We went to an escape room today and we missed it by about THREE MINUTES. We had even figured out the clue but just kept typing in the answer wrong. We are so bummed! We did a lot better than the last time, and honestly that made it more fun. It also helped that we didn’t have to share the game with people we didn’t know. I so want to go and do another one and manage to escape. We were just so close! It was a good time and nice to go out and do something together. We’ll have to go again.
Tag: caitlin
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May 26
Billy accidentally bought me such a thoughtful gift. He had suggested that I bring my DSLR with me to Savannah and I told him that I wasn’t going to bring it because it’s bulky and also because I can’t really see the image or the light meter through the viewfinder since I am mostly blind in my right eye. So he found a manual camera with a view screen on it – it’s not an SLR per se, but it does all the things an SLR can do and then some. The purists may scoff, but in my opinion all cameras have their value, and frankly it’s nice that I can take full control of my shots AND see what I’m shooting at the same time. The camera has a Bluetooth setting that connects to a remote on my phone, so I can frame and shoot self portraits without mystery. There is so much to play with and get used to before our trip to Yellowstone. I can’t even express how nice it is to select an aperture and shutter speed without guessing because I can actually see the light meter. It’s like a whole new universe has opened to me. Thank you, Billy.
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May 25
I wanted to wimp out of this morning’s race because it was so hot, but Monica pushed me to go anyway and I’m glad I did. It was already 77 degrees by the time we started at 8am, with 92% humidity. Very soupy run. But I ran it without walking for the second time since coming back to running a year and a half ago and finished in 39:52. Not my best time, but when you factor in the weather, it’s pretty close. Did a lot of other stuff today too. Went to REI to pick up a new tent for our trip to Yellowstone, hemmed Christina’s pants for dance, went food shopping, did the dishes. I’m ready for bed!
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May 22
We went to Carmine’s Pie House to celebrate Robin’s 8th grade graduation. We got off to a little bit of a rocky start, but it ended up being a pretty good night. I had a win (or at least the start of a win) at work today, too. I configured a GPT to help build a searchable database of questions and answers for our training site. This is something the team has been asking for for years and we haven’t been able to figure out a good way to do it. I set up a more or less automated system in a couple of hours. I feel like a million dollars. It needs some refinement, but I’m proud of it. I can’t wait to share it with the team. Not a bad day.
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May 19
I missed my first day in this project since starting it in 2023. I’m so upset! Nothing to do about it now except keep going. Robin graduated 8th grade today. The ceremony was really nice. I cried during the reverse rose ceremony. I stopped myself from being audible, but it was hard. I’m proud of her for taking part and not being to anxious. I know that wasn’t easy for her. She looked beautiful and I’m so proud of her. I love watching her grow up!
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May 13
I did a 777-second run this morning because why not? Tonight I also had a NAMI class. It went a little better than last week, but still ran right up to the last minute. Billy brought home Huey Magoo’s for dinner and I ate every bite. Wednesdays are so much work right now! I’m exhausted.
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May 7
My run this morning was disappointing, thanks to tech failure. It was my first speed run since the winter and the intervals got messed up on my app and none of them were the right length. OH WELL. It was still a run, so not a total loss, and now I’ll just have to do it again next week. A new lawn company came to mow our lawn today but did not do the backyard because they said the gate was blocked. There is literally just a small bucket half filled with gravel that’s there to keep Pinot from digging under the gate. It’s maybe five pounds. How do you just not move it? They did not get paid. Today at work I finally learned what makes preapproved credit offers different from prescreened credit offers and why we apply two totally separate sets of laws to them. I’ve literally worked at this company for 20 years and never knew the difference. I feel enlightened. Took Christina to dance and it was SO HOT in the parking lot. I think it was 94 out and the sun was beating on me, plus wildfire smoke in the air. It was an unpleasant hour, but I refuse to sit in a running car for an hour just for air conditioning. Robin and I worked on her Ferrari Lego set after dinner. It’s starting to look like a car… we have a front end now. I am completely exhausted. I was up late last night and then up early this morning. I got maybe six hours of sleep, which I realize is probably not far from average, but I can’t handle it. It’s early, but I think I’m going to bed.
