My oatmeal exploded in the microwave at work when I ran upstairs between classes I was observing to eat breakfast, and I almost cried. Instead, I pivoted and ate my nectarine and plum with 2 of the granola bars I stock for my TAs. Calorically similar but not as filling.
Now Dorothy and Cooper are selling things on Depop as well as buying, and I am constantly going to the post office. I wish they could drive. I also wish they'd think about donating their cast-offs instead. But! I do like the idea of a fast fashion exchange. Is anything from Brandy Melville ever worth more than like $6 anyway?
Minnie is a joy to watch in the water at swim team practice. Is she the fastest swimmer? Absolutely not? Is she the most technically proficient swimmer? No not at all. Is she working her little tail off learning strokes and applying corrections from her coaches? YES SHE IS, and it is a delight to observe. She is such a good listener, and she is so determined to improve. I was like Minnie, I am so proud of you for working so hard and being so cheerful when your coaches tell you to fix something, and she looked at me like I was crazy and said MOM THAT'S WHEN THE LEARNING HAPPENS, AND I LOVE TO LEARN.
On a Friday afternoon, I cleaned up my office, recycled papers from literal YEARS ago, and prepped what I needed for my first meeting of the day on Monday. I loved spending just a few minutes taking care of future me, and when I got to campus a few minutes late the following Monday and had a student come immediately to my office before I even had a chance to walk down the hall and fill up my teeny tiny Hydroflask, I felt pulled together and ready to welcome them.
Snack box Sunday is still working for me. I really like asking Dorothy and Cooper to tell me what they're hungry for on the weekend when I am grocery shopping and then packing a whole week's worth of on-the-go snacks. This week, Cooper's box has 47 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, and Dorothy's has 27 grams of protein (she does not drink a protein drink like Cooper does) and 4 grams of fiber. Not bad
Cooper! Is a permitted driver. WHAT.
Oh wow-- I accidentally forgot about the blogosphere for a whole week last week. YIKES.
Things are BUSY over here, and that's saying a lot because my baseline tolerance level for daily activity is pretty high. Ben's work has been busy. Harry has been out of town for his work, too. My online class started up, and I got an extra adjunct section this 8-weeks from the online school I have been teaching at since 2009. Plus I have had tons if meetings for fall. The All City Dive Meet is happening at our pool, and I am on the planning committee, so most of what would have been spare time has been devoted to dive things. And! We've had bad air quality, so the pool has been closed intermittently, throwing everyone's schedules into a tizzy. Also! It has been in the high 90's here, and I have been yelling at everyone to keep the damn door shut which has honestly taken more time than you'd think.
Ben and Cooper were in Florida for a quick trip for Cooper to compete in the USA Diving Junior World Trials in platform diving. The top 20 kids in the country were invited to compete, and the top 2 get to go to Worlds. Cooper finished 15th (and the top 12 made finals, so he was coulda woulda shoulda-ing himself like crazy), and we are SO PROUD of him. He is 14 year old competing in the 14-15 age group for the second year (terrible dive birthday!), and he is SOCLOSE to just being consistently amazing. What's frustrating for him right now is that he has hit all of his dives in competition for 8's at some point this season--but never all of them in the same competition. We have been really committed to traveling a lot for dive this year because we think the more reps he has in high stakes comps in front of judges, the more likely he is going to be to find that consistency. It's just so fun to watch him, and he loves the circuit ad has made great friends all over the country-- it's pretty amazing.
