Life never slows down
So, last week seemed especially crazy.
Tues: Freshman Orientation, which meant Two and I had to be up at 6:15a so he could catch the 6:45a bus. Also, I've been trying to get up early to walk with Rob, as he wants company for safety reasons (in case he were to, say, collapse en route), so we actually left on our walk before the bus had arrived. I texted him to be sure pickup had gone smoothly, and Two, being a typical male (in case there was any doubt about his gender identity), responded like this:
Me: Any problems with the bus?
Two: No.
Me: Were there any other kids at your stop?
Two: Yes.
*eyeroll* I decided to hold off any further questions until he got home and I could potentially pry more details out of him. :-P Not that he had much to say later on, either, but at least I got the general gist. He'd been given another copy of his schedule, except this one had two 4th-block classes in the first semester and no 2nd-block classes in the second semester. (I did eventually get this straightened out, a couple of days later.)
Anyway, Two was gone until about 11:45a. Meanwhile, I walked 2 miles with Rob and then ran 2 miles on the treadmill (normally I run 3 miles, but I was a little pushed for time and I didn't want to work too hard the day after my colonoscopy), cleaned up and went out the door to work for the elementary librarian at 9a, doing various set-up tasks. I stayed until 1:30p, at which point I had to go home, grab a snack, then leave immediately with MiniPlu to do our 2-4p shift at the dog shelter. Then, at 5:45p Will took Two back to the high school to pick up his Chromebook, and I took MiniPlu and a friend to the movies (they saw Crazy Rich Asians). Thankfully, the friend's parents drove MiniPlu home so I didn't have to run out again. But because I was running MiniPlu out to the movies, I wasn't able to go to TKD. Walked the dog in the icky sticky humidity - but at least it wasn't quite as hot, being evening.
Wed: MiniPlu and I had signed up for an info session and tour of Bryn Mawr; we had to be there by 10a, and it's normally a 60-90 min drive. Since it was the tail end of rush hour, it was about 1:10 that day, so we left around 8:45a. The info session was held in a little conference room with all the prospective girls sitting at the wooden table with the speaker, while parents sat in chairs that lined the walls. The tour had an interesting bonus: it was Freshman Move-in Day, so along with the various buildings and such, we got to see how the school welcomed new students - the various teams in their themed t-shirts, how well it was organized, etc. I twisted my ankle missing a step as we came out of the campus center building, which I could have done without, but otherwise, it was a very positive experience overall. MiniPlu loved it, as in "I would move in tomorrow if I could." I had to agree - the campus was gorgeous, everyone seemed friendly, and the school emphasizes a lot of the same things I loved about PO, from student-faculty interaction to the non-competitive atmosphere to how they structure freshman dorm groups of kids so that they have an early built-in friend group to get them started. There's a train station 2 blocks away to whisk you off to Philly in about 20 mins. And, like Scripps, although both schools are women's colleges, they both have working relationships with nearby co-ed schools, so it's not, as the admissions officer put it, like there's a 10-foot wall around the school with a sign that says "NO BOYS ALLOWED." ;-) In the case of Bryn Mawr, Haverford College is both geographically closest (1 mile), and the one Bryn Mawr has the closest relationship with, but students can also take classes and make use of events and facilities at Swarthmore and UPenn.
Anyway, it's possible that over the next year or so we'll visit a school MiniPlu loves more, but right now, Bryn Mawr is the one to beat.
Oh, and on an unrelated note: our tour guide, a senior, was wearing a tshirt that said, "I don't want to look or be Cis." :D
After the tour, MiniPlu and I went back to the campus center in order to get MiniPlu a tshirt at the school bookstore, then drove a little around the nearby town to get a feel for it and look for a place for lunch, although, in the end, we just got sandwiches at Wawa. We were home around 2:30p, at which point I collapsed for a short nap. Then the kids had therapy from 4-6p (MiniPlu 4-5p, Two 5-6p). The therapist left a little late which meant I couldn't get to TKD - yet again - but that also meant that Will asked me to take MiniPlu to her 6:30p piano lesson so he could go to bed early (he was heading to PA the following day). I wanted to get ice cream at the little shop across the street from music lessons, but I had misplaced the $5 bill MiniPlu's friend had paid me as reimbursement for her pre-purchased movie ticket, and that had been my only cash on hand, so no ice cream for me. :( Walked the dog in the evening, even though it was still unbearably humid out.
