It is so annoying dealing with the pharmacy. I’m going on three days without a medication after being told for days, “It’ll be ready by 11.” I can barely function right now. I’m glad this medication works, but it is ALWAYS a pain in the ass to refill. I go through this every month and I’m getting tired of it. And also just tired.
Tag: christina
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March 9
Christina’s performances were both really good! Apparently one of her teammates was sick, so they had to perform without her. We never even noticed! The production dance was so entertaining – it really woke up a crowd that was falling asleep. We didn’t stay for awards because they were more than an hour behind schedule and we wouldn’t have gotten home until midnight, so I don’t know how they did overall. I’m sure Christina’s friends will fill her in! They looked phenomenal to me.
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February 25
I’m a big fan of all the family time we’ve been having lately. Tuesday family game night has proved to be particularly awesome. It was my turn to pick a game tonight, so I picked Pictionary. Robin and I are kind of a dream team. You should have seen her picture of a harmonica. I have no idea how I guessed it. Magic, I guess.
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February 23
We attempted an escape room today. Billy and the girls had never done it before and I thought it’d be fun. It turns out we are not all that good at puzzles. It took us almost 20 minutes to solve the first one, which didn’t leave much time for anything else. But I think everyone had fun and now we HAVE to try again.
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February 21
This has felt like a very long short week. I have been working without breaks all day, often not bothering to stop and eat, and going directly into cheer and dance schedules without any transitioning. There was a book I used to read to my mom when I was little, called Rest, Rabbit, Rest. Rabbit kept a schedule down to the minute, even scheduling time for scheduling time. He never scheduled any time to rest. Healthy Hippo told him to try yoga. Kidding Kangaroo tried to spray him with water when he wasn’t looking. Zany Zebra recorded a tape for Rabbit to listen to later when Rabbit said he was too busy to talk. The tape told Rabbit how much life he was missing by over-living his life. Rabbit was disgusted until all his friends came and did everything on his schedule for the whole week! Rabbit was left with nothing to do and had no idea how to do nothing. So what did he do? Do you think he laid on the couch taking a nap? No, he did not! He created a schedule for relaxing! Time to go stargazing, time to listen to music… My mom always said I was just like Rabbit, and she wasn’t wrong. If I’m not busy, I feel like a waste of space. But I guess sometimes it’s important to just… stop. Not make any octopuses or socks or write a novel or even hike a trail. Just… stop. I think I’ll make that my goal this weekend. To accomplish absolutely nothing. I think I am unlikely to succeed. But even a little bit of nothing is better than something. Or something like that. Dude, it’s time for bed.
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February 15
Christina and I got pedicures today. I also bought myself a bikini – the first one I have dared to buy in probably at least 20 years. Robin and Christina said it looks good on me, and they’re usually pretty quick to say when something doesn’t look good on me. We also went food shopping in like 45 minutes from the time we left to the time we put away the last item in the fridge. So it’s been a pretty good day.
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February 8
Christina had a dance performance at the Riverside Arts Market on a foggy Saturday morning. I loved getting to watch her. They look so great!
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February 4
Tuesday is game night, and for the record, Christina is a sore loser. Draw 20 is the Uno No Mercy death knell and she fell into it. That nearly ended the game for everyone. But… Robin and I made it to the last two in the game and we went back and forth for half an hour before I finally defeated her. I think she was glad to lose, honestly, because that meant she could have her phone again. For a few minutes, anyway.
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February 1
Robin’s team did great at today’s cheer competition! They came a long way, even in the last two weeks. We have to keep that energy going into day two! Also, next time, must remember to take off the mascara before going swimming.
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January 25
Christina had a dance showcase tonight, so we went out to dinner afterwards. We decided to do something a little fancier than we usually do, so booked a 7:30 reservation. We did not get served until 9:15. I think I would have been more ok with that if I hadn’t had a splitting headache and been absolutely starving since all I ate all day was some pizza rolls. The management apologized and took 25% off of everyone’s checks, plus free dessert. Not sure what caused the backup, but we’ve eaten there before and never encountered this, plus they made good on it, so we’d still go back. Amazing how my headache went away pretty much immediately after I got some food in my stomach. I was also amazed at how patient everyone at our table was. The kids never stopped smiling. There were worm wars (I still don’t get how to play that one) and tile matching on Billy’s phone, and some indoor planet-gazing using the night sky app. Could definitely have been worse.
