Thanks again to Elisabeth for this community movement activity! Last week’s colour was red. This week, I noticed ORANGE. Orange does not occur as naturally in nature as red, at least not in Spring. Yet, if I took the effort to notice, I found some orange in surprising places.
Monday 4/6: Hike with the kids at Blockhouse Point Trail. These leaves are orange-ish:
I found there was a fine line between brown and orange…
And this Cadbury Mini Egg:
Because sometimes you bribe, um… reward, your kids for hiking with chocolate.
And a view of the Potomac – not orange, but still beautiful:
Tuesday 4/7: Ran around the track at the middle school after dropping the kids in the morning. There were orange pylons:
Do you call them pylons? I find most people in my area call them safety cones.
And the orange chest of a Robin:
Also- Kwanza cherry blossoms are in full bloom:
Wednesday 4/8: 10 minute walk in park while the 14 year old is at her morning piano lessons. Spotted these orange poop bags:
I think that orange bag is actually one of those bags the Washington Post comes in; the neighbors stock this poop bag stand. Funny story – we were at this park one time when the middle child was 3 or so. He was getting pretty close to being toilet trained, so I didn’t bring a diaper bag with me. Well, he ended up having an enormous poop at the playground. I didn’t have anything on me, so i pulled a couple poop bags from this box, took off his pants and underwear, and wrapped a plastic bag around him and put the dirty clothes in another bag. It was probably one of my most AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! moments of young motherhood.
Thursday 4/9: Walk to the Co-op on my lunch break to pick up some groceries for dinner. Saw so many flashes orange on my way.
These cute decorative banner:
This house’s fence is decorated with many fun DC-centric banners.
Safety visibility flags, for people to wave as they cross the street.
Rainbow crosswalk – same crosswalk as last week, just moved down one stripe:
Random sign:
Not at all sure what it means, but it seems pretty on point for the crunchy area of town I work in.
Evening- went contra- dancing with the family and mu skirt was orange:
Friday 4/10: Walked the kids to school and took the long way back to the car, through the woods. Saw various utility company markings, spray painted in orange.
Saturday 4/11: I didn’t get a walk in this day because I went from Service to work to B’not Mitzvah party: But I did do 15 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes with the dumbells.
Sunday 4/12: Neighborhood walk with the 14 year old. We walked the path she takes to school and she gave us her inner monologue commentary all the way there. It was such a nice walk for the time we got to spend together and also for the insights into her thoughts. She’s walked this path almost every school day for the past three years and I’m kind of sad it’s coming to an end.
Saw this bush with oramge flowers:
These orange plyons:
And this vintage car. I actually have seen this car several times, so I made sure to circle back here to look for it for CBWC orange week.
Then after dinner, I took an evening walk with the 6 and 9 year olds while the Husband took the 14 year old to swimming. It was getting dark so not a lot of orange spotting, but the warm glow of this street lamp was orange to me:
That’s week two! Next week’s post will be all about YELLOW!
Last week was a mish-mash sort of week – it started off with the kids off school on Monday, and then mid-week, I started prepping for a new show. We went contra-dancing. My mother came to visit, and good friends of ours had their twins’ B’not Mitzvah (I learned that’s what it’s called when the Bat Mitzvah is for two girls). So busy and full, but also I didn’t have to work in the evenings, so some luxurious swaths of time as well.
Three Jobs that I wish I could do last week: 1) Animal control. There was a bird in our office building this week for a little over 24 hours. A cute little chirping sparrow that had somehow gotten inside. It started out in another office, then flew through the halls a little bit, and then flew into our office, I think, because we have very large windows and it was looking for sunlight. At first, it was kind of cute – the birds twittering almost made it feel like we were working outside.
But of course keeping a bird inside, where there is no food or water isn’t sustainable. Our facilities person was chasing it (him? I think they named him), trying to encourage it into the rehearsal room because there is a door to the outside. What a frightening experience the little bird must have been having. ( Fun Fact – numerous animal control companies were called but none of them would come – either they didn’t do birds, or our ceilings were too high.) Anyhow, we did eventually get the bird into a rehearsal room and out the door, but before that happened, there was much flapping, and chasing, and prodding on our part. I don’t think we were doing anything right. At least we were not effective.
2) Make-up Artist. At about 5pm on a Friday, I was at work, and I got this text from the Husband:
The 14 year old wanted to try some make-up for her school dance. That night. The dance was at 6:30pm. I don’t have a lot of experience with make-up – there was a time when I put on some mascara and lipstick for opening night, but I don’t even bother with that anymore. The Husband knows less than I do. But all the same, we wanted to be supportive.
No limbs were broken, but this sounded like the kind of situation that I should bail on work to help with. I shut down my computer, told my colleagues I had a family situation come up, and packed up my stuff.
“Meet me at Ulta,” I texted the Husband as I walked out the door.
I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do, having no knowledge of current (or any) make-up trends – my only make-up instruction came from a Mary Kay consultant that visited my church group when I was 12. (She was a mother of some in the group.) I just remember her talking about the face’s t-zone. But I figured I could meet the Husband and 14 year old at Ulta where there was a large selection, and then search Reddit for advice.
I arrived at Ulta at 5:35pm, little before the Husband and 14 year old, and was immediately overwhelmed. Rows and rows of displays and shelves and images of brilliant eyes, rosy lips, and perfect dewy skin. And there was the $6 lipstick and the $36 lipstick – what’s the difference? And so many colours and shades and was that even make up or was that hair spray???? The Husband and 14 year old joined me, looking at me for direction. “You’re a 40-something woman. You mush know what to do,” was the subtext. I did not know what to do. This is when I wished I were a make-up artist.
Then I saw a lady with a name tag (which I didn’t read – so sorry), an artfully messy updo, arms blooming with tattoos, and a friendly face. She said, “Do you need help?”
Oh thank goodness!, I thought.
“YES!” I said, pointing at the 14 year old. “She needs make-up for the school dance and we don’t know what we’re doing.”
And the lady helped us with calm, soothing tones. She asked questions, helped pick out colours while telling the 14 year old what different things would do. The concealer didn’t have testers, but she was a former make-up artist, and said that she was pretty good at matching colour for us. We left with lip stain (what even is that??), concealer and mascara – which I felt was a nice basic collection of things for a first time make-up user.
3)Stationary Tester. This is a fun one – My order from JetPens arrived and I spent an evening playing with everything I ordered. I bought monthly tabs for my planners and journals, a few new pens to try:
Look at my journal and my planner all nicely tabbed!
A stamp for my book journal:
and my favorite thing is this book clip:
Now I can read hands free (until I have to turn the page.) There are so many fun things on the JetPens site – how fun would it be if I could spend my days testing pens and papers and stickers and other objects of efficiency and purpose?
Grateful For: – Sunshine and nice weather and the Potomac River. Monday was a no school day, so I took the 9 year old and the 6 year old and a friend for a hike to Blockhouse Point Trail – at last, my first hike of the year! Blockhouse point is one of my favorite trails because it is never crowded and leads to a stunning view of the Potomac River.
-The 9 year old figured out how to tie his shoes. Now all three kids can tie their own shoes. (yes, the 6 year old figured it out before the 9 year old…). They still need help with their skates, but for every day shoes and cleats, they can tie their own shoes. Seems like a milestone.
-The 14 year old cooked dinner one night, and she and the other two kids cleaned up afterwards.
– Having a contra dance two miles from us. When I was first introduced to contra dancing, it was at a location that was maybe a 20-30 minute drive away from where I lived in DC. (Washington DC has one of the biggest contradancing scenes in the country and there used to be two dances a week. Now there is one weekly dance and two monthly dances – which is still a lot more than many other places.) Similarly, when I’ve gone contradancing in other cities, I’m sometimes driving for up to an hour to get to a dance. But it’s fine – if the music and the people are good, it was always worth the drive to me. However, there is now a monthly contradance very close to us, and it makes going so much easier and lower stakes and also makes it easier to go as a family. We went dancing with the 6 and 9 year old last week and had so much fun. We danced for an hour and a half and were all home and in bed by 10pm.
– A walk with the 14 year old and the fact that she has been able to walk to school the past few years. She was in an off mood over the weekend, so the Husband and I took her on a walk to her school and back. I’m feeling a bit of the feelings that she’ll only do this walk for two more months and then she’ll be off to high school, and there will be other traffic patterns to figure out for her. As we walked together to her school, she gave us the rundown of the inner monologue that she has as she walks – who lives where, when she meets up with friends, all the stories she makes up in her head about the houses and people that she see, where she walks on the wall, when she crosses the street… It was such a delightful peek into her brain.
– Having friends who let us celebrate milestones with them. I’ve never been to a Bat/Bar/B’Not Mitzvah celebration before, and it was such a lovely experience. I will say the morning service was loooong (two hours), but I really loved the ritual of it all and also following along the Hebrew readings (there was a translation provided). I found there was something really cerebral and thoughtful about the Torah readings.
We also helped our friends set up and take down the party afterwards, and they let me run the popcorn machine and the cotton candy machine during the party! I’ve never done this before, but was game to learn new things. Besides the instructions were written right on the machines so it was pretty straightforward. The cotton candy machine was SO messy! I had cotton candy fluff all over me. Unfortunately (fortunately?) the machine stopped working about an hour into the party. But even after the first round, I was covered.
cotton candy selfie!
Which is all to say, there is something really nice about having friends that feel comfortable and trust us enough to ask us to come early and stay late for such a big event. They are there to help us and they let us be there to help them. There is something wonderful about being able to help. Sometimes I feel like I have people in my life that only want to help me and never let me help them in return and things end up feeling very loop-sided. I’m really grateful for this friendship where we get to lean on each other.