Thurs: I ran 3 miles before it got even more miserably hot and humid (my twisted ankle was stiff if I had to rotate it, but was fine for the straight-ahead motion of running and walking, thank goodness), then promptly mowed the lawn as long as I was already sweaty. After I cleaned up, I had the laundry and grocery run I usually do on Thursdays, then MiniPlu and I were back at the dog shelter 2-4p. I was scheduled to donate blood at 4:45p a few towns away, about 15-20 min drive, so, again, I had hardly any time at home before I had to turn around and head out again.
One problem, however. As we were driving home from the shelter, MiniPlu asked about a dashboard light that had come on. It was the tire pressure alert, but I didn't give it much attention - my tires sometimes run a little low, and the alert system has sometimes been wonky (although I got that fixed last spring). It was as I was dashing back out to the blood donation appointment, though, that I stopped to properly look at my tires and - sure enough, I had a flat on the driver's side front. Argh! I ran back in and asked my BIL if I could borrow *his* car, although it's been shifting weirdly for awhile so he's been avoiding driving it, himself. He said that was fine, but since the car had been sitting for awhile, the battery turned out to be dead. This left my FIL's new pickup truck (remember that Will was in PA, so I couldn't take his car), which was still attached to the trailer we use for hauling stuff around. Thankfully, Rob was free - and knowledgeable enough - to come out and disconnect the truck from the trailer so I could finally get away.
The Red Cross was running a bit behind when I got there, but they finally called me up to go through all the pre-donation stuff. I always tell the techs that my iron levels are often right on the border of pass/fail and that they should check that early in the process so as not to waste too much time if I failed that. So, after taking my temperature - twice, because the first time the guy didn't successfully get a cover on his probe and my temp came out a little high - he went ahead and checked my hemoglobin levels. And I failed. (He kindly checked my other hand, as sometimes results vary - why, I have no idea - and, in fact, my right hand was definitely closer to the goal, but still failed. And that was that. Back in the truck and drove home dejectedly.
Of course, by then it was getting time to make dinner, and because of the delays at the blood drive, this meant I couldn't go to TKD. Again.
After dinner I set about taking the flat tire off my car and putting the stupid "donut" tire on, a feat that fascinated my kids. "Wow, mom can change her own tires!" :)) Walked the dog, as usual.
Fri: OMG, finally a day without anything specific scheduled! Got up early to walk with Rob on the treadmill, as it was too hot for him to do it outside. MiniPlu and I ran a couple of errands, returning a pair of shoes I'd bought her that didn't work out, and looking for gym shorts and a new strapless bra for her, neither of which we were successful with. I was exhausted from the busy week (also, I hadn't slept more than 6 hours any given night, and sometimes a lot less) so I think I took another nap. In the evening, MiniPlu had arranged for a birthday surprise for a friend who never does much to celebrate: MiniPlu and 2 other friends converged on the birthday girl (it was her 16th the previous weekend), "kidnapped" her and took her out to dinner. This had all been arranged with the girl's mom, and she'd made a cake in secret. Anyway, I drove everyone to the birthday girl's house, and then on to dinner at Red Robin (sit-down burger place); the girl's mom picked everyone up and took them back to her house for cake and gifts, then kindly took everyone home after. Two and I played a game in the evening, but it was otherwise quiet.
Sat: We hadn't been to our favorite diner all summer, so we made plans to go out for brunch, including one of MiniPlu's friends (who loves food) to come with us. In the afternoon, Karen, Two and I fed the roses, Karen took my tire off to be repaired (I offered, but was given other tasks to do instead), we went to church and then after dinner, Karen and I went to see Crazy Rich Asians, ourselves. Definitely not my most productive day ever, but after the week I'd had, I kind of needed that!
