Plodding along

 Minnie spent part of her mini fall break organizing her bookshelves

Also going out for tacos

And, of course, enjoying swim practice.

Speaking of enjoying! I restocked out freezer cookie dough stash just in time for Harry to visit for the weekend

And! I am still delighting in the horror movie weather that greets me on my morning runs

Other things:

It is EXAM SEASON. My 250-person class has regular quizzes on the written content and 4 big writing assignments instead of exams. My 100-person class has traditional essay exams, and I spent the whole day on Friday reworking the midterm. My large class that I supervise has exams, too, and writing those (and their accompanying answer key) is basically a job in and of itself. I can finally say CHECK AND CHECK to exam creation season (and have TAs to grade them), which means...

CLASS PREP SEASON is right around the corner. It is essential for my sanity that I start each semester FULLY PREPPED and ready to go with all course content (sometimes I finish exam-writing mid-semester, especially if the course content has recently undergone a change) ready to be delivered. I CANNOT respond to student questions and concerns, grade stuff, meet with TAs, AND develop the course all at the same time. So, I make sure course development is out of the way. Course prep in advance is easier than developing content as you go because it is not really time-sensitive, and I can get to it on a feast/famine cycle if I need to. Content for lecture HAS TO BE READY each week for lecture, and I would be seriously stressed if I were writing it right before class, you know? Content for next semester's lectures? If I have to work really hard for a few weeks and then do other stuff for a few weeks and then get back to working really hard-- that's all OK.

Next semester, I have a large lecture rhetorical theory class and an asynchronous online reproductive justice class, neither of which I have taught in a hot second. I am gearing up (which means staring into space in my silent office and thinking about stuff).

The filthy carpet in here is really diving me crazy. See the color change that looks like a shadow? NOT A SHADOW. Just the traffic pattern. Gah. 

Oh, fall. **sighs dreamily**

 

Notes from a WILD start to the semester

 I took a hot yoga class! And I did not even get sweaty! To be fair, it was only 45 mins and was a lovely flow. There was only one time when I confidently popped up in warrior 2 and found myself facing the rest of the class instead of the wall. Lefts and rights are hard **shrug.** I do think I went deeper than I normal would on some things (skandasana, I am looking at you) because the heat tricked me into thinking I was bendier than usual. I will definitely be back-- I think especially in the winter, it will feel amazing. 

I am still loving decide-once athleisure Thursday (but this week, I have class observations and will probably level up a teeny bit)

Speaking of decide once, I have basically worn the same thing to teach so far

And! The snack box decide-once is rolling into week 2

This week Dorothy is in the snack biz, and we have added nutella sandwiches.  (her box also has strawberries)

Ben and I have also instituted a Thursday night cocktail hour where we go out for ONE SINGLE DRINK and come home to watch Big Brother with the big kids (who definitely used to be the little kids). It's perfect and low stress-- no reservations, asking each other what we're hungry for. etc etc etc.

I am a little underwater in-- checks notes-- all areas of my life. I have barely been reading (thank goodness for audio books!), and class admin stuff is all encompassing. I have 400 undergrads of my very own this semester and supervise the teachers of 1000 more. I think things will slow down. But! That[s why I am writing this n a Tuesday and not a Monday. Blergh.

It is getting dark and cold here, you guys, and I lost my very favorite fuzzy fall coat! I wore it to the last department meeting of the year in May (eff you Madison for still having coat weather in MAY), and it disappeared. I have checked the lost and found, etc. (I think maybe it just fell out of my bag between my building and the car) SO, YOU GUYS. I bought a replacement (NEW WITH TAGS) on Poshmark for $18!!

My IG algo is almost entirely messy bun hacks, and I am rethinking my hair cut at the end of next month...

(Not really. I am growing out my gray hair, and I think the best way to do it is to get an aggressive trim every 4 months until the weird orange ends are gone. IN A FEW YEARS).

More later because we had the best tme at parents' weekend!

But let me just say by way of closing (spoiler: not really a closer coming up more like just onemore random thing in a series of random things-- you're welcome). THIS MOISTURIZER is so good I use every single bit. Highly recommend and very gentle on redness-prone skin.

