Not a Wasted Word

I feel like summer break really started on Monday, because that was the first work day that I didn’t go to work. After a busy, somewhat stressful weekend, I was really looking forward to sleeping in on Monday. But there were high winds on Sunday and Monday morning the power went out several times. We have a monitor in our bedroom that allows us to hear what is going on upstairs, and every time the power went off the monitor loudly implored us to please put the device near the baby and keep any cords away. The first outage was at 5am, and I definitely didn’t fall back asleep before 7am. Eventually our son came to join us in bed and we all must have slept a little while longer because we didn’t get up until 8:30. Still, it wasn’t the restful first morning of summer that I’d been hoping for.

Monday we saw Inside Out 2, which I LOVED. I loved the first one and was very excited for the new one. It did not disappoint. The whole time I kept thinking, I am surrounded by this, at work and at home, every day of my life! No wonder I’m exhausted.

Monday evening I had to teach Basics at the dojo. As always I had been dreading it for a full week, and as always it wasn’t that bad. I hope I can avoid dreading it for the one time I’m teaching in July.

Tuesday morning I took my daughter, her friend and her friend’s mom (my friend) to the airport. I have three mom friends whose three daughters have been my daughter’s friends since Kindergarten. We do a lot together. And this week, two of the moms are taking all four daughters to DC for five days. One of the moms has access to a house there, but it’s small and it can barely fit the four girls and one adult, so only one other mom could go. I volunteered, but another friend had never been and she doesn’t get to travel much so I conceded the spot. I have already been to DC and I’m traveling this summer, plus my daughter can find me distracting when all eight of us hang out, so it definitely felt like the right move. I honestly hadn’t thought much about it until this past week as I helped my daughter pack for the trip. All weekend I was feeling bummed out that I couldn’t go. It is going to be a really fun trip, and I’m sad I won’t be a part of it.

It probably doesn’t help that yesterday we (my husband, son and I) headed down to New Brighton State Beach to camp. We specifically planned this while our daughter was gone because she is NOT a fan of camping. I don’t really love it either. It’s not that I hate it, but it’s SO MUCH WORK. It’s work to pack the car and it’s work while you’re camping and it’s work afterward. I never get to relax for even one minute and I feel like I’m dealing with all the stuff at home for WEEKS afterward.

This time we get home on Friday and then I leave Monday with my son and his friends for a (work) week at the KOA. So I’ll spend all weekend unpacking and then packing again. Same goes for the following weekend, because we leave for St. Louis on Monday, 7/1.

I have identified that this school year felt way too stressful for me because of all the travel we did (two camping trips included) and now I’m starting my summer camping and chaperoning my son and his friends at the KOA (glamping is a word one could use, it’s honestly maybe fancier than that). I’m not thrilled by this turn of events but I’m not sure how I could have avoided it. My daughter got to spend longer than this amount of time at the KOA with her friends for three summers. I don’t want my son to miss out just because I haven’t made an effort to befriend any of his friends’ moms. I don’t want my son, who is the second kid, to feel like he missed out on special things his sister got to do. I’m actively trying to avoid that with both the camping trip (he is the one who loves camping) and the KOA.

I really don’t know how to protect my own well being, while also meeting the needs of others.

I guess I need to lower expectations, both mine and others’.

UPDATE: We didn’t start packing, or really planning, the two days near Santa Cruz until yesterday morning, but we were able to get the car ready pretty quickly. I worked out and showered and we were on the road by 2:30pm.

Traffic was rough and it took 2.5 hours to get down to the camp site – a full hour more than it should have – but otherwise the day has gone pretty well. Tuesday and this morning were pretty chill. I even had time to get some nagging tasks done.

I think part of the reason it went well is our daughter is not joining. She really dislikes the inability to shower while camping and it’s a lot of work to manage her anxiety before, and during, a camping trip. It’s also easier to plan and pack for just three people instead of four; we didn’t have to put the cargo carrier on the hitch this time. Finally, this camping trip is near cities and towns, so we can easily get supplies if we need them. We’re not eating all our meals at the camp site, and we’re even planning on hitting up the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk today. Camping is a less daunting proposition when you don’t have to wonder how your energetic 10yo son will pass the time.

I meant to post this yesterday, but I was scolded every time I looked at my phone. So I’m posting it this morning. I slept… well enough I suppose. And today we’re visiting tide pools and going to the boardwalk, which I love. I’m trying hard to be in the moment and find the rest when I can. Ultimately I recognize this is less stressful than being on the DC trip, which would have involved intense experiences with lots of people 24 hours a day for several days. I have to do that in St. Louis so it’s best I’m not doing it before hand too. That kind of trip really wears me out.