Crazy Rich Asians: I liked it, but wasn't wowed by it, except for the jaw-dropping displays of wealth. For a RomCom, there was surprisingly little "Com." I mean, yes, there were some laughs, but there were also a lot of "Oh, shit" moments of tension, way more in the way of that sort of drama than there were comedic moments. Rachel, a cheerful, intelligent Asian-American woman is taken back to Singapore to meet her boyfriend Nick's family and attend his best friend's wedding, but hasn't the faintest notion that Nick comes from one of the region's wealthiest families, and pretty much everyone in his circle is, well, "crazy rich" too. Everyone judges Rachel for her humble roots, American attitudes and/or they judge her jealously for snagging Singapore's most eligible bachelor. Hardly anyone is kind - Nick's ... sister? SIL? (Not sure) is nice, and the bridal couple are nice, there's a flamboyantly gay cousin who likes her, and Rachel's best friend from college (whose Singaporean family really did bring the laughs - it was like an Asian "Meet the Robinson's" family - a bunch of benevolent kooks) and pretty much everyone else is a shallow bitch, focused solely on family obligation and/or the trappings of wealth, not at all interested in getting to know Rachel or seeing any value in her. So, yeah, it was a well-done movie, but with a lot of tough situations and people you want to slap.
Today was mostly just the usual chores and errands, but there was one big moment: I ran 10 miles! (16km) Haven't run that far in ages - the farthest was 8 miles 3 weeks ago. Only 4 miles were outside - my hip started hurting a little and it was getting warmer - and the rest on the treadmill, watching old Friends eps. But, see, I've been wanting wanting wanting to run in ONE more half-marathon. For a long time, I wasn't really sure I had one more left in me, but I really wanted there to be. As my running has gotten slowly better again this summer, I started looking for possible races to motivate me, until I stumbled upon a trail race in PA in early Nov (our running-shoe store advertised it), the week before we go to Disney World. Except for one big hill in the beginning, the entire path is very slightly downhill. The trail surface is easy to run on - I've done it for the half-marathon relay we did for several years (different part of the trail, but presumably the same idea). But in order to have any confidence that I could manage a half marathon again, I had to be able to run 10 miles - that's the minimum recommended for training. (The theory is: if you can make it to 10, you can grind out the final 3 on race day without too much trouble.) I confess I'm kind of scared to commit, but I think I'm going to register, and pray my running stays fairly strong until then. Fingers crossed!
And, finally: we're in the home stretch! School starts on Wed. I'd carefully planned on a Me Day that day, only to be asked on Sat evening if I would attend a substitute-staff meeting with the middle school principal that day. Sigh. I know it won't really take that long, but I'm still a little disappointed to have to work - even briefly - on my Me Day!
Tues: Freshman Orientation, which meant Two and I had to be up at 6:15a so he could catch the 6:45a bus. Also, I've been trying to get up early to walk with Rob, as he wants company for safety reasons (in case he were to, say, collapse en route), so we actually left on our walk before the bus had arrived. I texted him to be sure pickup had gone smoothly, and Two, being a typical male (in case there was any doubt about his gender identity), responded like this:
Me: Any problems with the bus?
Two: No.
Me: Were there any other kids at your stop?
Two: Yes.
*eyeroll* I decided to hold off any further questions until he got home and I could potentially pry more details out of him. :-P Not that he had much to say later on, either, but at least I got the general gist. He'd been given another copy of his schedule, except this one had two 4th-block classes in the first semester and no 2nd-block classes in the second semester. (I did eventually get this straightened out, a couple of days later.)
Anyway, Two was gone until about 11:45a. Meanwhile, I walked 2 miles with Rob and then ran 2 miles on the treadmill (normally I run 3 miles, but I was a little pushed for time and I didn't want to work too hard the day after my colonoscopy), cleaned up and went out the door to work for the elementary librarian at 9a, doing various set-up tasks. I stayed until 1:30p, at which point I had to go home, grab a snack, then leave immediately with MiniPlu to do our 2-4p shift at the dog shelter. Then, at 5:45p Will took Two back to the high school to pick up his Chromebook, and I took MiniPlu and a friend to the movies (they saw Crazy Rich Asians). Thankfully, the friend's parents drove MiniPlu home so I didn't have to run out again. But because I was running MiniPlu out to the movies, I wasn't able to go to TKD. Walked the dog in the icky sticky humidity - but at least it wasn't quite as hot, being evening.