And we got to take home the balloon arch:
Looking Forward To: -Maycember. Really April-to-June-cember. At this weekend’s family meeting, we looked at the calendar for this next quarter and I can’t say I’m looking forward to the pace of the next few months, but everything on the calendar are things I’m genuinely looking forward to – recitals, the middle school musical (with the 14 year old in the lead!), elementary school performances, a new show for me to work on, a vocal recital for me to do titles for, my parents visiting again, the 14 year old’s middle school promotion ceremony, a camping trip for everyone but me (I’ll be working that weekend, so I can’t go, but – yay! – weekend with the house to myself!)… all that on top of the usual lessons and activities.
-Summers at the Pool. And then my reward for getting through April-to-June-cember is that my last contract ends in by July 4th and I can spend the rest of the summer hanging out with the kids – there will be a lot of pool time.
– Starting rehearsals for a new show. It’s one I’ve always wanted to work on, so I’m excited to get started.
-Warm weather. Maybe too warm. It’s going to be like summer here this week. But… it also mean I get to break out all my cute warm weather clothes.
-Sunday night dinner with friends.
-Reading more of this book – I just started it and it is quirky and insightful. I think I like books that look at humans from the outside:
What We Ate: Monday: Spiced chickpea stew with coconut and tumeric, an Alison Roman recipe from NY Times cooking. Vegan. This was tasty; I had it for lunch all week. I didn’t eat it that night because I went out to happy hour with friends and I had fish and chips.
Taco Tuesday: Black beans, Sauteed shrimp, guacamole, mango slaw. Hard and soft shells. Cheese and sour cream, of course. Taco Tuesday is so tasty. The Husband cooked this time and it was delicious.
Wednesday: Mac and Cheese (from the blue box) and steamed green beans. This is the night the 14 year old cooked.
Thursday: Nasi goreng. Indonesian fried rice w/ fried tofu. No recipe, really, just used up whatever vegetables I had around – broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, leeks. Vegan.
Friday: Pizza and Zootopia 2. It was a cute movie. I think I’ve seen the first Zootopia, but I can’t say for sure.
Saturday: I went straight to the B’not Mitzvah party from work, so I didn’t have dinner, but they had so much snacky/appetizer food. My favorite was the deconstructed pasta salad – it was a plate with cherry tomatoes, tortellini, and marinated mozzarella balls all laid out separately on a bed of arugula so you could pick and choose what you wanted.
Sunday: Tortellini with sausage, onions, and greens. Blanched green beans. I usually steam the green beans, but I had the hot water from the pasta in a pot and I thought, “Why waste a good pot of hot water?” So I threw the green beans in there for four minutes.
I hope you have a great week!
Any jobs you wish you could do lately? Do you tie your shoes the bunny ear method or with a single loop? Favorite party snack/appetizer? Have you ever sat through a service for a religion different than your own?
Elisabeth is once again organizing Cool Blogger’s Walking Club. Yay for intentional movement! You don’t have to be a blogger, or, I would argue, “cool” to participate. (I certainly don’t think I’m “cool”)
I always like starting things on a Monday, so my version of walking club is Monday to Sunday and not strictly per the day of the month.
Last Fall, for CBWC, I chose something to look for on my walks each week- Hallowe’en Decorations, flowers, foliage…
This time around, I’m choosing a colour to look for every week. To make it easy, I thought I’d go in rainbow order, so the first week was RED! Which is, also, incidentally, my favorite colour.
So RED things I saw on last week’s walks:
Monday 3/30: We went down to the National Mall to see cherry blossoms. It was a few days past peak bloom, but there were still lots of blooms to be seen. (I have a feeling that there will still be lots of blooms to be seen all month, so there might be lots of blossom pictures even if they aren’t strictly in the colour of the month.) Red things we saw:
Red Line Train.
Red kite stuck in the tree. The National Kite Festival was the weekend prior, and you can always see the aftermath of the Festival in the lost kites festooning the trees.
Red (white and blue) Flag (next to the Washington Monument):
It’s not red, but I had to include a shot of cherry blossoms since that is why we were down at the Mall in the first place:
Tuesday 3/31: Went on a bike/run with the 6 year old and 9 year old. A bike/run is when they ride their bikes and I run. They bike faster than I run, but they are good about stopping and waiting for me to catch up. We stopped at the playground where there was this red lady bug:
And on the way home, red folliage:
Wednesday 4/1: Walked though Costco for an hour. (Does that count?) Then in the afternoon, went for a walk to the park with the kids. Saw this red azaelea bush, buds still furled tight:
Thursday 4/2: Went on another bike/run with the kids. This time, I noticed that the 9 year old’s bike has red accents and he is wearing red shoes:
Also this redbud tree, which technically isn’t red, but it has “red” in its name:
And the red stems on these blossoms:
Friday 4/3: Went skating with the kids. (Even the 14 year old came!) I noticed the red markings on the ice:
Saturday 4/4: Went on a bike ride with the Husband and the 6 year old and 9 year old. My bike is red!
Sunday 4/5: Easter Sunday. Went on a walk after dinner. Noticed a red umbrella sitting next to our red door:
Red Tulips in a neighbor’s front yard:
The sunset wasn’t strictly red, but it was beautiful:
And that’s week one. Next week’s colour will be ORANGE!
Bookish quote of the month, from the New York Times By the Book interview with Grant Grinder last February:
“Does a book help you feel less alone?” – I love that as a yardstick for books. I think there are so many ways books can help me feel less alone – they can show me people like me so that I know I’m not the only “Asian American failed potential Ivy League-educated daughter of immigrants and mother to young children” out there (or any one of those descriptors really). But also, a book can fill my world with people and adventures so that even though reading can be a solo activity, I still feel like my existence is very rich with humanity. I guess this is why when one is stuck on a desert island one would want books.
And on to last month’s books:
Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? A Memoir by Saemus O’Reilly, read by the author – O’Reilley recounts his childhood in Ireland, growing up as one of 11 children being raised by his single dad after his mother passes away. I picked up this book after reading Say Nothing because I was interested in reading another perspective about what it was like living in Ireland during the Troubles. The Troubles aren’t a huge part of O’Reilly’s narrative, but rather is a constant shadow in the background. What I loved this book for, though, is O’Reilly’s loving and clear eyed portrait of his father, a man who raises 11 kids single handedly without fuss or sentimentality, but with lots of love. If you are interested in big families, I highly recommend this book. I laughed out loud so many times when reading this book. One of my favorite quotes I read this month came from this book. Whenever one of the kids asked his father how he managed to raise 11 children on his own, he would reply:
“Which of you was I supposed to give back?“
I love that as a combination of no nonsense wit and deep affection for his children.
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles read by Marty Swain – I loved this romance novel about two men who have a fling at an inn, only to discover months later that one (Joss) is a smuggler, and the other (Gareth) is the baronet of Joss’ little corner of England. Both Joss and Gareth were characters that I could root for and I really liked how their relationship starts as one thing and kept evolving as they warily and carefully got to know each other. There is a lively cast of side characters which is always fun. At first I didn’t like the audiobook narrator – I thought he was a little uppity in tone, but then I realized that he sounded a little bit like Colin Firth and suddenly I liked him a lot more.
101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith – Read aloud with the kids. The lady who wrote I Capture the Castle also wrote a children’s novel! I didn’t know that. Anyhow, I originally got this to read out loud with the kids in December because a good portion of this book takes place in the lead up to Christmas. It’s a charming book with lots of fun animal characters.
House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City Book 1) by Sarah Maas – So one day last fall, I was making dinner and suddenly the 14 year old comes into the kitchen, earphones in, clutching her phone, bawling her eyes out, as if her heart were breaking. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “She died!!” the 14 year old cried, inconsolable. She cried for at least fifteen minutes. Anyhow… this is that book. The 14 year old recommended it to me, and while fantasy is not my usual fare, I like to read something she’s read once in a while. It’s fun to ask her questions as I read and talk to her about the book. And, yes, the death in question was a real doozy. This book is one in a trilogy that features angels, mermaids/mermen, curses, magic, the underworld, immortal life, war, betrayal, intrigue, romance… so much packed in there. Will I read the other books? Probably not. This book was loooooong. And so much world building. I have a hard time with books where there is so much world building that I feel like I need a chart to keep track of everything. But I thought the twisty plot was certainly entertaining, and the relationship that develops between the two main characters was a very satisfying slow burn.
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams – continuing my efforts to read down my shelf of books I bring home from Little Free Libraries. This novel tells the story of Eva and Shane, two authors who had an intense connection over a couple days as teenagers and haven’t seen each other since, even though their writing is heavily influenced by their memories of those high school days. I enjoyed this book – it combines breezy humour and deeply felt trauma. Eva and Shane were by turns hilarious and heart-wrenching. I really enjoyed the writing, and the structure of the story unfolding in one week (with a few flashbacks). The ending felt a little forced/rushed to me, though – I felt like there were a lot of issues that didn’t get resolved – but maybe healing the trauma is not the story that is being told?
A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles – The sequel to The Secret Lives of Country Gentleman. This book tells the story of Luke (a minor but important character in The Secret Lives…) who for mysterious reasons takes a job as the secretary to Rufus, the new Earl of Oxney. Of course love and intrigue ensue. I have to say, I didn’t like this one as much as the first book, but I still enjoyed it. While I really liked both Luke and Rufus, I thought the plot was not as tight as in The Secret Lives, and because these two books are intertwined, I found the weaker plot disappointing.
The Innocents by Francesca Segal – This is a retelling of The Age of Innocence, set in a tight knit wealthy Jewish community in modern day London. I always find retellings fascinating to read. I like seeing how an author molds one story to fit their own, seeing what works well transplanted and what feels like a stretch. I often wonder if a retelling would work for me if one didn’t know the original source material. Anyhow, I thought this novel was fine. Adam (the Archer Newland character) had a little bit more self awareness than Archer – I didn’t feel like he was deceiving himself as to his feelings towards Ellie (the Ellen counterpart). His fiancée Rachel was certainly not as interesting or complex as May in Wharton, though. I think what didn’t land for me was a) Adam and Ellie’s relationship felt very abrupt and lacked chemistry, and b) that I felt like Segal’s version was a little heavy-handed; some things that Wharton would talk about in an oblique, ironic fashion, Segal would hammer into the reader. And because of this lack of irony, I think in the end there isn’t anything tragic about Adam, not in the same way that Archer is kind of a pathetic figure at the end of The Age of Innocence.
