Real Life is also Happening

Taking a brief pause from vacation recapping (which I have enjoyed so much, thank you for following along! The kids and James's very favorite day is yet to come) to reintroduce the real life that is happening between my reminisces. Because as it always does when we come back from our August vacations, real life yanked us right back in.

The kids started school on Monday.

Our Superintendent's mask mandate got overturned by a local judge the day before school started when a group of parents who REALLY want their children to have the opportunity to catch Covid sued to block it. My kids are in masks anyway, particularly my not-yet-old-enough-to-be-vaccinated girl children, but they're in the minority. So in this time of a more contagious variant that is affecting more children, we have no protocols, no spacing, no masks, and no virtual school option. So, with that intro, it's back to school pictures! Everything is FINE.

Cora is in 2nd grade and confidently marched her way into school all by herself. I can't believe we only have one elementary schooler left- it's so weird to run her off to school at 7:30 and come back to find two big kids just getting out of bed.

I thought the return might be a little rough because she has to get up so early, but she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed each morning and was delighted by the return of homework and worksheets.

Claire started 6th grade - MIDDLE SCHOOL - and was a tiny bit nervous and lot bit excited. She required one extra hug when she got out of the car, but crossed the street and walked into school with a smile.

At the end of the day she BURST into the house, already telling me all about her day and how middle school is the BEST and all her classes are GREAT and she made two new friends and etc etc etc. She is in Theater and Choir and loves them both.

Landon is now in 8th grade, his last year before high school, which honestly blows my mind a little. He hopped out of the car early to walk the rest of the way to school with a friend, had a great day, and generally feels like he has middle school handled.

James doesn't start the swim school again until this Monday, so he was available to help pick up the kids each day. I have no idea what we're going to do next week when he's gone (finally!) at his indoor pool from 2-7 each day. I'm not excited about adding an after-school nanny, but I also don't know how I can get the kids from 3 schools every day or get them to swimming, soccer, and volleyball and continue working full time from home in my very busy job. This will all start tomorrow and I'm still just ignoring the problem completely because I don't know how to do a regular school year in an irregular world except to keep everyone in masks, generally only be near people outside, and get the girls vaccinated as soon as possible. And find a nanny. I guess.

Speaking of not leaving the house, we've really been enjoying the weekly Disney Plus shows. The kids have never had a show they had to wait 7 days between episodes and the anticipation adds a whole other level of anticipation and excitement. We loved Mighty Ducks and Big Shot and are now working through Turner & Hooch and The Mysterious Benedict Society. It makes for a great Friday or Saturday night tradition. Milo also watches. Or watches the snacks anyway.

Except this past Friday we had a mini pool party to let the kids wind out their week with splashing and pizza. My friend Kim brought over her goats and Maggie was THRILLED to be reunited with her goat pack.

She really does love them and they stuck very close together when she was outside.

In our biggest event of the last week (besides starting school and all), I took the kids to see Wicked yesterday!! After waiting months since I bought the tickets (and really, YEARS, since it became clear James was only pretending to like musicals while we were dating), I finally got to take the kids to see a broadway play and they LOVED IT.

It was so phenomenally well done and a perfect first show for the kids. I'd seen it many times (it was resident in Chicago while we lived there and I took everyone who visited me), but it had been 10 years since I saw it last and I'd forgotten just how fun it is. You could tell the audience was so excited to be there and the performers were as good or better than the original cast (LOVED this tour's Elphaba and Glinda).

We've been listening to the soundtrack non-stop since we left the theater.

I look forward to so many more Musicals with Mom in our future. James takes them to swim meets, I take them to plays. I actually just treated myself to Season Tickets for the Broadway Series at Bass Concert Hall this year with a friend and I can't wait to start adding seats to my block to bring the kids in future years. Watching musicals and singing to the sandtracks was a huge part of my childhood and I'm thrilled to pass it on.

Also thrilling - these post-its I found at Target when picking up some last minute school supplies for the kids. Rainbow colored list making? The perfect post-it for meny planning? I cannot even tell you how much they made my Monday.

Meanwhile, the cats would like to know why I'm 15 minutes late for their dinner reservation. New post-its are no excuse.

Maggie went to the vet for a checkup on Tuesday and was proclaimed in perfect health. This might be the only time we've gone to the vet and NOT left with a new prescription and we were both very excited. The vet is one of her very favorite places and she kept trotting off back to the exam room while I was trying to check out. She remains just the very best.