Wed: MiniPlu and I had signed up for an info session and tour of Bryn Mawr; we had to be there by 10a, and it's normally a 60-90 min drive. Since it was the tail end of rush hour, it was about 1:10 that day, so we left around 8:45a. The info session was held in a little conference room with all the prospective girls sitting at the wooden table with the speaker, while parents sat in chairs that lined the walls. The tour had an interesting bonus: it was Freshman Move-in Day, so along with the various buildings and such, we got to see how the school welcomed new students - the various teams in their themed t-shirts, how well it was organized, etc. I twisted my ankle missing a step as we came out of the campus center building, which I could have done without, but otherwise, it was a very positive experience overall. MiniPlu loved it, as in "I would move in tomorrow if I could." I had to agree - the campus was gorgeous, everyone seemed friendly, and the school emphasizes a lot of the same things I loved about PO, from student-faculty interaction to the non-competitive atmosphere to how they structure freshman dorm groups of kids so that they have an early built-in friend group to get them started. There's a train station 2 blocks away to whisk you off to Philly in about 20 mins. And, like Scripps, although both schools are women's colleges, they both have working relationships with nearby co-ed schools, so it's not, as the admissions officer put it, like there's a 10-foot wall around the school with a sign that says "NO BOYS ALLOWED." ;-) In the case of Bryn Mawr, Haverford College is both geographically closest (1 mile), and the one Bryn Mawr has the closest relationship with, but students can also take classes and make use of events and facilities at Swarthmore and UPenn.
Anyway, it's possible that over the next year or so we'll visit a school MiniPlu loves more, but right now, Bryn Mawr is the one to beat.
Oh, and on an unrelated note: our tour guide, a senior, was wearing a tshirt that said, "I don't want to look or be Cis." :D
After the tour, MiniPlu and I went back to the campus center in order to get MiniPlu a tshirt at the school bookstore, then drove a little around the nearby town to get a feel for it and look for a place for lunch, although, in the end, we just got sandwiches at Wawa. We were home around 2:30p, at which point I collapsed for a short nap. Then the kids had therapy from 4-6p (MiniPlu 4-5p, Two 5-6p). The therapist left a little late which meant I couldn't get to TKD - yet again - but that also meant that Will asked me to take MiniPlu to her 6:30p piano lesson so he could go to bed early (he was heading to PA the following day). I wanted to get ice cream at the little shop across the street from music lessons, but I had misplaced the $5 bill MiniPlu's friend had paid me as reimbursement for her pre-purchased movie ticket, and that had been my only cash on hand, so no ice cream for me. :( Walked the dog in the evening, even though it was still unbearably humid out.
Thurs: I ran 3 miles before it got even more miserably hot and humid (my twisted ankle was stiff if I had to rotate it, but was fine for the straight-ahead motion of running and walking, thank goodness), then promptly mowed the lawn as long as I was already sweaty. After I cleaned up, I had the laundry and grocery run I usually do on Thursdays, then MiniPlu and I were back at the dog shelter 2-4p. I was scheduled to donate blood at 4:45p a few towns away, about 15-20 min drive, so, again, I had hardly any time at home before I had to turn around and head out again.
One problem, however. As we were driving home from the shelter, MiniPlu asked about a dashboard light that had come on. It was the tire pressure alert, but I didn't give it much attention - my tires sometimes run a little low, and the alert system has sometimes been wonky (although I got that fixed last spring). It was as I was dashing back out to the blood donation appointment, though, that I stopped to properly look at my tires and - sure enough, I had a flat on the driver's side front. Argh! I ran back in and asked my BIL if I could borrow *his* car, although it's been shifting weirdly for awhile so he's been avoiding driving it, himself. He said that was fine, but since the car had been sitting for awhile, the battery turned out to be dead. This left my FIL's new pickup truck (remember that Will was in PA, so I couldn't take his car), which was still attached to the trailer we use for hauling stuff around. Thankfully, Rob was free - and knowledgeable enough - to come out and disconnect the truck from the trailer so I could finally get away.
The Red Cross was running a bit behind when I got there, but they finally called me up to go through all the pre-donation stuff. I always tell the techs that my iron levels are often right on the border of pass/fail and that they should check that early in the process so as not to waste too much time if I failed that. So, after taking my temperature - twice, because the first time the guy didn't successfully get a cover on his probe and my temp came out a little high - he went ahead and checked my hemoglobin levels. And I failed. (He kindly checked my other hand, as sometimes results vary - why, I have no idea - and, in fact, my right hand was definitely closer to the goal, but still failed. And that was that. Back in the truck and drove home dejectedly.
Of course, by then it was getting time to make dinner, and because of the delays at the blood drive, this meant I couldn't go to TKD. Again.