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April 22
I had a really good day today. I solved a big problem at work, and that made me feel pretty good. Robin got into her first choice high school, which apparently she no longer wants to go to, but OH WELL HONEY. She also tried out a tumbling class after gymnastics tonight and really liked it, so looks like we’re switching to tumbling. Everything just seemed to click today. Those days don’t come often, so trying to make the most of it.
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April 15
I feel a little better today than the last few days. I have a little hope. I needed some hope. Also Billy, Robin, and I went to the Loop for dinner (Christina had dance). Everyone was in a good mood, so that also improved my mood. Cherry on top was I finally finished this Saturday crossword I’ve been working on for like a week. Sometimes I just need to see things in a different light for them to become clear.
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April 8
I got up early to go for a run, but it turns out I am not hardcore enough to run in the rain and wind. I ended up surfing Spotify for an hour instead. Tomorrow should be drier. Otherwise feeling pretty caught up at work for the first time in months and I don’t know what to do with myself! I’m putting the extra time into finding ways to never let this happen again. So far so good. Otherwise it was dance and gymnastics and McDonald’s on the way home. The Yankees lost. I guess they’re allowed to lose sometimes. I guess. It’s time for bed, yo.
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April 7
I was having a decent day until I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for Jackson that I dropped off yesterday only to find, after waiting in line for 15 minutes, that they had no record of the prescription at all. They lost it. So now I have to go back to the vet to get another copy of it, drop it off AGAIN, wait for them to (hopefully) fill it, then go back for a fourth time to (hopefully) pick it up. I am so angry. I shouldn’t let Walgreens ruin my day, but lately I have been letting little things get to me more than usual. I think it may be that I’m overtired or that I don’t have enough going on to balance out the bullshit, but it’s exhausting always being angry at everything. Especially since I can’t do anything about it. I need to go to sleep.
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April 1
I felt pretty proud of myself today. My stroke of brilliance yesterday held up to a good night’s sleep and seems even stronger today. Fixing things makes me so happy. You know what else makes me happy? Watching Robin do gymnastics. She hangs in there with those seven-year-olds. There is one little girl in her class who is absolutely terrible at gymnastics, but she puts her whole heart into it and she never stopped smiling once during that entire class. I love Robin, but that little girl was a joy to watch. And as it turns out, Robin isn’t the best one in her class on beam. So maybe it won’t be as boring as she thought.
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March 20
I was on the road and couldn’t fill out a bracket before the March Madness started, so I printed out paper ones for me and Billy before I looked at any scores. Billy had already seen some of the scores, so he got one freebie that I missed (really, High Point?), but otherwise we’re on even ground. I’m having fun looking up all the scores and marking up the brackets. I am a nerd. We were going to go to Sea World today, but Christina still isn’t feeling well. We did come to Orlando (which was a wall of traffic from start to finish, thank you, Florida), but I think we’re going to stay in. Hopefully Christina feels better tomorrow. If not, she’s going to have to find a bench to lie down on because we have to check out of the hotel at 11.
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March 15
Made it to NJ in really great time. It’s so great to see Aunt Cathrine and Uncle Bob. We spent the afternoon and evening getting the grand tour and catching up on pretty much all the things. They seem so happy in their new place and I don’t blame them. This place is pretty awesome! They rented us the little guest apartment that is right next to theirs and it is really so very nice. I’m truly exhausted, though, and glad for some quiet time before going to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day – and hopefully not too wet. Please?
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March 14
It was a pretty smooth drive to Virginia today, but oh so long and boring. It was nice to arrive before dinner time so we had time to relax a little before heading back out. I’m loving my new car, which welcomed us to every state we drove through and only needed 1 1/4 tanks of gas to go 500 miles. Not too shabby, little car.
Year in Photos 