travel – Life Off Headset

Amsterdam- Arrival and Day 1

For Spring Break, we went to Amsterdam and here are the start of trip recaps! It was our first time on a plane since January of 2019. Also our first time on a plane as a family of five, which the calculus of sitting on an airplane with five people is a lot more complicated than as a family of four. Like do we sit 4+1? or 3+2? Do we split the family across the aisle? or front seats and back seats? Decisions!

We chose Amsterdam because the Husband’s sister lives there and we hadn’t seen her and her family since they came to the States in August of 2019. The Husband and I aren’t great at vacation planning and tend to do things a month or two out. I think because I sometimes book work at the last minute, I’ve always been wary of booking vacations too far in advance, trying to keep my calendar open for work. This trip, we had been talking about for a while, and I think we booked the Air BnB last fall because I was pretty certain by then that I wouldn’t be working during Spring Break. The flights were booked in January which my mind screamed, “TOO SOON!!!” But in reality we probably would have gotten cheaper tickets if we had booked sooner. Oh well, as it was, I think each step gave us considerable sticker shock and we had to recover before we could take the next step.

We had a 5:30pm flight out on Thursday. At first, to save the cost of a cab, we considered taking the Metro to the airport since a new Metro line just opened that goes all the way there. That plan would have required us to leave at noon. My friend told me that many of the hotels by the airport offer long term parking and a shuttle to the airport, and that was way cheaper than the airport long term parking – <$10/ day vs. $14/ day

Why did I not know about this before?!?!?

So that’s what we did. Getting to the airport was super smooth, except we didn’t check and the six year old had a full water bottle going through security and had to go through again. I was surprised how things have changed and you no longer have to take your electronics and liquids out of your bag to go through the x ray machine, and you only have to remove boots, but not Crocs or running shoes.

Random thoughts on the flight:

-We had packed to be able to travel carry on only, but the flight was full, so when we checked in, the airline offered to check all our bags for free. I was fine with that. I don’t mind checking at all; I prefer to pack carry on only because I don’t like having to lug big suitcases.

-We ended up deciding to get the four seats in the middle + one single seat across the aisle. I sat with the three kids in the middle and the Husband sat in the lone seat across the aisle. I think this was the best way to go – I didn’t feel like we wanted to subject anyone else to sitting next to my kids. The 11 year old and I sat on the aisle seats of the middle section and the two little kids sat in the middle, which I think worked out well.

-I’m always worried about food and entertainment for the kids when we take trips. I had packed everyone their own snack bag and bought them all activity books and packed crayons and markers and books. I think we used one activity book while waiting for the flight and the three year old did about ten minutes of her sticker book at one point. But really all the kids just used the in flight entertainment, and the 11 year old also had her own tablet. They mostly watched movies and once in a while played games. The six year old really got into playing Angry Birds which I thought was hilarious. As for food, I definitely overpacked on that front because there were lots of snacks and drinks and meals on the flight, so a bunch of the food I packed actually ended up coming home with us a week later. I know I overpacked in the food and entertainment front, but I feel like if the in flight entertainment hadn’t worked or if the kids didn’t like the airplane food, I wanted to have a back up.

– I had forgotten that the in flight entertainment required wired headphones. I had packed them for the two little kids, but didn’t pack any for myselft. The airline did hand out earphones, but my set weren’t great. So I mostly read on the flight. I did watch about an hour of a Mrs. Harris goes to Paris, but didn’t finish it before getting to Amsterdam. I finished it on the way back – it’s a delightful movie, even when watched with bum earphones. For Christmas, I did buy the Husband this Airfly dongle that allows one to use bluetooth earphones with any earphone jack. Unfortunately I didn’t try it out until the return trip back.

-The flight itself was a direct overnight flight – we arrived in Amsterdam at 6:30am. I think I managed to get the kids to sleep for an hour or two, and so did I, but it wasn’t really high quality sleep. I don’t think the 11 year old slept at all, to be honest.

