Sequestered in Seattle, Day 73

It was shaping up to be a pretty ordinary Saturday. I had my breakfast and started reading one of my new books. I got yesterday's dough from the fridge and started it proofing. I did a bit of gardening. Then Rachel somehow convinced Nicole to play Monopoly, something to do with the dishes, and they pulled me in, too, despite my failure to negotiate a signing bonus, and there went three hours.

Rachel went out first, after about an hour, maybe. Her late acquisition of the green monopoly couldn't revive her fortunes after repeatedly landing on Nicole's orange. I was somewhat luckier with the rolls, especially early on, and managed to acquire the dark blue monopoly. We had to take a break to make sandwiches for lunch. Then, in the afternoon, a back and forth battle finally swung my way. Nicole had the orange, red, and yellow. I had the green and dark blue, plus the railroads.

After the game, I put the bread in the oven, and remembered that I had another book waiting at the bookstore. It wasn't expected until next week, but I got an email this morning. Nicole and Lydia came along too, and Rachel asked us to return a book to Ruth. She was working on drawing with Meredith. We biked over, only to find the bookstore closed, despite the hours stated in the message. It will wait until next week, after all. Pick-up failed, but drop-off was successful.

Back home, Nicole didn't want to go back inside, so we started playing ping pong, and ended up pruning the dogwood again. That took a while. Three of Rachel's friends rode by on their bikes, so we sent Rachel off to ride around with them.

When dinner time rolled around, we ordered Thai take out and rode bikes back to the Avenue for a successful pick-up. The food was a little spicy, but the kids managed to eat it, drinking plenty of water in the process.

After dinner, Nicole tried out her new steam cleaner, with tremendous enthusiasm, while I read about pruning fruit trees. Then we found some videos to watch, including a British parkour group and John Oliver.

The bread, using yesterday's flour, turned out very soft and moist, with good flavor. The crust was surprisingly chewy for so recently baked. I might have to try a higher temperature. Or maybe not. It was well received, as is.