Deep Thoughts Over Coffee
That “first sip feeling”, indeed! It’s especially poignant when you haven’t tasted your favorite beverage in weeks. I mentioned that I had an Earl Grey tea on Monday, after weeks- pretty much the whole summer- of green tea. Several people asked how it went. YOU GUYS, IT IS AMAZING! I love it even more than I used to. To be clear, I’m not having Earl Grey every day. I’m going with every other day for now, with my gunpowder green tea on the days in between. I just want to ease into it and make sure my digestion is okay (although at this point, if a cup of Earl Grey wrecks my digestion, I might just throw up my hands in defeat). So far, so good! If we were having coffee together (or, TEA!!!) I would tell you I feel like we’ve NAILED the first week of school! We leave extra early in the morning so the traffic is manageable- and by the time I drop off and am driving away from the school, cars are backed up for about a mile. Leaving ten minutes early saves us at least half an hour. However. I realized that now I only have ONE MORE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL left. In my entire life. How…what… I feel an existential crisis coming on- stay tuned. Speaking of first days- my son leaves for Northwestern tomorrow. I’ll be sad to say goodbye, and I’m also excited for him to start this new adventure. We’ve had a lot of great conversations lately, both on our road trip and while he’s been home. I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been- and at the same time, he’s growing farther away from us in the most natural and healthy way possible. He’s moved past the “student who comes home for every vacation” phase and into “adult with his own life.” Adults don’t necessarily come home to their parents every time they have a break in their schedule! His girlfriend is still in Waco, and he has plans to visit her on his spring break this year. Assuming that they stay together, his time will be divided between us, and her and her family. And that’s fine! It’s what we all want for our kids, right? Paul and I have talked this through, and agreed to stay in closer touch via phone calls and emails. And I have my fall trip planned! At least, in my mind. I don’t know the dates yet- but I will be going up to visit him in October. Four years ago, someone told me that college is a “good transitional phase”, and now I understand that. They go in as the child you’ve taken care of for 18 years, and four years later everyone involved has achieved a new degree of independence. Phew. That’s enough deep thoughts for one day. I’m off to the first high school football game of the season- I need some mindless fun! What would you tell me over coffee? Anyone else have an existential crisis looming?
Reader, Know Thyself
This week I read three books and had a reading revelation. If you see me reading yet another book with a dual timeline, and/or one that involves the pandemic, rip that book right out of my hands. I’m sick and tired of both those things! Just give me a straightforward story where no on is wearing masks. Here’s the book that put me over the edge: This books has- yes!- a dual timeline, and the main part of the story takes place in 2020. I got lured into reading it because it’s a mystery that takes place in Palm Beach, FL, near where I live. The story is interesting- what is going on with “the wife?” What is her connection to “the writer?” And whose hand washed up on the beach??? It was pretty good, but not great for me. As I said, I’m tired of jumping back and forth in time, trying to figure out what’s going on. And, no more masks! It’s stressing me out. I needed something completely different for my next book: Lisa mentioned this one, and I knew I wanted to read it. Gymnastics is a fascinating sport, and I love any behind-the-scenes info. We get to hear lots of details about the Tokyo and Paris Olympics (well, yes- there was some pandemic in there, but it was unavoidable in this case). Jordan talks a lot about the racism in gymnastics. You would think, in a sport where Simone Biles is considered the GOAT, racism wouldn’t be an issue- but you’d be WRONG. This book reminded me, for those of us with white skin, what an easy path we’ve been given in life. And then, I read… This was good! A story about a hiker who goes missing on the Appalachian Trail. It’s fiction, but I liked all the details of how a search for a missing hiker is organized. There are multiple points of view and it was interesting to see how they all came together in the end. I’ve been binge listening to the Currently Reading podcast– I even became a “bookish friend” so I can get the bonus All Things Murderful and Indie Press List episodes. It’s so good! One of the hosts, Meredith, always likes to say, “Reader, Know Thyself.” Are there any types of books you know don’t work for you? What are they? Top photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
I DID IT!