Anyway, I guess I just took us all on that emotional journey. You’re welcome. 🤣 I guess what I learned, again, is that you can be sad to miss something even when you know it’s best that you missed it. Both can be true.

Also, please enjoy these beautiful views of the ocean from your campgrounds.

I ran at my regular spot, and for the regular distance. I ran without walking intervals. I ran like I used to run, before I got hurt.

The only thing that was not regular about my run was the time. I was out at 7am, because I had to take my daughter to the airport at 6:30am. I don’t usually run that early, but I got to today.

And it felt marvelous.

I’m definitely not 100%. My hips and lower back are a mess, partly as a direct result of the knee injury and partly because the knee injury makes it hard to stretch in the ways that used to alleviate the pain.

It’s been a long road to get here. At least it felt long to me. I know 3.5 months is not much in the world of serious knee injuries, but for me, it was a really challenging experience.

I still can’t believe I was able to take my martial arts test just two months after it happened. I actually think, looking back, that the test helped me rehab faster, because I was so motivated to participate without reinjuring myself that I took my physical therapy very seriously. I have not been nearly as dedicated to doing the exercises since the test.

Jess Sims, my favorite Peloton teacher, frequently says, “not because we have to, because we get to.” She talks a lot about how one day our bodies might not be able to do whatever hard work we’re pushing them through, and it’s a privilege we can do that work right now. I’m sure I would have appreciated that sentiment before I hurt my knee, but now I feel its truth in my bones.

I was so lucky that even days after my initial injury, I was able to do some work to raise my heart rate and keep my body strong. I’m thankful that I was able to keep moving while my knee healed, and that now I can return to activities that make me happy.

This morning I ran. And I’ll run again later this week. And I’ll keep running until I can’t.

It really is a privilege.

Yesterday I said goodbye to all my classes for the last time. Today I’m in my room getting it ready for “checkout.” I can’t really believe it’s finally over, but I say that every year. I’m very much “in my feelings” today, so here are five things I’m feeling as my 20th year of teaching comes to a close.

Relief. This wasn’t the worst or most intense year of my career, but the end felt especially frenetic. As is always the case at the end of the school year, mostly I feel relief that it’s over, and that I don’t have any major lingering regrets about how it went.

Gratitude. As I clean up my room, I feel very grateful to have this space, and the permission to fill it with yoga ball chairs and giant beanbags and low tables for floor seating. On Wednesday I was over by my old room, a small modular way out on the other side of campus, and I was so thankful I didn’t have to teach there anymore. My newer room (this is my third year in it), is so much better than that space. I hope I get to stay here a long time.

Pride. This was my third year teaching all Spanish classes on this campus, and my first year with four full 7/8 Spanish classes. My program is popular and successful, and I’m proud of the work I’ve done so it could become what it is today. I’m also proud of all the ways I’ve grown as a teacher in the last 20 years.

Sadness. Every spring we learn of colleagues leaving, but this year a LOT of people are leaving. A few of them are really good friends, and I’m sad to see them go. One is a very good friend who was transferred to another site against her wishes. That makes me frustrated and angry; a little devastated, to be honest. I’m really going to miss these people next year.

Anticipation. And of course, with the end of the school year comes the start of summer break. We have some fun travel planned and I’m looking forward to spending time with my kids and my husband, while visiting family and friends. I aim to be aware of my downtime, and to savor it. Hopefully I’ll start school in the fall feeling rejuvenated.

Last week was so rough. It was excruciating. I was still trying to teach and assess learning and update my gradebooks, despite everyone already being in “summer break” mode. The thing was, I had plenty of time to do all the things I needed to do, so I didn’t anticipate the week being terrible. And yet… I really struggled to get things done. Like so much. Every morning I got to work realizing I hadn’t done ANY of the tasks I should have completed the night before. I think part of it was feeling burnt out, and just being done with all of it. But I also found myself thinking, I have plenty of time, I’ll do it later, and then it was 11pm and I was exhausted, so I just went to bed.

I’m struggling at work this week as well. Monday to Thursday we’re just burning time during class, and I have my entire classroom to clean up and break down for the summer. I have plenty to do, and yet I’m just stumbling through each period, not really accomplishing anything. The final two weeks of June are not available for me to come to work and finish prepping for the summer (we’re camping one week and I’m taking my son’s friends to the KOA for another), so I need to get this stuff done over the next few days.

