Not exactly the summer we planned

but it is turning out to be a good one nevertheless.

Yakov came home from Israel for a restless week then headed to CJ for another summer of camp counseling. He enjoyed last year and signed up for the entire summer this year. It has been a good way for him to adjust after the intense year away. He came home for one day last week, Noach's birthday, and was glad to be with us for the almost 24 hours. JP and I go to Chapel Hill with him for orientation next Thursday and Friday and we will stay an extra night to catch a minor league baseball game in Durham.

Noach was away at Boy Scout camp last week but Thursday was both family night at camp and his birthday so we were able to spend the evening with him. He was surprised to find Yakov with us. We brought lots of cupcakes to share with his buddies and their families, too. He came home yesterday but leaves again tomorrow morning for the 2nd session at CJ. He will be gone for another 3 1/2 weeks.

JP and I were expecting to have most of 4 weeks without kids here, a rare treat indeed. And don't think I don't love and enjoy my kids but I was planning on accomplishing some tasks that are most easily done when no one is here during the day. Alas, it did not work out for us. But our disappointment in that pales in comparison to Shoshie's who was not planning to be at home much this summer.

Shoshie had big plans, working kitchen staff at Camp Tel Yehudah for 4 weeks with her VERY BEST friends and then spending another week with them in New York, going to concerts and museums. She drove my car to NY in mid June, visiting friends along the way. She was sick the week before she left but was feeling well enough to drive, or at least was unwilling to admit to herself that she was unwell. She arrived at camp with fever of 102 and a raging sore throat. She felt better, then she spiked again, finally after the strep test was negative, they did a mono test and it was positive. She had to leave camp. I flew up and drove her home. She was so sad.

Within a few days of getting home, she felt much better except for some late afternoon fatigue. A friend of ours, an infectious disease specialist, told us there was really no rational need for her to leave camp but, as a society, so many of our reactions to infectious diseases are not rational.

Now she is home with me. All of her local friends are working every day so she has been bored. And she's worried about not making the salary she was planning to make at camp. So I am finding jobs for her to do here. She painted a small bathroom last week. Next week she will help me do some work on the trailer.

I have enjoyed having her around, some real mother-daughter bonding time. We've gone out to lunch at little places she and her friends like. Last week I dyed the streaks in her hair purple for her since her friends were not available to help. I told her the last time I did anyone else's hair, we were probably listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on the radio while we did it. Yes, I'm that old. But we had hairdryers with hoods, not bowls on our heads. Just sayin'.

So, it's not the summer we planned. For me, it's better. For Shoshie, it's probably tolerable. Some of the time. PRM