Another tech week done! It’s had its challenges, but everyone has been really great to work with, which is really what makes or breaks a tech process for me.
This show was supposed to be my last show until the fall – the contract was supposed to finish the first week of July and I had been looking forward to having the rest of summer free until the kids go back to school. Well, I was offered a last minute gig – this same opera company lost an ASM for their August show and my boss asked if I wanted to step in. A bit of deja vu because this is also what happened last year – a last minute offer of a gig because someone needed to be replaced. The Husband and I discussed, we re-arranged our vacation plans (nothing had been booked yet), I told them I was unavailable for rehearsals during swim meets, and we’ve cobbled together a last minute plan for the kids. This was not the summer that I had envisioned in my head, but the directing team for the show are colleagues I really loved working with in the past, and there are lots of familiar faces I’m eager to collaborate with again, so I feel lucky that I was asked to fill in.
Anyhow, I’ve had to re-frame my summer a little. Instead of long days by the pool and adventures camping, I’ll be driving this same (miserable) commute and working rehearsals. The latter I’m looking forward to. The former, not so much. I think there is still some summer joy to be had in the free days that are in the schedule, six free days in all between now and mid August. After all, a lot of people work all summer and still find time to lean into the season, I should be able to as well. The kids each are doing a week of camp here and there, they also have half a week at a Taiwanese cultural camp, but otherwise are having a very unstructured summer. I did some brainstorming and here are some low key summer things I would love to gently aspire to – with the family and on my own:
-Taste test- I always find this is a fun thing to do during the summer. I’m thinking of taste test of chocolate covered donuts – Hostess, Tastykakes and Entenmann’s. Any other kinds out there?
-Make popsicles and lemonade and chai.
-Swimming laps at the pool.
-Run/bike with the kids. Last summer, the 9 year and I would go on run (me)/bikes (him) in the morning and it was lots of fun, so I’m hoping we also do some this summer. The 14 year old had decided that she wants to work on some conditioning, so we might go on some runs together too.
-Weekday movie matinee. I really want to see the Sheep Detectives – it’s based on Three Bags Full, which I read and found very amusing. Plus Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson!
-eating Dinner outside whenever possible.
-Enjoy summer produce and eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
-make a summer playlist. Or have the kids make me one.
-Find a linen or cotton poplin shirt dress in a bright colour or pattern.
-Enjoy ice cream. Maybe make a list of places near by to try.
-Go hiking somewhere either with a view or a waterfall.
-Paint my toenails. (And also get new sandals)
-declutter my bedroom black hole, the corner where things go to be forgotten.
-Go contra-dancing. (This might not happen – because they are on Thursday and Friday nights, but I’ll check the calendar.)
-Have a family movie marathon/ MarioKart competition/ Game night
-send the younger kids on one one with sibling dates with the 14 year old. I’m realizing there are only 4 more summers with the 14 year old and I want to make sure we make not just family memories, but sibling memories with her. I’ve told her that I will pay for any one on one sibling dates that she wants to have with the younger kids.
-Walk to the newly opened Royal Farms and get fried chicken and slushies.
Hopefully by writing this summer menu out, I won’t get into that Free Day Funk, where my brain is too fried to think of something to do that would help me lean into the summer.
Grateful For this week: -Excuses to be outside. Headed into tech week, I tend to spend a lot of my time in a dark theatre. I’m so glad at work they have tables out on the back patio because it gives me an excuse to sit outside on my mealbreak.
-Air conditioning. The weather has turned to hot humid DC gross-ness. I’m glad for the AC.
-Getting home safely every night. Traffic is so unpredictable when I leave the theatre at 11:30pm – some nights it’s 20 minutes home, some nights they are doing construction and the beltway is down to a single lane and it takes an hour to get home. Plus it’s dark and I’m tired and my brain is a little fried. I’m always grateful when I pull up to our house safely.
-The Young Artists showing up. The company I’m now working for has a singer training program and for every show there are covers (basically understudies) for all the major parts. At some point, the covers all get to do their own run of the show in the rehearsal hall, with whatever props we can scavenge together – as in, “Here’s a bracelet I made for you out of tape.” The Cover Run is always such a great rehearsal to work because the feeling off goodwill and support in the room is palatable and a lot of singers show up to cheer the Young Artists on. The cover run last week was one of the best I’ve ever been to- the singers from the mainstage showed up and they even jumped in and did some of the chorus parts – everyone laughed and cheered and applauded loudly for the Young Artists. I love it when people show up to support each other.
