We scratched off another adventure card and found ourselves on a private flight tour over Jacksonville. It’s something I didn’t even know you could do, and it was awesome! The pilot took us over our house, but I had a hard time getting oriented from the sky, so I couldn’t find it. Billy saw it, though! It was cool seeing landmarks from above, but it was also cool to hear the conversations the pilot had with flight control. At one point they were telling the pilots to steer clear of the “humans falling from the sky.” Apparently there were skydivers in the area. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that I feel so lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity to do with my family. And that we are. I have to remember to pay some of that back into the universe.
Tag: caitlin
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June 5
I set up three Apple Watches today. One for myself (my new one), one for Christina (my old one), and one for Robin, who had to unpair and reset hers since it wasn’t working right. There is something delicious about opening an Apple box. Even their packaging is well designed. Looking forward to tomorrow’s run.
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May 29
Billy challenged the girls to beat his high score at Block Blast, which to me was an invitation to kick his ass. I suck at all video games, but I’m just good enough at this one to keep hitting start over and over again when I lose. For hours. What a complete waste of time! I think I’m ready to concede if for no other reason than there are much better things in life than being the queen of Block Blast. My run was short-lived, but exciting as hell.
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May 25
We cracked open the Florida adventures cards I got for Mother’s Day and had our first adventure at a splatter room in Gainesville. I still think we came out looking way too clean, but it is thoroughly satisfying to throw paint around a room for an hour. I will not say we left with works of art, but we did leave in a good mood.
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May 16
Billy and I had a date night and went out for barbecue. It was his suggestion, which I love, and we had great conversation the whole night. It’s nice to remember that we are not our children and that there’s another relationship in there too.
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May 13
Finally got my car fixed today after smacking my side mirror into a mailbox a couple months ago (of course the mailbox was fine). Enjoyed another quiet night where I got to cook dinner (grilled curried shrimp and rice) and spent some time helping Robin study for her Civics final tomorrow. I also finished the last crossword puzzle in my book, which is so utterly sad. Added some new books to my Amazon wishlist that I’m confident no one looks at besides me. Someday I’ll treat myself.
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May 11
Had a really good Mother’s Day. Colleen came over with the boys for a bagel breakfast and then the girls and I went out for haircuts. They all came out great, but Christina was disappointed with her straightened hair. Lesson learned on that one. Billy and the kids gave me this really neat set of scratch-off cards for different places in Florida, each with something to do there. I’m looking forward to making our way through them. As usual, I can’t believe the weekend is already over. They go too fast.
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May 9
The kids witnessed a car crash on their way home from school today. They were crossing the street (with a walk signal) and a car turning right stopped to let them cross. The truck behind her wasn’t paying attention, though, and slammed into her. The kids scurried across the street, stood there for a second, and then came home. Christina said there was glass everywhere. I don’t know if they should have stayed on the scene or just continued on their way, but I’m glad the truck didn’t push the woman’s car into them and they made it home safe.
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April 27
Today was a busy day. I woke up before dawn to run the Strides for Pride run for JASMYN. It was probably my best race yet, not for finishing time, but for how I felt while I was running. It went over a bridge, twice, which is brutal. I didn’t even attempt to run the uphills. But I ran all the rest of it (minus about 1-2 minutes when I stopped to walk just because that is my expectation now). I think the downhills on the bridges made the rest feel easier, but I felt so good when I was done. I’m proud of myself. And then Christina had day two of her dance competition. There weren’t any other teams in their level or division, so they won regional champions by default. It’s hard to say how they really did without a clear benchmark, but I do know that they looked a lot better today than they did at the last competition. Christina left happy and excited, and that made me feel happy and excited. I’m so glad she has this thing that she loves this much. Everyone needs that. Robin, on the other hand, had two two-hour cheer practices today, which was just a little much for her. As much as she loves cheer, she is doing a little too much of it right now. I can see the exhaustion in her body. We’re just limping to the finish line, which is next weekend with not one, but two postseason cheer competitions. Luckily they are within 25 minutes of each other, and there’s a chance she won’t have to compete in both competitions on the same day if her level 3 team doesn’t progress to the finals on Sunday. It’s not looking like a sure thing either way right now. I guess we’ll see. No matter what, on Sunday she’ll finally be DONE. And THEN what? Mama is restless already.
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April 17
I finished this sweater a few days ago, which I started sometime in 2023. There are so many things wrong with it, but through some miracle there are enough things right with it that I can wear it and it even looks presentable. And now I’m in the weird, uncomfortable position of having nothing to work on. I do have some machine sewing to do, but I can’t do that on a weeknight after everyone goes to bed. I’m sure I’ll come up with something.
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April 12
It was a long, busy day. Christina had a dance competition this morning, and her team swept their level, taking home at least three top prizes. They looked absolutely amazing. And then, although I really, really didn’t want to, I ran the Wine and Chocolate 5k. I was 9 seconds off my time for the last race, and about a minute and a half off the Santa race in December. Considering how little I wanted to run, and how often I stopped to walk, it’s a pretty good finishing time. With walking, I averaged about a 12:45 pace, which is about what I do on the treadmill. The weather was perfect, although my sunglasses kept falling off my face, and that was annoying. And there was wine at the end!
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April 1
Today was a long, rough day. I had a pretty nasty headache and left work early, but still had to teach the NAMI course tonight. Headache’s gone but now it’s somehow 11pm and I feel like I’ve done very little for myself all day. I did read a little, and did a crossword puzzle. Everything feels chaotic right now. Literally everything. But I said no twice today and that is a big step for me.
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March 16
I woke up before dawn – again – to run another 5k. My time is not improving, but I am still having fun and I’ll take it. Eventually I’ll get back to finishing times I can be happy with. Today I finished in 41:33. If I can run a whole race at my fastest split time today, I can shave almost ten whole minutes off my finishing time. Right now I’ll settle for running without stopping or dying.
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March 3
Not much to say about today. It was Monday. Kind of a disappointing day on the scale and on the treadmill. I ran 25 minutes out of my 30-minute goal. I don’t understand the mental block I have with this. I know I can do it, but in the moment, I don’t care if I can do it. I just don’t want to. I have a race next weekend and I really want to run the whole thing. It is going to take a huge mental push if these treadmill runs are any indication. Try again Wednesday.
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February 27
Pinot is not forgiven, but he is pretty cute. And bendy. And definitely more comfortable than me.
Year in Photos 