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans – I finally got this hugely buzzy book off hold. I love me an epistolatory novel, which is why I picked this book up in the first place. I tore through it and then went back to read it a little more slowly, to savor every nuance and all the things said and unsaid. I will say that I don’t love “death of a child” as a plot point, so those bits were hard for me, but I found much of the rest of the book stunning – the slow evolution and reveal of each character, and how the book shows the importance of connection and the value of kind patience and love. And the book was so funny and on point. I also really loved how Sybil wasn’t the protagonist of everyone else’s story – I think that’s a real sign of craft when you can write and epistolatory novel where all the characters feel fully developed, even the ones that have no or very few letters.
On My Proverbial Nightstand (I probably have too many books going on right now…) :
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope- Reading this for my Classics Reading Challenge. The prompt was for a novel originally written in serial form. I’ve never read any Trollope before and many lists say this is a good one to start with. Its is such a soap opera!
The Work by Olga Ravn – This is one of those books that came off my holds list and I couldn’t remember how it got there -I was probably doing some late night holding. (I mentioned in a comment on Engie’s blog that putting books on hold late at night is my middle-age lady’s version of getting drunk and waking up in an unfamiliar bed.) I think I put it on my holds because it talks about early motherhood, and I’m always up to read about someone’s experience of early motherhood. It’s been a little visceral and esoteric at the same time.
10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager – I had heard this book mentioned a couple times in the past month – maybe it’s Baader-Meinhof phenomenon? I’m constantly trying to figure out how to motivate young people, whether it’s my kids or my interns, so I picked this one up.
Felicity Cabot Sells her Soul by Aydra Richards – I’ve been on an historical romance kick (moreso than normal). Not sure if I love this book, but the male main character is doing some really satisfying groveling.
This American Woman written and read by Zarna Garg – Garg played the mother in A Nice Indian Boy and she was charming. This is her memoir about her life growing up in India and how she came to America at age 16 to escape an arranged marriage and eventually became a stand up comedian.
What good books have you read lately? How do books make you feel less alone?
Last week was spring break – we stayed home and had a relaxing staycation kind of week. Monday I took the kids down to the main library in downtown DC, and we also went to see some cherry blossoms. Other than that – we had some nice bike rides and playground time. Baking. A family trip to Costco. Hair cuts and dress shopping. Library visits and ice skating. It was nice to be home and living life at a relaxed pace.
The weekend was also pretty low key. On Saturday I dopped the 6 year old at an Easter Egg Hunt play date and went to get my emissions tested. The emissions didn’t take as long as I expected, so I stopped at Panera for my free Slip Club beverage and a BLT since I hadn’t had breakfast. Then in the afternoon, the Husband and the two little kids and I went on a nice long bike ride. In the evening, we watched the Men’s Final Four Basketball games. After the 6 and 9 year old went to bed, it was time to play Easter Bunny. The 14 year old was still up, and the Husband turned to her, dead serious, and said, “I have something to tell you. “
She looked at him expectantly.
“The Easter Bunny,” he said, “Isn’t real.”
I howled with laughter. The 14 year old helped us stuff eggs and then she actually went and hid all the eggs for us while the Husband and I finished watching the game.
Sunday, we went to 8am Easter Mass, which at our church is an English/ Bangla service. Reasons I really enjoy going to the English/Bangla mass: -The rainbow of saris and kurtas that people wear are so fun to see. -The homily is given in both languages, so it tends to be shorter. -The music is provided by Bengali musicians and it is always upbeat and varied.
After Mass we went to breakfast at First Watch. We traditionally would go to IHOP for Easter breakfast, but the last couple of years, IHOP has always been so crowded so we decided to try something new. First Watch was for sure less crowded and the food was, in my opinion, better. The restaurant was having an Easter Egg hunt which was fun for the kids too. After breakfast we went home, had a nap. The kids hunted for Easter eggs. I made some lemonade and chocolate pudding for dinner, then we watched the Women’s NCAA Basketball final game while the kids folded laundry. The game was kind of a rout, with UCLA winning by 30 points.
For dinner we had burgers, tater tots, green beans, and lemonade. After dinner we went for a family walk – a rare thing these days to get all five of us to go for a walk together. The summer sunset sky was gorgeous! When we came home we had the chocolate pudding for dessert before sending the kids to bed. It didn’t feel like a fancy holiday weekend, but I think it was full of family, and good food, and what more could one want?
And now the calendar has turned to another month. April! Which means that 2026 is one quarter over. Here’s a look back at March:
March Highlights: -Tech/Opening/Closing of a show. The Show certainly had it’s challenges, but I had such a good time with my co-workers.
-Family trip to the theatre to see The Sea Beyond the Ocean. Such a beautiful play.
-Supertitle recital gig of a lovely recital that featured Vaughn Williams’ Songs of Travel, one of my favorite song cycles.
-Running supertitles for another opera. I really like running supertitles – I get to lock into the music, but also I don’t have to talk to anyone else so I can just focus on one thing.
-Sunshine and warmer weather.
-It was a pretty negligent month for exercise, but I did go on my first run since November, and I did go to the fitness room at the rec center once.
-My friend L coming over to do laundry and getting to hang out with her late one evening.
-KPop Demon Hunters winning two Oscars, and seeing Golden performed on the telecast.
-My friend A coming home from their posting abroad. I mean not the reason they were sent home (they were posted in the Middle East), but the fact that I got to see her four months earlier than I was expecting.
-Going to the 9 year old’s Geobowl and the 14 year old’s Science Fair.
-Visiting the Textile Museum. Who knew horse blankets were so nuanced!
-Getting our tax information to our Tax Guy just in time.
-Cherry Blossoms. I never get tired of their fluffy delicate beauty.
Also – I snapped this picture while sitting in the shadow of the Washington Monument. I’m feeling a little down about the state of American politics, but I still feel inspired and hopeful by the symbols of our country, such as the American Flag and the Washington monument.
March Lowlights: -Being sick. I was barely hanging on for a week mid-March. Turns out it was flu. I had to cancel so many plans that I had been looking forward to. -News on the international front. -News on the arts front at home. My heart aches for so many of my colleagues and former colleagues here in DC. -A really hard tech process for the show I did. Everything was fine in the end, but there were definitely times when I thought I was just plain bad at my job. -The back and forth as to the last day of school. This isn’t really a lowlight, but more like an ridiculous frustration. As the snow days piled up, the school district kept extending the school year, day by day until the last day, which was originally June 18th was pushed all the way to June 25th. I was glad I hadn’t signed the kids up for camp that week. But then…. then then… the week before spring break, the school district announced that they had gotten a special dispensation from the State to have a reduced number of teaching days and the last day of school would go back to being June 18th after all. ARUGH!!!! You know – I am find with whatever they decide to do, but to offer one thing and then change it back is… so annoying. I’m sure the school district knows how annoying this is.
How did I do on some of my 2026 Goals? -Creativity – I only painted one picture; I wrote 3 haikus; I played piano several times – I’m trying to embrace the five minute piano noodle as something to do when I’m between tasks. So could do better on this front. But then I was sick for a week…
The one picture I painted all month. I guess technically it’s two. This was the leaf painting assignment from 30 Days of Watercolour.
-Finished one crossword puzzle. We didn’t renew our Washington Post Sunday paper til half way through the month, but it is now renewed so I can get back to doing my weekly puzzle.
-Museums = 1 (total so far this year, 4/10). Hikes= 0 (Not doing so well on the hiking goal)
-Vegan dinners = 3 (the goal is 5/month) I have to admit, vegan dinners are hard when I’m working in the evenings and am not home to cook.
-Excercise: not great. Strength training = 3x (goal was 8x/ month). Yoga daily = I missed two days when I was sick and 1 day when I just forgot. I did go running 4 times, once for only 10 minutes, but I’m still counting that.
-Family Goals: Game Night = 1 (Parcheesi; it was disastrous. Wait, I think there was a MarioKart night as well); Date Night = 0 (still); Call my parents once a week – I did horribly on this one; I think I called them once all month.
-Time outside: I tracked 14 hours, but it might have been more. I fell off the tracking wagon the days before and after I was sick.
Quote of the Month: “I am an old woman and my life has been some strange balance of miraculous and mundane.” from The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.
Looking Forward to (the April edition): – Contra dancing. We didn’t get to last month because of sickness in our household, so I’m hoping we’ll get to go this month.
-My mother’s coming to visit.
-Dinners and hang outs with various friends and families we know. The social calendar is a little full.
-An order from Jet Pens. As a gift to myself for getting through tech week (twice in one month!) and the flu, I ordered myself some things from JetPens – some monthly tabs so I can tab my planners, a new Preppy Fountain Pen, some new .25 point pens, and a book clip so I can clip my book open when I read while eating.
-Alisdair Fraser and Natalie Haas. I’ve been a fan of this fiddle and cello duo since their debut album in 2004 so I was super excited to see they are coming to play in our area. I very rarely go to live music concerts – usually if I’m going it live performance it’s opera or theatre – but especially these days, I feel like supporting live performance is important.
– Starting rehearsals for a new show and working with some of my favorite colleagues. (Okay, truth – most of my colleagues are my favorite colleagues. Now that I get to have a say in hiring stage managers, I don’t hire people I don’t want to work with… it’s a perk.)
– Reading in bed! I ordered a bedside lamp and it arrived!
Grateful for this week: -Libraries. Particularly libraries that don’t have computers in their Children’s Section, thereby forcing my kids to actually look at books.