On food, I've updated our menu for this week below, but have to note from last week that this Tomato Soup was FANTASTIC. Best one I've ever made. Creamy without cream and so much flavor. Highly recommend, I followed the directions precisely and was duly rewarded.

I hope you all have a great week ahead- with something to be excited about and something fluffy to snuggle with when you're tired.

Tomorrow it's back to hiking recaps while very much wishing we were still there!

Menu
Sun: Rainbow Chicken Salad
Mon: Summer Chicken Soup (green beans instead of zucchini)
Tues: Bean and Beef Taquitos, Brown Rice, Avocado, Tomato
Wed: Take-Out Pizza Fundraiser Night for School
Thurs: Greek Pasta Salad with Chicken, Naan, Tzatziki Sauce
Fri: Meaty Spaghetti (ground beef + jar pasta + whole wheat pasta - easy as it gets at the end of the week)
Sat: Caprese Gnocchi (gnocchi, pesto, small mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes)
Sun: Tuna Melts

Food and Football and Other Updates

We're settled back in at home in Fort Worth, returning to work (at home) and school and swim lessons (also still at home), and the snowy mountains seem very far away.

Which is too bad because I really feel like I have all my very best minimal effort hair days there. My skin may hate the dry Colorado air (though I'm absolutely loving this serum to layer on top of my CE Ferulic and this Laneige moisturizer at night, and feel like my skin was pretty happy on this trip), but my normally half-curly unruly hair LOVES it.

Speaking of love, we picked up Maggie on Friday morning from Doggie Camp where she had a fabulous time, but had to spend her first 28 hours at home recharging in her crate. She snored loudly, skipped dinner, could not be roused to go outside before bed, and finally blinked her eyes open mid-morning on Saturday and decided to rejoin the family.

We missed her!

Moose was EXTREMELY cuddly and also highly annoyed when we returned home- scampering away when we walked towards him and then jumping on our laps to nuzzle our faces anytime we sat down. After two days of constant cuddles he's now returned to his usual schedule of supervising the house from a near distance and sleeping by Landon's feet at night.

On the human side, James went another best time in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke before we left, breaking the US Master's National Records in both events, and generally surpassing all expectations for a 39-year-old swimmer with 3 kids and 2 companies and not a lot of free time. He wrote an article about his training that you can read on Swim Swam!

Landon, after much doubt and back and forth, decided to try out for 7th grade football, so now we're all learning the rules of this sport I somehow grew up in Texas without learning a thing about.

As research-focused as his mother when approaching anything new, Landon watched a bunch of YouTube videos over the weekend and James stayed up with him the night before try-outs began watching an old Super Bowl game to teach him the positions and basic rules.

And despite some extreme nerves and discomfort in a sport he's never tried, he did great and came home each night of try-outs bursting with football news, rules, and terminology.

We have purchased cleats, a mouthguard, knee pads, gloves, and a football girdle- something I did not know was a thing and which provided some interesting Amazon results before I searched for it properly. My algorithm is so confused. He's a 2nd string running back (yes? this is a thing? I still have some studying to do myself) and his first game is Tuesday night.

Claire was named Wrangler of the Month at school and she was very excited. My parents treated her to Crumbl cookies to celebrate and she got to pick one of her very own that she didn't even have to share.

Claire continues to love long family car rides, the 3 Pitch Perfect movies, and playing all the music always.

Cora continues to read, color, build legos, ride her bike and scooter and roller blades, and generally do everything the big kids do but louder.

She loves to draw and hand drew this Mona Lisa picture after watching a video about Leonardo DaVinci.

While in Colorado Cora spent a lot of time looking out my parents' binoculars they keep hanging by their patio windows. One afternoon, after she'd been gazing for a long time, she pulled the binoculars down in a huff and hotly declared, I have not even seen one SINGLE moose!, and marched back downstairs.

Luckily we found her one at the playground.

And I am back in my corner in the bedroom, working away. James finished painting our walls teal and I love them. I added new curtains and the whole space makes me as happy as an office in my bedroom could possibly make me. I do love our new windows that can open (last year's big home improvement update) and these can slide from the top down or bottom up and I love all the fresh air coming from the top half while I work in my usual uniform of Vuori joggers, fuzzy socks, and comfortable but camera-acceptable top (and hair that isn't nearly as happy in Texas as it is in Colorado).

I do hope to one day return to the office; my brain does better when I can separate work from home (and when I LEAVE THE HOUSE), but I've made it a year and only had to double my Prozac to mostly remain myself to those who matter the most to me.

