Weekly Recap + What We ate: Summer

Another tech week done! It’s had it’s 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

-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?