-Lesson learned – have the kids pee about an hour/45 mins before landing. I didn’t do this and just minutes after the fasten seatbelt sign went on, the 3 year old declared, “I have to go potty!!!!”
“You have to wait,” I told her. “We have to keep our seatbelt fastened, but the plane will land soon and then you can pee.”
“I HAVE TO GO POTTY!!! I HAVE TO GO POTTY!!!!” she started screaming. Over and over and over. For the twenty minutes it took us to land and taxi to the gate. If you were on our flight, I sincerely apologize.
At one point, she said, “I’M GOING TO PEE MY PANTS!!!” And I tried to get her to sit on a towel, but she refused. “I PEED MY PANTS!!!!” Loudly. Everything was said loudly. It was epic.
The moment the fasten seatbelt sign went off, the Husband took her to the bathroom with a change of clothes. Guess what? She lied. She did not pee her pants.

And so we arrived bright and early in Amsterdam. We took the bus to our Air BnB. There seem to be many options to get to and from the airport. We chose the 397 bus because it had a stop about a 15 minute walk from our AirBnB, but got off at the wrong stop and actually ended up wandering around a little bit. In my failure to plan, I did not get international data on our phone plans, so it was a bit of an aimless wander. With all of us toting our luggage. At one point, I just took the six year old’s rolling suitcase too. Everyone was a little cranky and a little tired and a little hungry, so it was kind of a drudgery of a walk. Even still, I was so excited to see my first glimpse of Amsterdam canals and bicycles. The morning was rather quiet – we discovered over the course of the week that Amsterdam is not a city that rises early.

The first picture I took after we got off the bus from the airport.

At one point, though, I did decide to stop and ask for directions and some very nice people pointed us in the right direction. We were staying in the Oud-West, which was about a fifteen minute walk from the Museumplein where all the famous art museums are and from Vondelpark, one of the major swaths of green space.

We finally made it into our AirBnB, which featured the first of many steep steep staircases we would traverse. I was originally a little nervous about the kids going up and down the stair, but over the course of the week they got really good at walking up the stairs sideways, one slow and steady step at a time.

The AirBnB was rather spartan – one big room that had a eating area, living room/tv and two beds, and one little room with another bed. There was no kitchen, which I don’t know why I hadn’t realized that when we booked the place. But what the place lacked in amenities, the hosts more than made up for with their kindness and generosity and attentiveness. They took our dishes and washed them, and also did our laundry a couple times during the week; and – the kids’ favorite thing – the hosts gave us two huge bins of toys – duplos, trucks, picture books, activity books, pencil crayons. The kids would be well entertained.

What with it being 3am back home when we arrived, I immediately took a little nap. I knew we would battle jet lag, but I hadn’t slept much on the flight, so I needed to catch up a little bit. Mean while the kids played with their duplos and with my phone, taking some snapshots to keep things real:

Random slice of life shot of our Air Bnb.

Kid’s always take the most flattering pictures. Hah!

While I napped, the Husband ventured out and came home with sandwiches, which we ate, and then we set out for our first adventure. (well, not counting getting lost.) I had booked us a canal boat ride for 2pm the day we arrived, figuring that it would be a nice easy activity for the first day when we might be tired. Only we couldn’t quite find the place where we were to meet our boat and missed the tour. The company was very nice and re-booked us for Sunday. At first they offered to walk us down to another part of the canal and try to get on the boat, but it was turning into a drizzly, rainy day and they said that we would have a better time on Sunday when the weather was nice.

So now we had a few hours suddenly free before we had to meet my sister in law for dinner. We decided to take a wandering route back to our AirBnB. We somehow ended up wandering down Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat, where all the high fashion stores were – Gucci, Hermes, Dior. It was fun to peer in the windows at all the fancy clothes. And the Cybex stroller store. So fancy.

We got back to the AirBnB and rested for an hour or so then walked to my SIL’s place. On the way, I was really obsessed with the architecture of the buildings around us – the houses all so tall and skinny had such a distinctive profile. the Husband pointed out how all the houses have these pully hooks up top to help with moving furniture in since the stairways are too narrow to bring anything in through the front door. Later on my sister in law told us that no one uses the pulleys anymore – when they want to bring in furniture, they have to hire a special lift and take out a permit because the lift will block a big chunk of the sidewalk/ road.

Also on the way, I wanted to find some kind of dessert to bring and we ended up stopping at a bakery and wine shop with the cutest name: Levain et Le vin. All of their bread is sourdough bread and I picked up a loaf for breakfast the next day as well as some pastries for dinner while the Husband got himself a coffee.

