I have to start our weekend recap way back on Thursday night and brag on Neel just a little bit. He was inducted into a medical honor society (despite not being a physician) along with several other colleagues and some members of the graduating class where he teaches. He was chosen by the students as a sign of their respect for him, and we're so proud of him. We all went to the dinner and it was so lovely to have all these young men and women come up to us and sing Neel's praises (although now we have to live with him!), and really, really good for Callum to see all of these super-smart, super high achieving medical students about to embark to places far and wide for exciting residencies.

Neel spent all day Saturday at graduation and apparently that was less fun.

Got my absolutely necessary weekly hike in with my friend Tracy on Friday. She means the world to me and these hikes do too. She'll be in California for the summer, and I'm not sure what I'll do without her. Drag Cal out there maybe. It just won't be the same! As I was driving home, I felt strangely energized, so I swung into the grocery store and grabbed the stuff to make us scallops for dinner. Scallops are one of my favorites, and they intimidate the hell out of me (I know, I know). But you know? I did okay. I'd definitely do these again, and they'll get better with tweaking. While Neel was at graduation, Cal went hitting and I went grocery magazine shopping. Home runs this month, for both.

We found some strawberries in the front yard and I'm drinking Pimms (for research) and a friend of Callum's came over for some mad wicked games of Spoons. It was a pretty lovely Saturday night.

We worked and played on Sunday. Homework winding up, computer work and yard work ramping up. Callum had to look up 161 vocabulary words for his science class, and that felt like a lot so we let him do them in front of a baseball game and The Bad News Bears.

And things seem to be changing for our Violet. We knew it was inevitable, so we're watching this happen with both sadness and acceptance, I guess. It's nothing major, just some behavioral and physical shifts. Neel's going to chat with our vet to see if there's anything we can do for her, especially since he has to go out of town this week. We want to be sure she stays comfortable more than anything, and I keep telling her to let me know. Right now her tail is still wagging and her eyes are still bright, and that's all we're going to focus on.

So hold our little girl in the light, and hold my boy in the light too. Cross your fingers that as you're reading this his braces are coming OFF!