The dance dad is home thank goodness

 IT WAS A VERY LONG WEEK SOLO PARENTING 80% OF THE CHILDREN. 

Even though, really, Ben took maybe the most difficult one with him to Florida for GO SHOWSTOPPER dance nationals. 

(No, it’s not really in all caps. And honestly? I don’t know if the GO belongs there? Like, it’s in some of their branded content but not all of it? Also, is it really a national tourney if there are like 5 of them throughout the country (just that particular brand- there are even more OTHER BRANDS of national tourneys) and if you don’t have to qualify? WHO KNOWS.)

If you ask this one, she will tell you that YES IT IS A REAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TROHPY SHE IS HOLDING.

Can you tell how incredibly happy she is? 

The TL; DR is that Ben and Dorothy had a great time in Orlando. 

Both of Dorothy’s dances got big trophies— 1st overall in junior production (pictured above) and 3rd overall in advanced junior large groups— below— and that trophy got to come home with her where it will live in her room forever.

She loved staying at the convention hotel with her friends and hitting the pool, one day from a swanky cabana

She loved having her dance teacher do her makeup (Ben did the hair— woot woot)

And she OF COURSE delighted in a trip to the magic Kingdom

Ben had fun too

Her whole team got to come home national champions because they were either entered in the junior production or the senior production, and both of these giant dances won their category. I think that was the studio’s plan since last summer’s try out, and it worked out so well— all the kids felt so special and proud of themselves.

Ben and Dorothy flew Spirit Airlines from Milwaukee to Orlando with no problem— they arrived 40 minutes early even. But! On the way home Friday night, their flight was cancelled, and the airline told Ben they could rebook him on Tuesday (LOL LOL LOL). A super nice ticket agent also told him that if he took the Tuesday ticket and then found something better on another airline, they’d refund him for the return flight. So he did, and they did. Phew! One extra night in an airport Hyatt and they were home just 12 hours later than planned.

AND BOY WERE WE GLAD TO SEE THEM.

And listen. If driving 5 kids to Florida for Thanksgiving didn’t make me want to fly, and staying home with 4 kids by myself for a week didn’t make me want to fly (because then I could have been the parent at the dance competition), THEN WHAT EXACTLY WILL MAKE ME WANT TO FLY?

5 on a Friday: Current Loves

 1. I am unabashedly in love with my Estée Lauder night cream. I did not ADORE the jar of Lancôme Renergie night cream I have been using since March (but I do really love the day cream and am probably going to buy a new jar when this one runs out in a couple of weeks. Side note: it lasted much longer than the night cream— I had a 2.6 ounce night cream and a 1.7 ounce day cream, and the day cream is still going strong.) I was going to buy Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream on the advice of Dorothy’s dance studio owner who is gorgeous with great skin. BUT. I would rather be at the $100-150-ish price point, and that stuff is almost $300. Can you skimp on skincare at my age, though? I’m going to use a whole jar of Estée Lauder (one million powdery old ladies can’t be wrong, right?) and reevaluate. So far, my skin looks dewy and feels as soft as Minnie’s, and the cream doesn’t bother my rosacea. Meanwhile, I still use $17 eye cream, so I am feeling a new upgrade coming on.

2. I am in love with NOT HAVING a charge account at the pool after a certain child **cough cough** Cooper ** cough cough** charged ONE HUNDRED AND TWO DOLLARS at the snack shack in ONE SINGLE DAY. This prompted Ben and me to take a closer look at our bank statement, and we noted that two other kids who work at the pool seem to now be eating every meal there on us. So. NO MORE. If the kids want snacks, they’ll have to let us and our debit cards accompany them to POS.

3. Sparkling margarita in a can. My aunt brought these to us, and they are a four enthusiastic thumbs up, for sure.

4. Dorothy having the time of her life with Ben and her friends in Florida. Here she is at the hotel pool **heart eyes**

5. This comfy and cute Lands’ End dress that I can wear to teach AND mom.

Don’t Treat a Gift Like a Burden

 Don’t treat a gift like a burden is my very favorite piece of advice from the Happier in Hollywood podcast. It’s so universal; you definitely do not have to be a TV writer to take this tidbit to heart. I have been feeling very put upon lately about dragging Cooper (and Minnie! SHE’S THE HARD ONE) to campus every single weekday for two hours for diving practice. I was so happy to have a break this week because the pool was closed due to staffing issues. But then! I was telling a couple of other moms at practice how glad I was to have a break, and I could tell mid-sentence that I was missing something because of the looks on their faces. I was missing something: an email from the coach who was happy to report that staffing issues had somehow disappeared. BAH HUMBUG.

Soooooo, I tried for a reframe.

First of all, how awesome is it that Cooper has found a sport that he loves that happens to have state-of-the-art-facilities and a D1 college coach available to him right in his own back yard? (I mean. It’s actually a really awkward distance from our house especially with summer road construction, so dropping him off and going home is not really a great option since I would just basically have time to get settled at home and then start the process of warning Minnie that we are about to make a transition, transitioning Minnie, and driving back to campus to search for parking. So back yard is an overstatement.)

Second, how terrific that we can make room in our lives and our budget for club fees and cross-country travel.

Third, how amazing that he qualified for nationals (only 3 kids in the whole club did) and needs a bunch of extra practice.

Finally, how great is it to have free time on my beautiful campus with my favorite toddler. We can go to any number of top notch local coffee shops for drinks and treats. The best ice cream in the state (yeah, I said it) is at our student union. We can see master works in the campus art museum and real dinosaur bones at the geology museum. We can go bowling. We can take a quick stroller ride up State Street to the capitol or the main branch of our public library. We can drop him off and drive to the zoo or Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods (for dill pickle salad). We can pack a lunch and hunker down on the bleachers to watch Coop’s team practice and also see UW Badger divers who practice with the kids. And we can do this EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK.

