It’s August! I guess we’re rounding the finish line of summer. Friday was my day off before tech week when we move into the theatre. I’m trying to have a combination of production and relaxing with the free day. So to that end, I:
-dropped one kid off at camp and one off at daycare (along with a blender because it’s smoothie Friday.) (The morning was actually kind of a shit show – the Husband had taken the kids to a live Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me! show the night before – a bucket list item for him – and they didn’t get back until 11pm, so of course they were holy terrors in the morning because they were over-tired. But they all had a lot of fun at the show, so I do feel like a little morning crankiness is worth it.)
– had a mammogram and a thyroid ultrasound (this latter to try to figure out why I’m having very light non-ending periods)
-dropped off a box of poop at the UPS store
-picked up a library hold
-mowed the lawn.
This last one almost defeated me – it was 90+ degrees out there. I put on my rash guard to mow because the sun’s rays were beaming something fierce.
Then, to reward myself, I did this:
Relaxed on the couch eating ice cream for lunch, while talking to my sister-in-law, watching the Olympics, and folding laundry. We’re dog sitting for the next week and there was a cute dog joining me in a few minutes to watch the Men’s Badminton Quarter Finals. I do need to do some meal planning since the next couple of days will be tech, and there is no tech friendly food in the fridge right now.
In the evening, we went to the pool after pick up. We haven’t been since swim team ended almost two weeks ago. Going to the pool on such a hot day was lovely. Also – our pool tends to be pretty empty on Friday nights because so many families at our pool go home for Shabbat dinner, so it wasn’t as much of a zoo as it usually is. Then it was home for Pizza and Glee.
Okay – things this week. Let’s back up to the poop shipment. As much as I want to be in the Cool Blogger Colonoscopy club, when my doctor offered me the option of “pooping in a box” (literally her words) colon cancer screening, I said, “Sign me up!” A few days later, a box appeared in the mail. Basically you poop into a plastic bucket, swab your poop, pour a preservative over it, close the bucket back up, and then ship everything to a lab where they will screen it. It’s not as accurate as a colonoscopy, but for low risk people, my doctor said it’s a more appealing alternative. It felt really weird to hand a box with my poop in it to the guy at the UPS store, but maybe we just need to be less squeamish as a society about these things. Also – the test is only good for three years, so who knows, maybe in three years I will do the full on colonoscopy?
Last weekend, I enjoyed my family-free time. Well, it was really only one day because Sunday I had to work. But on Saturday, I slept, read, did laundry. I ran errands. I picked up peaches from The Peach Truck:
I used to go peach picking, but then I realized that peach season here always falls on the the hottest month of the year. Plus, the peaches are not any cheaper if I pick them myself. So I started just buying them at the Farmers Market. I had heard about the Peach Truck, a company that brings peaches from the south to our area. My friend was going to go in on buying Peach Truck peaches with me, but then she went away on vacation, and yet I still impulsively ordered 2 boxes of peaches anyway. That’s 24 lbs of peaches (there was a discount if you bought more than one box.) Which at first, I thought was a bonkers amount of peaches and when I brought it home I worried that I had had a terrible idea. t was a great idea. I took about ten to work, but other than, that the kids and I have finished almost all 24 lbs. of peaches in a week. The next Peach Truck delivery is in two weeks. Maybe I’ll order THREE boxes? So much easier to get my peach fix this way than actually going to pick them.
Saturday afternoon, my friend K and I went to Glenstone Museum – We couldn’t get tickets to the exhibits, but we were able to get tickets to the grounds, and they had special Summer hours so were open until 8pm. We took the outdoor sculpture tour:
Then we had lunch on the patio, and wandered the grounds some more. I think it actually turned out fine that we didn’t get to go to the galleries – I’ve been to Glenstone three or four times and I always get sucked into the galleries and then run out of time to walk the grounds.
Afterwards, we went to a Cuban restaurant for dessert. We ended up hanging out for six hours – which was a lovely time.
-I’ve been watching the Olympics, like most people. Of course I’ve been watching swimming and gymnastics, but I’ve also been really into table tennis and badminton. Fun fact, I played varsity doubles badminton in high school and I was texting with my high school friend who played varsity singles on how cool it was to watch Olympic badminton. (Also – side note – I’ve always said bad-MIN-ton, but I’ve also heard people say ba-Mitten. Which do you say?) One evening, I wanted to paint a card for my friend who had to put her cat to sleep, and I found watching table tennis and badminton a nice soothing activity to do while I painted.
