this glass, shown here with cork so you can see how it's not very big, cost $13. It was good but it wasn't THAT good, know what I mean?

(Look at me with the captions today. I have no idea what brought that on.)

Anyway, we saw Rafael Nadal (Olympic gold medalist) play and I would just like to go on record as saying he is really, really cute a darn good tennis player. Those are some good leg muscles right there.

I took a lot of pictures of his legs him because his match went three HOURS and fourteen minutes. More than THREE HOURS for one match. Rafael (we're on a first name basis) was really cute when he got all sweaty exhausted.

We also saw Venus Williams (Olympic Gold medalist) play her match. Venus is six feet, one inch tall and she weighs about ten pounds more than I (5'5") do.

(Falls to the floor, sobbing, and rending her last pair of pants that fit.)

Venus played this pretty Polish woman whose name we never got to know because Venus kicked her hiney so fast. Oh, LOOK, I have almost that same sports bra. And I bet I look exactly like that in it! Of COURSE I do.

Oh, hush.

So then we walked around the Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has views of the Manhattan skyline: Photo by Ana.

The Unisphere from the 1964 World's Fair: Photo by Coop

Shea stadium (the current home of the NY Mets) and Citi Field (their future home.)

and also adorable girls with chocolate on their noses:

The funny thing about going to see the Open is that every time I've watched it on television, I've thought, "What? They couldn't find a place to build the stadium where it wasn't in the flight path?" Well, it turns out that it is practically NEXT to the airport. Planes, one right after another, fly so close you can almost see the people inside. I mean, finding land for a stadium anywhere NEAR Manhattan pretty much means it'll be in the flight path. This is just a very densely populated part of the country --I never really realized HOW densely populated it is until I moved here.

So then yesterday was spent going to the dentist and getting haircuts and making sure we had all of the required school supplies. (Back in Austin, the PTA ordered the supplies FOR the kids. It was a fundraiser because by buying in bulk, the PTA got bulk discounts. But it was a totally great thing for everyone--the teachers could specify exactly what they wanted, the kids all got the SAME THINGS, and the parents didn't have to go to Walmart and lose their minds. I'd offer to spear-head a similar effort up here but, you know, I really don't want to.)

Then we had Steak Night, complete with the Love candle.

And then this morning, these beautiful, excited young ladies marched off to school.



I have about three hours until I have to leave to pick up Ana from her first day of fifth grade and I'm scheduling some exercise, some housework, and some time to feel melancholy that summer is over and my playmates have gone back to school.