Not a Wasted Word

Not only are these unrelated topics, but the thoughts within each topic are scattered and unorganized. Welcome to my brain right now! Buckle up!

Working out. I used to work out four times a week. In the past year, I started working out five times a week. This summer, leading up to, and after, travel I was working out 6-7x a week. This was ostentatiously because I knew that while I was traveling I would work out a lot less and I was trying to “make up” for missed days. But I was only traveling for two weeks this summer and I worked out some on both trips, so in the end I think I just worked out a lot more than I ever have before. I do think going back down to five times a week is probably best, especially since most of my workouts are 45-60 minutes long these days but I think it might be harder to do that than I would have expected. The good news is that my knee still feels okay, my shoulder hasn’t acted up in a bit, and I feel really strong. The other good news is that I didn’t gain any weight this summer, which is impressive since gaining weight is so easy to do these days!

Last day of summer. Wednesday was my last day of summer break. The 16yo and I met the husband downtown for lunch and later in the day, the husband and I went to the Valkyries game. In between I got some stuff done around the house and worked out. I also went to my last Executive Members hour at Costco, which I have been enjoying very much. I had a nice summer and I guess I’m as ready to go back as I can hope to be. I didn’t get everything done around the house that I wanted to (both kids’ rooms still have way to much shit in them that they don’t need), but with the garage cleaned out, I really can’t complain. Summer always feels too short, and yet our trip to St. Louis feels a million miles away. Time is a flat circle, I say whenever time feels weird in ways I can’t explain.

Back to work. Yesterday was my first official day of the 2026-27 school year. I thought we had a ton of meetings but it looks like they moved that day to next week, so after a staff meeting we were able to work in our rooms for five hours. I felt overwhelmed and couldn’t figure out where to start, so I went to the copy room and made hundreds of copies that I’ll need in the first weeks. It might not have been the best use of my time, but at least I got something concrete done. Today I have a few more concrete things on my to-do list, including my windows, which I honestly don’t want to do, but I know I will be very relieved once they are done.

Budgeting. In Hawaii, the husband talked a lot with his friend about Simp.lifi, a budgeting app that he uses to track his spending. We don’t have a budget, and while we do track our expenses and our balances, we have never looked at how much we spend in any specific categories. I feel embarrassed admitting this, but we honestly don’t have any idea how much we spend on groceries in a given month, let alone a year. I am also embarrassed to admit that I am the weak link when it comes to finances in our family. I definitely spend more than my husband, and think less about my spending than he does. Honestly, thinking too much about money makes me feel bad – it brings up all sorts of shame and guilt I feel about what I buy and why I buy it. I’m honestly now quite sure where my negative feelings around money stem from – I grew up with more than enough and never experienced financial insecurity. I’ve never paid interest on a credit card balance, and I’ve only incurred overdraft fees a handful of times (all in my teens and early twenties). But I also had a LOT of financial help from my parents and I never had to be very frugal to make ends meet (we lived lean when our kids were young and we were paying for our health insurance out of pocket, but it never felt like a lack of money was the most defining factor for our family). Basically, money is hard for me to think about, let alone talk about, and I am both dreading and excited about taking a closer look at how much we spend.

Q1 goals. Speaking of budgeting, I am working on my Q1 goals (better said, I wrote “write Q1 goals” as one of my three main focuses for this week) and attempting a jump start of new planning procedures this week. You will not be shocked to learn that I am struggling with… all of it. I originally wrote Q1 goals in January, but then realized that the beginning of the school year was a more natural start to the planning year for me. So I was able to kick that can down the road, but it just slammed again the wall and I need to shit or get off the pot, as they say (apologies for the mixed metaphors). I definitely have some vague ideas, and some more concrete ones, I just haven’t been able to sit down and write them out. I really should have gotten this done BEFORE going back to work. And I tried! But whenever I sat down to get it done, I let something else lure me away. Blerg. I don’t know why I’m so bad at this stuff. Truly,

MONDAY. We got in at 6am. Our friend bumped me up to business class (I had BIG feelings about being the only one in business class while my family languished in Coach, but my husband insisted) so I actually slept a fair amount. Still, when we got home, the husband and I promptly passed out until noon. We spent most of the day futzing around the house, but I did get all the swim wear washed and rinsed out all the scuba and snorkel gear (we went snorkeling on our last day, so we had to pack all that stuff wet and I wanted to deal with it quickly). I ended the day on the elliptical, where I started the Maui 2026 post.

