we came back late last sunday night--a week before yesterday. i took four days to recover from the hectic visit to chicago. last friday morning the cats saw us packing again. we drove to scranton and spent the weekend at frank's parents'. i can't help but saying this again: they are such lovely people. after so many years they still joke, tease, laugh with each other, listening to each other's stories attentively even though i'm sure they've heard them many times. i'm so jealous of frank for having such adorable parents.

while in pennsylvania we did quite a bit of hiking and jogging and the weather was cool and perfect. now every bit of me is sore. a week from now we will be in atlanta running the peachtree 10k. it's so hot and humid down there around this time of the year and the course has many what i'd call hills. i'm never able to improve at this race, so i guess it doesn't really matter whether i'll recover by then or not. worse to worst i'll walk my way to the end. the attraction of the race--to me at least--is fat matt's barbecue ribs. over the years it's become a ritual to reward ourselves there after the run. i think right now i deserve that reward this very moment.

i'll need to get the laundry done so we will have fresh underwear to pack on friday. poor cats. they will have to look after themselves for another five days. i promise i'll give them a soothing bubble bath when all the summer travels are logged.

and i hope you all out there are enjoying the summer as well!

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