After dinner I set about taking the flat tire off my car and putting the stupid "donut" tire on, a feat that fascinated my kids. "Wow, mom can change her own tires!" :)) Walked the dog, as usual.
Fri: OMG, finally a day without anything specific scheduled! Got up early to walk with Rob on the treadmill, as it was too hot for him to do it outside. MiniPlu and I ran a couple of errands, returning a pair of shoes I'd bought her that didn't work out, and looking for gym shorts and a new strapless bra for her, neither of which we were successful with. I was exhausted from the busy week (also, I hadn't slept more than 6 hours any given night, and sometimes a lot less) so I think I took another nap. In the evening, MiniPlu had arranged for a birthday surprise for a friend who never does much to celebrate: MiniPlu and 2 other friends converged on the birthday girl (it was her 16th the previous weekend), "kidnapped" her and took her out to dinner. This had all been arranged with the girl's mom, and she'd made a cake in secret. Anyway, I drove everyone to the birthday girl's house, and then on to dinner at Red Robin (sit-down burger place); the girl's mom picked everyone up and took them back to her house for cake and gifts, then kindly took everyone home after. Two and I played a game in the evening, but it was otherwise quiet.
Sat: We hadn't been to our favorite diner all summer, so we made plans to go out for brunch, including one of MiniPlu's friends (who loves food) to come with us. In the afternoon, Karen, Two and I fed the roses, Karen took my tire off to be repaired (I offered, but was given other tasks to do instead), we went to church and then after dinner, Karen and I went to see Crazy Rich Asians, ourselves. Definitely not my most productive day ever, but after the week I'd had, I kind of needed that!
Crazy Rich Asians: I liked it, but wasn't wowed by it, except for the jaw-dropping displays of wealth. For a RomCom, there was surprisingly little "Com." I mean, yes, there were some laughs, but there were also a lot of "Oh, shit" moments of tension, way more in the way of that sort of drama than there were comedic moments. Rachel, a cheerful, intelligent Asian-American woman is taken back to Singapore to meet her boyfriend Nick's family and attend his best friend's wedding, but hasn't the faintest notion that Nick comes from one of the region's wealthiest families, and pretty much everyone in his circle is, well, "crazy rich" too. Everyone judges Rachel for her humble roots, American attitudes and/or they judge her jealously for snagging Singapore's most eligible bachelor. Hardly anyone is kind - Nick's ... sister? SIL? (Not sure) is nice, and the bridal couple are nice, there's a flamboyantly gay cousin who likes her, and Rachel's best friend from college (whose Singaporean family really did bring the laughs - it was like an Asian "Meet the Robinson's" family - a bunch of benevolent kooks) and pretty much everyone else is a shallow bitch, focused solely on family obligation and/or the trappings of wealth, not at all interested in getting to know Rachel or seeing any value in her. So, yeah, it was a well-done movie, but with a lot of tough situations and people you want to slap.
Today was mostly just the usual chores and errands, but there was one big moment: I ran 10 miles! (16km) Haven't run that far in ages - the farthest was 8 miles 3 weeks ago. Only 4 miles were outside - my hip started hurting a little and it was getting warmer - and the rest on the treadmill, watching old Friends eps. But, see, I've been wanting wanting wanting to run in ONE more half-marathon. For a long time, I wasn't really sure I had one more left in me, but I really wanted there to be. As my running has gotten slowly better again this summer, I started looking for possible races to motivate me, until I stumbled upon a trail race in PA in early Nov (our running-shoe store advertised it), the week before we go to Disney World. Except for one big hill in the beginning, the entire path is very slightly downhill. The trail surface is easy to run on - I've done it for the half-marathon relay we did for several years (different part of the trail, but presumably the same idea). But in order to have any confidence that I could manage a half marathon again, I had to be able to run 10 miles - that's the minimum recommended for training. (The theory is: if you can make it to 10, you can grind out the final 3 on race day without too much trouble.) I confess I'm kind of scared to commit, but I think I'm going to register, and pray my running stays fairly strong until then. Fingers crossed!
And, finally: we're in the home stretch! School starts on Wed. I'd carefully planned on a Me Day that day, only to be asked on Sat evening if I would attend a substitute-staff meeting with the middle school principal that day. Sigh. I know it won't really take that long, but I'm still a little disappointed to have to work - even briefly - on my Me Day!