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Saturday
Saturday was my big day. I had signed up for Mud Girl, which is a mud race for women of all shapes and sizes. I was feeling a bit anxious when I woke, but I forced myself to go anyway. And I made it! It was 3 miles with 17 obstacles. 4 of them I couldn’t do – two required more balance than I have (one was a tight rope) and two of them were impossible to do alone. Yes, I could have asked for help, but I’m shy. Apparently one doesn’t do this race alone, though, because the photographer at the end was really confused why my group hadn’t joined me for the picture. It never occurred to me that it was strange to go alone. But I didn’t see anyone else alone. Afterwards, I was too lazy to go through the hose off and change lines, so I drove home muddy.
M11, IL4, dad, Aaron and I then went to Olive Garden for dinner. I overate my calorie budget, but I don’t do that frequently and did work out that morning, so I guess it’s ok. Aaron and I went out afterwards for a few beers (M11 successfully babysat without dad killing one of the kids) and then we watched The Imitation Game.
Sunday
Sunday I slept in – I had intended on taking my dad to church, but I was tired. I worked for a while, Aaron took IL4 to swim lessons, and then we had a family day. It was D13’s choice, and she wanted to watch Psych.
Monday
Monday started out calmly enough. I made some split pea soup for Aaron’s lunches this week and took D13 to an appointment. While I was in the waiting room, I saw a post by a blogger friend, who said she had tried Jersey Mike’s and loved it. I’d never been there before, but had just been about to go to Subway, so I decided to try out Jersey Mike’s. It was totally worth it.
Then, I took IL4 to the post office and library in the stroller. It was a beautiful day, and a great walk. We did our usual library routine – play with toys, play on computer (he drew a rainbow with the correct color order!), pick out books, run and hide from mommy while her hands are full so she needs to cumbersomely peek down every aisle…
When I had him all strapped in again and left the library, half the sky was dark and the other half sunny. I had checked the weather before coming to the library, so I was confident it wasn’t going to rain. If it did, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. The books were protected under the stroller.
Sure enough, we were dry when we arrived home. I situated IL4 in front of the TV, stuck the stroller in the garage, and brought in the books. Literally mere moments after my butt hit that chair, the front door creakily blew open (it doesn’t latch well). I got up to close it and looked outside. The wind was whipping the trees every which way.
I thought “Wow. If we had left only a few minutes later, we’d’ve been walking home in that.” Still. I just sat there listening to the thunder and watching the trees blow in the wind out the window. After 5-10 minutes, it was gone.
D13 went outside to turn the tomato plants upright (sweet girl). She popped her head back in. “Problem.” I raised my eyebrows. “Big problem.” She widened her eyes to help me read her thoughts. “What is it?” I unconcernedly asked. “The tree! Fell on the fence!”
Sure thing it had! This gigantic old tree in our backyard had a wide trunk and four sections came out, all with heavy branches. 3 of those sections fell, filling our entire yard, and some of our neighbor’s, with tree. The neighbor’s brand-new-last-year fence was crushed. I ran over next door to tell them to check on their ducks, since my tree was on their coop. Luckily the ducks were fine. The coop was really sturdy.
After that, I coached soccer and after some initial reluctance since we accidentally brought one of IL4’s frosting-“soup” concoctions in a water bottle thinking it was water, IL4 ran around on the field in his purple jersey.
Tuesday
Tuesday was hard. I came home from work to a grumpy M11. Then I had to drag said grouch to an amusement park with his sister, where they grouched at each other as we roasted in the 90 degree weather. We decided to leave early and go to lunch. But then they had a disagreement on whether it was ok to kill family if they were a zombie, and the grouchiness continued.
I had a tree guy over to look at the fallen tree. They’re coming on Friday to remove it. Then my friend Liz came over and we watched some Doctor Who. (We’re on series 6.) Then back to work.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, after job #1, I went to job #2, ran errands, then coached soccer. It was really, really hot. IL4 played on field once and in goal once. D13 came to help, since Aaron went out with his friends. I got my new glasses, but only M11 noticed.
