Video of the week

June Gratitude and Also Things I Am Leaving in June

First of all, can I just toot my own horn (Yes, yes I can because this is my narcissistic little space) and tell you that I left all of the crap I said I would leave in May safely in May.  Except the FOMO.  I had less FOMO, and I went out of my way to just make my own damn plans, but I still felt a bit left out sometimes.  But seriously-- I stopped buying Oreos.  I kept Design Home off my phone, and I took my vitamins all of the days (by adding "vites" next to "5 water bottles" on my daily to-dos.)

Here's what I want to leave in June:

Housework martyrdom: I talked about this yesterday.  Basically, I am doing more housework than Ben is right now because I am doing more childcare than Ben is right now, and  need to figure out a way to not be a dick about it.  I have 2 plans:  First, I need to remember that Ben is using his time not doing domestic work to make actual cash money, and this is really important.  Second, I need to get the hell out of the house to actually work whenever I can, even if that means I can't go to the pool because I have THINGS TO DO.  I tend to squander opportunities to work outside the house because I want to hang out or take a nap.  that's an ok choice to make, but I can't make that choice and then resent Ben for working while I cram my work and housework into the same time slot.  Does that make sense?

Not writing:  Honestly, I don't know what the heck to do about this one.  I am waking up at 5 to do my adjunct work and my summer school work and yoga and cardio before the kids get up and maaaaaybe also squeezing in a blog post.  Then for the rest of the effing day, I am MOM-- driving them places, feeding them, cleaning up their stuff, etc.  I need to squeeze some time with my book in there, too, but I am not having luck finding a place.  I think I need to do a couple of things:

•  Change my idea of what work looks like.  Maybe it's not about 2500 words.  maybe it;s about 25 sustained minutes everyday with the project.  Or, like 25 minutes 3 days a week and an hour 2 days a week?
• GET OUT OF THE HOUSE even if I am going to come home to more domestic work than I left and put words on the page
• Squeeze in some time when the kids are around.  This one is hard for me because they never leave me alone, but first thing in the morning or right after lunch are pretty chill times.  I usually fill these windows with chores around the house, but maybe I could bump that work to make room for my book?  I can wash dishes with everyone yelling at me, but I can't flesh out some dialog, you know?

Eating food that makes me feel bad: For me, that's the downfall of intermittent fasting.  I am so damn hungry when I finally get to eat that I make poor choices and end a meal feeling bad.  This is something to work on everyday-- good choices will make me feel better in the long run.

June Gratitude:

POTY!  We're doing it again on a regular schedule, and I love it!  Even if no one is listening to us, we have fun for that hour or so when we are recording.

Settling into our summer routine:  The living is easy and I couldn't be happier.

Free time: I complain about how I am spending my time, but the only person I have to blame is me.

Having big kids:  I am carrying my tiny purse again.  Everyone can buckle their own seatbelt.  Going places with them is like taking my friends out for the day.  Even the grocery store is NBD.  These are halcyon days.

The Juggle: Summer Edition

GAH

GAH

GAH

I have, um, not enough time to do all of the work I need to do.  So I have been getting up early and staying up late and, just, GAH. 

Today a kid peed their bed in the middle of the night and then I slept through my alarm and Ben's alarm and an extra 40 minutes, and now I am typing this on the elliptical and don't know when I will do yoga and have to get dressed like a fancy person and make a presentation at work and GAH.

I also know that Ben is squeezed for work time because he just has more work than I do, and he is coaching 2 baseball teams right now while the seasons overlap.  As a result, I am doing a TON of housework, meal prep, kid scheduling, and I don't WANT to feel resentful, but also that is VERY HARD.

I got 2 adjunct contracts for the next term, which is AWESOME but also makes me panic about writing my book.  I took the first 2 weeks off in a really-guilt-free way, thinking I would adjust to all of our activities and then gradually add it back in when the other oranges and bowling pins were already spinning.  But then, all we added in was dive team for Jack and tennis for Cooper.

It is so, so, so easy to justify not working on my book because I'm not getting paid for it/may never get paid for it, and there are so many revisions even after I finish  draft.  The other stuff? Keeping the house clean, getting people where they need to be, reading the stack of library books that I obsessively organize by due date?  Those have immediate results, you know?

I baked from-scratch cupcakes at 6:20 this morning for Jack's last regular season baseball game.  I am actually going to my office today and speaking in front of/ to 100 or so people (my favorite thing-- for serious).  We have worked out our kiddie activity juggle so everyone gets everywhere they need to be, even water ballet.

And yet.  A room of one's own and all that goes with it, you know?

Tiny moments from a summer of small things

It's only like week 2 or 3 of all of the children being home while Ben and I (but mostly me because Ben leaves the house to go to work at regularly appointed times) try to work, but I think we are settling into our routine.  This is because the kids are BUSY (Harry is on 2 baseball teams right now -- though the season for one is ending and the season for the other is just starting--and is taking tennis lessons and diving lessons; Jack has the end of baseball season and also dive meet season and lost of dive practice; Cooper is doing swim and tennis lessons and hopes to add dive lessons in July; Dorothy has swim lessons and water ballet) enough that we have regularly scheduled events everyday that give our lives a nice rhythm.  But!  We have enough nothing to do that we can be super flexible with our time.  We have also had a really good mix of pool days, cool days, and the kind of day-long rain that makes screen time and blankets on the couch feel like the perfect plan for the day.