And finally, food:

Fri: Feel Good Fall Salad, with added grilled chicken and apple.
Sat: Surprise Night Out! We rediscovered a gift card to a local Mexican restaurant and decided a beautiful day full of chores and closet cleaning deserved a night out on a patio with queso.
Sun: Garlic Herb Spaghetti with Chicken Meatballs, salad. A family favorite!
---
Mon: Summer Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad (note: I use the cilantro dressing from TJ's because it's close enough to the recipe and way easier)
Tues: Grandma Jo's Navy Bean Soup (recipe below), bread.
Wed: Ground beef tacos, mexican rice, refried black beans, toppings.
Thurs: Sheet Pan BBQ Meatballs with Pineapple, frozen steamed brown rice, broccoli.
Fri: Homemade Pizza, whatever veggies or fruits are left in the fridge on the side.
Sat: Cheeseburger Sliders, oven fries, raw veg or fruit.
Sun: Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, naan.
---
Mon: Oven Jambalaya, sauted green beans, cheddar biscuits.
Tues: Tamales (from frozen), Mexican rice, refried black beans, toppings.
Wed: Chicken Meatballs with Peppers and Orzo (using leftover from the double batch I made on Sunday), side salad.
Thurs: Frozen Panko Crusted Cod (from Costco), parmesan orzo, frozen mixed vegetables.
Fri: Houston for Easter, so whatever delicious thing Gigi serves.

Grandma Jo's Navy Bean Soup

Ingredients:
Bag dry navy beans
6 cups chicken stock
1 onion, chopped
2-4 celery stalks, chopped
2-4 carrots, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp Bouquet Garni
1 small can evaporated milk
1-2 smoked turkey drumsticks

Directions:
1. Soak beans using overnight or quick soak method.
2. Drain water. Place beans in crock pot or dutch oven.
3. Add all remaining ingredients except evaporated milk.
4. Simmer 3+ hours.
5. About an hour before serving: (a) remove turkey drumsticks, strip meat and return to pot; (b) add evaporated milk to pot.

Victories, Big and Small

I realized after posting that I forgot my favorite picture from the snow last week. Maggie the intrepid snow dog caught a snowflake on her tongue and it was perfect.

She also realized her paws were getting wet and she maybe did not like the snow and went back inside. And so for the last week of chilly rainy yucky weather, she has looked at me like this in the foyer every time I've tried to take her outside for a potty break. I usually end up carrying her.

Mostly she spends her time in the girls' old Pottery Barn Kids chairs. We do love hand-me-downs.

We've had some exciting news this week, so let's round up the family members.

First, Moose and Maggie.

Every morning for several hours, Moose hunts squirrels from behind this window in our bedroom, and every morning, Maggie comes to join him. I’m certain Maggie has no idea why they’re sitting in front of the glass, nor has she ever noticed a squirrel, but she understands this vigil is expected as part of Moose’s pack and she’s here for him 100%.

All the rain has made Maggie a bit rambuctious and she's been playing with and chasing Moose SO MUCH and then suddenly she will just freeze and deflate and switch to charging mode. It cracks me up and seems to really confuse Moose, who will bat at her face for a bit before giving up until the charge is complete.

In human news, James went a new lifetime best time in his 100 breaststroke earlier this year (and then dropped his time a little more after that) and his times were certified as U.S. Masters National Records!

He is the fastest (and 2nd fastest!) 35-39 year old man in the 100 breaststroke ever in the US (and the 50 breast, based on his split halfway through) and you guys, how lucky am I to have locked this guy down when he was 19?

Hotter (and faster!) every year I swear.

I, on the other hand, dropped teaching at TCU this semester because work was making it stressful and impossible and took a break teaching barre on the weekends to recharge and spend time with the kids because work has been so busy that my 60 minute barre break on Sunday was now more draining than fun, so I went like 5 weeks doing absolutely no workouts at all until I had enough of feeling slovenly and terrible and downloaded the Down Dog, Barre Dog, and HIIT Dog apps and I love them.

Particularly HIIT dog- so cutomstizable, great exercises, great music, and only $15/year to use all three.

I've worked out every work day for the last two weeks and if you could see what my call schedule has been like you'd see the committment combined with miracle dust that has required.

I wake up at 6:45 and put on leggings and a sports bra before I can think about it, throw a fluffy pullover on top to check in on James and the kids getting ready for school. I do the girls' hair while they pause their breakfasts and then hug them goodbye, kick the pets out of my room, and close the door. I log in to my work computer by 7 to check email and see if I missed anything that needs a response before I begin, then I roll out my yoga mat under the skylights and do 35-40 mins of HIIT followed by 15-20 mins of barre or yoga, depending on when my first call starts. Maybe I shower, maybe I don't (video calls don't care #WFHLife), and since I'm already logged in I can work out until the exact minute of my dial-in. This plan doesn't require me to get up earlier than I normally do and makes feel like I've done something on even my busiest days.

