What's for Dinner

 GAH. End of semester. For everyone. I just went on my favorite grocery apps and ordered WAY TOO MUCH food for grab-and-go options-a-plenty.

We will have stuff on hand for:

Chicken Caesar wraps (with Costco caesar salad kits and giant Costco definitely-not-organic rotisserie chicken

MYO naan pizzas

Triple-cheese grilled cheese and instant pot tomato soup

Turkey spinach wraps

Buffalo chicken wraps (did I mention I also bought a one-million-pack of tortillas at Costco?)

Beef tacos, beans, chips and salsa, etc

I got an assortment of fruit to eat on the side plus green beans, broccoli, and Brussels as well as a variety of veggies to eat raw like peppers, cucumber, etc.

#PHONINGITIN

Moment of zen:

5 on a Friday: CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THE SEMESTER IS ALMOST OVER? (18/52)

 1. A quick note on PJ's: I bought a REALLY CUTE nightie and robe set at WAL MART of all places for like $17. I really like it and might buy more colors. (I went to Wal Mart to buy a pair of exercise shorts because I need another pair to wear in the morning now that I like to do a quick mile around the neighborhood after I do yoga and use my elliptical trainer, but I DO NOT WANT to wear exercise clothes for real as my actual clothes, and when I buy expensive workout-wear this is exactly what happens. I am not tempted to wear my $9 Wal Mart shorts in public). (Also THANK YOU for the comments telling me to also look at jammies because I did, and I like them SO MUCH).

2. It's all over but the grading! I am thrilled to put Spring 2024 in the rear view. I am burned out. My grad students are burned out. Our undergrads are burned out. ENOUGH. Bring on the pool.

3. There are MAJOR CHANGES brewing over here, and I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU about them right now, and it is KILLING ME. (Good things-- don't stress).

4. EXCEPT. I am stressing, apparently. My massage therapist was like oh my god every muscle in your body is tense what's wrong? WHICH MADE ME EVEN MORE TENSE WTF.

5a. THIS IS HAPPENING. I AM NOT OK.

5b. THIS IS ALSO HAPPENING, and I LOVE IT.

April: What I Read

 I have the sneaking suspicion that I actually read more books that I am able to list here and just forgot to note them on Goodreads and then they evaporated from my mind. And yes, I am worried about a potentially accelerated cognitive decline-- WHY DO YOU ASK?

Anyway, onto the tl;dr:

Least favorites

13. Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success by KM Weiland: Maybe any book about this would be un-fun to read?

12. Never Lie by Frieda McFadden: These books are terrible, and yet I keep listening to them? **audio**

11. The Surrogate Mother by Frieda McFadden: **hangs head in shame** **audio**

Liked but did not love these

10. Private Equity by Carrie Sun: Very gossipy and compelling-- a solid memoir. **2024

9. Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum: A very entertaining listen **audio**

8. Rebecca, Not Becky by Christina Platt and Catherine Wigginton Greene: School drama, mom drama, stereotypes galore! This was so fun to listen to. **audio**

7. Anita DeMonte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez: One of those rare books where I like both stories/timelines equally. **2024

6. She's Not Sorry by Mary Kubicka: Was this twisty or just full of plot holes and missing key details? HARD TO SAY WITH THIS AUTHOR. **2024

A BUNCH OF REALLY GOOD BOOKS OMG

5. Babel by RF Kuang: Well, after reading this and Yellowface, the common theme emerges clearly: WHITE WOMEN ARE THE FREAKING WORST. **audio

4. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez: YES-- the cutest romance-- loved it **2024 **audio

3. Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering: OH I LOVED THIS SO MUCH. A little Ingrid Goes West and a lot of friend drama. **2024**

2. Who's Afraid of Gender by Judith Butler: THIS WAS SO GREAT. I love that they went with a popular press as opposed to an academic one because they were able to be more conversational and to make more sweeping arguments than an academic press might allow. This is a GREAT book and spends such a lot of careful time unpacking what's going on with TERF as well as broader conservative movements, LOVED IT. **2024**

1. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer: Oh this weird, scary, funny, devastating little book! You should read it, **2024**

The stats

This month: 13 books

Audio: 6

Print or digital: 7

This year: 57

Audio: 28

With my eyes: 29

Randoms

 Harry competed in a huge, nation-wide national-qualifier speech tournament on Friday and Saturday. It was virtual, so he made himself a speaking area in his room (which required moving his giant recliner and one of his desks (lol) into storage).There were 250 kids entered in his event, and the top 16 qualified to nats. Everyone was guaranteed 3 prelim rounds, and on Saturday morning, the tournament cut half the entires to pick the top 128. Harry was still in! He spoke again, and the tournament cut to the top 64 speakers. Harry was still in! He spoke again, and the tournament cut to the top 32 speakers. HARRY WAS STILL IN! He spoke again and then waited an agonizing hour for the qualifiers to be posted on YouTube... and he did not qualify. **whomp whomp** He was third at his district qualifying tourney (the top TWO go to nats) so this was his last chance. He appreciated that his high school speech season ended the same way it began-- with Zooms from his bedroom. But, he was disappointed that he wouldn't be making a return trip to nats. Luckily, he has 4 more years and a potential EIGHT national tourneys in college.