TUESDAY. I can’t really remember what we did Tuesday but it wasn’t much. Actually! I wrote it down in my new planner, which I got right before this trip. Tuesday was chore day. I unpacked everyone, vacuumed the floors, and finished the Maui 2026 post. I also lazed around a lot and took a little nap on the couch. And got in a 30min Intervals and Arms workout! We felt, in Hawai’i, like we were pretty much staying on California time – we would go to sleep between 9 and 10pm every night and be up by 6 or 7am most mornings – but Tuesday I felt pretty jet lagged. Maybe that is just because of the red eye on Sunday night.

Tuesday night we went to the Valkyries game. I got the sequins jacket that sold out immediately last season and was just back in the stock for the first time this season. It was definitely a pricey purchase, but I love it and have no regrets. Also the game was great! The Valks won and we had a fabulous time!

WEDNESDAY. Wednesday was a doozy. I was at Costco by 9am for the Executive Members hour, and back in time to get the 12yo up and ready for his sports physical at 10:45am. We got their early, and were seen early, which means I was ready for my 11:30 mammogram early, where I was also seen early. The 12yo is crazy off the charts for height – he is just shy of 5’10”! – and cleared to play baseball. My mammogram came back clear, and I’m glad I got it over with.

After our appointments I made sure the kids knew what to make for lunch, then I stopped by Nordstrom to pick up something I ordered during their Anniversary Sale, before heading to work for a three hour AI Task Force meeting. I have to admit, I assumed we’d just be kind of talked at the whole time, and when they tasked us with creating a slide deck I could smell by brain burning. I also had a chance to look at my classes and boy are they big! I will have 130 6th graders (on an A/B) schedule in my two 6th grade periods! I’m also teaching zero period, which I’m happy about.

While I was at that meeting, my kids had to get themselves to the dentist on public transit, and that is where I picked them up afterward. I finished the day at the dojo, and I have to admit, I was struggling to keep up both mentally and physically (stances!). Wednesday was the first jam-packed day I’ve had in a while, and I was tired afterwards.

THURSDAY. Friends from the dojo had invited me last minute to a sauna/hot tub/cold plunge on Thursday morning, and I decided that I should finally do it (they’ve asked me a few times before and it never worked out). So I did a 30 minute Pilates class on Peloton, then headed over. It actually felt really good push my body to some temperature limits (both hot and cold) and I realized that I will be saying yes more often if I’m invited in the future. I was back in time for a 20 minute Arms and Shoulders class, before I showered and took the kids to see Spider-Man Brand New Day. We really liked it! Afterward, I wanted to get a lot done around the house, but I found myself struggling. I’m definitely not getting as much done this week as I had wanted. Le sigh.

FRIDAY. I had to be back at work at 8:30 for a second AI Task Force meeting (yes, I am getting paid for these extra hours). We worked for about 3.5 hours, then I ran four miles on my way home. I did NOT feel great on my run (it was a little warm and my heart rate was pretty high. I also hadn’t eaten much before hand). Back at home, I showered, made sure the kids were set to make themselves a real meal, and headed to the dojo. My best friend at the dojo spends a LOT of time their most days, assisting and teaching classes. She went on a trip to our Seattle dojo, and I promised to cover for her on Friday and Saturday, so I was there from 4-7pm on Friday and 9-Noon on Saturday. It was a lot of time to be assisting or teaching at the dojo! I don’t know how she does that most days (and after opening her bakery super early each morning!)

SATURDAY. Saturday I did my dojo time and raced home to shower and change for OUTSIDE LANDS! The husband, 16yo, and I got one-day tickets and I was excited to go. I was there to see Ethel Cain, the 16yo wanted to see Pink Panthress and the husband wanted to see xX. We all got to see who we wanted, and we saw lots of other great performances as well (Trixie Mattel was a highlight for sure). The Strokes were headlining, and I will admit that I did not realize that a band I listened to in the early aughts was so popular again. Tik Tok can do crazy things!