The finished card:
Random Olympic Thoughts:
-One thing I like about table tennis is that the athletes look so .. average. They are all sorts of ages and varying degrees of body types. They look like they could be IT consultants. Regardless, though, they all have this athletic glow that just makes everyone look so attractive. What is it about athletes that makes them all look so shiny and pretty?
– On a similar note most of these people must have regular lives and jobs and things like that, right? How wild is it to be an Olympic athlete and also an mechanical engineer or something.
-I was watching the sailing and a lot of the competitors are in their early 20s. How does one become an Olympic sailor at such a young age? That’s not a cheap sport. I’m kind of fascinated by the economic pathways of being an Olympic athlete. And just their pathways in general. Some of these sports are so very niche.
-It wasn’t until I watched the replays of entire competitions (as opposed to just the highlights) that I appreciated how much time is spent just … waiting. The sailing race, there is a countdown clock until the start of the race and the first race I watched, the start was delayed 30 minutes. Then it was finally time to get started so everyone started working their way to the start line. There’s a countdown clock, tension is building. And then 30 seconds before the start – another delay because the wind wasn’t blowing the right way. And there was another 30 minute delay. Can you imagine, getting lined up to start and then with 30 seconds until you can take off, a delay is called. Back to waiting. So much waiting. I think you have to be really mentally tough to be able to wait like that and still perform.
-Apparently handball is the one sport without Americans competing. It made me want to watch handball. It looks like a really fun game.
-I loved this article in the NYTimes about how table tennis players get no respect. No, You Can’t Beat an Olympic Table Tennis Player.
-What’s with all those AI commercials? It makes me feel like something is really off with the world when people don’t want to summarize their own to do lists or write fan letters without help. Or maybe I’m just an old fuddy duddy.
-I love how they start each competition with the three knocks of a stick, usually by a former Olympian. The three knocks is a French theatre tradition. I wish we would do that at theatres here in the U.S. Much better than playing the “Welcome to the show. Please turn off your cell phones” announcement that is so prevalent.
-This list in McSweeney’s “Olympic Gymnast or Me, a Middle Age Woman?” Made me laugh so hard. Especially #7 and #15.
Grateful For:
-A strong downbeat. This is one of those in the weeds work things, but … the show I’m currently working on – there are parts of the score where it’s hard to follow the written music. The melody crosses bar lines, and the rhythms are not what one would expect, and the piano reduction of the orchestra is sinewy. I find it easy to get lost if I blink. BUT… our conductor has a really strong downbeat. For those who don’t read music/follow conductors – conductors move their hands in a certain patterns which correspond the to the number of beats in a bar. A downward stroke is the first beat of a meaure. When I get lost – particularly in large orchestral passages, if I watch for the downbeat, I can usually find my place in the music. Not all conductors have good downbeats. Some conduct as if they are stirring a pot of soup. This conductor has a clear and strong downbeat. Thank goodness. There are many many places in this show where if I try to follow the notes, I’ll get lost. So I just count the downbeats. This is an example – you’ll see, I have an entrance cue marked, and I just number the measures until that entrance.
When I cue this entrance, I don’t look at the music, I just look at the conductor and count the number of times he makes that downward stroke. On the 8th downbeat, I send the singer. This conductor’s downbeat has been my saving grace many times in this opera.
-Reciprocal library privileges. I have a D.C. library card, which I also use for the Montgomery County, MD libraries since that is where I now live. Last week, I realized that close to my work is a library in the Fairfax County, VA system. I looked them up, and they have reciprocal library privileges with Montgomery County and D.C. So on my dinner break one day, I went and got a library card for the Fairfax County system. I know that I won’t likely borrow physical books from a Fairfax County library, but now I have an additional library to use on my Libby account. (For the record, I already had four libraries on my Libby account – Washington D.C Public Library, Montgomery County, MD, Maryland/Baltimore, and Los Angles County, where I grew up. Is this excessive????) One thing I found exciting about this new library is that you can borrow jigsaw puzzles. I thought that was pretty cool.
-Shade on hot hot hot hot days. Even though I’ve brought my running clothes to work, it’s been much too hot for me to go running on my dinner break, so I’ve just gone on a few walks instead.