The rest of us were... actually really happy that he didn't make it because that's the very same week we are going on vacation, and we didn't want to change locations to Des Moines, IA (even though we love Des Moines and have fam to visit there-- THERE IS NO OCEAN IN IOWA, actually) (fun fact: the guy who wrote the book in that link grew up literally next door to my mom).

And then! While we were solidifying trip plans (it is SO HARD to travel in the summer with Cooper and Dorothy's activities, my in-person teaching assignment, Dorothy's dance tryouts, Harry and Jack's lifeguard schedules, etc. We are cutting it VERY CLOSE to dance nats with this trip, but **yikes face** **shrug**), Ben was like oh you know ha ha this might be the very last vacation Harry wants to go on with us, and now the stakes feel VERY HIGH. (I also JUST LOOKED at dance nats dates again after I wrote this because I was worried I got them wrong.)

ANYWAY. Other things.

I am trying to upgrade my pajama wardrobe. Where do you buy your pajamas, and why are they great? I got 2 pairs at Nordstrom Rack and cleaned out at least 4 pairs I hate, so I can maybe get a couple more and would love your recs.

Also, I would perhaps like to lose weight with but I also would not like top change any of my food habits. THIS IS A HARD PLACE TO BE, friends. Bah humbug. (I am eating pretzels and cheese while I eat write this).

Related to all of this, I need to buy more swimsuits. Blergh.

Coop qualified to zones for diving over the weekend, meaning he is one step closer to USA Diving nationals-- super excited for him! One more qualifier to go (in Madison! the same exact days as dance nationals **melting emoji**)

Saturday brunch:

Park!!

Speech!

What's for Dinner April 29-May 3, walking, skirting, etc

 What's for Dinner? STOP ASKING ME. Kidding. But also.

SUNDAY: We are coming off a full weekend of diving, so I am going to say SANDWICHES. CHIPS. FRUIT. VEGGIES. Did I just serve this same basic meal on Friday with grilled cheese? SHUT UP.

MONDAY: My last Monday night meeting of the semester! Frozen randoms for the children and Ben.

TUESDAY: It's my spring speech contest! Woo-hoo! Kids and Ben can have whatever they freaking want for dinner. #IAmTheBest

WEDNESDAY: It's going to be GORGEOUS HERE, so I want to go full summer-- burgers on the grill, corn, watermelon, etc,

THURSDAY: Jack's spring play!! One of us will go this night, and one of us will go Friday with Dorothy and Coop and Harry. Salads and baked potatoes? Breakfast for dinner?

FRIDAY: Pretty sure Cooper has baseball...maybe baseball picnic? OUR FIRST OF THE SEAAAAASON Otherwise, PIZZA for sure.

Saturday, Coop plays baseball at the Milwaukee Brewer's Little League park, and HARRY GOES TO PROM. BABY HARRY. GOES TO PROM. YOU GUYS. How can I even think about dinner in the face of this event?

I definitely walked this week because the weather is perfection.

The girlies dressed up for some dance class spirit weeks, namely MOL gear day, decades day, and unicorn day

Dorothy pulled out all the stops for Throwback Costume Day and wore a PRESCHOOL COSTUME that still fits LOL

And, of course, my last full week of SKIRTATHON

5 on a Friday: RANDOM PICS and the commentary they inspired (17/52)

  1. Minnie has enough hair (BARELY) for fancy braids. She requested an Elsa braid here and was disappointed that her hair was not blond.

2. I am in love with this outfit. Leopard pants. Floral skirt. Star Was shirt. Frozen Crocs.

3. I got a filling at 9 am on Tuesday, and parts of my face stayed numb until 6:30 pm. I really thought I had nerve damage, you guys. Half of my mouth was all collapsed still, and I had this weird pucker in my upper cheek. IT FINALLY WENT AWAY, and I think maybe that part of my face doesn't move very much so doesn't get lots of blood flow? It was anxiety provoking for sure.

4. Multi tasking: tennis AND speceh

5. POLICE HORSES!! IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD! Dorothy spotted them out the front door, and we sprinted across the park to meet them. This one was Cooper (LOL), and according to his business card, he is 1900 pounds. And! Maybe we should all put our weight and hand height on our business cards.

5 years

 I wasn't going to post anything, but wow. My dad died 5 years ago tonight.

I reflected on the two-year anniversary, and all of that is still just right. Last year, I was fresh off Beatrix's death when this terrible anniversary bloomed, so I wrote about it. Today, I talked with Jon, and he mentioned that the hilarious Miss Congeniality clip about April 25 is forever ruined, which made me laugh a little at least.

My Facebook memories are all about Take Your Kid to Work Day, and I hate looking at all of us living our last normal day and not even knowing it.

(Also taking 3 kids 11 and under to a 100-person lecture class was dumb, and no wonder things did not go well)

(Harry got to go with Ben to the Capitol)

Maybe I have enough distance to see how darling that day was. My kids were babies. BABIES. Dorothy (6), Cooper (7), and Jack (11) had a BLAST at their favorite campus cafeteria after being THE WORST audience members ever in my lecture.

Cruelest April and all that, I guess.

(I turned off comments-- don't feel obligated to say all the lovely things you've said before. I appreciate all of you and love having this space to share).