Easing into fall like

 

So far, this semester's on-ramp has been really slow and long. We started with just school for the kids and diving. Then we did those things plus swim team for Minnie. This week, we add my classes finally meeting in-person (the academic calendar really screwed me over this year). Next week, the dance season begins. 

(Dorothy made all company teams and is supremely happy-- she'll have jazz, lyrical, commercial, and 2 hip hops.) 

(Her studio has three competitive levels-- crew for people doing just one hip hop dance and not planning to travel to nationals, club for people going to nationals in a variety of styles but not competing at the very highest level at regional comps and nationals, and company, which is where she wants to be. The company teams travel to the same regionals and nationals as the club teams, but they also go to another travel comp with an extra convention and are generally entered in a more competitive category at comps. In years past, she has had a mix of club and company dances, which has made comp weekends really long. This year, all of her dances are company, so she should theoretically have a more compact schedule-- which could be good and bad when you factor in quick changes.)

(While the summer is an 8-week-long audition, all kids do make the team, but they don't know until placements come out how many dances they've been cast in or what level dances they make. As parents we fill out a survey and note our highest commitment level and the max number of dances we want to pay for, but that doesn't mean our kids will be placed in that level or cast in that many routines. So-- all of this is to say that placement season is stressful and not just because of the Jenga-like after school schedule that we can't fully grasp until placements come out.)

By the last week of the month, we will be fully into our fall routine, and so far, a majority of the components are really working (cross your fingers!).

Things I like:

Dorothy and Cooper riding busses and me peacing out to go to campus after Annabel and I walk Dorothy to her bus

With eye patches

Running before the sun comes up. I did listen to an excellent Lazy Genius encore episode about leaving the house on time, and she said you have to decide if you linger in bed with your coffee, if this is worth being pressed for time. I decided that I do NOT want to be pressed for time, but I DO want to stay in bed and drink coffee and read a book just about every morning. And if that means my alarm goes off at 4:55, then so be it.

A reward for a pre-6am jog

Putting my food in My Fitness Pal the night before. This becomes a really good time to pack lunches for Dorothy, Minnie, and me and nag Cooper to either pack a lunch or make a lunch plan with friends, too.

Forgot my carefully packed breakfast and lunch the other day, so I hit Whole Foods on my way in with plans to eat my green beans and chicken wrap when I got home

Doing laundry for a family with only 3 kids. This task takes NO TIME AT ALL.

Picking one 20-minute upper body strength workout from Apple Fitness Plus for the week and doing it 5 times (M-F) in front of Abbot Elementary.

Game Night-- this was something Minnie initiated, and it's so fun. I find it to be much easier than a move night, which is interminable. SO far we have only played Hues and Cues and Sorry, but I have plans to order Magical Athlete.

Hosting teens at our house. This is so much better than driving all over town to drop them off an pick them up. Dorothy texted at lunch and asked if she could have 3 friends over on a Tuesday night while I would be gone at swim with Minnie, and they all rode home on the bus, made themselves a take and bake pizza, and ate the cookies I popped in the oven when she texted (a freezer of dough balls really is THE BEST. I added a double batch of Pioneer Woman triple chocolate cookies to the choc chip ones I already had). Coop had a basement full over to watch the Badgers, and it was a similar thing-- pizza, salty snacks, homemade cookies and a fire in the back yard. So easy, and we could drink wine on the couch like normal.

Early Fridays on campus. Thanks to Anne for getting me started on this with a lovely coffee meet up (where she gave me a practically brand new Nespresso machine, and where has that thing been my whole life? It's fab. The only downside is that I have to drop the pods for recycling at Sur La Table, and I literally cannot walk out of that place without buying stuff. I DO TRY THO). I am out the door before Minnie even goes to school, and I don't get sucked into driving anyone or buying them coffee and smoothies-- it is wonderful.