-A new door! Our old door was old and drafty and sometimes wouldn’t open. I had dragged my feet on getting a new door because I loved my old door so much – it was red and had all sorts of lovely details in the hardware, and three elegant windows. So the Husband found a company that said it could just transfer the windows and the hardware from the old door to new door, as well as the lock so we wouldn’t have to re-key the door. The new door looks like this right now, but we are going to paint it. It wasn’t cheap, but I feel like we’re going to be in this house for a long time, so it’s okay to have a door I love.
-That I get to work on the show I’m working on. I love the show so so so much. It’s such a beautiful show. At least once a day, I have to tell myself not to cry in rehearsal. Crying in a good “this scene is so devastatingly beautiful and the music makes me feel like my heart is getting all the feelings squeezed out of it” kind of way.
Looking Forward to:
-Not having a different drop off/ pick up routine every week. I guess it’s my own fault for signing the kids up for five different camps over the course of six weeks. Luckily, this past week, the 12 year old could just walk to and from camp on her own. But it does feel like every week there was a new drop off/ pick up pattern to figure out. After this week of camp, we’ll be done with camp for the rest of the summer. Yay! The kids will be doing “mommy camp”. I read in an article one parent said their philosophy for these wide open summer days is that the kids have to do at least one thing for their mind and one thing for their body every day before they can have screens. I like that framework.
-Sewing classes starting in September for the 7 year old. And… guess what? They are offering Mommy and Me classes, so I signed up the 7 year old to take sewing classes with the Husband. I can’t wait to see what they make. I guess I need to start looking at activity sign ups for the fall soon.
-watching more Olympics. The next week will be pretty busy at work, so I’m glad that I can stream what I want when I get a minute. I don’t have any one sport I’m interested in – I just like to scroll through and find something I’ve never seen before.
-These books, picked up at the Library:
What We Ate: I ate a lot of dinners at work, and then grazed a bunch when I got home afterwards. The Husband did all the at home cooking this week.
Saturday: My Friend and I had dinner at the Glenstone patio cafe – we split a black bean quinoa salad and shrimp.
Sunday: Leftover pizza and Cobb Salad that the Husband brought home from their trip.
Monday: Eggplant pasta. The Husband cooked. This was really tasty – he sauteed eggplants and the cooked it in a tomato sauce and added lots of basil. Vegan.
Tuesday: Zucchini salad, eaten at work. The Husband made Zucchini boats at home for dinner. I had some when I got home and they were really tasty. He sauteed beef with seasonings, used that to fill hollowed out zucchini halves, tops with cheese and then bakes. It’s one of our easy go-to recipes where we can get the kids to eat vegetables.
Wednesday: Popcorn chicken and Taiwanese sausage from the Boba Tea place. I had brought something to eat for dinner since I had an evening rehearsal, but then decided that I wanted to treat myself a little. I think the kids had Mac n’ Cheese from the box at home.
Thursday: I worked through my official dinner break because we were getting ready for the final room run through. I don’t usually skip meal breaks, but I had meetings scheduled in the late afternoon. Anyhow, I managed to eat a yogurt and berries that I had packed. (The Husband and kids ate out before going to see Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me.)
Friday: Pizza (Take out) and Glee.
This weekend will be the start of tech week at work, so I’ll be at the theatre. Exiting, but it will also be exhausting. What are you up to this weekend?
OK, there’s a lot here, let me try to remember all of my thoughts.
Colonoscopy – My husband does the poop in a box kind, I do the in person kind. I feel like whatever gets you to do the test is the right kind for you. I once asked my dentist if he preferred one kind of dental floss over another (a couple I know were debating waxed vs unwaxed, and also before or after brushing) and my dentist said, ‘whatever kind gets people to floss is fine with me’. Same theory.
Peaches – We went to the farmers’ market today and bought nectarines, and the farmer told me to store them out of the sun, on a paper towel, and not let them touch each other. So when I heard that you have all of these peaches, I wondered if they came in those containers that keep them from touching each other.
Rash Guard – I bought the Lands End hoodie rash guard that you recommended, for my morning walks, and my family THANKS YOU, because my old hoodie was looking pretty pathetic.
That card you made for your friend is so lovely and kind, I am sure it will mean a lot to them. Losing a beloved pet is SO HARD.
I love the windows and hardware on your door! I think it was money well spent.
I was watching equestrian last weekend, and enjoyed the fact that some of the athletes were in their 60s.