Then it was off to my SIL’s house. It was really interesting to see their place – so different from our home back in the States – much more compact and economical space-wise. They also had the steep steep stairs. My SIL had ordered pizza, so we had that and the grown ups chatted while the kids played – she has two young kids too and it was so heartwarming to see the cousins play together even though they hadn’t seen each other since 2019, and the three year old not at all. But I guess Hot Wheels is a universal language.

Around 7pm, we headed back to our AirBnb. It was really drizzling hard, and I had forgotten to pack a raincoat for the 3 year old. However, before we left, my neighbor had given us one of those ponchos that fold up super small and I had thrown it into my purse. I pulled it out and put it on the three year old. Obviously it was waaaaay too big, but it kept her relatively dry!

When we got home, we changed into our pjs and just hung out watching some American tv with Dutch subtitles. I can’t remember what it was – something on the Discovery channel, I think. Pretty soon, though, the littles fell asleep:

Around 9pm we packed everyone to bed. We were all so exhausted from not having really slept on the flight that bedtime was easier than I thought it was going to be.

So that was our flight and first day on the ground in Amsterdam. It was a little strange being in a foreign country, but also there was a lot that didn’t feel foreign. On the one hand, visually we were clearly in a different country – the architecture, the canals, the bikes. So many bikes, whizzing by. I was really envious of the speed and ease with which I saw people getting around by bike. On the other hand, everyone spoke English and we could just use our credit cards everywhere. The Husband noted that “It just doesn’t feel like I’m in a foreign country.” I agree with him. I completely see why a lot of English speakers who want to move abroad chose Amsterdam.

More recaps to come! Tell me, haver you ever been these Amsterdam?

Weekly recap + what we ate: pre-trip version

We are home from our spring break trip! Where we went:

Recaps to come. I hope. I still think I want to write recaps from our Montreal Trip too, so clearly I am behind.

But a quick rundown of the week before, since I selfishly like having these accounting of my days…

It was a week off of work, which was great because I could get some last minute errands and pre-trip things done.

some Highlights:
– Going for a cherry blossom run. I had always heard that the Kenwood neighborhood also has beautiful cherry blossoms, and it was less crowded than going to the Tidal Basin, so I thought I’d check it out. When I looked it up, I saw that there is a trail next to it, so I decided to combine my run with a cherry blossom wander. I parked at one of the lots off the trail that lead to the Kenwood neighborhood and had a little run then spent the rest of the morning wandering the streets. It was not as crowded as the Tidal Basin, so I felt like I was able to amble and savor at my own pace, though the blossoms in Kenwood are not the panoply of colors one sees downtown. It’s so interesting that this little neighborhood becomes such a cherry blossom hot spot. It was at the tail end of cherry blossom peak bloom and there was a light breeze, which sent cherry blossom petals drifting through the air and scattered on the roads.

-The six year old had a concert. The French Immersion students put on a concert every year, though apparently it hasn’t happened in a while because of the pandemic. Each class presents some kind of musical performance in French. The kindergartener show involved singing and dancing to a song about chocolate. I know I put on shows for a living, but I am seriously impressed by the coordination that it takes to organize 200+ kids to sing and dance in French. It’s always funny for me to go see school shows because there is a certain level of chaos that I would never see at my work, and yet… things always work out and people get onstage and offstage. I mean I just have to stage manage, but the teachers have to direct, choreograph, child wrangle, cajole, cheerlead… what full jobs they have… on top of the every day teaching.

The black light and fluorescent vests made me laugh.

– I got a discount on a book! I went to Barnes and Nobles to pick up a book for my flight. I usually like to read a book by someone from the country that I was visiting, so this is the one I chose:

Anyhow, as I was leafing through it, I noticed that the inside blurb page was upside down – you can see in the picture how the strip of the stepback is white and it should be red. I would have bought the book anyway because I wanted to read it and this gaffe wouldn’t have affected reading the book. But I took it to the front desk, pointed out the flaw, and they gave me 20% discount!

Giggle of the week –
This sign, seen in the neighborhood, which abounds with Little Free Libraries:

I feel like the six year old would take advantage of that too.