Things we are still figuring out

Cooper's Friday night and Saturday AM diving practices are throwing us for a bit of a loop because they are new schedule challenges. We're traveling quite a bit the next 2 months on weekends, so we won't settle into those routines until mid October (and then his HS season will start in November, turning everything on its ear again).

Living without any extra drivers. This one is particularly tough on me with our after school rigmarole, but Cooper has a lot of places he'd like to be, so even when Ben is home, too, we are taking him to tee times and football games and driving ranges and then collecting him. And then there are the random errands!! On his birthday eve, I realized I only had an odd assortment of candles, and he was like oh too bad Jack isn't here to go to the store. And while I could have driven to Target in the rain for candles, I love that he knew I definitely was not gonna.

1+1+1+1+1+3+7=15

Nailed it

Minnie's locker room situation. It's a swim team safe sport rule that parents cannot go in athlete locker rooms, which makes sense. Except when your athlete is 6. Right now it's fine because the weather is OK, but when it's freezing cold, I imagine she will need help changing out of her wet suit. Or maybe she'll figure it out by then. Either way, the logistics of getting her and her fins and kick board and swim cap and goggles onto the pool deck without assistance (parents stay in the viewing area) and then getting her soaking wet out to the car are... confusing. And that's just practice! I can't even imagine what meets are going to look like.

So cute though

LAST DAY OF AUGUST!

 Why are we the only people who are still Very Into the pool??

New! Dance! Season! Energy! Dorothy had 10 hours of choreography for jazz company over the weekend, and she had a blast, as usual.

Ben's parents came to town, nd we celenrated Minnie's birthday one! more! time!

DOrothy missed out on Sassy COw grilled cheese, so she ate Clvers in the car on the way to dance.

We all sat in the WAY BACK, with Ben and his dad in front and Minnie and her grandma in the second row.

Unlimited milk at this place.

Seriously the best grilled cheese.

Right now, we are in lovely Eau Claire moving Harry into his JUNIOR YEAR on-campus apartment. He did not want to live off campus or in the 12-month campus apartment lease options because he has previously adored his summer pool manager job and wanted to be able to come home without worrying about a sublet. But that left weird housing options, so he is going to see how this year is shaping up and be more proactive about meeting future housing deadlines. He is very excited to have his own bedroom after a dicey roomie sitch in suites last year, and he is excited to have a kitchen to flex his new Costco membership.

The kids and I start our school year THIS WEEK, and that wonderful new season energy is buoying us all.

Up next: trims for Minnie and Dorothy (rescheduled because Jack's move in changed, so our long-held appt had to move, meaning they have two different appointment times. Minnie's is actually right before bedtime, so maybe she can just wear a shower cap and have a fresh blowout for the first day of first grade), the beginning of Coop's new dive club life, and a slow ramp up to the busy season-- that will last until JUNE.

Ben and I have big plans to put together an easy dinner rotation plan so we can have a smoother meal planning experience for this school year. Cooper, Dorothy, and Minnie all still eat like kids, so it's weird to have just the two of us to want real food. I see lots of dinner bowl options.

SPEAKING OF BOWLS. We haven't been eating leafy greens because of the whole screaming diarrhea thing-- that is not getting better but is being reported on less frequently. NGS suggested using green beans instead in salad, and we have really leaned into that for salads, adding beets, too. It's been wild to have mostly cooked veggies all summer long, but I think we are settling into a rhythm, and grilled veggies/ roasted veggies eaten cold in bowls will actually be delicious. I hope to get into an easy veggie prep routine a couple days a week. 

SPEAKING OF ROUTINES. I am kind of dreading our 4-8pms, especially as the weather turns. I am tryin g not live at the precipice of a slippery slope fallacy, so we are taking each day as it comes, instead of thinking about the mid-week slog stretching out from September to June. Ugh, I shuddered after typing that sentence.

Summer slide

 

We closed down the pool on Saturday, and it was lovely.

We were minus Harry and Jack, who went to a Madison Mallards baseball game/euchre tourney (Jack's bday gift to Harry), so Cooper and Dorothy both brought friends, and we ate garbage from the golf course restaurant.