By that, I mean two things- I got through the Big Morning, aka first day of school. And to celebrate, I went to Starbucks and got… an Earl Grey. Yep. T-Day was supposed to be Wednesday, but I moved it up for a couple reasons- one, I felt like doing something special to mark the end of summer. The second, and more important reason, is that, as I shared last week, green tea has been making me nauseous. When I drink my gunpowder tea at home it’s okay, but I couldn’t face another cup of the nausea-inducing green tea from Starbucks. So, Earl Grey, it is! The morning was… interesting. Somehow, getting my daughter off to school proved challenging. I weirdly had forgotten how to make her lunch- luckily I got up early to give myself a lot of time. When we were finally ready to go, I thought “How did I used to do this with TWO kids?” Because my kids are six years apart, they never went to the same school, making school mornings extra complicated. For that matter, how does anyone do this with three kids? Or FOUR OR FIVE??? Sarah posted about being all ready for school to start. I always wonder if people with five kids are naturally very organized, or if they develop amazing organizational skills out of necessity. Sarah also said that her son Jack finished his college applications (Go Jack!) and it made me think how much easier life gets when your kids do these things on their own. My daughter is only a junior, so no college applications for her yet. But she did register herself for the bus (I drive her to school, but she takes the bus home… sometimes… more on that coming up). She also registered for her FLVS (virtual school) classes. This year she’s taking two classes online, which means she can get out of school one period early. When she announced this plan, I asked her how, pray tell, she planned to get home? I’ll be at work and she doesn’t drive yet. She seems to think her best friend’s mother (her friend has the same schedule) will drive her home. THINK AGAIN, MISSY. We can’t impose on this woman for the entire school year like that. We’ll have to see how this plays out. As I sat, sipping my cup of deliciousness, I put all the football games and other band dates into my calendar. Our first game is THIS THURSDAY!!! In case anyone is new around here, last year I went to all the home games, and our team was undefeated, going on to win the state championship for the first time in the school’s history. So- no pressure at all, ha ha, but we’re all hoping to have another perfect season this year. Maybe it’s the caffeine coursing through my body, but I’m so excited for everything coming up. I looooove this time of year- when it’s “too early” for pumpkins, but we know all the good stuff is right around the corner. IS it too early for pumpkins???- Er, yes. Yes it is. Did anyone else start school today? Top photo by Oliver Hale on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Hot But Happy
Guess what- I had a pretty great week! You know how every run can feel so hard, for so long, and then it’s like a switch is flipped, and everything suddenly feels good? That’s what happened here! I’ve finally conquered the heat- and that’s a good thing, because in spite of the fact that school is starting, we still have LOTS of hot weather ahead of us. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s get into it! Sunday 7 mile run! I can’t say every single step of this run felt good, but the heat and fatigue didn’t hit until the last mile- so I consider it a success. Monday Upper body workout at the gym. I did the “big four”- bench press, overhead press, rows, and lat pulldowns. Look how colorful the background is in this photo- our gym has murals on all the walls. Tuesday 4 mile run. I had a hard time getting out the door this morning, and as a result forgot my Garmin. Oh well- I know how far four miles is, and it was actually kind of fun running without a watch! I should do this more often. Wednesday Leg day at the gym! The glute press machine is broken 50% of the time, and this was a broken day. Instead I really focused on squats and did some extra sets, which came back to bite me later in the week. In the evening we had a little marching band preview concert! They do it every year in the courtyard of our school. It was my first “second to last” event (my daughter is starting her junior year)- now we only have one of these left! Thursday 5 mile run! This run felt really good, and somehow I got it in BEFORE the crazy DOMS from those squats set in. As the day went on though, I got more and more uncomfortable. Ugh. Friday Legs are SO SORE. I did the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout, and planned to do hip stability exercises later in the day- but I was so sore I convinced myself to skip them. Sigh! Saturday Legs are STILL a little sore (from Wednesday’s workout) but I got out for a run. I was only planning 3 miles- I was crunched for time- but when I got outside it was overcast and breezy. I immediately decided that 4 miles was happening. Later in the day, I did do those hip stability exercises! I can feel a tiny niggle in my hip, reminding me not to get lazy with these. Sunday On tap for today- sleeping in! And then, the gym in the afternoon. It should be a leg day, but I MIGHT run on the treadmill. We’ll see! We will also be getting ourselves organized for the whirlwind which is… the first day of school. It’s upon us! How was your week? Is school starting where you are? If you take a photo or video of yourself running- is your body doing what you think, or is it actually completely different?