Our Weekend With A 12-Year Old

My niece should visit more often. Our life is definitely more fun when she's around.

Thursday, she and I spent an hour pouring over cookbooks before making vanilla fruit salad, Pirate's pie (what 12-year-old thinks a recipe with kidney beans, cornbread, green peppers and onions sounds good?), and blueberry tea cookies. We played Uno and BS (a card game she taught us) that night. Friday, she and I had manicures/pedicures, went shopping, saw Hairspray, and met Blair for dinner at the Melting Pot. Yesterday we went to the Mad Platter where we painted glasses and art that will be kiln fired and returned to us. Then we went bowling, out for pizza, and ended the night at a drive-in movie theatre to see Transformers.

I am freaking exhausted. I've kept to my running schedule during all this (getting ready to head out and do 8 miles this morning with my running group) and managed to sneak in some work.  What I find most exhausting though is just needing to pay attention to someone on a fairly consistent basis. I'm used to my hermit-like life where I'm alone most of the day until Blair comes home.  Holding conversations is tiring, people. =)

I'm slightly panicked as I have several projects due Monday/Tuesday that need my attention so I plan on working most of today. Blair and K. are going to meet me in GSO after my run this morning so we can have a quick coffee together and then he's driving her to the pick-up point with her parents.

I admit I'm ready to have my house and life back. Still, having K. here made us get out of the house and find things to do and we ended up having as much fun as she did at almost every activity. A good reminder we need to get out of the house and go do things a little more often.