SUNDAY. Today was pretty low key. We slept in. I snuggled with the cats on the couch. My parents brought the 12yo home (he stayed at their house since we were gone most of Saturday). The husband and I tackled a project in the kitchen that we had been avoiding for a long time. I made pancakes for the 12yo’s lunches. The husband went to TJs to do some much needed grocery shopping. I repacked the summer clothes. I did a 45 min bike bootcamp. We watched some episodes of the Simpsons.

I start work for real this coming Thursday. The kids start next Monday and I have students in my seats next Wednesday, 8/19. Let the new school year begin!

(To read about/see photos from previous trips to Maui, see these posts: 2025, 2024 Part 1, Maui 2024 Part 2, Maui 2024 Part 3, 2023, Maui 2022 Days 1-5)

We’re back from our week on Maui. Despite some setbacks, we had a great time. This was the fifth year we accepted the invitation from friends to join them at an amazing property right on the beach. It was also probably our last year joining them, and I was acutely aware of that the whole week. At the start of the week it felt “right,” for it to be our last year, as we struggled to commit to activities, feeling like we’d done most of what we really wanted to do. By the end I was trying to convince myself that we could come again next year because the thought of never returning made me so sad.

The friends we stay with in Maui are moving from across the bay (Oakland) to across the Pacific (Tokyo), so there was also the weight of knowing that after this trip, we won’t see them again for a long time. The week was awash in big feelings, but it was also awash in sun, waves, tropical rains, and aloha.

We didn’t do a ton of specific trips or activities, so the highlights are mostly just things I appreciated or specific moments I loved. Here are the highlights from our 2026 trip to Hawai’i.

If this stuff had NOT worked out you better believe I’d be bitching about it here. But it did! And I can still write about it because recognizing the positive is good practice.

The cat food came. It’s been hard to order the cat’s special food knowing it would come while we’re home, and it was out of stock on the first attempt which complicated matters further. I ordered it while we were in LA and it arrived on Friday afternoon, the last possible day for me to not have to worry about it. Woo hoo!

New Fem.ring became available. My new doctor put in the Rx on Monday and I ordered it immediately. At first I was having it shipped, but after 48 hours of it being “In Process” I used the pharmacy chat feature to determine it would be better to move the order to an actual pharmacy. Of course it was out of stock there doe two days, but it finally was ready for pick up on Friday afternoon. I’m so glad I don’t have to manage rashes from my old patches all week

Cat care, CHECK! My husband usually takes care of the communication of the cat care info; honestly, his parents have been doing it so long they don’t really need much guidance at this point. They are currently out of town so my friend and her daughter are feeding the cats once a day. I edited the doc my husband wrote earlier this summer, and made them a video. I feel confident they have all the info they need to take care of our sweet felines.

New phone! My old phone (a 13 Pro) has been making me a little crazy lately. Many of the apps would freeze until I swiped out of all other apps. I couldn’t get maps to work reliably in St. Louis. So I did a back up on my phone and went to the Apple Store yesterday to trade it in for a new 17 Pro. I got almost $300 for the old phone and am so far very happy with the new phone.

Phone case came on time. I ordered a new phone case and it arrived as I pulled up with the new phone. I have way too much anxiety to handle an iPhone without a case on it, so I appreciated the timing very much. Also, I realized we needed new snorkel booties for the 12yo in time to order him a new pair, and they also came on time!

Everything else. I felt like I had the time I needed to pack everyone, do the laundry, pick up the house, and just generally get ready for this trip. I even had the time to clean my beloved Dyson’s filter when I realized it smelled like a diaper pail after rinsing it out. It took a few attempts, bur when I left it smelled… like nothing! Best case scenario!

Flight time (and on time!) Our flight was at 2pm, which allowed us to sleep in, work out, and do final clean up before we headed to the airport. It was the perfect amount of time to get stuff done and not feel rushed. I love a well timed flight! (And we’re coming home on a red eye, which is the worst of all worlds). We’re pulling away from the gate now, right on time!

I hope to post some on this trip. At the very least I’ll put up some photos!

Wow. I have really had a hard time showing up here this summer. I apologize for my protracted absence.

Ostensibly, this summer has been really lovely. And it has been! The trip to St. Louis was great. The long weekend at the farm with family was wonderful. Our birthday weekend in LA visiting friends was amazing. Honestly, I can’t complain about how anything has gone this summer.

