I know, I know. I have been a terrible, infrequent blogger of late. I promise that this is a temporary problem. We have been extremely busy on currently secret projects that will be revealed in time.

For now, I can tell you that we are no longer in Chestertown. We are north of there.

We spent a few minutes driving through New York. It was the first time in my life that I did not curse while crossing the George Washington Bridge.

Traffic flowed freely and good will pervaded throughout our car until we reached Connecticut, at which point traffic slowed to a standstill and despair ran rampant through our hearts.

Countless hours later, we arrived in Andover, Massachusetts, present home of my mom, who will be retiring in a few short weeks. We came here to celebrate her retirement.

By the following morning, the dismal fog of Connecticut had mostly faded from our hearts. We walked to breakfast.

Stopping only when opportunities for jumping presented themselves.

My second-favorite thing about visiting Andover is Commons, a thoughtfully catered, gustatory free-for-all. One may visit three times a day. If I worked at Andover, I would probably weigh 300 pounds.

My favorite thing about visiting Andover is the chance to see my mother, of course. In a few short weeks, she will be moving to Chestertown. Which means I will have to come up with a new first-favorite thing about visiting Andover (if it ever happens). Mom will no longer be there, and I will no longer be eligible to eat at Commons.

Kato’s first favorite thing about visiting Andover is the ability to stand on and jump off of various low walls.

For the occasion of Mom’s retirement, six of her seven grandchildren were on hand. Five of the six were willing to smile.

 

The retirement festivities included a lovely catered dinner. My only regret was that attending the dinner kept me from visiting Commons for a third time that day.

My only consolation was the quality of the company. Shown here with Robbi are my sisters Lindsay and Amanda.

Shown here with Robbi is some guy doing his best not to ruin the shot.

The evening was a hit. One of Mom’s colleagues gave a moving speech on her behalf. Flowers were presented. Tears were nearly shed.

We arrived home from the event fully expecting our darling children to be sleeping soundly with smiles on their tiny faces. Instead, we walked in the door to the din of a six-ring circus.

A little quiet reading changed the tune of the evening.

Moments later, all of us collapsed. But today is upon us, with more adventures to come.

I promise I will soon tell you about them.