It's always annoying when I make excuses not to exercise for weeks and then when I finally do I'm like, dammit that does feel great, now I have to keep doing this, but it does.

Also, it's Day 93 and that feels fucking great too.

Also great- I got a new tinted moisturizer that gives me the littlest bit of coverage for video calls, but doesn't make me feel like I've got full makeup on for yet another day that I won't leave the house. The combo makes me feel really good and required me to finally learn how to use a beauty blender, and you guys, those makeup articles from like 12 years ago are right, the sponge is really the way to go.

Next up is Landon! After much stress and waffling, he decided to try out for the 7th grade basketball team and it was SO nerve-wracking to watch him put himself out there, risk failure in an activity that is defintely not his strongest, and know that no matter how blase he tried to sound, he was super nervous because he thought he maybe had a shot and making the team mattered to him an awful lot. (Then he banged his head playing in the front yard the night before and spent the morning before Day 1 tryouts icing his head with frozen mixed vegetables and eating bagels.) Watching your fledgling attempt to jump out of the nest in a new way is such a brutiful part of parenting.

And after two days of try-outs, he found out he made it! We are SO PROUD of him- for trying, for making it, for having this experience that scared him. And I'm just thankful he can having something a little normal for this second year of middle school. The players and coaches wear masks the whole time and games will be live-streamed without spectators and we can't wait to sit at home and watch. He got to pick dessert for the night and went with cookie cake and ice cream. Always a winning combination.

Claire doesn't have any big news, but I do have this story that is one of those regular, every day kind of laughter-filled interactions I always wish I could rush to the computer to try to capture because it's the every day that I will miss so much when they're grown.

[Open Scene] Kitchen, 7:25 a.m. Wednesday morning. The girls are eating breakfast at the table, James is standing in the kitchen with one arm around me and the other holding his pre-workout banana. I'm wondering whether I have time to brew a cup of tea before running the girls to school and Landon is packing his lunch so it'll be ready when he gets back from swim practice. When I'm in charge of the mornings, which is only once a week when James does a morning practice with Landon, I like to turn on music, so Warrior by Avril Lavigne is playing on the ceiling speakers. My anti-pop music husband is shaking his head.

James: Claire can't handle that playing in the morning.

Me: What?! We love music! It's motivating!

James, looks meaningfully in Claire's direction.

Claire, singing passionately into the tiny multivitamin I reminded her to eat 4 minutes ago.

Me: You might have a point.

Cora, cracking up into her milk.

Landon, deadpans while walking by to get his shoes: Way to get after it Claire.

Cora, laughs harder. Can't swallow.

Claire, emerges from her solo back to the reality of the kitchen table: Why am I holding my vitamin?

Cora, gives up. Spits out the milk back into the cup.

[End scene]

They crack me up.

Cora has begun communicating subtle messags to use through her school work. This is one example of 100, all with the same theme.

We've been playing card games every night after dinner, which we all love and which encourages a lot more evening bonding in that time we have together before bed.

And that's about it for the last week or so. Some high highlights and everything else much the same. One other new highlight for me is starting out every morning, post-workout and pre-first-call with a cup of this amazing tea in my new favorite mug. I think I finally understand how coffee drinkers feel about their first cup because this tea is all I can think about for the last 15 minutes of my workout. A Christmas present from James turned pricey daily habit for me, I only treat myself to one bag a day, but it is SO strong and robust and amazing that it makes my whole morning brighter. I'm currently enjoying a box of the English Breakfast, but when it runs out I'm doing the Black Currant next. They come to about $1/day, so it's not Starbucks level bad (#RIPChaiLattes on the drive in the work), but really does feel like a treat each a.m.

And now ending as always on food:

Meals
Sat: Creamy Spinach Artichoke Chicken with Pasta, serving over whole wheat penne.
Sat: BBQ Salmon with Mango Salsa, served with black beans over brown rice
Mon: Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie, using Costco's mashed potatoes and an extra bag of mixed frozen vegetables
Tues: Beef Tacos, Mexican Rice, Refried Black Beans, Toppings
Wed: Leftover Spaghetti, frozen from the week before, side salad
Thurs: Creamy Chicken Enchilada Chili, corn chips, toppings
Fri: Homemade Pizza, possibly last week's Stromboli