I’m actually kind of stressed out about the rest of June. I’m annoyed about the camping trip, but can’t bring myself to not go, which is (supposedly) an option. Right now I’ve requested that we only stay two nights instead of three, so I can be back by Friday and have two days to unpack from camping and repack for five days at the KOA. The KOA packing will be a lot, because I’m the only adult going and I need to bring all the food and other necessities. I think once we are there it will be okay. Supervising four or five 10yo boys for four nights will surely be a lot of work, but there will be plenty of down time, especially at the pool. I’m a lot more anxious about packing, and not forgetting anything, ahead of time.

And then we’re back from the KOA for one weekend before we fly to St. Louis on Monday morning.

It’s a lot. And I already identified that being over scheduled this year contributed to stress, low moods, and general feelings of unease. So I’m not looking forward to our super-charged start to summer.

Then again, at least the time crunch will allow me to get everything done. I appreciate that at least.

Today is my daughter’s 14th birthday. In many ways, it’s the anniversary of me becoming a mother, of my life changing irrevocably. And forever.

I’ve been thinking of her and my transition to motherhood and my journey as a parent a lot this past week. And I’ve been feeling a lot of big feelings about it. Some of those feelings are…

Gratitude. I’m still so grateful that I got to be a mother. It hasn’t been at all what I expected, but I’m deeply appreciative of being able to experience it.

Awe. My daughter is an incredible person. We are similar in many ways, but she is so much better at so many things I’ve worked my whole life to be better at. Most of the time I feel like she is so amazing in spite of my parenting, not because of it.

Confusion. Being a parent is hard, especially in the age of social media. I feel like I’m never sure what I should be doing or how I should do it. And I teach adolescents for a living!

Trepidation. After some really difficult early years, my daughter has had such a great go of it so far. She managed to sail through the social aspects of middle school with almost no problems (how?!). She still likes us and wants to be with us a lot of the time. There is a big part of me that is just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s hard not to assume it will get harder for her, and us, at some point. Don’t all adolescent girls have to be miserable at some point? I know I was.

Love. Is love an emotion? Sometimes it feels like it is. When I look at my daughter and I just feel joy and light and wonder. It’s the feeling I associate with really appreciating the people I

love. Not sure what else to call it.

*Actually, make that four. (How is strikethrough not an option in the title block?!)

May kind of steam rolled me. But when I look back at it, it’s clear why.

Work

• Finished the free reading program. I estimated that I checked over 1500 free reading submissions and put that many stickers on bingo boards. I also gave out many, many prizes.
• Planned and executed the blackout party. Tamales, mole and homemade horchata for 40+ students. Also prizes for that many students. I think it went really well.
• Wrapped up video skits. Every 7/8 class did three video skits except one, so we filed eleven in total. They all were edited (in iMovie) and ready to share with students (and parents) in Digital Portfolios and during the Celebration of Learning.
• Finalized Digital Portfolio Templates. I had to create a different digital portfolio for each of the 1A classes. I decided not to do it with 1B this year (it was a thing I could jettison!), but that still left three classes that needed templates with their unique class characters, stories and video skits. Luckily I know how to take little steps throughout the year
• Participated in Celebration of Learning. I got my classroom all cleaned up, made sure students had work to show parents, played the 7/8 class’s video skits, and chatted with lots of parents. It actually went by really quickly.

Home

• Hosted Book Club. I hosted book club at the beginning of the month. I cleaned up the downstairs and ordered catering plates. I’m not a confident host, so it was stressful, but I think everyone enjoyed it. And it was nice to get the downstairs in mint condition. It had been a while.
• Tackled the backyard. It wasn’t even on my list, but once someone pulled me out there I couldn’t stop. It’s so nice to have all that high grass gone. We have more work to do, but the big initial push is finished.
• Packed away the winter clothes and boots. I did not go through my own clothes as much, but all the big winter jackets and pants are packed away in the shed, along with all the rain boots.
• Hosted son’s sleep over. This required a big clean out of his room, and a smaller clean up of the upstairs.
• Hosted daughter’s promotion party. This is happening right now! There are 12 of them upstairs. They are so big and loud. I did a much deeper clean upstairs, and we moved most of the cat stuff downstairs. The cats are sleeping with us tonight. They had never been in the downstairs unit before and the first two hours were tough, but they’ve chilled out considerably.

