On some level, getting to shows in Madison Square Garden is quite easy. The arena is right above Penn Station/Moynihan Train Hall. I now know that we can be off a train and up by our seats in approximately 12 minutes, and that’s going through security and the ticket scanning! So probably I should consider more such shows in the future. We drove into Philly to get the train, but the Keystone train stops at Ardmore on the way to NYC, and Ardmore is 5 minutes from my house.

Of course, the problem is getting home. It was hanging over my head for most of the concert that we really needed to be on the 10:05 regional back to Philly, as the next train doesn’t go until close to 11:30. The 10:05 is bad enough, getting back to PHL at around 11:45, and then it’s a 20-minute drive home (no traffic). There’s no train back to Ardmore, so if we left our car there we’d have to Uber there to get it. We wound up leaving the show about 3 songs early due to my paranoia. We walked in the door at 12:10 a.m.

But! It was a good show. I enjoyed seeing what sounds the human voice can make and they sang their well-known pieces (Mary Did You Know? and Hallelujah, for instance). I am now feeling quite in the Christmas spirit, if tired after getting up to get kids out the door this morning. I am also realizing that I need to figure out my playbook for tomorrow, what ingredients we still need and what needs to go into the oven when. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I think I succeeded. July was fun and relaxed and I wasn’t even on vacation! I did a lot of work — running a survey for my next book and doing several interviews for it, doubling up on a lot of podcasting so I don’t have to record much in August, giving speeches, etc.

But there were also a lot of family and personal life highlights. July opened with that epic long weekend (basically July 2-7 for me…) during which we helped set off a lot of (safe and sane!) fireworks at a friend’s house, went to the beach, went on a family bike ride (almost all of us) and SHU and her family came over for recordings, swimming, and an adults-only dinner out featuring margaritas.

After that we sent various older boys off to camp at various points. My husband and I went to Longwood Gardens for the beer garden and the flowers. My daughter and I went to see Olivia Rodrigo, which was definitely a summer highlight. I enjoyed getting to know her music and the show was great! (My daughter was an excellent concert companion — I’m so glad she’s willing to hang out with me.) That weekend also featured the York State Fair where, among other things, I got to see the Flying Cortes act, with Commander Alexander getting shot out of a cannon. I was so fascinated that I reached out and was able to do a short phone interview with him this week. I have interviewed a lot of people about their careers and how they spend their time over the years, but never someone who works as a human cannonball. So look for that in my upcoming content.

There have been solo several bike rides, and lots of swims. As I wrote yesterday, we’ve gone in the pool most nights. I went in last night by myself for a while, then chatted with my 17-year-old in the hot tub until it was pitch black dark. (Theoretically the pool lights have been fixed, finally, but I don’t have the app to turn them on yet…) There have been a lot of strawberry acai lemonade refreshers from Starbucks, and evenings where I open the windows.

So there’s been a lot of summer already, and now it’s on to August, which is a full summer month for us (the kids don’t start school until after Labor Day). I just got an ad from Scandic Hotels this morning informing me that summer isn’t over yet. And it’s true! Just like on Sunday the weekend isn’t over yet. Unlike with July there actually will be vacations this month — both a more relaxing one and a more adventurous one. I’m hoping to use the fact that I’m ahead on some of the day-to-day work to open space for thinking deep thoughts. But we shall see.

I hope you have much to look forward to this August!

In the meantime, this was a good summer weekend in my household (and my 12-year-old daughter may have had her best weekend ever). On Friday night, she and I went downtown to the Wells Fargo Center to see Olivia Rodrigo perform!

Over the past few weeks I have been on a crash course of learning Olivia Rodrigo’s music, since concerts are a lot more fun when you know all the songs. I’m happy to report that by Friday I was able to sing along with almost everything, and we had a grand time. I’d gotten seats with a very clear view of the stage (having learned from the Taylor Swift floor seats experience — which while definitely an experience was not great for actually seeing). Since we had real seats I was also able to sit down when needed. This is good for middle-aged people attending these sorts of shows.

Some highlights: Seeing Olivia ride a “moon” over the crowd, watching her baby/little kid videos during Teenage Dream, and the fact that she had an all-female band.

On Saturday I went for a run and we went for a quick walk in a local nature preserve where they have an art installation up — we were counting how many of the pictures we could find. My daughter went to a sleepover to celebrate a friend’s birthday (see: best weekend ever) so we were down to two kids overnight. We went in the pool/hot tub and got everyone down at a relatively reasonable time.

Sunday after we picked up the 12-year-old at the birthday party (she said they were up until 2 a.m….) we drove to the York State Fair.

On the downside, it was ridiculously hot, so the kids didn’t last as long as my husband and I would have liked (what can I say, we are into these things, and it turns out Lainey Wilson was performing that night so in an ideal world we would have stuck around). But in the time we were there, we managed to see a lot. For instance, we saw the Flying Cortes family perform! They did a number of trapeze related stunts, which then ended with “Commander Alexander” being shot out of a cannon. This is quite the stunt to watch if you ever get a chance. My husband filmed it in slow-mo so we’ve been able to watch it again and again. We also saw a giant butter sculpture (inside, in a refrigerated space), and a giant model train display. The 4-year-old went on a number of kiddie rides while my husband took the 9-year-old over to see the animals. We walked past an axe-throwing contest at one point. Good times.

This week will feature a lot of prep to get the 9-year-old off to sleep-away camp. I guess everything has to be labeled. I’ve never sent a kid to a traditional camp like this before (my older boys went to academic ones) so I welcome any advice!