-The Husband for getting the kids where they need to be while I’m working evenings.
-That it’s watermelon season. Is there a more perfect, easy, refreshing snack during the summer than cold watermelon?
-that the 14 year old survived middle school. The Friday before her Monday promotion ceremony, she asked if we could all drive her to school since it was her second to last day as a middle schooler. We all piled in the van and drove the mile down the road to wave her off. It was bittersweet. I feel so much gratitude that at a phase what are you doing downstairs of life as potential to be , she had a positive middle school experience.
Looking forward to:
-Opening my show and having time to take care of the rest of life. Commuting and 1+ hours a day really drains my time and my energy.
-Long holiday weekend. We were going to go away, but we’re all feeling a little drained, so we will stay home. Plus it’s Father’s day and I need to do something extra nice for the Husband since he’s been on solo parenting duty for a while. Though ironically I have to work on father’s day itself….
-Early voting. Get it done. Yay democracy.
-Peach Truck! We’ll be out of town the first time the Peach Truck comes to our area, so I’ve ordered a 25lb box of Peach Truck peaches for their second visit to the DC area.
-Listening to this book, my current audiobook for my commute. It’s read by Siobhan McSweeney, the actor who played Sister Michael in Derry Girls:
What We Ate: -Monday: Dumplings and edamame – dinner at the pool between swim practices. I made everything before I went to work.
-Tuesday: Bacon and kale strata – dinner at the pool. I had some bacon and kale to use up. I prepped this casserole before I went to work and the Husband popped it in the oven after he was done work.
-Wednesday: Coconut Chicken Curry – from New York Times Cooking. I made a double batch of this curry a few weeks ago and froze half of it to be a quick meal when life got busy. Life has gotten busy. The Husband and kids ate this with paratha on the side. (I was at work and didn’t get home til after dinner. I think I had snack dinner)
-Thursday: Broccoli Spoon Salad from NY Times Cooking. Basically quinoa, broccoli, apples, cheddar cheese and pecans. It was tasty and sturdy, which made it a good pool dinner.
-Friday: Pizza take out.
– Saturday: The family had fried chicken take out from Fryer’s. I had leftover broccoli salad because I was still at work.
-Sunday: The family had pasta with red sauce and sausages. I worked late. I can’t remember what I had for dinner, though. Probably some kind of leftovers.
That’s the news for now as we go barreling into summer. Hope you have a nice long weekend, if it is such where you are. Or a nice weekend in general.
Where is the blackhole in your house? Favorite toe nail colours? Any gentle every day summer aspirations on your list?
June got off to a great start. The first day of June was a free day, and I spent the day being productive and social. The day started with the usual morning lead up to the school bus. Then I went to meet a contractor at my parents’ rental house. The issue was resolved quickly so I went home and ran a bunch of internet errands – scheduling appointments, doing some research for things, etc. At 1pm, my friend picked me up and we went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 – we split a large pop corn, got cold bubbly sodas and settled in for an afternoon movie. Going to a weekday matinee seems so indulgent!
The movie was fun – probably not as strong as the first movie – the plot is a little predictable while also leaving large gaps; the love interest is a little weak, and also why does Andy even need a boyfriend? – but clearly this new effort is meant to be a nostalgia trip and I was nostalgic and very entertained. There was a lot I liked about the movie – The clothes! The spot the celebrity game! Kenneth Branagh playing a supportive Husband – who plays the violin! Anne Hathaway’s doe eyes, big smile, and “every girl” appeal! Stanley Tucci gliding through the movie with deft ease! Meryl Streep, acting up a storm and having the ability to pierce you to your core without even looking up. I don’t go to see movies in the theatre very often, maybe twice a year – but when I do, I think an empty theatre and a big bag of popcorn on a weekday afternoon is my preferred way to do it.