Family

• Played the family taxi. I drove my daughter to so much swimming. And to friends’ houses. And to other events. I drove my son to the dojo. And to friends’ houses. And to other events. I really spent a lot of the time in the car, driving my kids around.
• Hosted my kids’ friends. I know I mentioned these before, but they are big deals, so I’m mentioning them again. It’s a lot to have groups of my kids’ friends over. Especially to spend the night.
• Supported my husband. He had a crazy two weeks at the beginning of the month. He was working long hours and super stressed. I stepped up a lot to help him. And right when his work stuff slowed down, mine got super crazy.
• Gave my daughter layers. She has been asking for layers for ages, but I assumed I’d have to pay someone to give them to her so I was stalling. A woman’s hair cut is like $90 around here! The thought of spending that kind of money on an adolescent’s hair cut was more than I could bare. Especially since I’ve been cutting all our hair for so long. But she said I could try it, so I watched a couple YouTube videos and gave it a shot. And it came out really well! I’m so relieved, both that she likes it, and that I can keep cutting her hair at home.
• Supported daughter through promotion. There have been A LOT of big feelings about finishing middle school and moving on to high school. It’s been a lot to help my daughter through it. I am tired. I feel like I’ve done a lot to manage other people’s emotions lately. I wish I had more support managing my own.

Personal

• Watched an Vanderpump Rules Season 11 in five days. Title says it all, except it doesn’t mention how much fun I had doing it. That escape really got me through a shitty week.
• Almost finished the summer fun photo book. But I didn’t need to rush it because I had a coupon. I plan to finish it up this week.
• Took a break from martial arts. I’ve barely been on the mat this month and I think that was the right move. Both my knee, and my mind, needed a break. I’m glad I was able to take it.
• Returned to running. I went again today and it felt so good. It felt like a regular run. And it totally turned around my shitty mood. I can’t wait to get back to real running again. It will be glorious.
• Reconnected with friends. Cutting my daughter’s hair prompted me to text a friend who used to cut her hair when she was much younger. And that prompted me to text her daughter, who I babysat for and then tutored until we became friends. The daughter and I are going to meet up when I’m at the KOA with my son and his friends. I can’t wait.

I would love to add a fifth topic to round this out, but it ain’t going to happen, so I’m going to stop writing and just post this already.

May June be a slower, more restful month for me and anyone else who hopes for that.

Last week I was officially 12 weeks out from my knee injury, which sports medicine considers to be 3 months (1 month = 4 weeks). This week I’m at 13 weeks, and 3 months as far as the calendar is concerned (I injured it on 2/27). At 3 months, I was cleared to return to running. And that is exactly what I did.

Of course, I was cleared to return in very slow, baby steps. My doctor told me that at 3 months I could start “run/walking,” starting at 30 seconds of running every 5 minutes for 30 minutes total, and adding 30 seconds every time I ran until I was running the entire time. If you do that math, it would take 10 runs to get up to a consistent 30 minutes of running.

Last Tuesday I had my final physical therapy appointment. My physical therapist was happy with my progress. He gave me balancing, jumping and lateral movement exercises now that my fracture is officially healed. We also worked on flexion. He agreed that I could return to running, and said to make sure I was listening for the sound of my foot hitting the ground. He said that if I can hear my foot hitting the ground, my knee joint is taking the impact.

The day after my PT appointment I put on my new Brooks with my new premium personalized insoles and I headed out on the trusty trail by work. I was nervous, sure, but I assumed all would be fine. On the second foot fall my knee started hurting. It hurt on the inner side, which is a place it never hurt before; my meniscus sprain was only a grade 1 and my fracture is on the other side of my knee. I was so bummed out when it started to hurt, but I assumed the pain would go away. Of course it didn’t and I finished up the “run” feeling pretty despondent. I knew it was going to be hard for me to take it so slow coming back, but I never really considered that my knee would hurt when I ran. Since that is not how I injured it, I didn’t think it would be an issue returning to it.

I spent a considerable amount of mental energy keeping myself out of a spiral of despair on Wednesday. I told myself that it was probably the PT that made it sore (we worked a lot on flexion, and my knee still hates to bend all the way). I also wore my compression sleeve when I ran I and I don’t normally wear that, so it might have been the culprit. I decided to try again on Friday, without doing any knee bending work before I went, and without wearing the sleeve.

Friday definitely went better. I was up to 1 minute of running and 4 minutes of walking. But I realized my “walking” was really jogging. Or something inbetween power walking and jogging. Trotting? It definitely felt more like a trot. My feet stayed very close to the ground, but there was definitely a moment in my gait when both feet were off the ground. When I got to the 1.5 mile mark in 15 minutes I knew for sure I wasn’t walking. I stressed out quite a bit about whether or not I should really walk, but my knee felt fine and my “trot” kept the muscles around my knee totally engaged, so I decided I’d keep doing it and see how things went. Also, the combo of running/trotting got my heart rate up and made me sweat – it almost felt like going on a real run – and I knew that if I kept it up, I’d be more likely to slowly add running time over the next ten runs.