-Cadbury Mini Eggs. My favorite holiday candy. I got the big bag from Costco this year. Actually I got two. Last year I thought I didn’t need the big Costco bag of mini eggs so I didn’t buy them, and I regretted it ever since.
-A later piano lesson. The kids’ piano lessons are usually at 7:15am, but this week because it was Spring Break, their teacher was able to move the lesson to 8:00am and it was nice to stay home for that extra 45 minutes and have a leisurely morning.
-Bike trails and closed parkways. On the weekends, the parkway near us is closed to cars, giving us an endless length of road on which to ride our bikes.
-Spring Break and bonus time with my kids. Sure they periodically fought like tom cats, but overall I had a really great time hanging out with my kids this week. I think key to my great time was the fact that they play together pretty well, so a) I didn’t have to referee many arguments, and b) I could spend lots of time by myself without having to amuse them.
-Past me for making vanilla. Last year around this time, I had been given a mini bottle of vodka that I was never going to drink. So I tucked an vanilla bean inside to make vanilla. I had forgotten about it until this week, when I was making banana cake (this recipe – it’s really tender and moist) and realized we were out of vanilla. Panic! But then, I remembered that little bottle on our alcohol shelf. Past me to the rescue!
What We Ate: Monday: Garlic-y Chicken with Lemon Anchovy Sauce a Melissa Clark recipe from NY Times Cooking. Eaten with rice and steamed broccoli on the side. I was looking to use up some chicken thighs I had in the fridge. This was really tasty.
Tuesday: Tacos from the taco place next to the barber’s. We had gone for haircuts for the kids and decided to grab dinner out before running some other errands this night.
Wednesday: Roasted Salmon and Potatoes with bagged salad. The 14 year old made dinner and it was super tasty.
Thursday: Kabocha Squash Japanese Curry from Hetty Lui McKinnon, and Pan Fried Tofu. I had picked up a Kabocha squash from the Farmer’s market and was looking for a way to cook it. I really loved this flavorful curry. I didn’t have Japanese curry, but Indian curry powder worked just fine. I think I’ve cracked the code on really delicious crispy fried tofu. This is my method: -Press and drain tofu for at least 20 minutes. (I wrap it in a kitchen towel and then put my Dutch oven on it. Sometimes I start it in the morning so that it’s nice and dry by the time I get home after work.) -Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes. -Douse with soy sauce and then let it sit for at least 10 minutes to marinate. -Toss in 1/4 cup of cornstarch, making sure all sides of tofu are coated. -Heat about a 1/4″ of oil in a large skillet. -When the oil is hot, add the tofu. Let it cook untouched for 3-4 minutes, until a nice crust forms. Then flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes on the other side. -When nice and golden/ crispy on at least two sides, take out and drain on a paper towel. The excessive amount of cornstarch seems to be ky.
Friday: Take out from local fish restaurant, because it was Friday in Lent. And for movie night: A Nice Indian Boy. I was looking for a rom com to watch since it was my turn to pick the movie, and came across this title from last year. It was just perfect – everything I want from a rom com: cute, appealing leads, offbeat secondary characters, believable conflict even within a quirky story, humour, heart, and wit. We laughed a lot. The movie tells the story of Naveen, a doctor, who yearns to meet the right man and get married. He meets Jay, a white man who was adopted by Indian parents, and much of the comedy and heart comes from the dynamics of Naveen’s family learning to accept Jay as the Nice Indian Boy they want for Naveen. I loved that everyone had a chance for a story arc, and the Indian wedding dance number at the end. This movie was the definition of feel good. Also Jonathan Groff is really pretty.
Saturday: Pizza (the Husband made – cheese, sausage and mushroom, fig and goat cheese, and a pepperoni).
Sunday: Burgers, steamed green beans, tater tots. Lemonade. Chocolate pudding. (Burgers, lemonade, and chocolate were all things that the kids had given up for Lent.) The Husband made the burgers and they were really tasty. The 9 year old at one point said, “It’s a good thing Easter isn’t on a Friday in Lent because we wouldn’t have been able to eat these burgers!” Um…..
I still feel like I’m digging out of being sick for a week, but it’s nice to feel like life is getting back to routine. Aside from some lingering crud and the occasional cough, I’m feeling better, though still very tired. I’m don’t know if the tired is just life or what. I’ve been trying to think of if I ever don’t feel tired? This might be something for me to track.
Anyhow, on weeks when life feels very routine, I like to do a round of “What make this day unique or special/ what made this day frustrating” in my journal. It’s a good reminder to me that even when things feel like a cycle of – sleep, wake, kids to school, work, sleep…. each day is different, even if in tiny ways.
Monday: Unique: I took a nap in the afternoon before work. Still not feeling 100% this day. -Reading in bed at night. I don’t often read in bed because the Husband often is asleep before I get into bed and I don’t want the light to bother him. This night, he had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs so I took advantage of having the bed to myself and read in bed. Frustrating: The people in the parking garage that honk at me. The garage where I park at the current theatre is underground, which means there are lots of ramps to navigate. Some of these ramps are quite steep. Which, since I drive a manual car, makes me very anxious when the traffic is stop and go all the way out of the garage. So I tend to sit at the bottom of a section of ramp until the traffic is clear for a couple meters. That way I don’t get stuck mid way up the ramp and risk rolling backwards when I try to shift gears. People tend to honk at me when I do this. I get this – most people assume that stopping half way up the ramp is an easy thing, and I expect it is annoying to sit in a parking garage line and not have the car in front of you pull up. But I’m already a ball of anxiety getting out of the garage, honking tends to exacerbate my anxiety. Anyhow… I’ve started just waiting 45 minutes after work to leave so I don’t have to sit in the traffic.
Tuesday: Unique: I didn’t have to work in the evening, so I sat and read my book after dinner. I wish this didn’t feel like a special thing, and was instead just an every day thing. Frustrating: I should have had a conversation at work, but I didn’t because it was kind of a sensitive thing and the right moment didn’t happen for the conversation. It was frustrating because it was something I wanted to have taken care of and instead it continued to loom.
Wednesday: Unique: An extraordinarily good pint of raspberries. I find raspberries a little hit or miss, and this one was for sure a hit. Sweet and firm and full of flavor. – I went to visit a new to me museum – The Textile Museum. It’s across the street from the theatre and free admission. It’s a small, very niche, museum, which is sometimes the best kind. They currently have an exhibit about horse blankets and saddle covers. I loved seeing all the handwork. Like the exhibits on quilts that I’ve seen, I was struck by how no one knows who created these beautiful (and practical) works of art.
There was also an exhibit on sustainable fashion, which was fascinating. For example, this shirt below is made out of fibers made of pineapple leaves. The placard noted that different countries/regions have access to different materials, but globally, most of our clothes are made of the same materials, manufactured in a limited number of places, which contributes to a lot of waste and pollution. A lot of the sustainability ideas in the exhibit was about focusing on local efforts- whether it be natural resources or reclaiming/recycling fabric.
I stopped by the gift shop of my way out and picked up a few things: two napkins made from old sari materials, and this book on furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping things with fabric:
Also another special thing this day – my friend came over after work to do laundry – her machine is broken. We haven’t had a chance to hang out in a while since work has been so busy, so it was lovely to sip beverages and chat; she had a beer, I had some tea. She did some mending and I folded laundry. It was 11:30pm, but kind of the best kind of low key hang out to have with a very good friend.
Frustrating: We had a site visit for a theatre space at work and the parking near the space was a nightmare. I hate parking in the old parts of the city.
Thursday: Unique – The Husband was out of town on a birthday trip with friends. He very rarely goes away by himself, so this was really unique. That evening, the kids and I went the the middle school STEM fair. I’ve never been to a science fair before – we didn’t do them when I was this age. It was so fun to see all the different projects and to realize that even the littlest spark of curiosity can be the seed for a science project. The 14 year old did an experiment testing different types of sugar for baking cupcakes. My favorite exhibit was one kid who compared catapults to trebuchets, even building one of each out of balsa wood and rubber bands. Afterwards we went to a new to us Thai dessert cafe and had fancy drinks and Mango Sticky Rice Toast. It was all really tasty. The 6 year old wanted to lick the plate after we polished off the Toast. I told her she couldn’t lick the plate in a restaurant, but next time we could order it to go and she could like the plate at home.
Toast topped with condensed milk and fresh mango, along with sticky coconut rice, mango cream, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. It was delicious.
Also – it’s Peak Bloom! A whole four days earlier than predicted. Peek bloom is one of those things that happen every year yet still feels unique every time it happens. I have plans to go see the blossoms with the kids next week on Spring Break; hopefully they will still be there. (update: we did this and it was beautiful)
Frustrating – Started gathering my tax information for our accountant. Starting them is not the frustrating thing; having to do them in the first place is. I guess this might more be classified as “annoying” rather than “frustrating.”
Friday: Unique: I went to the fitness room at the rec center and ran the treadmill and did 15 minutes of strength with dumbbells. I tried 12 lb. dumbbells for the first time since the 5 and 10 lb ones were being used, and it wasn’t horrible. Again, I wish going to the fitness room wasn’t a unique thing in my schedule, but it is these days.
Frustrating: A few weeks ago, I wrote about receiving a W-2 for a gig I was never paid for. Well, this week got an email from the company’s accounting people saying, “Oops you’re right. You weren’t paid. Here’s a corrected W-2.” To which my response was, “Okay, thanks. Can I expect to be paid for the job still?” To which the nice lady in accounting said, “Sorry, that’s out of my hands. Here’s another email address that you can write to to ask.” I don’t understand how people run a business this way.
Saturday Unique/ different – We went to the Farmer’s market this day (again, another thing I wish were more routine and not unique). We bought some amazing pastries and also apples and veggies and empanadas. While we were there we noticed that there was a Black Family Health Fair going on – there were people handing out toothbrushes and they said all were welcome; the fair wasn’t just for Black families. So we went to check it out. There were lots of booths from various health organizations, but also some fun activities. There was a booth where you could make smoothies by pedaling a bike that was attached to a blender. That was fun. We also enjoyed the art/collage workshop that was led by educators from the Phillips Collection. Going to the fair was such a lovely spontaneous activity.
