The kids are older and have their own lives, and we have this house in partnership with my sister-in-law, so I figure I might as well come up here for a little blessed silence and the million-dollar view. After the summer programs, I need it. (Preliminary statistics, not including August: 84 programs attended by over 1,700 people & 2,300 reference questions. About 500 kids earned prizes for the summer reading challenge, too. I'm there whenever we're open except for about 5.5 hrs/week.)

Besides, the oldest daughter and her friends from college all gather here traditionally for the long weekend on Labor Day, since it's fairly close to centrally located for the people on the East Coast. I like to make sure we have everything we need in the way of hospitality supplies, like extra shampoo, emery boards and toothbrushes. Clean the grill, check the paper products, sweep the floors, wash the porch furniture, eradicate the wasp nests, take care of the bathrooms, that kind of stuff. We split the bill on the food, and they buy all their own beer and booze. They can walk half a mile to the pool, the tennis courts and the golf course. It's fun. I hope nobody visits Camp David that weekend, though. We always get fighter cover when that happens, which can be rather loud.