Thursday
Thursday, I woke up slightly manic. My head was racing and it was also screaming at me. I muddled through my morning tasks at work and went to my sleep doctor for a follow up of my sleep test. The overnight one was normal – so no apnea or restless leg syndrome. The daytime one, where I took 5 20 minute naps every 2 hours, was off, though. I met the criteria for idiopathic hypersomnia because I fell asleep too fast in those naps. (Average is 8-15, mine was 5.) But she didn’t want to treat it because the treatment is a stimulant medication, which I can’t take because of my bipolar disorder. However, she thinks the drowsiness is from my medications and isn’t neurological.
On the way home, I got stalled on the busy interstate with no gas. First time I’ve ever run out of gas. Ooops. I called AAA, and let me tell you, the confidence with which he stood there filling my tank with cars buzzing by at 70mph inches from his butt was incredible.
After that, I went to get a massage with dad. I would have listened to an audiobook while getting massaged, but that day my brain was screaming at me. When that’s going on, the less outside stimulus, the better. So I just let my brain run wild while I got my massage. You know what? The massage made my mania go away. I wonder if that’s repeatable.
Aaron went to a BBQ with his friends in the evening, so I hung out with the kids.
Friday
Friday I tried to relax as much as I could while watching IL4. After work, I took him to speech therapy. We watched the fallen tree being removed. Later in the day I took M11 to tap dance. I tried to quit because I feel bad keeping the class back, but the teacher won’t let me if she has any say in it. Then I read while IL4 and M11 played in the newly cleared yard. We’re planning on getting our other big tree removed so it doesn’t fall, but they told me they’d come back another day to quote that – probably because they couldn’t get a good look at it with that big fallen tree all over our yard (it was a very large tree).
Week’s Photos
Letters Written
- 1 letter Louisiana
- 1 letter Maine
- 1 letter Alberta, Canada
Reading to myself
- Babel, by R F Kuang
- Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
- Cursed, ed by Marie O’Regan
- Mr Ballen podcast
- Untangled, by Lisa Damour
- Mahabharata
- Loki and Sigyn, by Lea Svendson
Reading to IL4
- Sparkly New Friends, by Heather Ayris Burnell
- Cheer Up!, By Heather Ayris Burnell
- DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink!, By Tom Angleberger
- Caveboy is a Hit!, By Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
- Unicorn and Yeti: Together!, By Heather Ayris Burnell
M10 reading
- Working on his Cyber Chip for Scouts
D13 reading
- Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
- Flashback, by Shannon Messenger
- Legacy, by Shannon Messenger
Aaron reading
- A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher
Media Completed
In this 1830’s England alternate history / fantasy, 4 students join a prestigious translation institute which uses magical silver bars that the British Empire is using to oppress people in foreign lands. It is a book about the evils of colonialism. Babel has had a lot of rave reviews, but it was just ok to me. The magical concept was novel, but there was more etymology than necessary, making the book long. I also get the point made about violence being necessary to end oppression, though that message doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t think innocent people should die, regardless of what race they are.
In this third installment of the DJ Funkyfoot books, Mr Funkyfoot finally finds a fancy employer – a famous opera-singing pig. But he is very demanding – if in a fancy way.
Eva the owl finds a lost pony when returning home one day after a storm. This is another installment of the Owl Diaries, which is a cute series for 1st graders to read. It’s a Branches book, which is meant to introduce young kids to chapter books, though these are not chapter books. They are, however, longer than most picture books, and shaped like a big kid paperback.
Exercise / Weight Loss
Weight: X – 40lbs
Another 10lbs before I surpass my next goal of weighing less than Aaron.
Hibernator's Library 
Yayyyy Jersey Mike’s!!! I’m glad you went and that you loved it. My Jersey Mike’s is within walking distance so I’m going there as soon as it cools down enough to walk there on my lunch break.
That’s so cool that you did that Mud Girl thing! And all by yourself!
Oh no!!! Sorry about the tree and all the damage. Glad the ducks weren’t hurt.
LOLing at this: Then I had to drag said grouch to an amusement park with his sister, where they grouched at each other
And this: they had a disagreement on whether it was ok to kill family if they were a zombie, and the grouchiness continued.
Wow…that AAA guy putting gas in your car with cars whizzing by. Scary!
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Yeah, there’s more to the zombie story that makes it really bizarre, but it involves someone who’d be embarrassed by the detail, so I left it out.
My Jersey Mike’s is also within walking distance. During the school year, I get D13 a sandwich to eat after her Monday appointment because it happens during lunch. So I’ll probably switch to Jersey Mike’s.
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