Grateful For:
– Public Transportation – I had lunch with a friend one day and I could take the metro there. It was just as fast as driving, but much more relaxing, and I could read my book a little.
– A friend for lending me a suitcase. I was going to buy a new suitcase since the wheels of my carry on rolling suitcase have come apart. I’ve had that suitcase for almost twenty years, so I guess it was about time to replace it. But when we went to look at suitcases, I was so overwhelmed by the options and couldn’t pick one. Relating my suitcase woes to my friend, she said, “I have one that you can borrow!” So I did. It saved me money and it saved me the mental energy of having to choose a suitcase. Sometimes having something just given to me is even more perfect than having to choose it myself.

-Time. Last week, I had more money than time, what with being unemployed and all. I think about this a lot. Sometimes when I’m unemployed I find my spending goes out of control because I finally have the time to browse/choose/buy those new shoes to replace the ones with holes that I have been making do with, or catch up on house projects, or refresh the kids’ wardrobes. I find when I’m thick in work, I don’t tend to throw money at things, rather I just decide to hobble through and replace things when I have time to think about it. But of course it means that I tend to have the time to spend money when I’m not making any money – which doesn’t even out as much as I would like. I suppose the answer, somewhat, is to increase my income. But also I think I should lean into thinking about how to spend time not money when I’m unemployed. Some things do need to be replaced, but maybe some things can be repaired? I sewed up a hole in a sweater that I wanted to take for vacation rather than buying a new one. And also – I went on the abovementioned run to see the cherry blossoms in Kenwood. It’s the kind of thing I wouldn’t have had time to do while working, but when I don’t have to be in at work, I can do these things. I can use time to buy moments of beauty. I can use time to buy moments of connection, like when I have lunch with friends. (Okay, also it took money to pay for lunch, but we could have just as easily gone for a walk and visit, or she could have come over for tea… the food wasn’t the important part.) Anyhow… when I’m feeling money poor and time rich, maybe I need to think about the things that time can buy me. On that note, I realize how lucky I am that I do have time – there are many people who have neither time nor money and that must be so stressful and hard.

What We Ate:

Monday: Chickpea noodle soup from Vegan for Everyone by America’s Test Kitchen. The six year old wanted veggie soup and I had celery to use up- I feel like I make this a lot when those two boxes need to be checked. Vegan.

Tuesday: Waffles. Quick dinner before the six year old’s school concert. I had heard a hack earlier this year of measuring two batches of dry ingredients when you make/bake something so that you just have to add the wet ingredients later on for a second batch. I thought this brilliant so last time I made waffles, I measured a second portion of the dry ingredients into a container and put it in the pantry. When I needed a quick dinner this night, I just tossed in the wet ingredients and everything was came together super quickly. I know measuring the dry ingredients doesn’t take that much time, but when you factor in finding things, hauling it out, measuring, and then putting it back away… to be able to just dump it in a bowl… pre-making the dry ingredients has the ease as if we were making our favorite waffle recipe from a box mix.

Wednesday: Dinner out with friends from out of town. I had pasta with mushrooms. There was parker house rolls with bacon jam involved.

Thursday: Off in an airplane!

Weekly recap + What We Ate: Peak Bloom!!!! and Lists for Travel

First of all… mystery solved! I found the waffle batter! We have some shelves next to the fridge in the basement, and I was looking for something this past week on the shelves. I moved a bag of flour, and waaaaaay at the back…. was the container of waffle batter, a good two weeks after it had gone missing.

Truth to tell, it wasn’t as disgusting as I thought it would be; when we opened it up, it wasn’t moldy or anything. I half jokingly said that it looked fine and we should try to make some waffles from it. The Husband vehemently disagreed. Food waste bothers me, but I begrudgingly agreed.

We’ve hit peak bloom here in DC! Yay! There was one day last week, when I was at work for a morning meeting and decided to run down to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. It was actually a few days before peak bloom, so the trees weren’t quite iconically fluffy, but they were still very pretty. I will say, running around the Tidal Basin during peak bloom is … not ideal. There are so many people there, and you never know when someone is going to stop and take pictures. Plus there is no railing on the Tidal Basin side of the path, and I was concerned that I was going to fall into the water at a couple points because the walkways were so crowded. I actually ended up mostly running on the grass, which were riddled with tree roots from the cherry trees. So running amidst the cherry blossoms during peak bloom = do not recommend, unless you do it at 7am or something.