And yet, I’ve been plagued with anxiety. I’ve had stress dreams about work all summer, even though I’m not consciously worrying about, or even really thinking about, work much. I’ve been feeling unsettled and agitated. My eyelid twitches a lot. Today I got an ocular migraine for the first time in… honestly I can’t remember the last time I had one it’s been so long. I don’t know what my problem is, but I haven’t felt great.

A couple weeks ago I started having trouble sleeping, and getting hot flashes again, and some light googling suggested that it’s common for menopause symptoms to return during the final month of using the Femring. I guess it just doesn’t really last for 90 days for a lot of people. Luckily I had patches left over and so far they have helped keep the hot flashes at bay and haven’t given me horrible rashes yet. My new Endocrinologist wrote me a new prescription for the 0.1mg ring (I was using the 0.05 ring before) and I ordered it immediately, but it’s taking forever to ship so it might not come before we leave for Hawai’i. I just hope the patches don’t start giving me rashes before that.

Did the tapering HRT cause the anxiety? I’m not sure. The hot flashes went away as soon as I put on a patch, but the anxiety lingers…

I did a garage deep clean before the LA weekend. It has been a pain point for a while now, and I wondered if it was the source of some of the anxiety. I spent 2.5 days cleaning it out. Before it looked like a disaster area and now it’s cleaner than maybe it’s ever been. We have to walk through the garage to go from the main house to the unit where we sleep, so it’s not like we could employ an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude with the garage. Also, the laundry is down there.

I do think having the garage look and feel pristine is helping me with my anxiety, but it also helps highlight how most other areas of the house are still a mess. My goal in these days between LA and Maui were supposed to be all about me doing a deep clean of our unit, but I can’t seem to make it happen. Today I packed myself for our last trip and I think that will me get that space under control.

Anyway, sorry to come back and then just talk about anxiety and my probably misplaced attempts at controlling it. Mostly I just wanted to let every know that I am okay! Everything this summer has been fine and I will try not to disappear again while we’re in Maui.

Summer is almost half over (for me, specifically) and I haven’t been here much so I thought I’d show up for a quick update.

ST. LOUIS

The trip to visit family in St. Louis was a a good one. The first three days I hung out with my cousin (who was also visiting from Charleston) and we took all the cousins to the pool on Monday, took our kids to Six Flags on Tuesday, and went with another cousin to the zoo on Wednesday. It was VERY hot for most of our trip.

At Six Flags it was 96* (feels lik 104*) and NO ONE was there. We walked onto every rollercoaster without a wait and ended the day at the water park. The 16yo LOVES Batman and other DC characters so she was in heaven. I went on the Screaming Eagle, my very first roller coaster, which turns 50 this year! It was a lot of fun.

Wednesday night my husband came in from SF and my sister and her partner came in from London. Thursday everyone met at my uncle’s farm for three days of fun in the (hot, hot) sun. We spent HOURS at the quarry lake swimming, sliding into the water, and looking at fish. We had our annual karaoke night and spent the 4th watching fireworks. Oh and we snuggled puppies! My cousin’s dog had puppies on Memorial Day and they were at the farm over the long weekend. We got to play with them a few times each day, and they were a BIG hit. I wish It was a great trip, as always, and was even more special with my sister and his partner there for the first time since 2019.

On Saturday afternoon a crazy storm blew through, which brought the temp down significantly but also knocked out the power. Luckily the house has a (significantly sized) generator which kept things working through the night, and the power was back on in the morning.

Everyone left the farm on Sunday morning. I took the husband and 16yo straight to the airport, where they waited quite a while for their delayed flight (SFO is down two of its four runways, so every flight in and out is delayed). The 12yo and I stayed a couple more nights, and visited the Gateway Arch with my family (parents, sister, partner) and cousins. We went up to the top of the Arch, which I haven’t done in a long time. It’s a pretty incredible architectural feat. They went on to see the biggest catsup bottle in the world after, which I’m kinda sad I didn’t get to see.

By the time we left (very) early Tuesday morning, I felt ready to go home. We used to spend two weeks in St. Louis, but these days after 9-10 days I’m ready to go home. I feel like we were there the right amount of time.

