We went down to Daytona today to see Rosina and Dion. I was happy they seemed to like the gifts we bought them. The traffic getting down there was horrendous. It took two hours to make what is normally a one-hour trip. There are entirely too many people on this planet, and too many of those too many people were on I-95 today. It was still nice to see them. I can tell they enjoy hosting.
Tag: pinot
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November 23
Finished this morning’s run at Canopy Road Cafe and met Billy for a breakfast date. Nice way to finish a run! We made an amazing dinner tonight, which took us most of the day to make. Robin and I made tiramisu and Billy and Christina made pasta carbonara from scratch. So yummy! When dinner was over, we played Ticket to Ride. I was sure I was going to win with all the routes I completed, but I was two cars short and Billy won. Again.
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November 19
Today was a day for assertiveness. I was feeling good about it in the moment, but now it’s quiet and I’m alone and I’m second-guessing myself. Also today: I made a Christmas music playlist because Christina only wants to listen to Christmas music and every Christmas music playlist on Spotify is horrible. I 95% finalized our Thanksgiving plans. I made two octopuses and chicken parmesan. I angered Robin when I told her there was no way she could earn extra time on her phone at 8:45pm. So a typical day.
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November 1
I did the 5k run at Ed Austin Park this morning and finished with my best time yet. I stopped once near the end to walk for about a minute. I probably could have made it the whole way, but I kept speeding up without realizing it until I couldn’t handle it anymore. I felt great about it, though. The rest of the day was low-key. Finished the last octopus and bought supplies to make 50 more. Took Christina to dance. Caught up on my running log. Went for a short walk with Robin in absolutely beautiful weather. And made Pinot wear these tacky light-up glasses that Robin got in her trick or treat bag last night.
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September 25
Made it home at last. I didn’t want to go, and I’m so thankful to be back, as important and successful as the trip was. I listened to running and history podcasts most of the way home, which made the time pass quickly. After I got home, I tried to pick Christina up from school in a rainstorm, but she didn’t recognize my new car or hear me screaming her name, so she walked 90% of the way home before I finally got her into the car. Then was dance and then we went to Salento for dinner, which was delicious. And now I’ve finished reading Beloved, which was just such a sad story, which is such an incomplete assessment of the book it’s almost shameful. I am ready for bed.
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September 20
Christina had a long dance rehearsal today, so I got some time to write a little while she was there. I have had this idea for a story for more than a year, but I traded my writing time for gym time and that was the sacrifice. It felt good to at least write a few paragraphs of it. We went out to Legacy for dinner, and that was nice. I read a little outside – gorgeous day.
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September 12
I talked on the phone for nearly seven straight hours today. How did I have that many meetings on a Friday? But Pinot got a haircut and now we can see his eyes 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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August 18
I’m becoming obsessed with the idea of beading. It’s all I want to do. I learned how to make daisy chains today. I have all these ideas for jewelry I will never wear, and I don’t care. I’ll just make it, and someone will wear it… or not. That’s fine, too.
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August 14
I had a pretty shitty run this morning. The goal was to run 5k. I ran that distance pretty easily last week with just one break, so I thought I would get through it no problem. It was SO HARD. I stopped three times to walk and I was dizzy for like 15 minutes afterwards. I don’t understand what happened. My last run was harder than this and it felt so much easier. My first reaction was utter disappointment and bewilderment. I failed and I didn’t know why. But in thinking about it more, I didn’t fail. I ran. I finished the 5k. I finished strong and I couldn’t have run any harder. Even shitty runs are still runs. So I’ll just acknowledge this one and move on. There will be other runs to conquer and many more opportunities to slay. I’m learning so much about myself through this process and I’m proud. Pride is motivation and motivation is progress. I will take it.
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August 4
Left work feeling stressed, and then felt stressed about making dinner and packing for our trip to Bonita Springs tomorrow, but somewhere along the way, I relaxed and it ended up being a pretty good night. Even if the Yankees can’t do anything right.
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July 31
I met up with my chorus carpool for the first time in what must be at least a year. We had dinner out and it was nice. So much to catch up on! It was great to see them, but work has been so stressful that it was hard for me to relax and enjoy myself. Last night I had a dream that the Amex CEO called me into his office for a performance evaluation and he spent the whole time trying to assure me that I’m doing a good job. That is so sad. But at least he’s on my side.
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July 13
Christina asked to go paddleboarding today, so I loaded it up into the car, got changed into my bathing suit, lathered on the sunscreen, drove to the boat ramp, took it out of the trunk to inflate, and it was about then when Christina asked where the paddle was. Packed it back up, came home, couldn’t find the paddle ANYWHERE. (Still haven’t found it.) And then it started thundering. And pouring. So paddleboarding didn’t happen today. I did sew a new shopping bag, which was a lot harder than it probably should have been, but also fun. And now another weekend is over. Sigh.
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July 10
What a day. I am absolutely overwhelmed at work right now, literally spinning wheels in every possible direction at once. I got so caught up in trying to stay on top of things that I forgot about Robin’s tumbling class. We left 20 minutes late and then got stuck in a massive traffic snarl caused by a four-car crash closing down one lane on the road. She missed more than half the class. I came home with a headache, nausea, and general exhaustion. But Robin made dinner for us and it was delicious (chicken tikka masala), and then the Yankees came back to win a game in which they were no-hit for seven innings and down by five runs. So I suppose things somewhat even out in the end.
Year in Photos 