After the movie, I came home, made dinner then took the kids to the pool for swim team practice. The 6 year old really wanted to go into the pool, so I had to go in as well since she’s not old enough or a strong enough swimmer to be in the pool by herself. The pool was very cold, but I got used to it and had a good time. Then after the younger kids went home, I stayed on to wait for the 14 year old who swims in the later practice, and I swam some laps while I waited, my first lap swim of the summer. It was really tough going, and I felt really out of shape, but it felt good to move through the water.
So all in all, a very nice free day, and a great way to start the new month. You know how they say, “Start as you mean to carry on. – well I hope the day of errands, exercising, friend time, family time, and entertainment will prove to be the framework for the month and not just a one time thing.
Looking back on May …
May Highlights:
-Taking the show we were working on to Baltimore and being away from home for three nights. Getting to explore a new city – farmer’s markets, restaurants, bakeries – stay in a quirky hotel – flamingos EVERYWHERE! – and work in a new to me theatre with familiar to me crew.
-The 14 year old’s Confirmation. It’s been a lot of classes and extra work, but she did it. Grateful for our neighbor who was her sponsor and who was so supportive and helpful.
-A Gala concert at work. This one night only concert was wild and definitely out of my comfort zone, but it happened and I learned a lot about how events are planned and executed. And I got to meet the man who wrote Wicked and Pippin and Rags, an underappreciated musical with a great score.
-The 14 year old starring in her middle school musical. I was so happy to see her up on stage doing her thing, a thing that had nothing to do with me. Side sentimental note: I’m having more and more moments when I see my oldest and I’m realizing what an amazing fully formed human being she is becoming. She starts high school in the fall and I’m ready/ not ready for the next four years to fly by. It’s kind of a weird temporal time for me to be in where one child’s time with us feels so brief and short while the little kids feel as if they will never grow up – it’s as if they are progressing on different timelines simultaneously. I don’t think I’m explaining it very well; I know that they’re all on their own journey; it just feels that the two little kids are moving through molasses and the older kid is on a zipline, all at the same time.
-Two voice recitals that I did doing supertitles for. One of them was the retirement recital of a singer that I first met when he sang Stravinsky with my college choir. It was really great to get to work on his recital, such a familiar colleague. On the other end of the spectrum, was a singer whom I met a few years ago when he was just out of Julliard and it’s been so lovely to see how he’s grown each time we worked together. I really love how in my job I don’t have to work with the same people all the time, but they come in and out of my life, so there are constantly happy reunions.
-Third grade recorder concert, the highlight of which was their rendition of Eye of the Tiger. God Bless elementary school music teachers.
-Finished hiring stage management staff for next season at work.
-My parents here for a visit and to see the 14 year old’s show.
-Happy Hour with my Bus Stop Mom friends where we stumbled into Trivia Night. Our team name was Bus Stop Divas. We didn’t come in last. We came in second last. But at least now I know what an obelus is and where Cesar Salad was invented.
-The Husband – wisely – going against my wishes and signing us up for Netflix. Watching Derry Girls with him and laughing so hard together.
-Memorial Day camping in the drizzle with good friends and sleeping in a hammock.
-Lunch with a friend I met at the 6 year old’s mom group. She lives near my summer gig so it’s nice to catch up when I’m there.
-Seeing the 20 minute opera festival at work. It was amazing how the rehearsal room was transformed into a performance space. Getting to eat the leftover McDonald props afterwards.
-Starting my summer gig. Working with many familiar faces and some great new colleagues. I haven’t worked with the director in maybe 15 years, and it was such a pleasant surprise to see him again. The pizza welcome lunch the company hosted. Working with young singers who are so enthusiastic and eager to do well.
-Trying something new for how I prep my scores for a show. for this show, I’m using an electronic score. Rather than having a paper score, I downloaded the app Newzik, which lets me upload scores and mark them up. It’s been really fun to play with how to mark up my score with all the different features and colours that Newzik has. Also it’s so much easier than carrying a 400 page score around with me when I’m running a show. And I don’t have to worry about 3M discontinuing my favorite colour of Post-Its. I’m kind of loving it.
-Evenings at home. My summer job doesn’t rehearse at night so I’ve been home by 7:30 or 8:00pm every night. Not early enough to go to the pool with the family, but early enough to help put the younger kids to bed and them catch up with the 14 year old and Husband.