AT HOME

We’ve been home since Tuesday morning. The husband is back at work. The 16yo has been at her zoo internship all week (she’s liking it!) and the 12yo and I have been hanging out at home. Luckily a friend took him somewhere on Wednesday, his grandparents took him to hang out with his cousin for a couple hours on Thursday, and today I took him and his friend to the trampoline park (where I am writing this!) so he hasn’t been rotting on the couch and in his bed all for three days.

The downstairs toilet broke while the husband was home alone and he didn’t try to fix it, he just turned off the water so it would stop running. When I got home I decided to just replace everything, because all the seals were in pretty rough shape. To say my attempts were a disaster would be an understatement. I did, eventually, get the toilet fixed, but it took over six hours and FOUR trips to the hardware store, spread across three days (and at least two melt downs) before I got all the various leaks under control (I lifted the tank of that toilet off SO MANY TIMES). It sucked and I was feeling really frustrated that I’m the one who has to fix all the broken shit in our house. I was feeling “over it,” as they say.

That “over it” feeling has seeped into how I feel about a lot around at home right now. I’ve been struggling with how chaotic the house feels after our trip. I spent a couple days unpacking, even though we’ll need all those same clothes for Maui in less than three weeks (I did keep a couple packing cubes packed, but it didn’t work to keep all of it together like that). I’m struggling to keep the kids accountable on their chores, even though I should be taking advantage of this time to give them MORE chores. It feels like it’s all up to me, and I’m tired, even though I’m not working and have more time than I ever will. I don’t know if I’ll manage to tackle any of the bigger projects around the house this summer, and that bums me out.

LA

This weekend we are home (and it’s BUSY). Next weekend the husband and I are going to LA to see friends. My birthday is that Friday and the husband’s is the following Tuesday, so we’ll definitely be celebrating down there. I’m excited to get away from the kids for a couple days, but I also feel like this summer is kinda packed. The fact that this weekend if the only one in July that I’m home, and that we leave for Maui the following Saturday is not helping.

MAUI

This is probably our last trip to Maui. The trip is not nearly as cheap as it used to be, and we’re hoping to take the kids to Hong Kong and Japan in 2028 (the 16yo will be graduating and the 12 yo will be finishing middle school that year), which will require some significant savings on our part. The friends who host us will be moving to Tokyo right after the trip, so it feels like it will be a week loaded with expectations.

I finally booked our two scuba trips, which I’m looking forward to. We hope to do some snorkeling with the husband and 12 yo too, so there will be a lot of time in the water. I want to make sure the husband gets lots of time with his best friend (the one who will be moving), but also know that he has two smaller kids so that will be hard to make happen.

With all the stress I’m feeling around the house, I’m definitely looking forward to our trip to Maui, because I know there I won’t have to worry about what a shit show my garage is. But also, when we get back from the trip summer is almost over. It will definitely be a bitter sweet trip, for so many reasons.

2026-27 SCHOOL YEAR

I’ve had stressful dreams about work for more nights than not this summer. I’m not sure why. The new class is definitely part of it, and knowing that the 6th grade is supposed to be really difficult to manage (my new class is 6th grade, so I’ll have the difficult kids two out of my five classes). But I’ve taught random classes a ton of times and I’ve had difficult groups of students tons too, so I’m not sure why the stress is manifesting in my dreams so much right now. It makes it hard to not think about work, that is for sure.

Shoot, I wanted to write more about the new school year, but the kids’ jump time is up and I’m worried if I don’t post this it will never go up, so I’m just going to press Publish, and write more about work later.

I hope my next post is up in less than two weeks! Eek!

We’re 1.5 weeks into summer break and I still feel like I’m being pulled along by a strong current of obligation and battered against formidable time constraints, even though I ostensibly have more time than ever.

The last week of school was so overwhelming, with the 16yo’s birthday, end of year obligations and the two concerts. Then the 16yo went to overnight camp on Sunday, and driving her there took basically the whole day. That week she was gone, the 12yo had a really intense baseball camp and I spent much of that time climbing out of the hole I had created for myself at home during the last two weeks of school (my house was a disaster area), and getting the 16yo and myself ready for our dive trip in Monterey.

On Friday, the husband drove to pick up the 16yo while I finalized prep for our scuba certification dives. We didn’t leave for Monterey until 8pm and didn’t get there until 10pm. We had to be at the dive site at 7am, so it was an intense start to the weekend.