I love eggplant pasta – was it Pasta Ala Norma? One of my favorites.
I’m glad the rash guard is working out! I never thought I’d be a rash guard person, but here you go…
I feel like sunscreen is also on that list of ‘whatever gets you to do it’ too. Our peaches definitely came touching, but there were instructions to take them out of the box to ripen. Which we didn’t actually do…
In Australia the bowel screening program is run by our federal government. Once you turn 50 the poop kit arrives in the mail. If you fail that they notify you and you then get a colonoscopy. If you pass you get another sent out every two years. I passed my first but my second I contaminated because of perimenopausal abnormal bleeding, but I just threw that out and rang them to get another one sent out. This is all covered by our public health system.
My daughter’s year 9 maths teacher was a table tennis player and he went to the Olympics that year so it was pretty exciting for the girls. I enjoy watching the swimming and athletics but it’s fun to see lots of different sports.
Socialized healthcare is amazing! Having the poop kit sent to you just makes it so much easier, and I bet there is more engagement that way.
How much fun is that that your daughter’s teacher went to the Olympics. That must have been thrilling.
The best peaches I ever had in my life were from The Peach Stand in South Carolina. Mind-blowingly good. I’m not surprised that your family is going through so many.
That card is so lovely; your friend is going to treasure it.
When I did the Cologuard test (twice now), I cringed to think of working there and having to open all that mail! I mean, can you imagine the smell? I’m very grateful that the test exists, as I tried twice to prep for a colonoscopy and got raging migraines both times, but the process gave me a much higher appreciation for the odor control that the toilet gives. Go, indoor plumbing.
I would definitely not want to be on the receiving end of all those Cologuard packages! And what do they do with all that poop? Do they have industrial toilets to flush it down?
So many notes! So many!
1) That doesn’t sound like a relaxing day AT ALL. Too much health-related stuff. You needed a whole day off after that, in my opinion.
2) People around here buy boxes from the peach truck and then split boxes and it’s delightful! I do not think I could handle more than the quarter of a box I usually get, though.
3) I say bad-mitten.
4) Watching table tennis is sort of boring. You can’t really see the ball and the court area is too small. Watching badminton is so cool, though. We watched a few of the semis and I was so impressed by how much the athletes throw their bodies around. If I ended up on the court floor, I’d just stay there for a few days, you know? Not spring right up and get the birdie again!
5) I spy ICTC!! Yay!!
I love table tennis- i’m fascinated by how little movement it can involve.
All those health related things only took me only until noon, so I did have several hours of leisure!
Like NGS, I say bad-mitten!
I have a history of colon cancer in my family so am not eligible for the box method but if I was, I would go that route for sure!
Hearing about other’s confusing drop-off pick up schedules makes me relieved that our summer childcare is so straight forward! And pretty cheap. For Paul, it’s $48/day. We have to pack his lunch but everything else is provided. In 2 years, Taco can go there, too. I was thinking maybe we would get a summer nanny but it’s hard to beat the set up at this public school program. They do such a great job and it’s mostly the same teachers as the school year program so it doesn’t feel all that different from Paul’s school year before/after care. I did look at camps briefly last spring but it seems so hard to get into camps and then the start times are so late, like 9 am which wouldn’t work for us given that ideally we start work around 7:30-7:45.
I have watched so much of the olympics and have loved it! I’ve mostly watched swimming, gymnastics, and track & field. But I will watch nearly anything on NBC. I care least for anything involving horses but would still probably mindlessly watch something horse-related.
That drink w/ your cuban meal looks so fun!!
Summer camp hours are so frustrating! The norm seems to be 9am- 3:30pm, but what working parent can do that? I think we’re lucky that my husband and I are on such different schedules that we can usually work out pick up and drop offs, but we do also have to pay for before care sometimes as well.
I have been loving the Olympics, whatever is on is mostly good with me but my favourites have been surfing, swimming, and gymnastics. Today I caught a few rounds of synchronized swimming which was pretty impressive.
I love peaches but find them SO hit and miss (at least local ones, which are what I buy). This year I went out on a limb and bought a fairly big box of them and they were delicious. My favourite was putting them on top of vanilla yogurt. I can literally feel my mouth water just typing about those peaches!
I haven’t had a colonoscopy yet, but I’m still a youngin’
There is nothing so disappointing as a mealy peach! I had been eating them with yogurt too- i love fresh fruit and yogurt!