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January 14
We played Phase 10 tonight, which Robin reminded us is her absolute favorite game of all time. Christina came from behind and won it all. And Pinot was an excellent spectator.
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January 2
Christina got the traditional balloons, chicken alfredo, cookie dough ice cream cake, some books, a puzzle game, a necklace, and hair cream for her birthday this year. Not a bad haul for someone who has lived for 11 years now. Happy birthday, my growing-up baby.
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January 1
Took a short, one-mile walk on the beach with the girls to ring in 2025. The weather was beautiful, if just a little chilly at 63 degrees. Made pizza dough from scratch and enjoyed garlic knots with a delicious and surprisingly filling strawberry, spinach, chicken, and walnut salad. Christina decided to give Trivial Pursuit another go, and she won twice! Watched some football (Texas and Ohio State won) and did some crossword puzzles. Egg salad and champagne for lunch. Pretty good start to the new year.
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2024 in Review
Reminiscence starts at the end… and the beginning. 2024 has come to an end and 2025 beckons us forward.
I have always looked at the end of the year more as a circumstance than a true opportunity. Beginning a year on January 1 feels arbitrary when every day marks the passing of a year. But then again, why not begin a new year on January 1? And January 2? And every day after that? If nothing else, when the calendar year ends, we get to eat deviled eggs and wear silly party hats and watch fireworks going off in every direction. Arbitrary or not, this year I say, why not? Let’s go for it.
Minutes after midnight Christina took down our 2024 calendar and put up 2025. I have made one every year since 2005. This year’s cover sets the tone with a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
Flip to the first page and you get this: “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”
I think the sentiments go together. Resolving to create the future we want doesn’t make it happen. We make it happen. Not just on New Year’s Day, but every day. Every day, whether the most memorable moment is the dog sleeping on the couch or going on our first trip without the kids since before they were born. All those moments strung together make a future. We need to make it worth remembering.
So for 2024 we have 366 days of photos, cataloguing a year of our future, and now our past. Nothing very momentous happened this year, but for me, something definitely shifted. I don’t know why. We didn’t have one or two big moments worth remembering this year, but we had lots of little ones that when added together, filled me up in a way I haven’t experienced probably ever in my life.
I gave up the chorus for cheerleading and dance. I got back to the gym and started running again. We didn’t have much money for traveling, so we spent our breaks together redecorating bedrooms and taking a short trip to Charleston. Billy and I saw our first Yankees game in the Bronx in more than 11 years, and we got to share that game with Siggi and Brett. Billy and I came to the absolute brink of disaster this Easter, but with the help of an excellent counselor, found our way back. That change began to bring Robin out of her shell, and while she still hates playing board games with us, she smiles sometimes too. I’ve missed that smile.
We had hard moments too, times where the Universe pushed us to learn from and respect our imperfections. And as hard as those moments were, we hung in it together. For so many years, we lived our lives together but in isolation. This year, we faced our challenges together and came out stronger on the other side. Coming to the brink of divorce forced us all to change the dialogue. Billy had to learn to engage and I had to learn to follow more and lead less. Whatever we did differently this year, it worked.
So now 2025. I don’t expect much to change this year. I hope we continue to grow, lean on, and learn from each other. I want to run a 5k without stopping. I want to win the Harry Potter game. I want to go on more dates. When opportunities come up, I hope we don’t get too comfortable on the couch to jump on them. When opportunities don’t come up, I hope we create them ourselves.
I know we can achieve these things. We have already achieved these things. Maybe we can’t go wherever we want or do everything we want right now, but we can go somewhere and do some things, and for me, I’ll take it.
No. For US, I’ll take it.
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December 31
We finished the year strong with a Penn State football playoff win, deli sandwiches for dinner, a challenging game of Mind the Gap, and party hats. More importantly, we finished – and started – the year together.
Year in Photos 