We really lucked out on our certification dives in Monterey. The weather was decent both days and the visibility was excellent – 30+ feet of visibility at the time of year, when the water is “warmer” (57ish*) is pretty rare. Our group was good and our teacher was great. We had four good dives (two each day), and I was able to bring my GoPro on the last dive.

We are now PADI Certified Open Water Divers! I’m going to reserve spots on some really cool dives in Maui, dives we couldn’t do without our open water certifications.

I really thought this week would feel less stressful than last week, but that hasn’t been the case. Rinsing out all the scuba equipment and laying it out day after day until it dried was time consuming (it’s been really foggy here so there has been no sun to aid in the drying process). Unpacking the 16yo from camp and both of us from our weekend away has been a lot. And of course I’m already packing us back up for St. Louis, which is next week.

The husband has been rather sulky lately. He gets like this every summer, as we all have time off and he has to trudge into work every day. I always end up doing all or most of his chores to try to give him a little break too, and to ease some of his bad mood, and while he does thank me, it doesn’t seem to make him feel much better.

All this to say, I am ready to be in St. Louis, where hopefully it will finally start to feel like an actual break.

We leave on Sunday, which means I’m already packing up the kids. The next couple days will be busy and Saturday is absolutely packed. But by Sunday afternoon, hopefully, we’ll be in the air. I’m really looking forward to getting there.

After what felt like a never ending week, seven things that are officially done right now!

The 2025-26 school year. I posted my grades and checked out of my room. The 2025-26 school year is officially over and I’m soooo ready for the summer break.

Yearbook distribution. This might seem silly to say, but ALL the yearbook distribution happened between Monday and Thursday of last week and it was a LOT, especially without a librarian. On Friday I gave the unclaimed yearbooks to the administrative assistant and washed my hands of it.

Cleaning up my classroom. When I walked into my classroom on Friday I thought there was no way I’d be able to check out by 3pm that afternoon. I was in a purging mood and I tossed tons of paper and other junk that I’d been holding on to for a long time. At the end, after posting my grades, I got a second wind and powered through and was able to walk out at 2:45pm knowing I didn’t have to come back on Monday. It felt really good to get it done.

The summer fun photo book. I finished it on Wednesday, when I was struggling to lock in on end of the school year stuff and ordered it that evening. It shipped on Saturday and I’m excited to see it printed!

The 16yo’s camp pack. We did most of the packing on Friday night, because Saturday was busy for me. Today we grabbed toiletries before I drove her up and dropped her off in Bodega Bay for her week of Marine Biology Teen Research Camp. She seemed really excited and I hope she has a great time.

Sea of Lies. I listened to the whole Sea of Lies podcast series (recommended by Engie) in three days. I started on Friday when I was cleaning up my classroom and finished on the drive home alone from Bodega Bay. It was enthralling. A great listen. Highly recommend.

Various other tasks. I cut the 12yo’s hair today. I vacuumed the floors and did a ton of laundry. I collected money and got a DoorDash and WayMo gift card for a black belt at the dojo who was in an accident recently and badly injured his leg. There is plenty more to do, but it was good to get a few things done this weekend.

And it’s almost Monday so I’m going to press post on this. Tomorrow the 12yo needs to be at camp by 9am, so it’s not really a sleep-in kind of summer Monday, but that’s okay!

The 16yo’s birthday was a good day. The weather was beautiful, the friends showed up, the Taco Bell was enjoyed, and everyone had a good time. It was probably the easiest, and cheapest, birthday party we’ve ever thrown.

SFUSD is still making up strike days this week, but we stopped making our kids go because of poor attendance and sparse planning. Today is their official last day, but I guess that doesn’t matter much anymore.

Today is the 8th grade promotion ceremony at my school. Of course, after weeks of decent weather, it will be 83* as we sit outside in the blazing sun for 60ish minutes this afternoon. I just want it to be over.

Yearbook distribution has been fairly stressful, mostly because we don’t have a librarian so I have been acting as one, managing the book returns and processing payments for lost books. It’s a lot. I’m relieved that tomorrow is the last day of school.

Because it is! Tomorrow is my last day with students. I can’t really believe it. Every fall it feels like the end of the school year will never come and it always does. Time keeps moving forward, with impressive regularity.

