I was exhausted all day. Back to back meetings from the moment I logged on at work didn’t help. The kids had their school orientation in the morning and got to meet their teachers. Hard to believe this is Robin’s last year here. Christina went to get her hair cut after work, and ended up getting it colored back to her natural color (or at least close). She’s a lot happier with it now. I need to sleep for about two days.
Author: peanut7312
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August 7
We had a great time these last few days with Sonal, Esha, and Arjun. The resort was fantastic. I never wanted to leave the water. I’m completely exhausted now. It was a long, long, long drive home with so much traffic. If we had pulled over to the side of the road and parked for an hour and 15 minutes with no other traffic, we would have gotten home at the same time we did tonight. I’m thankful for Billy, who very graciously picked up my favorite pizza for me (I mean us) so it’d be ready for us when we got home. And it was delicious. Now back to reality.
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August 6
The beach on the island was beautiful. The water was perfect. We sat in the water watching a storm roll in for hours and almost made it back to the mainland before the skies opened up on us. We ended up spending the afternoon in our room, but we did manage to have some s’mores by the fire pit before it started raining again. I am so glad Billy talked me into saying yes to this trip. I only wish he was here with us too. He’s been having kind of a shitty week… every football practice this week has been ruined by lightning and they have yet to get on the field. Pretty soon we’ll be back to commiserate. But until then, pool and turquoise water it will have to be.
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August 5
Made it to Bonita Springs and the resort is beautiful. Met up with Sonal and it was like we’d just seen each other last week. Man, I miss my NY peeps. Not enough to move back to NY (no offense), but pretty damn close. We hung out at the pool for hours, went down waterslides, floated on the lazy river (some of us lazier than others), sat at the fire pit… I truly can’t afford this little jaunt, but fuck it, I’m going to enjoy it anyway! (And I’m doing a pretty good job of it, at that!)
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August 4
Left work feeling stressed, and then felt stressed about making dinner and packing for our trip to Bonita Springs tomorrow, but somewhere along the way, I relaxed and it ended up being a pretty good night. Even if the Yankees can’t do anything right.
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August 3
Snagged this sweet shot of Christina swimming in the ocean with some dolphins playing behind her. The birds flew into the shot just to show off. We had a good time at the beach. Weather was great, water was refreshing. Need to do more of this.
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August 2
Today we spent the afternoon helping inspect and sort food donations with Feeding Northeast Florida. After all of the amazing things we have been privileged to do lately, it felt like something we had to pay forward. It was a fulfilling experience, and I can’t wait to sign up again.
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August 1
Today’s lesson at work was: Don’t try to do it all. I guess I needed to hear that. For the first time in a month, I feel a little hopeful. Also: This rose is blooming, and I thought it had died. So I guess my rose is on the same page as me.
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July 31
I met up with my chorus carpool for the first time in what must be at least a year. We had dinner out and it was nice. So much to catch up on! It was great to see them, but work has been so stressful that it was hard for me to relax and enjoy myself. Last night I had a dream that the Amex CEO called me into his office for a performance evaluation and he spent the whole time trying to assure me that I’m doing a good job. That is so sad. But at least he’s on my side.
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July 30
I remember once when I was about 8 or 9, my mom and I sat on the front porch of our house watching a thunderstorm. We watched it roll in, pour, and then roll away, leaving that eerie green haze that thunderstorms often leave behind. It was both exhilarating and soothing and it completely changed my perspective on thunderstorms. From that moment on, I loved them. It stormed tonight, and instead of continuing with my day, I turned off the TV and sat and watched it like I did all those years ago with my mom. It was a good one with sheets and sheets of rain, lots of lightning and loud, booming thunder, wind tossing the leaves on the trees. I enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the memory. It brought on waves of gratitude, that I have this wonderful house to provide protection, that I have a garden to enjoy the rain, that I have a family to share it with, that I have a job to make it all possible… As hard as life is, it has its beauty. For this I am also grateful.
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July 29
My days seem to separate into three basic parts: mornings, when I go to the gym (chest workout today), days, when I go to work (still scrambling to get caught up while people pile more work on my plate), and evenings, which is my free time. Tonight I made spaghetti and meatballs, and watched a storm come and go with only a teaspoon of rain, and watched the Yankees game (currently losing, surprise, surprise). I am in need of a new low-key project. So far I haven’t been able to come up with anything. I guess it’ll come to me eventually.
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July 28
I finished reading The Neverending Story tonight. The first half is exactly like the movie. The second half isn’t part of the movie at all, which was pretty much the whole entire point of the book. Hollywood! I enjoyed it. It’s been very hot lately and my garden is withering in the heat. Took some time to water it this afternoon. I hope it helps. I also made sure to turn off the water… lesson learned after forgetting a couple weeks ago, flooding the entire yard, and receiving a water bill for $500. Jesus.
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July 27
It was a pretty good day. I braved my fears and met up with a group of women for a short paddle to a sandbar and back. The current was SO strong. I had to work hard to get there. But the water was gorgeous and the ladies were nice. Came home and went out for burgers with Robin and Billy while Christina was at dance. We played card games and I had some craft beers and it was also nice. And then we tried a new place for dinner, a pizza joint in Riverside called Carmine’s Pie House. It was delicious! Billy and the kids hit the nail on the head with gifts. The only thing I missed was my ritual Grey Goose martini in honor of my mom. I never made it to a place that had a full bar. This will be my first year without that tradition since before she died. I guess I’ll just have to toast to her in my heart this year.
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July 26
The wild manic streak I’ve been on for the past nine months seems to be coming to an end. I’ve finished all my projects and have been completely uninspired to start anything new. Most of the time I lie around, unable to think of anything worthwhile to do. I did manage to have lunch with a friend, which was nice. The girls and I went for a short walk after dinner and that was nice, too. I guess it’s better than nothing.
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July 25
Robin did NOT leave her cooking class with a smile tonight. She didn’t want to taste her cake, she didn’t want to look at her cake, she didn’t want to touch her cake, she never wanted to make another cake ever again. Apparently she didn’t have enough of the color she wanted, and the piping didn’t work out, and to her it was so horrible that it ruined her whole week. But as it turns out, cake is irresistible. And even if it looked like shit, it tasted pretty good. See, now she knows how cake works.