After our bar trivia win on Thursday, Ben and I went out with friends for a fancy dinner on Friday, so I ate out and had drinks three nights in a row, which is not my usual style. But was fun!! Also the place has its own hydroponic lettuce supply, so I had a salad and I hope I don't live to regret it.

Less than 12 hours later, Ben and I were on a trail run. Woof.

And!! We took Jack to Costco for a stock up because he moves in to his dorm in SIX DAYS YOU GUYS OMG.

Summer 2026 went by in a blink for me. The little kids still have the whole month off, but I start TA meetings on the 19th.  Dorothy is done with summer dance try outs on the 20th, and Harry moves in on the 29th-- how'd we get here so fast?

Unexpected weekend at home: School carnival, park bench reading, garage storage, and more (j/k-- that's it)

 

We planed to go to Pekin this past weekend with Ben since he had to be on his campus for commencement. But then! He was unable to leave on Friday to come home (he owes me a fancy bday dinner, BTW) because things escalated quickly, so we decided to stay in town. LUCKY FOR MINNIE because that meant she could go to the fundraising carnival at her school. (Which we neglected to tell her about since we were going to be out of town. She came home on Friday and was like um all the kids in my class are going to a water park together. I said really, and she goes, yeah I wish I was invited. It's called Splash. And, because I am not a monster, I told her that Splash is her school carnival and everyone is invited and she could go, too! SHE HAD THE BEST TIME EVER

Luckily! She and Cooper (big bro of the freaking YEAR for taking one for the team and coming along) both got whistles.

In other news, I used the Ember mug that Ben's parents got me for my birthday, and it is the most magical invention. If you do not have one already, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? You tell it your desired coffee temp, and every single sip of your beverage is the perfect temperature. You see the steam coming off my cup? EVERY SINGLE SIP was steaming. Magic.

A brand new street by our house finally got sidewalks, so I can work on finding my perfect 20-minute jogging loop. Seriously, I want a 20 minute route that I can loop around as many times as I want to do whatever run I am looking to do (usually 30-40 minutes, but sometimes more), and this street is KEY.

Also! I am in love with this new blue Lulu color. Ben bought me a bunch of workout gear from Lulu for my birthday, and I hated it all because he just bought what Dorothy wears in my size, and the thought of running outside in teeny weeny shorts and bras was hilarious to me. But! I exchanged it for the gear I wanted, and now I love it! Also, bless his heart. (I am loving Swiftly tanks, Shake Ot Out shorts (my Lulu was out of Wunder Train running shorts, but I am definitely going to try those one when they're back in stock-- I almost went with Fast and Free shorts, but they are SO UGLY with the little reflectors and the awkward pocket I would look like a dumbass if I happened to wear them to the grocery store or to watch Minnie's tennis lesson) and Flow Y brays).

My brother got me a Made In baking dish, and it made THE BEST fudgy brownies (every piece was like a corner!) and was pretty enough to also serve them. LOVED IT. Can't wait to make more stuff!

I do about 99% of my reading on park benches these days, and I am not complaining.

PARK SZN!

Also bike season-- I hope you, too, are hearing the wicked witch theme in your head

(Only Minnie and Cooper have bikes on the bike rack-- Minnie because that's what she does right now and Cooper because he might need to BIKE TO WORK at the pool if he doesn't have a shift with either of his bros)

I solved my first problem for 48, you guys! I realized I was tired of tripping over everyone's shoes when I open the door from the laundry room to enter the garage. We have shelves on either side of the door-- a set for me and Ben and a set for the kids-- and the idea is that people will put their shoes on a shelf. But instead! They kick them off as they're walking inside, creating a treacherous pile of shoes at the bottom of the steps, and I keep tripping and almost breaking my neck.

So. I asked Ben to BUILD A SHOE FENCE. Which he did with logs, garden fencing that absolutely does not keep out the bunnies, and a couple of pool noodles because the fence is sharp, and we didn't want to cause MORE accidents. I LOVE IT SO MUCH mainly because it is so very janky. **chef's kiss**

Also he finally put all the sleds in the attic, so if we get a May blizzard, it's all Ben's fault.