So what to do instead?

There were three of us in our Party of Five stranded on this side of the Atlantic, due to the Icelandic eruption, and two who arrived hours before the ash hit the skies and grounded transatlantic flgihts for the week. P & L, from California, have headed up to Tahoe for some spring skiing; the two who made it, H&N, soldiered on, taking Eurostar train, and cranky, barely functional Ford Fiesta from London to the tiny village in France that was our final destination. It has been great to see their adventures via N's blog--which is, in fact my inspiration for my blog here.

Me, well, there was plenty absorb me over the first few days--first in trying to rebook my travel, and then as hope waned--sucked back into the Mom vortex of managing playdates, sports, and homework. It has not been un-fun. There was some excellent tag in the dark last night. There has been hours of indulgent fiction reading. I got to lead the girl scout meeting I was going to miss Thursday night. I got to see my son's soccer game Saturday and take my daughter to squash lessons Sunday.

There was ice cream and tree-climbing at the farmstand yesterday with friends. I've arranged for rock-climbing lessons for the three of us later this week.

But now that the children have been re-deployed to their vacation camp (already paid for), what to do with myself....?

Surely I should be able to squeeze some art in this week? and paint that office wall at work? And my roaring twenties gala party I'm helping to run? Shall I start a banner? Either of these inspirational works might do . . .

And I really do need to find some office furniture for our new space on Craig's List . . . Oh, and those closets to be cleaned! Those are WAY up high on the priority list . . .