Happy Friday! We have a busy weekend on deck and then a 1-day workweek next week as we leave for my parents' lake home on Tuesday morning. Here is what's happening in my world these days!
The book I'm reading is Waiting for Eden by Elliot Ackerman. I heard about it from a podcaster (Sarah's Bookshelves Live) whose tastes often overlap with mine. It's a slim novel at just under 200 pages and tackles a heavy topic: Eden has been severely injured in combat. The book is narrated by another soldier that was killed in the same combat incident and is stuck in the "in between" waiting for his friend to die. It's a haunting read that I have found myself thinking about when I wake up in the middle of the night (which I am prone to do). I'm also reading a collection of poetry called Where Hope Comes from by Nikita Gill. I typically do not read much poetry but this collection was raved about on another podcast - I think it was on Currently Reading. It is such a beautiful collection of poems. Here are two examples below.
The high of my week was running in cooler temps! It's been a hot, humid summer here so I really appreciated the upper 50s/low 60s weather on Monday and Tuesday morning! And overall our weather has been great this week. It has been really humid at times this summer so I really appreciate it when the humidity subsides!
The low of my week was the return of early wake-ups. Womp womp. I guess I jinxed myself when I said sleep has been better. Oh well - this is parenting, especially sleep: two steps forward, one step back. Because we leave the house around 6:45 on weekdays, my kids are larks but I would prefer that they sleep until/past 6!
A recipe I made was these Greek Turkey burgers. We sub ground turkey for lamb because I am not a big fan of lamb and we leave out the sundried tomatoes. Phil and I both prefer these to classic hamburgers. They are sooo good!
A show I am watching is a documentary called "Trainwreck: Woodstock 1999" that I'm watching with Phil. It's about the 1999 Woodstock music festival that was a total train wreck. I had graduated from high school that May but I have no memory of the news coverage of this festival. It seems like massive music festivals are just a bad idea and rarely go well and the organizers for this event made horrible decisions. Like distributing 100k candles towards the end of the last act to a crowd that was already destructive and out of control.
For workouts I ran on Monday, Tuesday, and will run again on Saturday. I need to get back into strength training but I haven't found a program I'm excited about on Beach Body. Jenny suggested I check out peloton so I am going to try a free 30-day trial in September. But I'm giving myself the month of August to focus on running and then will try to get back to strength training in September!
The best money spent was on 2 coffee drinks. I usually limit myself to one/week. But I decided to treat myself to a mocha on Tuesday after voting in our local primary. But then I got a 2nd one on Thursday when our morning started far too early (Paul was up at 5) and I had a ton of meetings.
My plans this weekend include a lot, which seems to be the theme of summer 2022! Tomorrow morning my running partner and I are running a 5k that raises money for the local Spina Bifida Association. My running partner is a pediatric urologist. She works with a lot of Spina Bifida patients so she suggested we do this 5k to support her patient population. It doesn't start until 9:45 so Phil will take the boys to gymnastics. He usually grocery shops on Saturday morning but since we leave for vacation on Tuesday, we don't have to buy much! On Saturday afternoon, my MIL will come over for an early celebration of Phil's birthday. Then on Sunday afternoon, we are going to a college friend's FIL's lake home in the afternoon. We get together at his house every summer. He has a beautiful home and loves hosting us and all our kids - there will be 4 couples and 7 kids there, I think! The fun continues into Monday when I have a HH after work with 2 women I work with. And then we leave for the lake on Tuesday morning, but it will be a very low key vacation at the lake - we barely leave my parents and maximize time in the water/playing in the sand. I will very much be ready for a quiet week at the lake!!!
Bonus pics:
On Tuesday night Phil swam at the local lake so I was on my own with the boys. It was a beautiful night so we went outside after dinner. I brought out the side walk chalk and was surprised how long it entertained both of them. It is a MESSY activity but I knew they'd be taking baths since they had school pictures the following morning. We also played with bubbles and kicked a soccer ball around.
Ok this might be hard for you to read, especially on a phone... but I had to share this hilarious piece Phil wrote for work called "Two Small Children." He works for an asset manager that puts out a monthly research publication which includes a humor section. It's the 2nd most highly read part of the publication. Phil is a very very funny guy and I think this is one of the funniest things he's written! Long-time readers might remember that before our wedding, he made a fake "go fund me" page for our wedding! We printed and framed it and put it on the table where we had our guest book so people who didn't know Phil super well could get a feel for his sense of humor. Our kids have provided a lot of inspiration for his humor writing!
Ha! That's really funny! And true!
ReplyDeleteUgh, I'm so sorry you're back to early wakeups. If it's any comfort, in ten years those days will be so far behind you that you'll wonder how the snoozing teens ever woke up so early!
Good luck with your 5k! And happy birthday to funny Phil!
You are SUCH a busy woman, and such an active mom! I hope you have a fantastic and restful time at the lake house.
Good luck on your race tomorrow! And I'm glad you're able to take advantage of a free Peloton trial- I hope you love it.
ReplyDeleteI love both those poems. One line in the first one really struck me- "It doesn't pass; you learn to live with it." So, so true. Last year at this time when my son was leaving for college, I went through a tough time. It was the end of his childhood, where he lived in my house all the time and I took care of him. I still remember my sister said, "You won't get over it- but you'll get used to it." So, so true!
I'm also reading a pretty heavy book right now- The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels. It's about a young man dying from AIDS in the 80s- so heartbreaking. But it's really, really good too.
Enjoy your buys weekend! And enjoy your vacation- it sounds wonderful.
There was a project at work I've been dreading and it's been sent off. In another two and a half hours, I can put my away message on and be out of contact for the next week. I can hardly contain my excitement. That is the highlight.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your busy weekend - hopefully it will be super fun!
I hope y’all have so much fun at the lake party!!! I wish I could figure out how to log in on my phone… anyways! This article is hilarious and I still remember the story Phil’s mom told at your wedding 😂 I think Paul is going to also have a fun sense of humor! I hope you enjoy your Saturday!!! Lori
ReplyDeleteWhen you click on it, you can see read the piece Phil did and it's very humorous. I like his style! Sounds like a mostly good week save for early mornings! Have fun partying!
ReplyDeleteI also have a terrible time commenting on blogs from my phone (unless it’s a Wordpress blog and in the word press app). I hope your 5K went well! So many other fun things going on too! You have certainly had a busy summer but all good things. I am sure you are really looking forward to your lake trip! That will be so wonderful and relaxing and you should have extra hands for the kids. :) Hoping for good weather for you! - Kaelyn from Grateful Kae
ReplyDeleteOMG, the Two Small Children "ad" is so funny! "a persistent feeling of being manipulated" lololol. I love it so much!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the early wakeups are back but I hope your time at the lake house is restful and rejuvenating!
You should check out https://www.ellenbarrett.com/ workout program. Almost no equipment required. Her workouts are amazing!
ReplyDeleteHave so much fun at the lake house. It sounds like the epitome of a summer vacation!! :)
ReplyDeleteThat ad is funny. I love when guys have a great sense of humor!
I hope that you are having fun at the lake! I hope that it has been very relaxing and the boys are both getting used to the lake life.
ReplyDeleteI think Phil's piece is very witty; he really puts things in perspective! I remember reading some of his other stuff after you guys came to visit back in the day...
I am reading a book about solo aging; it is actually kind of interesting and it talks about what issues people run into when they do not have children to see them through their older years. It is thought provoking and it also makes me think about my parents and their aging and how I/we will deal with that when the time comes... which it will do!