The prompt was to build houses to represent our insides and our outsides. I don’t know that we followed the prompt. Our outside was brick and the inside was very Zen. The educator tried to make some comment about how it represents how tough and strong we feel like we have to be on the outside.
The other thing that made the day special was that we didn’t have any sports activities. We’re between basketball and soccer season and it was nice to have space in our day to do things like impulsively attend a health fair, or take an afternoon nap, or have family reading time after dinner. As we were lounging in the living room with our books, the 9 year old said, “This was a really great day!” Agreed, little guy. I totally agree.
Frustrating- I lost my Yeti mug a few weeks ago. Last year I wrote a post on things I would replace immediately and my Yeti Rambler with Hot Shot lid was one of those things. So I went to the local Ace Hardware to get a new one… and the 12 oz Yeti rambler with Hot Shot lid is no longer part of the Yeti line up; it’s seemingly been discontinued. They have a new Rambler, but it is slightly larger and doesn’t fit in my hand as well. So frustrating. I don’t want the new version, I want the 12 oz Rambler with Hot Shot Lid that I’ve had for five years now. My options seem to be:
-buy it in hot pink. Apparently some Ace Hardware Stores still have it in hot pink. Hot pink isn’t really my colour, though. -buy the 18 oz (or 10 oz) water bottle and the hot shot lid separately. -buy the new Rambler and be annoyed every time I use it. -scour eBay or other re-sale sites. But it would have to be a new one – I’d feel weird buying a used one.
I ended up scouring eBay and buying one there. I might actually buy two more just as back up.
Sunday Unique/Different – It’s the last show of my current run. There is always a special energy knowing that you’re doing a show for one last time. I found street parking right outside the theatre so I didn’t have to pay for parking since it was Sunday. After the show, we went to a friends’ house for dinner. It was a beautiful spring/cups of summer evening and the sun was still up, so I walked there. After sitting all day, it was nice to stretch my legs. The trees are blooming and there were lots of people out on their bikes. It’s like people are emerging from hibernation.
Frustrating- I don’t think there was anything frustrating about the day. It was a nice Sunday – some family time, some work, some friend time, and I finished my book. It was a pretty good day.
Grateful for:
-Driving a compact car so that it is easier to fit into parking spaces and navigate city driving.
-Chatting with colleagues. I was working supertitles for my latest show, which means I get to hang out in the booth a lot with the stage manager and the lighting supervisor. There is something to be said about being able to have casual conversations about work things – we can problem solve and kick around ideas to explore without being in some meeting where it feels like we have to have the right answer right there. A lot of my administrative work can be done remotely, which I appreciate, but I also am really grateful for casual face to face time to chat with my colleagues.
-For the chance to run supertitles for this latest show. I really love running super titles. I mean it’s essentially hitting a space bar 1000 times over the course of a two hour show, but I find it really satisfying to lock in and concentrate on the music and what is happening onstage. I’m glad when my boss was looking for someone to run titles I spoke up and said, “I can do it.” And that my boss then let me.
-that I’m feeling better after my week of sick.
-That the 9 year old still loves playing with his toy planes. He has such a big imagination. And makes up stories and battles with his toys. Yes, he also likes playing MarioKart, but I love that if I leave him alone he will also get deeply immersed in imaginative play, zooming his airplanes all over the house.
-Perennials that come up year after year. I always forget that we have hyacinths along our front walk until they suddenly pop up, fragrant and cheery.
-This sign that I saw backstage. A good reminder.
Looking forward to: -Easter Dinner. The kids gave up burgers, chocolate, and lemonade for Lent. (mean one kid gave up each thing.) I was going to make a big fancy Easter dinner, but then we realized that we should just have burgers, lemonade and chocolate dessert. I’m not sure what the chocolate dessert will be yet. Maybe I’ll also make a vegetable.
-Starting a new show next week.
-Visiting the Phillips Collection. At the collage workshop, we were given family passes to visit the Museum. They have art workshops the second Saturday of every month, so I’m looking forward to finding a time to go. I haven’t been to the Phillips Collection since before the oldest was born, so I’m eager to put this on our calendar.
-Bike/runs with the kids now that the weather is nicer.
-Just started this book. It’s set in a Red Lobster during a snow storm.:
What we ate: Monday: Coconut Chicken Curry in the Instant Pot, recipe from New York Times Cooking, with rice and Paratha. Made before I went to work. I’ve made this before and everyone always loves it. I made a double batch, so there is some in the freezer ready for when I go back to work.
Wednesday: Banh mi – take out. I was working this night and it was the night that the Husband was leaving for his trip.
Thursday: Lemon Miso Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry a Hetty Liu McKinnon recipe from New York Times Cooking. I was looking for a way to use up some broccoli I got from the Farmer’s market and this recipe popped up. It was really bright and lemony and I loved it. I can see the sauce also being good on white fish. I would make it again, but maybe less aggressive with the lemon since the Husband doesn’t like things too lemony. (Except Lemon Bars. He makes and exception for those.) Vegan.
Friday: Pizza and movie? I had to work. The Husband was coming home this night, so I’m not sure what they ate or watched.
Saturday: Chipotle (for the kids – there was one next to the hardware store and the kids really wanted it; the 14 year old even offered to pay for her own); Leftovers for me (chicken and kimchi in a bowl). Peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the Husband.
Sunday: Wings, salad, and fries at our friend’s house. Our friend is a genius with the grill.
Well, that’s the news this week. And now we’ll be into April. The weather looks lovely and almost summer like this week- a nice week for a Spring Break staycation with the kids.
What chocolate dessert should I make for Easter? When was the last time you ate something so tasty you wanted to lick the plate? And did you? Have you had any favorite items be discontinued? Visit any super niche museums lately?
The first blossom sightings of the year! I think these are red buds.
After leaving readers on a bit of a cliffhanger last week when I posted from the waiting room of Urgent Care, I’m sure everyone was eager for the verdict. drumroll please…. the result of tests was…. Influenza B. I fully admit that I did not get a flu shot this year, so maybe I’m to blame, but…. the 14 year old also got diagnosed with influenza over the weekend, and she did get a flu shot – which she is a little salty about. But I hear that it’s been a particularly bad year for Influenza B. Well, I guess it’s been a good year for influenza, but a bad year for the rest of us who get it…
All that to say, all last week I was in a cycle of debilitating tiredness, taking the kids to school, coming home and sleeping all day, then feeling better mid afternoon and going to work in the evening. Then coming home, going to bed, and feeling like crap again in the morning and the cycle began again. I am the worst patient. Luckily I had Thursday and Friday off work and was able to fully rest. I did drag myself out of bed for a ninety minute meeting on Teams on Thursday, but otherwise stayed under the covers. I cancelled Happy Hour plans I had, and I cancelled plans to meet up at the trampoline park with my friends when the kids were off school. Which was a bummer, but rest and hydration seemed to be the priorities of the day.
I don’t remember the last time I was laid up for so many days, and it’s made me feel like the month has disappeared. Between tech week (twice! for two different shows) and a sick week, I blinked and woosh… next week will be April. I feel like before I got sick or went into tech, we were still deeply in winter. And now I’ve emerged and there are blossoms on trees and the hyacinths are blooming and fragrant along our front walk. Oh well. I do believe my body likes to tell me when I need to slow down and it was clearly telling me that I needed to slow down now.
On top of rest and water, there are a few things that got me through last week. These are my sick week MVPs:
-Hot Lemonade. When I’m sick I like having hot liquids. This is one of my favorite things to drink- lemon juice mixed with hot water and a drizzle of honey stirred in. The tart lemon is bracing and helps clear the gunk from my throat, the touch of honey helps things go down.
-Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice. My cold drink of choice when I’m sick. Like hot lemonade, it balances tart and sweet.
-Cool green grapes. I don’t have much of an appetite when I’m sick, but I did eat a lot of green grapes, their chilled flesh soothing my throat as I swallowed. I had bought some enormous grapes from Hmart the week before and they were perfect for a sick day. I swear each grape was the size of a marble shooter.
-Kleenex.
-Musical Cast Albums. I’m not the kind of person that can sleep for 48 hours straight. At some point I’ll move into that “tired but not sleepy” phase and then I’ll start feeling restless and bored. This is the danger zone for me. When I get restless and bored, I will get out of bed and look for things to do, and that will tire me out and I’ll be back at square one. So the trick is finding low key ways to help me through restless and bored. I know some people like to watch movies when they are sick, but I have such bad eye-sight that I would need to keep my glasses on to watch movies. When I’m sick, I like to leave my glasses off, so watching movies isn’t an option. So instead of watching movies, I listen to Broadway musicals as a low spoons way to rest without being too bored. This time around I listened to Side Show, Bridges of Madison County, and Caroline or Change, all of which were new to me.
-Audiobooks. Similar to listening to musicals, I like audiobooks when I’m sick because I can be slightly entertained while laying in bed. This time around I listening to the Alexis Hall novel Looking For Group. To be honest, I didn’t pay that much attention to the story – it was centered around Drew, who spends his time playing MMORPG – which for those who, like me, don’t know what that is, it stands for “Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game.” The book starts with a glossary of terms and I was immediately lost. I liked the witty sentences, I liked the snarky and funny characters. I loved Will Watt’s low dulcet oh so expressive tones. I could not tell you what happened in the book.
-Hot water bottle. I have an old fashioned rubber hot water bottle, purchased in a thrift store of a Colorado mountain town for $2. It keeps my bed warm and I love it.
-Cozy blankets. I love nothing more than being buried under a pile of blankets.
-The hot water boiler. Still my favorite purchase so far this year. Hot water at the push of a button.
