Summer: Thursday, 6-13-24

Yesterday, I went to work, and the girls occupied themselves at home. Lucia did geometry, and Greta experimented with paper mache. After work we went to the pool for a swim and dinner. That was a nice evening.

I worked from home today. Lucia did a bunch of geometry (with Dad's help via phone), and Greta baked cupcakes, which proved frustrating since it turned out we were nearly out of flour, sugar, baking powder, and butter. Then they went outside to swing.

The girls had piano lessons tonight, then we went to the grocery store for baking ingredients. Dinner was a haphazard collection of leftovers and meals I pulled out of the freezer. The kids have been eating Cup Noodles every day for lunch. I cannot keep every single ball in the air while I am both working full-time and solo parenting, and cooking has definitely been the ball that has been dropped. There is just no time to make dinner. And when I say "time" what I mean is "the will to do even one more thing after working all day except drink a glass of wine." Some barely identifiable freezer meals are pretty much all I could manage by 8pm, but I successfully kept two kids and two pets alive and mostly happy so I consider this day a WIN.

You know what wasn't a win? Cleaning up the dishes of a thousand meals when I literally DID NOT COOK EVEN ONE MEAL. What fresh physics hell is this? 

One thing I didn't mention in yesterday's post is that this is The Summer I Will Become a Runner. I have committed to a Couch to 5K training program and have so far completed one week, which has involved three runs--or, rather, walk/runs, as the training program dictates. I go out in the morning before work. This is possible when I don't have to get the kids up and ready for school--I go for my walk/run, get ready, and leave. I get so much done before 7:00am! 

Longtime readers will remember when I attempted to run last summer (the summer I had shingles) and wound up with a ridiculous muscle pull that required me to literally crawl up the stairs in New Hampshire. I overdid it by attempting to just get out there and run a mile every day. Foolishness! I'm hoping this C5K plan will ease me into The Life of a Runner the right way. 

What We're Reading / Watching

Margo: Funny Story by Emily Henry

Lucia: Six of Crows

Greta: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (this is her fourth time through; she's waiting for the sequel to arrive tomorrow)

Andrew: no idea what one reads in Peru; probably a book about blueberry diameter and soil acidity, in fact I think this book may be called Not Your Average Veruca: Midsize Blueberry Crops in Northern Peru and the Robotics that Will Transform the Crop Yield

Watching: One of Us Is Lying (Season 2) (me and Lucia); Shadowhunters (Greta)