Despite that annoyance, there is something really energizing about being at the Tidal Basin during peak bloom – all the crowds and crowds of people who come out to see them seem so happy to be here, soaking up the wonder and beauty of it all. For years I avoided peak bloom, having thought that I’d seen it once and didn’t need to see it again. Yet when I’m there among the blossoms, I realize that for a lot of people this is a bucket list trip – my grandmother, always wanted to come see the cherry blossoms and I’m actually really sad she never did. Whenever I see the Asian grandmothers wandering the blossoms with their faces lifted to the pink light, I think of my grandmother and am always a little sad that she never made it out. Seeing the joy that cherry blossom season brings makes me feel so grateful that for me, this isn’t a bucket list thing, but a yearly event to savor.

Of course the Tidal Basin is the most famous area for cherry blossom meandering, but the whole region explodes with blossoms, really. On the actual day of peak bloom, I was supposed to go down with my friend, but she got sick and it was rainy, so I went to the botanical garden 15 minutes from me. They don’t have the explosion of trees that you find down at the Tidal Basin, but they do have a Japanese pavilion and some nice trees were blooming there too.

Work wise, last week I closed one show on Saturday and then had a supertitle gig on Sunday. I feel like every time I get through a show without a performer getting COVID, and the show having to re-shuffle, it feels like such an accomplishment – like I can finally let out this breath that I’ve been holding.

Side note – there is a notice posted in the theatre, dated March 6th, 2020 that talks about how the company is monitoring the developments of COVID 19 and how there are so far only 3 cases in the DC area and we are still going to continue with all scheduled performances. Then it gives some guidelines for good preventative measures, including cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces. The whole memo really just took me back to that time of uncertainty of March 2020. It’s kind of surreal to read the memo, and even more surreal that someone has left it up on the callboard for over three years, as if it’s some kind of time capsule or memorium.

Here’s something fun, the cast of the show is obsessed with jigsaw puzzles. One of my co-workers had brought them in for our office and when we were done, we put the puzzle out in the dressing room hallway for the singers. They did about one puzzle per show. I joked at one point that I could make intermission 50 minutes long so they could work on the puzzle – but they didn’t need the help. It was jaw dropping to me. There was one puzzle that stumped us until we realized the puzzle was missing a piece – so we gave it to the singers without telling them the trick. We made them a fake piece out of a Post It to fit in the empty slot, though:

The day after the show closed, I had a supertitle job. It was a lovely concert program – music by Black composers setting poems by Black poets. There was one song/poem I liked in particular – a poem by Claude McKay titled “I Know My Soul”:

I plucked my soul out of its secret place,
And held it to the mirror of my eye,
To see it like a star against the sky,
A twitching body quivering in space,
A spark of passion shining on my face.
And I explored it to determine why
This awful key to my infinity
Conspires to rob me of sweet joy and grace.
And if the sign may not be fully read,
If I can comprehend but not control,
I need not gloom my days with futile dread,
Because I see a part and not the whole.
Contemplating the strange, I’m comforted
By this narcotic thought: I know my soul.

I love how this poem is brimming with self confidence even as we live in a world of questions and things that we can’t control.

After the concert, I wandered around the theatre a little bit since the concert had been short and I had some time. I often just go from the parking garage to backstage, and don’t have to go through the lobby at work. Well I’m glad I took time to wander the lobby. The Center is doing a huge festival about rivers and waterways and they have some really cool large scale installation art in the lobby. I actually remember when there was an all staff email asking for blue button down shirts for this art installment – it was kind of amazing to see the end result:

Annoying lowlights this week:
– I got a parking ticket. Monday the baby was no longer sick, but since she had been out of school for three days, she wasn’t allowed back to school until she had a doctor’s note. I could only get an appointment for 2:30pm, so I took her into the office with me and she hung out and played with office supplies while I worked. But then I was running late to her doctor’s appointment and instead of parking on the street like I usually do, I parked in the metered lot which was closer. And then the appointment ran long and I got a ticket. So annoying – I was mad at myself because I should have just parked in the street and been three minutes late to the appointment.
– One day the six year old’s bus was over and hour late in the afternoon. I had left work early to pick him up and the whole time, I thought, “I could have done one more hour of work!!!” I’m not at all sure what happened – the school doesn’t really communicate about that kind of stuff really well. Oh well, at least the weather was nice and I got some reading done.
– Still dragging from the time change. The kids are usually up by 6am and now I have to drag them (and myself) out of bed at 7am. I’m wondering if we’re just not adjusting well, or if it’s something deeper than that. I’ve also been really bad at going to bed before 1am lately. So that could definitely be a factor.

Other highlights this week:

-March Madness continued. I ordered us Sweet Sixteen shirts, and we wore them. It was a little sad that my alma mater lost, but things were kind of a long shot anyway.

I’ve been in full trip planning mode. My latest preoccupation is what food and snacks to bring on the airplane. Snacks are a very important component to happy children. Also, I imagine there is a meal on board, though I’m not sure. Some ideas:
– sandwiches. I’m tempted to order Bahn Mi sandwiches to bring. They are sturdy, and if we have the pickled veggies on the side, they won’t get soggy. But will they be messy to eat on the plane? Otherwise, some variation of baguette/ciabatta + meat + cheese + spread (maybe blueberry jam?)
– fruit – cut up apple slices, grapes, clementines, mango
– cookies. I’m planning on making a batch of trail mix cookies from the Rise and Run cookbook
– chocolate
– granola bars
– string cheese
– fruit snacks or my favorite gummy candy from HMart

Another fun list – we’re going to be visiting family abroad, and I wanted to bring them some classic American treats. So far we have:
– Pop Tarts
– Cereal – maybe the individual packs of sugary stuff?
– a bottle of Ranch dressing.
– homemade chocolate chip cookies – I hear that the chocolate where they are is too high quality and melts too quickly, thus making it not great for chocolate chip cookies.
– if I had thought ahead, I would have ordered them some Girl Scout cookies… next time… There is only so much sugar that I can bring these kids without getting side-eye from a parent.
– Robitussin – I hear it’s very hard to find where we are going.

Not so fun list of to dos:
– make sure bills are paid
– pause subscriptions and produce box
– grocery shop for above mentioned snacks and gifts
– pay that annoying parking ticket.
– make sure to upload all tickets to museums and what not.
– So many other things….

Part of my Trip Prep has been trying to find a pair of shoes to wear – I ordered a bunch of waterproof half boots/ booties/ Chelsea boots off Zappos and a few slip on shoes. I settled on a pair of Sorel Hi-Line Chelsea boots. I also really liked the Sam Edelman Laguna’s but on me they weren’t ankle boots, more like shin boots – maybe my legs are too short. And I also liked the Blundstones, but they didn’t have them in my size and I liked the Blondos, but they were a touch too big and also veered into shin boot territory.

The pair I went with. I might regret not getting a black pair, but I wear a lot of black for work, so I like to get other colours for non-work.

And… on a whim, I ordered a pair of Rieker boots because my current pair of Rieker boots are starting to wear thin and I’ve already had them re-soled. And even though these boots aren’t waterproof and they have a fuzzy lining, so they aren’t really all season boots, they are a fabulous colour, so I decided to keep them and they make me really happy.

Podcast Listen of the Week: This episode of the Ten Percent Happier podcast, an interview with Scott Galloway, a professor of Marketing at NYU, and whom the notes describe as a “serial entrepreneur.” I feel like a lot of the podcasts I listen to talk about finding fulfillment and satisfaction in work, but Galloway stresses the importance of being financially stable and just working really hard while in your twenties. Probably not unrelated, but a lot of the work podcasts I listen to feature women guests. It seems to me that women and men are sold very different narratives about their value in the world, and men are taught, more so than women, that their value is in earning money and being ambitious. Galloway makes a point that work has a huge impact on one’s mental health because if one is going to be successful one will be spending the majority of one’s waking hours at work. Listening to the interview really made me think about this difference, because I feel like women seek work/life balance (whatever that means), but it’s not such a priority for men, particularly men in their twenties. Of course for men, there is no time constraint on having a family via birth and pregnancy, as there is for most women.

