I am so proud of Robin, who spent seven solid hours at a cheer practice in a gym that is not air conditioned on a 95-degree day and then went to a tumbling class immediately afterwards and still put in a solid effort involving many sets of back handsprings without anyone around her, all with a huge smile on her face. Her coach had to come to me and suggest that we cut the tumbling practice short because she didn’t want to overwork her. I am so proud of her effort and determination and success. Yay Robin!
Tag: bedroom
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July 24
The highlight of my day was making pancakes for dinner. That may sound lame, but they were really good. I also enjoyed watching Robin’s cheer practice. I usually miss it. They’re doing some cool stuff! Can’t wait to see where this season leads.
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July 14
I finally finished redecorating our bedroom today. It still looks quite bare, and I still want to replace some of the furniture, and the ceiling needs to be painted, but it looks a lot better. I’m most proud of the photo wall I created, which isn’t in this picture but is pretty cool. There are almost 200 photos on the wall. It’s so cool because every time I look at it, I see another good memory. Each time I see something different. Maybe we’ll get some money to finish it at some point. For now it’s much better than it was. I actually like being in there.
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July 9
I have not been sleeping well for several nights now and I was very tired today. I still managed to knit a tail and a leg for my bunny and finish the book I’ve been reading, Lincoln in the Bardo. What an unusual book. Seeing Fort Sumter stirred something in me and I feel fascinated by the Civil War. Maybe because it feels like we are on the verge of it again. I have many loose-ended thoughts on it that don’t seem to lead anywhere just yet, but I can’t stop picking at it.
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June 20
The best part of my day was when Robin joined us to play the Harry Potter game after dinner. Maybe one of these days I won’t even have to bribe her to join us.
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June 4
Billy and I went on a date on a rare night where no one had any evening activities planned. We enjoyed Italian delicacies and talked and it was nice. I especially loved that it was his suggestion. I was absolutely exhausted for some reason but enjoyed it anyway. It’s nice to feel loved.
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May 31
Today was the last day of school and the kids were home by noon. It is so hard to work from home on the last day of school when your kids are home at noon. I was ready to log off at 2:27, and almost did, but I pushed through. The weather’s been a little cooler, so we had hamburgers and hot dogs out on the back patio. I love eating outside. Finished the day with s’mores in the living room and a late baseball game and falling asleep on the couch.
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April 1
Some days you just want to throw in the trash and this was one of them. Nothing terrible happened, but I opted out of almost everything and literally made myself sick for no good reason. I guess the joke’s on me.
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March 25
The finished products. Not too bad. The kids seem happy and I’m proud of the work we did and how it turned out.
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March 23
I almost forgot to take a photo for the first time in almost 15 months. Remembered at the last minute. All the decorating is done and now I’m ready for basketball. It’s been a pretty good spring break, the kind where going back to real life absolutely sucks. Got to milk what’s left for all it’s worth.
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January 5
I finally replaced my tire. Had to drive 20 minutes to the dealership just to talk to someone, but they squeezed me in without an appointment and got it done at no charge. I still think they need to either disable their phone lines altogether or learn how to return calls, but once I did finally talk to someone, the service was excellent. We also instituted family game night and played Uno Attack and Exploding Kittens. Christina has a vendetta for Billy in Exploding Kittens and targets him exclusively. And then he targets her exclusively and I quietly win the game. It’s a good system.
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December 13
It was a crazy evening. Christina’s dance class was extended to 8:30, which is when Billy leaves for work and I’m bringing Robin’s teammate home from practice. So I was all set to tell the dance studio I’d be there late, when Robin’s teammate let us know she was sick and not going to practice. That was good for picking up Christina at 8:30, but it left Robin without a ride to practice at 5:45, which is exactly the same time Christina’s class starts. So I had to take Robin to dance and drop Christina off 25 minutes early in order to get Robin to practice on time. But then half an hour before cheer practice, we got a note saying it had been cancelled. So everyone got where they needed to be when they needed to be there and I only got three new gray hairs. I just read all that and it makes no sense but welcome to my life.
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August 1
Drove home today and I am relieved to be back. It was a very difficult trip for me. I don’t think the kids will ever want to go hiking with me again. I killed them with mountains and heat and humidity and bugs and also mountains. I also really struggled to keep myself grounded. I spent the whole trip trying to make it special for everyone else, which only made me miserable because everyone else seemed to be miserable… which was obviously my fault since I am the resident orchestrator of happiness. I’m just glad it’s over and now I have to go back to the grind and hopefully find a way to bring back some joy for myself, if no one else.
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July 18
The last several days have felt overwhelming. So much going on, so many delicate balls up in the air. I mostly just want to put them all down.
Year in Photos 