-The Husband. Okay, he is the REAL MVP of my sick week. The Husband kept things running. He cooked dinner. He cleaned up after dinner. He took the kids to see the high school production of In the Heights (I’m sorry I missed that one – they all reported it was very very good.) He kept an eye on them when they were off school and I couldn’t get out of bed. He watched the first games of March Madness with them. He took the little kids to skating lessons, and then on a bike ride. He took the oldest kid to the doctor’s. He picked up my prescription. He gardened. He folded laundry. He got the kids to fold laundry. I mean the list goes on and on and on. Last week Stephany had a post where she pondered how people recover from sickness with kids around. Well, my answer is… I don’t, and I’m very grateful for the Husband that I don’t have to.
Anyhow, I’m slowly feeling more normal again. I’ve been able to go outside for some walks and enjoy the spring sunshine. I did a couple 15-20 minute gentle yoga videos. I took a hot shower. It’s funny how those things – sunshine, stretching, and showers – can all help me feel like a human after being sick. I wouldn’t say I’m 100% back to normal now, but I’m mostly there.
I usually write my weekly gratitude list at this point in the post, but all my weekly gratitudes this week would be all the sick week MVPs that I listed above, so check!
Looking Forward To: -Peak bloom! Peak bloom! Peak Bloom! Peak Cherry Blossom Bloom is right around the corner. We are currently in stage 5 of 6. The earliest prediction is for peak bloom to arrive this weekend. Next week is Spring Break, so I think the kids and I will go downtown to walk among the cherry blossoms one day.
– Middle School STEM Night. The 14 year old and her friend did an experiment that involved baking lots of cup cakes. I’ve never been to STEM Night before, so I figured this might be a good year to go.
-March Madness has begun. We look forward to watching the Men’s and Women’s games. I’m not rooting for any particular team this year – neither team from the Husband’s alma mater made the bracket and the women’s team from my alma mater was, but they didn’t make it past the first round. In general, I like to root for whomever is losing because I love a good come from behind story.
-Spring soccer season for the 9 year old.
– Doing normal things like cooking dinner and picking up my bedroom. I’ve really missed doing these domestic things while I was sick. Not sure why. I hate picking up my bedroom normally but now I can’t wait to do it.
-Just started this book:
It’s an Age of Innocence re-telling set in present day Jewish society in London. I was inspired to pick it up because I’d never seen an Age of Innocence re-telling and given that I had just read the Wharton novel for Cool Blogger’s Book Club, it was fresh on my mind. Also – side note, when I went to google for this book, another book with the same titles popped up. That book is about two orphans isolated in a Newfoundland cove. That one also sounds really interesting. I love the idea of reading two books with the same title.
What We Ate: Damned if I know. I think there was freezer soup one night. Pizza on Friday as always. The rest – I have no clue. The family was fed and that’s all that matters.
Well, that’s it for now. This week looks bright and sunny. I close another show on Sunday and then there’s Spring Break. We aren’t going anywhere, but we’ll have some local adventures, and maybe just some time to rest. And finish my taxes. And have some ham for Easter. I need to think about Easter menu. I see everyone having amazing travel adventures, and I have to be honest I do feel a little jealous. We don’t have any travel plans in the future. I think after a big travel year last year (Taiwan/Malaysia, South Africa, and Taiwan again), the idea of getting on a plane again seemed… like a lot. So we’ll be here for Spring Break – and, you know what, that’s not terrible. I’m going to lean into having some good family time with my kids while they are off school and before I plunge back into another busy season at work.
You know when you draft a post and then life hits you and you don’t post it and the post sits in your drafts folder? Well this is that post…. i had meant to publish it three days ago, but then I’ve been in bed with something the past few days. And now I’m sitting in urgent care so I can figure out what this something is. So why not go ahead and publish, while watching HGTV in the waiting room….
What was that bonkers weather we had here in the DC area last week? The first part of the week was so warm – in the 80s – I thought it was already summer. Then Thursday – SNOW! I thought we had moved past that. And it’s been chilly ever since. Crisp and clear and sunny, but still chilly. And Monday, the kids were released two hours early from school because of an impending tornado. That never happened.
Anyhow, it’s been a bit of a “recover from tech week” week. I had Monday off from work, and that really messed with my mind a little bit. Plus the time change – by mid week I had lost all sense of what day of the week it was. I felt like I just couldn’t catch up, and small things kept going wrong.
This week’s annoyances: – I broke the interior handle on the driver side of my car. I don’t know what happened. I pulled the handle and it just got stuck. The exterior handle still works. So now I have to either get someone to let me out of the car, climb out another door (which – that parking brake makes that really painful) or I roll down the window, stick my hand out to open the door from the outside, then roll the window back up … all before I can turn off the car. It’s kind of annoying. It’s also kind of funny.
Yes, the handle is stuck like that.
-I waited too late to sign up the 14 year old for a camp she really wanted to do and now it’s wait list only. I feel really terrible about this one. BUT also – the website kept saying that registration was still open, and it’s only when you click over to start the registration that the window that says “Waitlist only” popped up. I feel like this information should be on the website itself.
-Some unbloggable work things where people had big feelings, and I also had big feelings, but I can’t talk about them without throwing other people under the bus.
-My uncle (my dad’s younger brother) passed away. He lived in Taiwan, so I didn’t see him a whole lot, but my father was very close to him.
-I was late to bus pick up.
-General feeling of tiredness, myself and the kids. We had planned to go contra dancing last week but just couldn’t rally. There was one day when I just felt really run down and went to bed after dinner. The 9 year old got sent home from school one day because he was running a fever, and then proceeded to sleep until the next morning. I think we all just need a week of rest and cuddles.
Okay – so I guess lots of tiny things that made the week feel … ugh. Let’s not even mention news on the international/ national front. That is really hard to wrap my head around. BUT… maybe my malaise on the domestic front is just par for the course after tech week. Everything- the physical tasks and also the mental and emotional stuff- that I had been putting off while I worked on my show, just comes to the fore after opening.
I was having a conversation with a fellow stage manager, and she was saying that the third day after she comes home from a gig after being out of town, she is suddenly hit with a wave of restlessness and that “off” feeling where nothing is in the right place and her husband has let the house fall apart. And she said that after years and years of going away and coming home, she has realized that this is just the rhythm of coming off a gig. And she can now mentally tell herself, “Life isn’t falling apart- it’s just the emotional pattern of coming home.” So either she makes herself clean on day two, or on day three she reminds herself to give everyone grace. I know I’ve been working on shows and getting through tech week for twenty years, and yet I still have trouble managing the post tech mental and emotional and physical and household fall out. There has to be better strategies?
The highlight of our weekend was going to see a play – The Sea Between the Oceans. This is the Theatre for Young Artist (TYA) show that the Kennedy Center’s education department commissioned and produced. Sadly, it might be the last TYA show that the KC Education Department produces for a good long while, given current circumstances. This play was soooooo good! It tells the story of a 10 year old boy who goes to visit his favorite author to try to get her to finish the last book in her series. The play slips between the story being told in the book series (to do with pirates and adventures on the high seas) and the the story of the boy and the author. It was an hour and a half of adventure, sword fights, family drama, found family, and the power of books. I might have had a few moist eye moments. I was so inspired by the play that at bedtimes that evening we spent thirty minutes reading aloud, something which we hadn’t done for a while.
I need to take a minute to shout out TYA shows. TYA is a certain category of theatre contract that is devoted to, obviously, young audiences. While those involved aren’t paid as much as a non-TYA show, the hours of rehearsal are limited so that people can still find other work around the rehearsal hours. But even still, the shows are given the same I’m really embarrassed that I had never seen a TYA show at the Kennedy Center before because this one was so so so good and such a brilliant entry point for kids to experience the magic of theatre.
Sunday I took the 6 year old to agility class then went to work. I ran a show (the last performance of the run), had tater tots for dinner with my team as a last hurrah, watched a little bit of tech for the show after mine then went home and watched the last ninety minutes of the Oscars.
I’ve seen exactly zero of the best picture nominees, so that held little interest for me. What I was there for was KPop Demon Hunters which was up for Best Animated Film and Best Song. I loved this quote by the Maggie Kang, the co- director and writer, accepting the Best Animated Film award:
“Thank you to the academy and to all the fans who got us here. And for those of you who look like me, I’m so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here, and that means that the next generations don’t have to go long.”
Growing up there wasn’t a lot of Asian representation in mainstream media, so I still get so very very excited when I see Asian faces on screens these days.
Grateful For: -Evenings at home. I only had to work one evening the past week, so I got to be home for dinner and evening and bedtime routines. One evening we played Parcheesi – we hadn’t had a game night as a family in a long time. I have mixed feelings about Parcheesi – there is the opportunity to be a real asshole in the game and some people in the family took that opportunity. I guess they would think of setting up immovable blockades that grind the game to a halt as being “strategic” but it was highly annoying.
-weather nice enough to run outside. I haven’t’ been running outside since last fall. I’ve done a few treadmill runs, but I generally don’t enjoy those. It was wonderful to be out in the sunshine, shuffling along as my slow runner’s pace. Also grateful for the time to run outside.
-That the two little kids packed their own lunches. There was one morning when I was so exhausted that I slept in a little bit. When I got downstairs at 7:45am, I found that the 9 year old and the 6 year old had packed their own lunches. Yes there was mayonnaise all over the counter, but … small price to pay for not having to pack the lunches myself.
-Dogs on paths. While waiting for the 14 year old’s voice lesson the other day, I discovered there is a trail three block from her teacher’s house, so I went for a woodsy ramble. It was nice to be outside and among trees. But the delightful thing is that almost everyone who I passed on the trail had a dog. Sometimes two or three or four. It was such a joy to see the dogs running about.
(Side note – the dogs were all off leash even though the sign at the start of the path said all dogs should be on a leash, no longer than 4 feet. So I did think it was strange that almost every dog I saw was off leash. Dog owners – is this a thing? Or is it just the unspoken rule about this trail? I do wonder if the demographics of that part of town is part of the disregard for the sign? At any rate, I did love seeing all the dogs.)