May Lowlights -Being so very busy. I’m happy for the work, but all through May, I felt like all I did was go to work then come home and sleep, get up, get the kids to the bus, thenback to work. I think I had one day off the whole month.
-The commute to my summer job is Soul Sucking. Without traffic it takes twenty minutes to get to/from work. With traffic it can take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. It is so exhausting to sit in a hot car in bumper to bumper traffic.
-Some issues at the rental properties – not bloggable and thankfully all surmountable, but takes extra time and effort to handle – especially on the Husband’s part.
Quote(s) of the Month:
“Booked and blessed.” If I had a chapter title for May, this would be it. I had an actor say this too me when he asked if I would with with their show until closing and I said I was leaving the show early because I had another gig. Which is when he said, “Booked and blessed!” I think it’s a common saying in the industry; I like that it reminds me to be grateful for every opportunity that comes my way because freelancing is a tough life.
“Sounds like you don’t have enough surmountable problems.” from August in the Forest by Ben Shattuck. This quote is from a short story I read last month, said by one character to her ex-boyfriend who is floundering a little to find his way in life. I really like the reminder that most problems in life are indeed surmountable, and that having surmountable problems is actually a good place to be in life as opposed to having insurmountable ones.
How I did on my various goals… hmmmm not good. Both didn’t spend time on a lot of these goals, but also, I didn’t write any of it down in my journal. Creativity: -Painted no pictures. (8/26 pictures for the year, still) -wrote 2 haikus (15/52 haiku for the year… need to do some catching up on this.) -0 hikes. (1/12 so far this year – not doing so well on this goal)
Consumption: – 3 live performances – I saw West Side Story and our twenty minute opera festival at work – as an audience member, not as a person working on the show. And then we say the middle school musical. (I’m not counting the 3rd grad recorder concert here – that seems like not really the spirit of this category.) -0 Museums. (3/12 for the year so far. Though we got free passes for the Phillips collection at a community event, so maybe that will happen in June.)
Health – okay this wasn’t a great month for tracking my health aspirations… -? sessions of strength training. (Goal was 8/ month, but I did poorly at tracking things in May.) -Daily yoga – 21/31 days tracked. This number might actually be higher – see above about not tracking things. -0? vegan dinners. We ate a lot of chicken in May. I didn’t even track most dinners. -0 run. (Exercise was not a strong suit of mine in May.)
Looking Forward to in June: -Tech/Opening/Closing of my current show. Tech starts this week!
-Piano and voice recitals for the kids (This already happened – bravo tutti!)
-Getting my hair cut – I last got it cut when we were in Taiwan, so it’s been long overdue.
-Dentist appointments for the kids. Also long overdue.
-Going to Baltimore and seeing the Tall Ships. To celebrate America’s 250th, a bunch of countries are sending tall ships to join the American fleet that usually makes the rounds this time of year. They are stopping in various cities, with Baltimore being one of theme.
-Visit from my mother, my brother, and my neice.
-Last day of school.
-Time at the pool. Swim meets start up next week.
-Meeting up with some friends from college. The last time we got together it was February 2020. We joked that I never went to college reunions and they said, “Well this is the year that you’re going!” And then COVID. I don’t know why it’s taken six years for us to get together again….
-8th Grade Promotion ceremony for the 14 year old. (I’m missing half a tech rehearsal so attend this. There was a time when it was unthinkable for me to miss a tech rehearsal, but now – perhaps it’s my age or the post-COVID age that we are in – I’m finding that it’s okay to make the ask to miss rehearsals to attend these important things. I don’t want to miss these things if I don’t have to.)
Grateful For Lately:
-Produce box from our friend who was out of town. He gave us his CSA share and we’ve eaten almost all of it except for the kohlrabi and the beets. I was planning on trying my hand at pickled beets. If anyone has any ideas for kohlrabi, I’d love to hear!
-GPS for helping me avoid the worst of the traffic.
-A few mornings where we didn’t start rehearsal until after noon – it’s nice to have the morning off to putter and take care of some life things.
-Our contractor who can fix all sorts of problems in the most straight forward way.