We’re so lucky!

Halfway Day

 I looooove the idea of halfway day to check in with my word of the year, my 23 for 23 list, and my general vibe. Buuuuut I forgot all about it until I read Jenny’s. Technically yesterday was halfway day, but who’s counting? (Me. I am obviously counting.)

My word this year is deliberate, and I am really happy with the choice because it gives me a framework to just pause a second and make sure I really want to do the thing I am about to do. The most tangible operationalization of this word happens when I do yoga on the morning and set an intention for the day— I love the opportunity to pause and reflect. So, YAY WORD OF THE YEAR. I am deliberately making choices that lead to HAPPINESS and a feeling of CONTENTMENT. Except when I have PMS.

Minnie is always happy and content at the library, BTW.

I have bee super successful at sone of the items on my list. My mani/pedi game is strong, and I love the ritual of going to the salon regularly to recharge and feel pretty. I LOVE adding a walk to my morning routine and have been doing this faithfully. Actually, all of my fitness goals have been fun and easy to incorporate (yoga 3 times a week, cardio 6 days, weights 5, walk 7– all terrific!). We went to a gross WI Dells water park (and I promised D another trip in October when she has a dance convention there). I haven’t been buying coffee out; Minnie has a swing set. My brownie game is strong.

I haven’t flown yet, but Ben has, and he takes 2 different kids on 2 different flights this month, so I am FLIGHT ADJACENT.

Still plan to see old friends, but nothing definite yet— so this is something I need to actively work on.

BEDROOMS AND CARPET. Omg. Must dooooooo.

No Botox for now. I like my face with wrinkles and I saw on old mom friend the other day with so much Botox and lip filler— it was very disconcerting.

Halfway through, and even though I am stressed about hot temps, humidity, and my air conditioner not doing its ONE JOB, 2023 is pretty okay. How about you?

This picture has nothing to do with anything, of course, but HER FACE AND HAIR. SO FUNNY.

June: What I Read

 June was hard to settle into, and I feel like I could have done a much better job of prioritizing my reading. I did learn a Kindle life hack-- if you need more time on a library book, turn your Kindle on airplane mode. The book still gets returned to the library so you aren't messing up anyone's hold, but it also stays on your device. This sounds shady, but I am a fan. I have both Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited, but I underwhelmed with the selection. I think if someone else in my family let me use their library card for Libby, I wouldn’t need anything else, and I could spend the $12 for Kindle Unlimited on a new release I want to read/don’t want to wait for instead. Anyone else do Unlimited? Any gems I should read?

If you can even believe it, July is shaping up to be equally (even more?) bananas, so I have less than high hopes for my summer reading list, but I will keep you posted (LOL of course).

Here’s the TL;DR and my three faves

And one honorable mention:

Please see below for the rest of June, in order from worst to best, with totals at the bottom.

Solid Meh

 The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean: Meh. Fantasy is really not usually my thing. **Audio

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey: Cute but also terrible. **Audio

If We're Being Honest by Cat Shook: This was so buzzy, but I just did not love it. **2023

The Last Invitation by Darby Kane: A very meh thriller that had a pretty good twist, but I really didn’t care about the characters. **Audio

Better

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake: I could not get in to this one when I tried to read it, but the audio was extremely entertaining. **Audio

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz: This was just so darn TENSE-- really liked that. I felt uneasy the whole time I was reading. That said, the twist was not super twisty, and there was not a ton to figure out. Still, a good thriller, especially poolside. **Kindle

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones: This is a charming book. **Kindle

The Better Half by Ali Frank and Asha Youmans: Didi you know you that with Prime, you get one free Kindle book a month that's an early release? This was June's book (it is out today), and it was pretty cute. **2023 **Kindle

Even Better

That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey: This was a darling and quick romance. **202023

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach: I must have put this on hold forever ago because by the time it came in, I forgot all about it. Excellent book, though-- very sad. **Audio

Last Circle of Love by Lorna Landvik: She is a national treasure. This book was not as good as Patty Jane's House of Curl or my favorite Your Oasis on Flame Lake, but I really liked it, and she read the audio, which was a real treat. **Audio

The Nigerwife by Vanessa Walters: Haunting AND suspenseful-- I liked this one. **2023

You Should Probably Read These

The Anatomy of Anxiety by Ellen Vora: This was FASCINATING but maybe is based on sketchy data? Hard to say. Like I was with her until she said the sun isn't bad for us and sounded VERY VERY natural living Instagram reel-y. I do know that when I am on Whole 30, I feel SO FREAKING GOOD, so I think what she said about the gut/brain connection and eating an anti-inflammatory diet makes intuitive sense. **Audio

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling: Yesssssss to this one. **2023

The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley: This is so good— witty and subversive and also just plain fun to read. **2023

READ THESE!

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan: Fans of Norah Goes Off Script will want to read this adorable little gem ASAP. **2023

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith: A divorce told in poetic vignettes. LOVED it so much. I have a happy marriage and an exceptional partner, but so much of what she wrote about re: care work and flexibility was SO SO SO relatable. **2023

The Whispers by Ashley Audrain: YES YES YES YES-- I liked this as much as The Push. **2023 **Audio

  The Guest by Emma Cline: This is WONDERFUL. Must read. So good. You guys. Do not sleep on this book. **2023

This Month:

19 Books

10 books published in 2023

8 print books, 3 Kindle, and 8 audiobooks

This Year:

111 books

55 books published in 2023

62 print, 5 Kindle, and 44 audio