I like summer so far.  There.  I said it.

We have to stumble through the next 6 weeks and then! 2 weeks of vacation!  Then it will be time to frantically do all of the things before school starts.  This feels very doable.

Harry, writing birthday thank-you notes:

 I decided to cut out all of the comics from like 2 years of New Yorkers that have just been sitting on a bookshelf so I could make something fro my office.

 This salad!  With chicken!  IS SO GOOD.  I used Aldi garlic salad dressing instead of garlic and olive oil because I cannot eat olive oil.  I also didn't have dijon and used spicy mustard.  I would go get dijon if I were you.  Also!  There is a titch too much lemon in here for me, so I will dial it back next time (I just juiced both lemons I zested and didn't measure the juice-- oops).  Also!  We have been eating this over a bed of mixed greens-- highly recommend.

 Helping me clean the floor after breakfast.

 Snack buffet.

 Harry, who loves The Office, just realized that BJ Novak wrote a children's book.  He's a fan.

 I LOVE POOL DAYS.

 Coloring on a cold day while Harry plays tennis

 Ditto

 Breaking in a new mitt

 Ice cream hijinks.

 And to think, she hasn't even seen a Tim Burton movie.

Harry is woke

 So there Harry and I were in the Dollar Store on Saturday collecting pool party supplies and minding our own business when his friend texted him to say he was at the protest and where were we?  Could we meet up? I had planned on going downtown to protest family separation with a couple thousand likeminded friends, but then I hurt my upper back (right between my shoulder blades all the way across-- totally agonizing-- I could not even lift a gallon of milk-- I think it was my online yoga class) and just sort of forgot about it.  But Harry! Instantly remembered and wanted to go.

Luckily, we were at the Dollar Store, a world of sign-making supplies at our fingertips.

This town is always up for a good protest.

 Also, Potbelly is the perfect follow-up to marching in the hot sun.

What is wrong with the world you guys?  Why is this all happening so quickly and so terribly?

HBD Harry! I took almost no pics of the birthday boy but lots of selfies because I am awesome

Dorothy brought a friend to the party-- how cute were they?

 Dorothy was actually unimpressed with the whole night, which was ironic because I was SUPER IMPRESSED that something we do on the regular-- hang out at the pool, eat pizza, go home-- is fun enough to be a PARTY.

 Ben was outside at baseball from 9-11 and got an awesome base tan.

 WE LOVE PARTIES!

 So does Dorothy

 This was the most adorable-- and deafening-- rendition of Happy Birthday ever.

 OREO BLIZZARD CAKE IS THE BEST

 Still love parties.

 Flippin' Cooper

 In a total POTY move, we got the Kona ice truck to come by at the end of the party.  Big hit. YUGE.

 And of course I showered and pajama'ed Dorothy before we went home because OF COURSE I DID.  I will go to great lengths to save 10 minutes. 

It was a great party, and in a sign of true maturity, when Harry went to the sporting goods store to spend his birthday cash and gift cards on an insanely expensive catcher's mitt that we never would have bought him, he bought the 2-year protection plan, too.  My baybee is growing up.

What We're Eating This Week 26/52

I am finally making that pasta salad I posted last week.  It's a work in progress, but I have assembled the ingredients and cooked the chicken.

Tonight Ben is barbecuing chicken thighs and wings and roasting brussels sprouts, and we are also having salads and stuffing from a box.

I bought the stuff for more chicken salads, and I also got the stuff for beef tacos.  And!  Big Brother! Starts on Wednesday, so there will be nachos!  But exactly WHEN all of those meals are going to happen (besides Wednesday) is anybody's guess because SO MUCH SPORTS-BALL!

Unicorn Sprinkles

Happy Father's Day!

For Ben's 12th Father's Day, we decided to keep it chill.

So chill that he bought his own gas grill for camping and assembled it and also chose the seats for his baseball game "surprise."  He also saw his new pop socket last week because he opened it thinking it was for Harry.  So, boy was he excited to wake up on Sunday.

It was supposed to be 97 and sunny, but Ben?  Wanted to go for a Father's Day hike at a state park. Efffffffffffff.

Dorothy was ON IT:

 I love the retro vibe of this photo

 The new grill in its natural habitat

 LUNCH!  You guys know how much I love eating outside.

 The intrepid explorer ready to hike to a waterfall

 Lucky for all of us, it is a short and incredibly beautiful hike.

Waterfall!

 It was at least 15 degrees cooler by the water (which was FREEZING), and the sound was even more soothing than Beatrix's snoring

 I waled around aimlessly and had many good ideas fro my novel, which, to be honest, has been in need of some good ideas.

 The kids picked their was across the rocks

 We waded

Dorothy posed because, I mean, of course.

And then we went a little further on the trail because everything was so lush and green and perfect.

 Happy Father's Day!

 (Everyone was filthy, so we washed them at the pool).