-Chairs. So the journal app on my phone sends me prompts every day and one day, the prompt was “What are you grateful for in this moment.” I had just had a long day at work and rehearsal was over and I was finally able to sit down, and the first thing that popped into my head was – Chairs. I’m so grateful to have a chair to sit in at the end of a long day. What a great invention chairs are.
What We Ate – we’re eating a lot of dinners at the pool because of swim practice these next few weeks, which means meals that I can put together in the mornings that will travel well and that we can eat poolside, so not too messy.
Monday: Teriyaki Tofu and Broccoli from America’s Test Kitchen’s Vegan for everyone. Vegan. I doubled the Teriyaki recipe and also made some teriyaki chicken for later in the week.
Tuesday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches, smoothies, and cut up apples. Eaten at the pool. I made lunch boxes for everyone in advance.
Wednesday: Roasted Salmon and Potatoes and green beans. I prepped this before I went to work and the 14 year old cooked the salmon and potatoes and steamed the green beans when she got home. I used the teriyaki sauce from Monday on the Salmon and it was tasty.
Thursday: Sesame noodles w/ the teriyaki chicken from Monday night. Watermelon. Dinner at the pool, I prepped this in advance.
Friday: Pizza and K-Pop Demon Hunters
Saturday: I think the family had pizza and played Dungeons and Dragons at a friends house. I worked late and then ate out of the fridge when I got home.
Sunday: Sticky Rice Cakes with Sausage and Greens from NY Times Cooking. We cooked this to use up the tatsoi and bok choi and onions from my friend’s CSA box as well as some sausage we had leftover. It was a big hit with the family. The sauce is literally a cup of ketchup + miso + sesame oil. The adults added chili crisp to their servings. Very tasty.
Anyhow, that’s the news from here. It feels like we’re fully into summer now! Just a few more days left of school. Our summer is currently a little unplanned, so I need to put some thought into it. I was originally going to have the summer off, but I was offered a last minute job so I’m not going to be home with the kids as much as I had originally planned. Booked and Blessed, I guess, but I’m mourning my original summer vision of lazy days at the pool. We’ll see what happens.
How was the Memorial Day weekend, for those that are in America? I did choose going into nature with the family over spending the weekend home alone, but I didn’t leave until Sunday morning, so I had Saturday evening to myself – I went to dinner with my colleagues, came home, cleaned, watched some TV (Bridgerton – we finally got on the Netflix bandwagon.), read, and packed for the next day. It was a nice amount of time to have on my own.
It’s funny – I have often suggested the Husband go away on his own to get some alone time, but he always reminds me that wouldn’t be as nice because he wants to be home and have alone time. And I completely see that – there is something nice about a getaway, but there is also something nice about being in ones own house without external demands, a level of comfort and autonomy that I think is unique to having one’s own place to oneself. Also when you’re home you can tackle looming domestic tasks, which I think is also deeply satisfying. We probably don’t give each other enough of that kind of time….
Camping itself was a soggy affair. It’s been a wet Memorial Day weekend. I will say, it was mostly drizzle/dry/drizzle/dry while I was camping with the family. The Husband and kids (who had left the day before) and our friends got the brunt of the wet weather. They actually ended up going to the movies Saturday morning to get out of the rain. But still, the company was good and the air was nice. Our friend is a super camper – he brought tarps and many camp stoves, a camp sink, even a pizza oven. So we were not suffering in anyway. To be honest, most of the kids were on some sort of screen or another for a large chunk of the weekend – by the time I got there there were many fights over power banks because everyone’s device was running out of power (including the parents.) So it wasn’t the most disconnected weekend ever. Not my favorite thing, but I’m resigned to it. The kids did manage to go on a hike between rain showers; I feel like any amount of time in nature is a win, screen or no screen.
I slept in the hammock for the first time on Sunday night. It was a bit of a rough go at first, figuring out how to get into the sleeping bag, but once I figured that out, it was rather cozy. The next morning, it was nice to wake up with the morning air fresh on my face, listening to the rain on the rainfly. I will say the hammock is one of my favorite pieces of camping gear.
Monday morning, we made bacon and pancakes for everyone and the packed up the tent. On the way home, we stopped for lunch at a dumpling place near Hersey, PA, and then for ice cream at a dairy further south in Pennsylvania. We are our cones in the sun then went to see the calves that were just around back of the ice cream store.