-It’s Cadbury Mini Egg Season!!!! This is my favorite candy season. I haven’t been to the store in weeks, so I didn’t clock it until the Husband bought me three bags.
-A quiet living room. There were a couple moments this week when I had the living room to myself because the kids had gone to school, and the Husband was quietly working downstairs. A quiet living room, a cozy chair, a cup of tea, and a good book that slowly slides into a nap. It was nice.
-Theatre for Young Audiences.
Looking Forward To: -Happy Hour with my bus stop mom friends. We didn’t have on last month, so I’m glad we made time this month. (i had to cancel this because I couldn’t get out of bed yesterday- bummer)
– Day off school. I think my friend and I are going to take our kids to the trampoline park. My friend is the one who just came back from overseas and her son says that one thing he’s missed the most about America was the trampoline parks. (This is TBD, depending on what happens at Urgent care)
-Getting back into a morning routine. After last week of being really tired and sleeping in, even on the weekdays, I want to get back to my morning routine: read, journal, make the bed, and yoga before I need to get into lunches, breakfasts, and cajoling children.
-Spring. Summer. The glimpse of warmer weather that we got this week made me eager for warmer weather and no more cold snow. The hyacinths are starting to bloom along our front walk.
-Reading this book:
I finished a lot of books this week, including The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen, which I loved, and this is the sequel.
What We Ate:
Monday: Ethiopian- misir wat, tikil gomen. I had bought injera over the weekend, which inspired this meal.
Tuesday: Taco Tuesday
Wednesday: Can’t remember. I think the husband cooked something delicious and I went to bed right after because I wasn’t feeling well.
Thursday: Vegetable Tortilla Soup. From NY Times Cooking.
Friday: Pizza and – not sure what the family watched. I was working this evening.
Saturday: We went out to eat after the theatre. I had corned beef and cabbage.
Sunday: Tortellini with red sauce and green beans. Sunday classic.
I haven’t done a book recap since the year started, so here is what I’ve read the first two months of 2026.
Automatic Noodle by Anna Lee Newitz – This science fiction novella tells about a group of deactivated robots in a post war future San Francisco who open a noodle shop in an abandoned kitchen. I mean how could I resist hand pulled noodles? This book was quirky and charming, exploring – as books about robots are wont to do – ideas of what it means to be human and challenging ideas of ownership. It’s a book about community and overcoming algorithms. It’s a pretty quick comfort read.
You’re the Problem, It’s You by Emma Alban, read by Chris Devon and Will Watt– This queer Victorian romance is an enemies to lovers story of two men who hate each other, but are constantly thrown in each other’s paths because of various society and family events. I thought it was very ordinary, and a touch longer than it needed to be. Plus enemies to lovers is one of my least favorite tropes in romance. On the other hand, it’s narrated by my audio book boyfriend Will Watt, and when the plot got over long, I just leaned into his mellifluous tones.
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung – This historical fiction novel set in China in 1948, follows Hai Ang the daughter of a prominent family who, along with her mother and younger sisters, are left behind when the rest of their family flees when the Communists come to their village. After Hai is tortured in place of her prosperous family, her mother takes her and her sisters and they being a grueling journey to find the rest of their family. The story is based somewhat on Chung’s family history. I picked up this book to read when I was in Taiwan because the events in this story led to a massive influx of Chinese people into Taiwan – it’s a period of time that my parents lived through as well. I thought this book was gripping – I kept wanting to know what happened and what Hai and her mother would survive each of the challenges put before them. Once they reached Taiwan, though, I thought the story lost a a little momentum. The main heart of this story for me, was Hai’s mother and how she was inextricably tied to this deeply patriarchal society.
The Names by Florence Knapp– I really liked the speculative premise behind this novel- a child is born, his mother must decide what to name him. The story diverges into three paths, each based on which name is chosen. I thought this book was gripping; I stayed up til 4am reading because I needed to know how it ended and what happened to each character. I loved how the storylines intersects through the different realities. Warning, though, domestic violence is a pretty manor plot point, and that was hard for me and kept me from loving the book.
Hum if You Don’t Know the Words by Bianca Marais. I picked up this book last summer because it’s set in South Africa and I was getting ready for our trip there. I didn’t actually get around to reading it until I got back, though. This book is set in 1976 where, in the aftermath of the Soweto uprisings, Beauty Mbali searches for her missing teenage daughter and 9 year old Robin is taken to live with her aunt after her parents are murdered. Circumstances bring Beauty and Robin together and in the shadow of Apartheid they grapple with grief, racism, and loss. I thought this book was really great up til the last quarter of it when it kind of became a slightly ridiculous adventure/espionage story. Overall, though, I found this book to be a real page turner.
Good Spirits by B.K. Borison, read by Karissa Vacker and Will Watt. Another audiobook read by my audiobook boyfriend Will Watt. But aside from Will Watt, this also has another thing that is catnip to me: it’s a spin on Christmas Carol. Ghost of Christmas Past Nolan has been assigned to haunt Harriet York, though neither can figure out why as Harriet is lovely, kind, nice (to the point of being a door mat) with no skeletons in her closet. I really enjoyed this story and how Nolan and Harriet’s relationship unfolded – I was really rooting for both of them and the “ghost loves human” romance had just the right amount of conflict and angst. The ending felt a little unresolved, but that didn’t bother me that much. It’s kind of like a cozy Hallmark Holiday movie with a bit more spice and plot.
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. This narrative non-fiction read is about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, explored through the lens of the disappearance of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten. The “Memory” part of the subtitle is, I would argue, the focus of the story that Keefe is telling here – how the trauma of war affects those who live through it for the rest of their lives. This is one of those non-fiction books that I read and I can understand how people become radicals, even while asking myself if I would do the same if I were in their place. I really enjoyed the book – it was fascinating and heartbreaking all at once- the kind of book where I could marvel at the details and ingenuity of both sides of the conflict while at the same time being incredibly moved by the tragedy of the situation. Really excellent read.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, read by Michael Crouch and January LaVoy – I found this book on a list of Audie award winners (audiobook award) and was prompted to pick it up because it starts in Nova Scotia, and that is kind of cat nip for me. It is set during WWI – field nurse Laura Ivan has returned home to Halifax following an injury on the front. She finds out that her brother Freddie has gone missing, presumed dead, but she believes that he is still alive so she accepts a nursing job that will take her back to the front, Belgium to be specific, so that she can look for her brother. In a parallel storyline, the reader follows Freddie who has woken up after an explosion, trapped in a pillbox (I had to Google that) with a German Soldier. As Freddie and Laura’s storylines converge, we encounter wartime plots, people desperate for answers and connection, and a mysterious Innkeeper who plays the violin. There is a bit of a supernatural story here, but one that is so embedded in the minds of people traumatized by war that it doesn’t seem supernatural at all. I loved this book – it took me a little bit of time to really get into this book, but eventually, the story sucked me right in; there is emotional heft in the choices that each character has to make, the characters are brave but not stupid, and the mystery unspools at just the right pace, allowing the reader to piece things together. The writing is lyrical and precise- there were so many sentences where I was blown away by the way Arden strung words together. The author’s note at the end, I thought had a really interesting take on how WWI was a very steampunk era where the old and new collided. I loved this book so much that after I finished the audiobook, I got the physical book from the library. This was my first “heart” in my reading journal for 2026.
Big Bad Wool by Leonie Swann translated by Amy Bojang – This is a sequel to Three Bags Full, a mystery novel in which a flock of sheep hilariously solve mysteries. (Which – I’m am very excited to discover – is about to be a movie starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson – talk about catnip!) In Big Bad Wool, the sheep are at it again. I’ve got to be honest, the mystery part of this novel was completely over my head and at times tedious. I am here for the sheep – they are hilarious, witty, curious, and their observations about human foibles had me laughing out loud many times.
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Read for Engie’s Cool Blogger’s Book Club. This was a re-read for me; I had read it maybe twenty five years ago, around when the movie came out. I really loved this book – I loved how immersive the language is and how I felt like I just had to sink into Wharton’s prose world in order to have an idea of what was going on. It’s not a book that tries to hit you over the head right away. So much goes unsaid or is assumed that I think there is much room for interpretations as to what each character is really like or what motivates them. A friend told me that Wharton wrote books about interior design and that makes so much sense because I really felt like she was so precise about the physical world that her characters live in, and that was in stark contrast to how little she said about their true interior world. I mean the novel is from Archer’s POV, but he lacks self awareness and that precision that is present in his exterior world, and this makes his interior musing unreliable. Anyhow, I think this kind of open for interpretation nature of Archer made for some lively debate every week on Engie’s posts. This book checked off one box for my 2026 Classics Reading Challenge.
On my proverbial night stand: House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City Trilogy) by Sarah J. Maas – still plugging away at this book. I just got to the part that had my 14 year old bawling inconsolably. (I’ve never bawled at a book myself, but this was a real doozy and I get why she was inconsolable.)
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles – on audio. Almost done – I have twenty minutes left. I’m really enjoying this one.
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams – also almost done this one. It’s really well written, sweet and sexy and also a great mother/daughter dynamic.
So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba – I was reading this as a book set in Africa for my Classics Reading Challenge, but then I realized it was first published in 1979 and the challenge is for books written before 1975. Oh well, I’m going to count it anyway.
Another show opened! It has been a hard hard week for me, but the show opened and it looks really stunning. And the audience is super excited to be there; the feeling of good will is palpable.
We’re over a week into March, but I wanted to do a February recap, now that I’m on the other side of tech. I keep wanting to put tech week into this recap, but that was technically March, so it will go into the next recap.
February Highlights: -New York City Trip with the 14 year old. Seeing Two Strangers (Carry a cake across New York), eating good food, people watching.
-Doing titles for a voice recital that was lovely and featured an elegantly charming set of Post WWI French cafe songs.