Another point that he makes is that work, structured work, is really important for young men, whose brains are still developing – it gives them a place of structure and a formal environment to learn to be a functioning member of the human race. I had never thought of this before, but for all that we glorify mavericks and out of the box thinking, especially in today’s world of gig work and telework and work from home, there is something that really is important about learning to operate in a community – and I think women internalize this more than men do.

And even as Galloway talks about the importance of work, he also talks about importance of living in the moment, and this quote struck me:

“As humans we’re drawn towards scarcity – sugar, salt, fat – we couldn’t find these things and so so we’re wildly drawn to sweets and meat and fat because our instincts haven’t caught up to institutional production. We aspire to have a Birkin bag or a Ferrari because there is only a certain number of those. The ultimate scarcity is kids… My twelve year old trying to do a handstand when we’re on vacation together – I’m like “He’s gone, never going to have that kid again.”

The ultimate scarcity is kids. – I need to remember that when it feels like things are hard with parenting.

Grateful For This Week:
– One of my coworkers had his last show last week. I’m really sad to see him go; we had both started at the company around the same time, and I’m so grateful for his presence these past fifteen years. Seeing him clear off his desk hit me harder than I thought it would.
– Spring! It’s officially Spring, which means sunlight and sunshine and flowers blooming. I know that in many ways Spring starting on March 20 is somewhat arbitrary – I mean I get the science of it, but the weather doesn’t always align with the science – but being able to officially say “It’s Spring!” feels really nice. We had our first after school playground stop of the season and I was reminded how this is always one of my favorite parts of warmer weather – hanging out at the playground after school and randomly running into friends.
– An uneventful closing night performance and a really great run of performances. Some shows feel really special and this was one of them. I felt so lucky to have been able to work on it.
-Impromptu play dates for the kids. One of our neighbors took the eleven year old to the local high school production of Chicago. It was so nice of them to think of her. And that same night, I got a text from the mom of one of the six year old’s friends asking if he wanted to come over to play. So for a few hours we had just one kid at home in the evenings – I’d forgotten how much less chaos there is when it’s just one kid at home.

Looking Forward To:
-The six year olds’ kindergarten performance.
– Spring Break Trip – I’ve been listening to podcasts that feature our destination and loaded a bunch of books set in that country on my Libby, and that’s starting to get me excited for going.
– Starting a new show – reuniting with old colleagues and meeting new ones. The first day of a new show is always a little like the first day of school – excitement and nervousness and lots of possibilities.

What We Ate: The meal planning train continues to stall in the station, so we’ve had a few cobbled together meals this week:

Monday: Sushi take out. I was meant to meet the Husband for Lunch, but plans changed, so we decided to have sushi for dinner instead.

Tuesday: Bahn Mi Salad from To Asia With Love by Hetty McKinnon. This was really tasty – basically you make a big batch of Bahn Mi pickled veggies, and eat that with fried tofu, croutons, and siracha mayo sauce. Vegan, except our vegan mayo was not good so we used regular mayo.

Wednesday: I worked and had late lunch/dinner at this restaurant, which is also very well known for it’s Tater Tots. There were a lot of Tater Tots eaten. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Husband made taco cups for the kids – Flour tortillas folded into muffin tins to make cups, and then filled with cheese and salsa and beans and chicken and baked. It’s a really big hit and luckily there were leftovers for me to eat when I got home from work. I’ve come to the realization that the kids are more excited for the Husband’s cooking that they are for mine because he makes things like Taco Cups.

Thursday: I have no idea … for some reason I haven’t been keeping up with my journals this week.

Friday: Mac n Cheese with sweet potato from Family by Hetty McKinnon. Mac n cheese never seems like a main meal to me, but this recipe looked easy – all make in one pot – and I had some sweet potato to use up. It was definitely on the rich side.

Saturday: I worked and brought leftover lentils from last week. The Husband made pizza. I think they also watched a Star Wars movie? Or maybe a Marvel movie? Not sure.

Sunday: Grilled Tofu and Sausages with a cucumber salad. We also make this really yummy green sauce to eat with it.

That’s been the week here – how’s life in your corner?