Now that we are the other side of Memorial Day, I feel like we are into summer for reals. Our pool has opened. Swim team practice starts this week. The weather is still deciding between rain and sun, making the air a little thick and humid, but temperatures aren’t scorching yet, which is good.
Because of my longer commute for my summer gig, I’ve been driving the van a couple days a week, mostly because I was afraid of burning out the clutch on our Impreza as I sat in stop/slow/go traffic all the way home. I still don’t love driving the van, but I have to admit that there are some nice things about it. So here – in the spirit of Elisabeth – is my Top Five/ Bottom Five of our van.
Top Five:
Apple CarPlay – The Impreza still has a CD player and my phone doesn’t always connect automatically to the Bluetooth. The van has Apple Car Play (and whatever the Android version of that is) – so it is pretty seamless when I get in the car to have my maps, playlists, audiobooks, etc. just pop up nice and big on the screen display. I know this is probably standard technology in vehicles, but it’s new technology to me and it’s magical.
The van reads me my text messages – This might be part of Apple CarPlay, but I love that when a text comes in, I can have the van read it to me. And also I can, with the push of a button, dictate a text message to send.
The van is an electric-hybrid – With gas prices what they are, I’m glad I don’t have to fill up the van with gas every week. There’s actually a charging station at work, which is convenient. I think we maybe fill the van with gas once a month.
It’s not a manual car – The Impreza is a manual car, which is fine and actually can be fun, but you know when driving a manual car isn’t fun? Driving it in rush hour traffic. I do appreciate that the van has no clutch to worry about and won’t stall out on me. Or I guess, I’m the one who does the stalling when I don’t shift quite correctly. I do like driving the manual car, but it is nice not to have to worry about shifting once in a while.
The trunk – First of all, the trunk is huge! We needed to transport some stuff for work, and I had to throw eight music stands, two large tote boxes, a stool, five boxes of stationary, and heaven knows what else into the back of the van. Everything went in easily; it wasn’t even a tight game of Tetris. It sure is handy having a large trunk. ALSO – another of my favorite thing: The van has that feature where you can wave your foot under the trunk and the trunk will pop open. This is especially helpful when I have an armload the groceries (or some boxes of stationary…) and I can’t reach my keys.
Bottom Five:
The van is HUGE – It doesn’t really fit in my parking spot at work. I can’t reach over and open the passenger side door from the driver side. When we first got the van, I complained that riding in it was like riding around in a mobile living room. I do realize that the size of the van could also be a plus – see above point about the trunk. And I do like that the van is big enough that the kids can all sit an arms length away from each other. And the 14 year old likes that she gets the whole back row to herself. But on the whole, it feels like I’m driving a boat and I’ve definitely miscalculated the turning radius a few times.
There are too many buttons – There are four separate buttons I could push to close the back sliding doors. FOUR. That seems excessive. But that’s on par for the rest of the van – there are buttons above, buttons to the right, buttons to the left, all the buttons on the steering wheel, the display. The temperature control can be run by both the digital display and the manual buttons underneath it. Also there are buttons in the back to control the temperature. I still haven’t figured out how to adjust the temperature control in the car. I had to call my husband one time because I couldn’t figure out how to close the moon roof. Also it’s push button start … I never know how many times to push the button to get the van to turn on. I always don’t do enough. There are altogether too many buttons. What do they all do?????
The shift button is next to the volume button and both are round – yes this is a button thing, but it is so egregious it deserves it’s own point. Take a look:
On the left is a knob to shift gears (which in and of itself feels weird to me). On the right is the knob to adjust the volume. I can’t tell you how many times while driving I’ve gone to turn the volume down and accidentally put the van in reverse. That just seems so dangerous, no? This is just a terrible design choice.
It makes a lot of beepsand random noises – There are a lot of safety features on the van – which is a good thing! – BUT some of those safety features involve beeping or chiming when something happens – if someone is in your blindspot, if you go over the speed limit, if you get too close to the car in front of you…. Granted with the size and shape of the van, visibility can be poor, so it is helpful to have all the features, but there are some beeps that I just don’t know what triggers them, and it causes a mild sense of panic whenever I hear them.