I’m really struggling to get anything done this week, especially at work. I have plenty to do! So much! And yet… I’m doing a whole hell of a lot. It’s not great and it will absolutely come back to bite me in the ass next week. Honestly the major problem is how distracted I am. Like I set up my big screen to do a final check on the summer fun photo book before I order it and then I just came back to this tab and kept writing. It’s that kind of moment, x1000, right now.

… 18 hours later.

Promotion is over. It was really hot, and I felt kind of sick afterward, but it’s done.

The husband and I saw Belle & Sebastian last night. I was so tired and so worn out and didn’t want to go, but it was really fun. I was (am!) a huge fan and it was really great to see them live again, some 20+ years since the last time. We’re seeing them again tonight, and I really hope I can rally for it, because right now I’m feeling pretty done.

The high today is supposed to be 90*. I think I’m getting pink eye again. And my Endo (who I just saw!) is leaving and I’m getting some other random doctor I don’t know. I’m feeling a little bummed right now.

But! In less than 4 hours I will be saying good-bye to my last class of the day. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! I’m soooo close. At least we don’t have to sit out in the sun this afternoon!

Today is my last Friday with students. The yearbooks are here (they look great!) The 8th graders are rapidly unraveling. A camp will be in my classroom this summer. I have to teach a bullshit class on the 6th grade elective wheel because there weren’t enough 1B students to justify two classes. My first child turns 16 this Sunday. Just a couple things on my mind right now. June started fast and furious and it won’t really slow down so I’m trying to enjoy the ride.

End of the school year. My kids were supposed to be done on Wednesday, but because of the strike, they added five days to the end of the year. The end of the grading period was still this Monday, and very few students are going to my kids’ schools right now. We decided that today could be our kids last day and they are very excited. I have one more week of school. My last day with students is next Thursday and Friday is a staff day (to pack up rooms, etc). I found out a summer camp will be in my classroom so cleaning up will be a little more fraught than usual. Boo.

Big birthday. The 15yo turns 16 this Sunday. I can’t really believe it. She’s not interested in driving so we haven’t done any of that yet. Her big birthday present is getting PADI certified in open water diving and all the gear required for that. She finished her pool training last weekend and we’re doing our certification dives in Monterey later this month. The grandparents came over today for her family birthday and we’re hosting her friend birthday at the beach on Sunday. She is very excited.

Appointments. I had video appointments with my Endocrinologist and Psychiatrist earlier this week. I love my Endo and don’t love my Psych. Endo says my labs all look good and kept repeating how healthy I am (cholesterol, blood pressure). I was struck by it because lately I feel like I have to take so many pills every day, and I’m only 45 which means that number will only keep going up. Her comment helped change my mindset. I’m supposed to keep taking meds to manage my thyroid (they keep reducing the dose) until late 2027, at which point we’ll stop and see if I’m in remission. I decided not to talk too much with my Psych about how the Strattera is not as effective as Ritalin in managing my ADHD symptoms, because not having to deal with filling a controlled substance still outweighs the negatives. I have a PT appointment this coming Monday, and I hope to do my first 12 minute mileage + 10% run on Sunday. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to track these kinds of small distances, maybe I can do it with time instead of distance?

Weekends this month. This Sunday we’re hosting the 16yo’s birthday party, on her actual birthday! Next weekend I’m driving her to her overnight marine biology camp in Bodega Bay (a 1.5-2 hour drive one way). The next weekend I’m picking her up from Bodega Bay and we’re driving all the way to Monterey Friday night, for our Monterey Bay dives on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The final weekend of June we’re flying to St. Louis. And that’s just the weekends in June.

Summer fun book. For the first time ever, I started the photo book of our family reunion at the farm the summer of, which means it’s already half way done! Except I’m kind of having a hard time figuring out how it’s organized. I’m really glad that I only have half of the book still to make, but I’m realizing that leaving it half finished was not a great call. I hope that once I find a productive way to jump back in, it will be done quickly. Luckily I don’t feel burned out from the yearbook, so I’m ready to tackle this project sooner rather later. And I have a coupon that will make it affordable and isn’t creating a time crunch. Hooray!

I started this post over 12 hours ago and it’s not even Friday for most of you anymore, but I’m just going to press publish and be done. I think this is what June is going to look like, at least for another week.