I did so much today. Went out for a run, went to the post office, picked up race materials for tomorrow’s Santa run, put up our outside Christmas lights, sent in Robin’s high school transfer request, booked our trip to Yellowstone, took Christina to dance, and went out to the Symphony. I’m glad I accidentally bought these symphony tickets. The concert was great, and it was great to expose the girls to the experience. We are very privileged to be able to make the most of these kinds of mistakes.
Tag: caitlin
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December 6
It was a chilly, damp evening for a dance performance, but Christina rocked it at Deck the Chairs. I’d never been there before and it was pretty fun. Watching her dance never gets old. I told Robin to bring a jacket, but she didn’t listen and of course ended up wearing mine. Perfect for Christmas, if you ask me.
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December 5
Today was not quite as exciting as yesterday, but I finally managed to get my prescription this morning and it has changed my whole life. Christina had a long night of dance, so we stopped and got Chili’s on the way home for a late dinner. Chili’s is basically dead to me because they used to have the best cheeseburgers, but I guess someone must have sued them for undercooking them because now the only option is to get them burnt to a crisp. I mean that actually literally, too. They crunch when you bite into them. Burgers should not be crunchy. And it is not a one-time thing, either. The last five or six burgers I’ve ordered have all been the same and the waitress I asked about it even said that it’s stupid that they only make charcoal burgers now. So whatever. I didn’t order a burger, but it just isn’t the same satisfaction I used to have there. And so it goes.
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November 27
We had a pretty good Thanksgiving. It started off on the right foot… I finally completed a 5k without walking for the first time since 2018! I am so proud of myself and literally cried when I crossed the finish line, I was so happy. It wasn’t my best finishing time, but still so proud. Dinner was great and then we headed to Orlando for our day at Universal. The hotel is really nice… kind of amazing how cheap it was! Looking forward to our big day tomorrow.
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November 13
I broke my brain today trying to think too much. It’s open enrollment season, which comes with all sorts of questions about HSAs and FSAs and copays and coinsurance and in-network and contributions and disbursements and dude, seriously? And then we also decided to scratch off another activity card to do over the Thanksgiving break. Seriously, what were the odds we would scratch off a visit to Universal Orlando? That was zero parts part of my plan. I mean, I was 100% confident there were no theme parks inside this box. But the scratch-off card has spoken. And I will be picking up pieces of my brain for weeks.
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November 6
Spent the evening feeling kind of down. Something happened at dinner that turned Robin’s good mood suddenly sour, and when I asked her what happened, Billy kind of scolded me, saying she won’t answer if I keep nagging her. So I felt shut down by Robin and shut up by Billy. I’ve been having a hard time picking myself back up from it, which is silly because it was really a little thing, but it stung. Now Robin is sleeping next to me and I feel about 2% better. I still wish I knew what the fuck she was thinking about at dinner. But at least she likes me enough to sleep next to me.
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October 28
I am unbearably exhausted. I tried hard to get comfortable enough in the car to take a nap while Christina was at dance, but it turns out cars aren’t really made for the driver to get comfy enough to fall asleep. I contorted myself in many ways, and almost succeeded in getting comfortable once or twice, but mostly I was just trying to keep various body parts from falling asleep without me. And that is why I can’t wait to go to bed.
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October 26
I rocked this morning’s 5k. I finished in under 40 minutes, by far my best finishing time since coming back to running last year. I didn’t quite make it running the whole way, but it was pretty darn close. I am so proud of myself and the effort and work and patience that went into it. I feel amazing. The rest of the day was pretty productive. Made three octopuses and four napkins, went food shopping, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry… And now I am exhausted!
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October 18
I ran my first 5k race since the spring today. After a whole bunch of great runs, I had built this one up in my head, big-time. Before the race even started, I was crying tears of joy imagining myself crossing the finish line after running the whole race without waking. But then I couldn’t even make it to the one-mile mark without walking. I finished with a dismal 43-minute finishing time. BUT: Until I looked at my finishing time, I was really happy with the race. Even though I stopped to walk a lot, I felt strong the whole way. The weather was incredible and the scenery was great, and I truly enjoyed myself. And I RAN the last quarter mile. My pace was GOOD and I felt pumped when I finished. In all those ways, the race was a success. And then I got home and realized why my performance had been so terrible. As I pulled into the driveway, I started having double vision. It was so disorienting that I could barely walk straight. I started thinking about what could have caused it and then I remembered, dear god, I didn’t eat anything today. And then I ran three miles after not eating anything. And then I had a beer at the finish line. I don’t know how I went the whole day without eating. I almost didn’t believe it as I tried to remember what I ate, because I never felt hungry. I did have a little tunafish sandwich, but that was it. That’ll do it, folks. So lesson learned: Do not run a race without eating for almost 24 hours and then drink a beer at the end.
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October 7
My day started out great and kind of slowly went downhill from there. It hasn’t been a bad day, it just went from great to meh very, very slowly. I woke up early and did a speed run outside, which I never do. I pretty much exclusively run on the treadmill. But this particular run didn’t work on the treadmill because the splits were too fast. It worked really well on the street. I finished feeling PUMPED UP. I had time to shower before work, which also left me energized, and then, well… work. It wasn’t a bad day by any means, but it slowly let the air out of my great mood. And now everyone else has gone to bed and I never really had a chance to be with them and I just feel kind of lonely and sad. I do think I need to do more outdoor running. That is going to require some creative scheduling. It’s not the first time I’ve had to shift things around, but it never feels easy when I do. For now, though, I think it’s time to call it a day. Lying in bed with my headphones on just feels like a nice way to end the day.
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September 18
Got my senior leadership presentation revamped in light of our reorg and I feel pretty good about it. At the very least, it’s the best I can do. I’m falling behind in the meantime, but what else is new. Robin called me while I was on a conference call and I thought she was dying because Robin never calls me from school. She wanted me to bring her a snack. Yeah, no. Next time bring one with you, or better yet, pack yourself a lunch. She came home starving, but that’s the way it goes. Took Christina to dance and had to sit on a bench outside in the sun since I can’t roll the newly tinted windows in my car down for another couple days. It was hot. (But not as hot as it was in the car!) Billy made yummy chili for dinner and then we watched football, and then what else… went back to work. But now I’m tired and tomorrow is yet another long day.
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September 16
More change at work. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks perfecting a pitch for restructuring my team and now it’s all out the window because the rest of the organization changed first. I will have yet another new leader, and who knows what will happen after that. I’m a little sad. Change can definitely be good, but the unknown is scary. And all the long months between now and change feel endless, because my team is in need NOW. Guess we’ll get out the box of Band Aids again.
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September 10
I made the mistake of looking at the training materials we are using at work. Cannot unsee! My colleague suggested I trash it and ask ChatGPT to rewrite it for me. Man, I don’t know what it is, but I hate the idea of being shown up by AI. But… we’ll see what it can do.
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September 7
I took the girls to the mall with their friends. Robin got to go alone and had an absolute great time. She didn’t want to leave, which makes me so happy. Christina also had a great time, but had to stick with me. I guess there are worse things. I was good and didn’t buy much, but I did need some things for an upcoming work trip, so came home and spent it all on Amazon. Oh well.
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September 4
Not surprisingly, I am exhausted today after staying up so late last night. I seriously considered not taking the kids to school so I could sleep in, but I sucked it up and got them there anyway. It was a tough day made tougher by back to back meetings literally ALL DAY LONG with zero breaks. After all that, we decided the hell with dinner and we went out to Picasso’s. It was so yummy, and everyone was in a good mood if only a little tired, and we had a lot of fun. I now want to sleep for two weeks.
Year in Photos 