The vanis keyless – Again, probably not new technology, but just new to me. And really there is a lot that is convenient about keyless entry, but I’m such a fuddy duddy and the keyless thing bugs me. I hate that I don’t have to put a key in the ignition to start it or take the key out of the ignition to stop the car. Why? Because if I don’t have a place to put the key when I get in the car, I lose the key fob. Clearly this is a me issue and not a problem inherent to the van. But gaaaaah! It’s so annoying when I can’t remember where the key fob is. I’ll have it in my hand to get into the van and then somehow chuck it somewhere and when I get to my destination, I’ve forgotten where the fob is. Also, I haven’t quite solved the question of where do I keep the key fob when I’m driving. The Husband says it should just live in my pocket, but have you see the size of women’s pockets??? Anyhow, the keyless thing drives me nuts.
I suppose in the end, the positives of the van outweigh the negatives. The things that make it good for our family at this stage in our lives are pretty fundamental while the things that bother me are probably just pet peeves. I suppose in the long run, I’m grateful we have both a smaller car and a larger car for us to use. I am starting to think about the 14 year old and how she will be learning to drive soon and what that means for our next car purchase in terms of timeline and type. I don’t think she can learn to drive on the Impreza because it is a manual car, but I also don’t know if she should learn to drive on the van. So perhaps we will have to get another car within the next two years.
Grateful For:
-Rain fly over my hammock. The hammock is such a simple thing, but I get such joy out of it. I was very grateful that I could sleep outside in the rain while the rainfly kept me dry.
-Along those lines – camping with friends who have lots of gear so we don’t have to pack as much. While there was much that made camping frustrating – I have a note to buy everyone camp pillows and the Husband needs his own sleeping bag – I feel very grateful that a we didn’t have to bring too much extra stuff because our friends had so much stuff that camping seemed luxurious.
-My Bus Stop Mom friends. I managed to get off work in time to meet my bus stop mom friends for Happy Hour one night and it happened to be Trivia Night. We had a lot of fun. And learned what an obelus is! And came in second to last. I’m also so grateful to these ladies because one day a few weeks ago, I had to be at work at 9am. The school bus doesn’t pick up until 9:10am, so I texted them to ask if one of them could take my kids to the bus and they both said yes. So grateful to have friends who can help me out when I need it.
-The not quite summer weather. It’s been sunny and 70s and not humid lately. If the weather were to be like this until Fall, I would be so happy. But, alas, I’m sure heavy hot humidity is in our future soon, as is typical for the DC area. So I’ll soak in this cool summer weather as much as I can.
-Leftover McDonald’s. I went to see the show my company was putting on, which I wasn’t working. There’s a whole section of the show that takes place in a McDonalds and the Prop person had to bring in 2 quarter pounders with cheese, 2 cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, fries and apple pies to be used in the show. None of which got eaten. So after the show, I went to say hi to the stage managers and prop head and I said, “What’s going to happen to all that food?” “Nothing, do you want it?” “YES!” I exclaimed. Now I don’t really go to McDonalds very often, but there is something about the cheeseburgers with their soft sweet buns and the slight tang of the pickles that I do love. And of course I have a weakness for fries.
-Also in the vein of free food – I’m grateful for my Canadian director for being such a sweet and thoughtful person. He was popping home to Canada for Memorial Day weekend and asked if anyone wanted anything. I said jokingly, “Ketchup chips and wine gums, please!” Well… he brought not just me, but each member of the cast and staff, a bag of ketchup chips and a pack of wine gums! Of course I was really excited to get my favorite Canadian snacks, but even more so, I’m so glad I work with someone who is always thinking of other people.
Looking Forward To:
-Reading retreat! Inspired by Stefany, I suggested to the Husband that we go on a reading retreat the weekend the kids are at Taiwan camp. We’ve picked Harrisburg, PA because that is near camp and there are three or four bookstores there. I’m so excited to browse bookstores and hunker down and read.