– Watching the Olympics. The stunning figure skating pairs long program. The heartbreaking Men’s hockey final. The mad dash of ski Mountaineering. The zen of curling. The colourful opening ceremonies. The opera-filled closing ceremonies.
-Super Bowl Sunday, which was combined with the Husband’s birthday. Seeing lots of friends, eating food, and celebrating. The game itself – couldn’t tell you what happened there. We had the Olympics playing upstairs while the game was downstairs, so I kept floating between events.
-Our Zojirushi hot water boiler. Best new addition to our household. Hot water instantaneously.
-Some warm days – going outside without being all bundled up.
-The 9 year old getting his first library card.
-Two more snow days. One I wasn’t working so I hung out with the kids. The other I had to work, so we paid the 14 year old to watch her siblings. It is kind of amazing not to have to worry about what to do with the kids on a snow day when both the Husband and I have to work.
-Lunar New Year – pineapple cakes, pomelos, and an excuse to get together and eat dim sum with friends.
-Lunch with a friend from college.
-A chill mid-afternoon hangout with two other families. There were sword fights and K-pop dance routines and grown up conversations.
-The 6 year old’s kindergarten performance of Arf!
-Happy Hour with the stage management team at a new-to-me restaurant with $1 oysters during happy hour. I love oysters.
-Watching the 14 year old play basketball.
-Elisabeth’s FIG Club, which encouraged us all to find joy in moments of gratitude during February – such a delight to read everyone’s FIGS.
-Starting rehearsals for a new show. The feeling of homecoming as we finally got down to rehearsal after six weeks (or really, a year) of turmoil at work. Gathering to do work that is familiar to us despite all the changes. I keep hearing the phrase “Flying the plane while building it,” and it did feel like that often. But, you know… when we understand the fundamentals of what needs to be done, the rest is just logistics and figure-out-able.
-Also there’s a banjo in our show. It makes me so happy.
-Favorite meals cooked at home: Ethiopian food (shiro wat, yellow lentils, and fried potatoes, eaten with injera), and Shrimp tacos.
February Lowlights
-Starting to develop some lower back pain. I’ve always been pretty healthy and pain free, so this kind of chronic pain is really annoying. I can usually make it feel better by stretching, but getting out of bed in the morning is an effort for sure.
-Not exercising. I did my yoga daily but didn’t run except for 15 minutes on the treadmill at the rec center before the 14 year old’s basketball game. The lack of exercise actually has a lot to do with the weather, so hopefully I’ll do better now that the weather is getting warmer.
-Some confusion about the 14 year old’s path in high school, forms that we supposed to be filled out that weren’t. This was VERY stressful.
-Our office at work is very very very cold. Which is usually fine, but it was a cold month. It has something to do with the fact that the thermostat is located in the hallway and regulates a few different offices.
-A bunch of adulting fails including getting a ticket for expired plates. (This is now fixed.)
-Having to work a lot of evenings.
– Pretty sad news about plans for a cultural institution that had been my home for the past twenty years. It’s pretty shitty and devastating for so many people.
Yearly Goals – not great on some fronts, but it was a very work intense month: -Taking the stairs – I don’t specifically track this, but I think I did okay on this. I did have to take the elevator at work for a while because my id badge was deactivated and that was the only way to access the stairwell from the lobby.
-Creativity: I only painted one picture (It was a birthday card, and I still haven’t sent it); I wrote 3 haikus. I spent some time on the piano – we ordered the easy piano version of music from K-Pop Demon Hunters, so that was fun.
-Did not do any crossword puzzles because our Washington Post subscription expired and I haven’t gotten around to renewing it.
-Museums = 0/10. Hikes = 0/12
-3 vegan dinners. (Goal is 5/month)
-Exercise Goals: Strength training 6x (Goal was 8x/month). Yoga daily – CHECK!
-Family Goals: Game Nights =0 (though we do sometimes have an ongoing chess game going on); Date Nights =0; Call my parents once a week = 3 times, so close;
-Not a lot of time outside – only 17.5 hours in February. That’s less than 30 mins a day.
Quote of the month: One of the singers I worked with this month was a collegiate wrestler before he decided to become an opera singer. I asked him if there was anything from wrestling that he still applied to life and he said that learning to step up to the mat no matter the circumstances taught him the importance of showing up, and being persistent and doing what you have to do. Then he said: “I always say: I never lost a match; I just ran out of time.” I love the grit and determination behind this idea – the sense that you can lose a match but still have the stamina and fortitude to be on a winning path.
Looking Forward to in March: -More sunlight in our days and Spring!
– Running supertitles for the next opera. The most exciting part of this is that I get paid the union stagehand rate to run titles.
-No school day for the kids on 3/20. No plans yet but I have the day off, so maybe we’ll do something special.
-Getting my tax information to our tax guy.
-Happy Hour with my bus stop mom friends.
-March Madness.
-Spring Break starts at the end of the month. No plans currently; I probably have to work some that week.
-Cherry Blossoms!!!! Peak Bloom is predicted for as early as March 31st, though most media outlets are predicting the first week of April. We shall see….
-Not being in rehearsal all the time, so I will be able to do all the things I’ve been putting off, such as:
Bake things
Make dinner
Put the kids to bed
Clean out the kids’ clothes and prep for Spring
Run (this is more about the weather than my work schedule, though)
Game nights
Taking walks in the warmer weather
Paint, play piano, journal
Go to the grocery store
read books
Grateful forthis Week: -The stagehands, wardrobe crew, and wig and make-up crew – for making our show look so good and run so smoothly. And the assistant stage managers. The theatre where we are working has very limited room backstage and the ASMs are working miracles of organization and timing to get everyone onstage when they need to be, wearing the right clothes, with the right prop in hand. In one meeting, I gave them a shout out, saying “They are running New York City in the space the size of a postage stamp back there.”
-Cue lights! What are cue lights? They are lights that are hung around backstage that I use to indicate when a cue should happen. I turn on the light when the crew should be in “Standby” and turn the light off for “Go”. Most of the crew is on headset so they can hear me give the cues, but the cue light is also a good back up. Anyhow – when we first did a walk through of the theatre, we were told that they had ONE cue light. Well, this would have to go into the orchestra pit so I can indicate to them when to tune, meaning the crew wasn’t going to have any lights. BUT… the house crew at the theatre surprised us by purchasing a whole new cue light system! Hooray! It has SIX cue lights. (I only need five for this show.)
cue light switches.
-My friend home from abroad. She and her family were in the Middle East (they work in the foreign service). They were sent home last week, given all the things going on. “Things” being the U.S. bombing Iran. I’m grateful that she’s home.
-That I didn’t lose my book. I had brought a book to read when I took the 14 year old to her voice lesson. And afterwards we went to a newly open cafe for sweet treat and to run lines. (It was opening weekend for the cafe and they were giving out free pastries!) Anyhow, I got home and realized my book was missing. I was in a bit of a panic because it’s a library book. But I texted the voice teacher and turns out I had left it at her house. Thank goodness.
-Panera Sip Club. Panera was running this deal where you could get 3 months of Sip Club for $3/month. Usually it’s $14/month. For $3/month, you could get all the coffee/tea/fountain sodas/lemonade/ice tea that you wanted. I think technically it’s limited to one every two hours. It’s not something that I would usually sign up for, but there is a Panera across the street from the theatre – it is in the Student Center (we’re performing on an University campus), and open until 11pm. And it’s tech, when I usually have more caffeine than normal to function/ pick me up during a long day. So I signed up and getting my cold Sip Club beverage is a nice excuse to get out of the building.
-Speaking of which – I’m grateful for getting to work on a University campus. I’m finding there’s something really special about university campuses – the students rushing here and there in non-homogeneous crowds: the squares with places to sit, even though we’re in the middle of the city; the sheer number of coffee shops and fast restaurants; the statues that greet you every few blocks. There’s just a youthful, hopeful air that I find energizing.
University mascot.
-Getting to drive home with my work BFF. We have a tradition of commuting together on opening night so that she can drink at the party and I can drive her home. It’s kind of our version of a friend date to run errands – we drive home and chat and catch up because even though we work down the hall from each other, the past few weeks have been intense and we’ve mostly been talking about work logistics when we cross paths.
-The snack box at work, which someone keeps stocked with chocolate, cookies, and other sweet and savory snacks.
-Freezer soup, for being a quick and easy thing to take for dinner.
-Kids being quiet. I took the 14 year old to school one day and when I came home it was eerily quiet in the house. I peeked through the two little kids’ door know and saw:
Yes, the door knob is missing. We removed it when the youngest was two because she kept locking herself in the room by accident and we didn’t have a key.
What We Ate: The Husband made dinner every night, since I wasn’t home in the evenings all week. I ate mostly leftovers at work.
Monday: Mac and cheese and hot dogs.
Taco Tuesday: Shrimp Tacos. This is the most requested type of Taco for Taco Tuesday.
Wednesday: Dumplings and green beans
Thursday: Zucchini Boats.
Friday: Pizza! I was actually home this night. The Husband made a pickle pizza and we ordered two pizzas from one of our favorite pizza places. We watched Wendy Wu Homecoming Warrior. I don’t know how this movie came across my radar – it was released in 2006 on Disney Channel, but I only heard about it this year. How is that possible? Asian representation was so non-existent at the time, I feel like it must have gotten a lot of buzz in the community, no? (To be fair, I didn’t have a tv in the early 2000s and this was before you could stream everything.) Anyway, the movie was pretty much everything you would expect from a Disney movie, with some hilarious martial arts sequences thrown in. I don’t know that I would watch this more than once, but it was a fun and charming movie.
Saturday: Indian take out.
Sunday: Leftover Indian take out, tortellini with red sauce, and green beans.
Well, that’s the week that was. And the month that was. Here the weather is almost summer like, all sunshine and warm rays. Not sure how long it will last, but I’m going to try to soak it up this week.
