Robin’s friend came over for a sleepover, so I felt it was good to spend some extra time with Christina. We went out for ice cream and played table-top curling. That’s right, table-top curling. I spend so much time with Robin because she really needs the extra support, but I need to be better about spending time with Christina too. I think a Christina date is in order soon.
Tag: christina
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August 10
Tonight was teacher meet and greets at the kids’ school and boy did the kids run straight for Ms. LaTanya. And boy did she not just stop everything she was doing to embrace them. I’m sure there are lots of great schools out there, but I doubt if any of them could ever feel as much a part of our family as this one. Christina’s best friend isn’t in her class this year (oh the DEVASTATION), but she was off the walls crazy excited nonetheless. Robin’s BFF is in her class, so yay for that! She feels better now that she’s seen all her classrooms and met all her teachers, all of whom seem incredibly nice. They’re both excited for school to start. We’ll see what happens by this time next week.
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August 2
Back to work today. I came back to an overwhelming backlog of work and really big looming deadlines. I don’t know if it’s possible to do all that has to be done without working a lot of extra hours. I’m so frustrated with what needs to be done and what is actually getting done. There is a big divide between those two things.
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July 29
I hemmed and hawed and fretted over whether to take out the SUP and use it at Lake Santeetlah. I haven’t used it much and I’m not confident with it, plus there were a lot of people swimming where I wanted to paddle. I was so self conscious. But I did it (no thanks to the kind gentleman who tried to help with his electric pump but instead of inflating it pressed down the air valve so that after I had finished hand pumping it and I disconnected the pump, all the air shot out of it), and we had a lot of fun paddling around the lake. Robin was a little scared to be out by herself, but Christina paddled all over the place for almost an hour and even stood up a couple times. She was even kind enough to give me a turn, which was nice of her. The kids were just thrilled they didn’t have to hike anywhere today. We also introduced them to disc golf, but oh my god it was way too hot and humid. Thank goodness Brett suggested disc golf first so that we could cool off at the lake afterwards. Robin really liked it. Maybe we’ll get a couple discs and play when we get home too.
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July 23
Here’s the end result of the bedroom door painting exercise. I didn’t love the idea of doing it in the first place, but the joy they got out of it made it worth it, and I love the creativity they put into it.
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July 17
My stress level is at a 9. I’m working through it all, but sometimes it just gets to me. I’m very tired.
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July 9
I had plans to do stuff today, but then somehow I ended up watching tennis, sewing and playing Harry Potter for the whole entire day, except for the 15 minutes I took to walk around the block with Christina, Jackson and Pinot. I really need to do better if I want vacation halo to last.
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July 6
Long drive today from New Haven to southern Virginia. We detoured around a lot of traffic and made it in about 9 hours, including stops. Going between the same two spots in the opposite direction took almost an hour more, NOT including stops, so I call this a win. I’m looking forward to being back home tomorrow, although for what it’s worth, I’d rather still be enjoying some natural beauty instead of Five Guys burgers. I’m not much looking forward to going back to my old routine, which, frankly, kind of sucks.
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July 3
We hiked up Cadillac Mountain – 7.5 miles round trip with 1,500+ feet elevation gain over rocky scrambles and muddy, flooded trails in rain and fog with little to no visibility. The kids were good until about mile 3, and then they started complaining. Poor Robin had a nasty blister on her foot. But we made it, and I’m really proud of everyone. It was exhausting but in my opinion rewarding, despite the lack of panoramic views. Robin slipped and landed hard on her butt several times and there were tears, but I managed to make enough jokes about it to elicit some smiles and laughs despite it all. All in all, very impressive.
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June 24
The trip is underway. We were delayed a few hours because our a/c stopped working last night. The technician came by this morning and luckily it was a quick, easy fix. And then on the road! We couldn’t agree on where to go for dinner once we arrived in Virginia, and Robin and Christina weren’t thrilled about where we ended up, but turns out the food was great and they had something for everyone. I even got a BLT, which I had been craving in the car but never thought in a million years I’d find on any menu anywhere on our way. We hit traffic as we crossed into South Carolina for about 50 miles, but otherwise was smooth sailing. Tomorrow we head through Washington, DC, Baltimore, and NYC… headed through the Bronx at the end of a Yankees game… so I am not expecting great things, traffic-wise. I made a great 60’s playlist (I mean, truly great), and it is 19 hours of music, so it should get us to New Haven, no problem. I sang almost the whole way today. I’m sure I drove Billy crazy, but OH FUCKING WELL.
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June 23
Busy day getting ready to travel. I was trying to wrap up several things at work, but kept having to step away for one reason or another. This was a worthy cause, though. The kids spent the week at summer camp preparing a production of “Stone Soup,” and it was really good! Christina was the narrator and Robin was on the production crew. A nice break in the day.
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June 12
My brain isn’t quite functioning at full capacity, but on the flip side, I am covered in living, loving creatures.
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June 2
We are more than four and a half hours into Christina’s dance recital dress rehearsal. I made the mistake of skipping lunch (and breakfast), so it has been approximately 26 hours since I last ate. I brought a book, but the house lights are down and I can’t see. I am bored and hungry and grouchy and I just want to go home. This is one of those things they don’t tell you about when you say you want kids.
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May 29
It was a busy day of deep cleaning, clothes shopping for Christina, since she had grown out of nearly everything she owned, going to see the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and dinner out at Al’s Pizza. Nice way to wrap up a long weekend.
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May 22
This is called obsession, people. I have literally done nothing else except work, sleep, and edit photos. I did clean the kitchen today. And I watched Superman. I probably should at least try to sleep.