-Watching more Derry Girls. We finally got Netflix a few weeks ago. We might be the last people on earth to jump on that bandwagon. I was for sure the hold out in the family – I thought we had enough streaming services. But after March Madness, the Husband cancelled YouTube TV and signed up for Netflix. I think we’ll keep Netflix through the summer and then when football season starts we’ll switch back to YouTube TV. I foresee many nights of watching KPop Demon Hunters in our future. But also – I’m super excited to watch Derry Girls – I had watched season 1 on the plane back from South Africa last year and really loved it.
-Pool time! Our pool is now open and swim team practice has begun.
-This week’s Maycember events (even though it is June) – Piano recitals (for the 9 year old and the 14 year old.). Voice recital (for the 14 year old.) Swim Team practice (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday – though not Friday because that is the piano recital), a birthday party to attend for the 6 year old. There are still 3 more weeks of school and I do feel like we are on a slow crawl to summer.
-Listening to more of this book -Once Upon a River – about a four year old that is pulled out of the Thames in 19th century England, and the three people who claim to know who she is. The Book has been a combination of engrossing and soothing, thanks in part to the excellent narration by Juliet Stevenson:
What We Ate (Two weeks’ worth, since I’ve fallen behind on posting this month): Monday: Coconut Chicken Curry from NY Times cooking. I made a double batch, and froze half of it for later.
Tuesday: Chicken and Broccoli. The 14 year old cooked. (I was working and the Husband had happy hour plans with friends.) This was really tasty – she baked chicken chunks in the oven with a sweet and spicy glaze and steamed some broccoli to eat with it.
Wednesday: Can’t remember. The Husband cooked.
Thursday: Bagels and smoked salmon.
Friday: Pizza and … some movie. I’m not sure what. This was the first weekend of Netflix, I think.
Saturday: The family was camping – I think they had steak. I went out for Tex Mex with work colleagues and had chile rellenos.
Sunday: Camping. Pizza and Caesar Salad. (Which, I learned during Trivia Night that Caesar Salad originated in Mexico.)
Monday: Snack dinner. We got home from camping this night and were tired. If it weren’t for the kids I don’t think we would have had dinner. But the 6 year old said, “Can we do that thing for dinner where you cut up cucumbers and cheese and eat it with crackers?” Yes! So easy and it makes people happy. (I had my leftover Tex Mex from Saturday, with a fried egg on top.)
Tuesday: Shrimp Tacos for Taco Tuesday.
Wednesday: Chicken and Broccoli. The 14 year old cooked again. The kids were actually off school, so the 14 year old took her brother and they walked to the store together and bought ingredients for dinner and then she came home and made dinner for everyone. It must have been tasty because there was nothing left when I got home, though the house smelled so good. I was told the recipe involved lots of butter and lemon, all good things in my book. She also make a chocolate cake (from a box) with buttercream frosting (from scratch). I myself was at Happy Hour, where I had fish and chips and a Greek Salad.
Thursday: Pasta Salad at the pool The first pool dinner of the summer! I made a caprese pasta salad – tomatoes, cucumbers, mozzarella, fresh basil, marinated white beans, and a parmesan balsamic dressing.
Friday: I think the family had some kind of sandwiches.
Saturday: Pizza at a friends’ house while they played Dungeons and Dragons. I wasn’t home in time for this, so I had snack dinner and went to the grocery store.
Sunday: Tortellini with red sauce, bagged salad, and watermelon on the side.
Well, that’s the news in this corner of the world as we turn the corner into June. I’ve been thinking lately about how much time I spend writing here, and it feels both like too much and not enough. May was clearly an overwhelming month – there wasn’t a lot of writing or reading/commenting on blogs, and yet the time I get squeak in felt like I was stealing that time from other things. I don’t know if I will feel like I have more space in summer – the long commute to work certainly eats into my time to tackle both the necessary and leisure things. Part of me wonders if I just need to declare that posting will be light – more for myself than for anyone else. Or should I just see where things fit… thoughts thoughts thoughts….
Anyhow, have a lovely week, as we look towards a new month!
What kind of car did you learn to drive on? What do you love/don’t love about your vehicle? Keyless entry – yay or nay? How do you feel about free food – yay? or yuck? Tell me what I ought to watch on Netflix! I like shows – both comedy or drama – about ordinary people trying their best not to make bad decisions while loving the people around them. Also soapy period dramas.