I will say, the uncertainty of how to proceed has been hard for me with my knee injury. I’m a rule follower and I always want to be a “good” patient. I also know that I’m impatient and prone to pushing myself through pain, and I didn’t want to re-injure my knee because I wasn’t willing to let it rest and heal. It’s been a mind-fuck all around, honestly. The martial arts test also forced me to walk lines much finer than I would have liked. I will be so glad when this is all over, but I also appreciate that I’ve learned a lot about my mental and physical capacity to come back from an injury.

I ran again on Sunday and a fourth time yesterday. I felt twinges in my knee both times, but they always passed. I’ve never felt the consistent pain on the inner side of the first run, though I do sometimes I notice it for a minute or two. I’ve never worn my compression sleeve again, and I got Shokz open ear headphones so I can better hear if my foot is striking the ground too hard upon impact. When I run tomorrow I’ll be at half/half run/trotting. My trot is turning into a full fledged jog, but I’m telling myself it’s okay as long as I keep the muscles around my knee engaged. The whole point of this ramp up is to make sure that my knee can take the strain of impact, and if it seems okay after each run, I’ll assume it can handle it.

I will say, it has been SO wonderful to return to running. The weather has been beautiful and the effort is enough that I’m getting a taste of those amazing endorphins. It has been a very positive experience, and I’m so grateful that my knee has been able to manage the strain of such a high impact activity. If I keep running 2-3 times a week, I’ll be up to normal by mid-June! But now that I’ve upped my “walking” to trotting or jogging, I’m okay with the slow ramp up. When I run I think hard about my foot falls and it’s a little mentally exhausting. I’m glad I’m also learning how to jog in a way that requires less mental work to feel safe.

I’ve stayed on a trail that is flat and even. There is one by work (Sawyer Camp Trail) and one in the city (Great Highway) and each is the perfect length. I think once I’m back to a full 30-40 minutes of running, I will try my favorite spot in the city, which is a park closer to home, but has some hills and uneven trails.

I honestly can’t really believe I get to run again. I really hope the ramp up continues without issue.

It was a nice long weekend. Really nice. Well, most of it was. Monday things with the kids kind of went off the rails, but Saturday and Sunday were amazing. Even Friday was nice. We had a minimum day, which made Friday afternoon feel very long indeed. I had to get my prescription filled, which was a bummer, but I was able to get it done, and get in for a lab test. I’m glad those are off my to-do list now.

My parents picked the kids up at 1:30pm on Saturday. I spent the morning doing chores and helping them pack up. After they left, my husband and I went to lunch at new Tijuana-style taco place that was amazing. It really brought us back to our trip to Mexico City, which was only three months ago but feels longer ago. Then we saw a movie at the Roxie, before grabbing drinks downtown.

At the bar where we got drinks we watched several episodes of an anime show called Bartender: Glass of God. It’s an anime about a bartender who makes people the perfect drink. It was first a manga, then a show that ran for several seasons (thank you Google). Actually, Glass of God is the reboot of the original Bartender show. The fact that this show exists at all is insane to me. We had so much fun watching it. What a trip.

After drinks we walked into Chinatown to go to a new, very popular restaurant that my husband only got a reservation for when someone cancelled (he had an alert on some app). The meal was amazing. It was a real treat.

After dinner it was only 8:30pm, but we’d been out for 7 hours and were pretty tired. We also needed to get home to feed the cats, who are used to getting dinner at 6pm. We watched a little TV, but ended up heading to bed early.

Sunday morning we slept in. Eventually we walked to the Mission to have chilequiles sandwiches – another throw back to our Mexico City trip. We watched some of the Carnaval parade, did a little shopping, then headed home.

I worked on the summer fun book a bit, but when I went through the mail I found some coupons that give me unlimited pages plus 40% so I didn’t need to finish by Monday to get the Memorial Day deals. It was nice not to be in a rush.

I went down to my parents’ to pick up the kids around 6pm. They went to our local amusement park on Sunday and had an amazing time. We got In-n-Out on the way back and then watched some X-Men ’97. They were pretty zonked from the big day and went to bed pretty early.

Monday was a little rough. We saw the new Garfield movie (meh) in the interactive theater were water and air blows on you and the seats move. I’d wanted to try it out, and this movie seemed tame enough for a first try. It would also make what was sure to be a pretty mid movie a little more interesting. And all that was true. The movie was very meh, but the interactive experience was interesting.

Things went kind of downhill after that. My son was upset that I didn’t let him get more Pokémon cards with his own money and that meltdown lasted a long time. I didn’t get as much done around the house as I had wanted. My husband and I got into a little tiff. My daughter was stressed about a party she’s throwing on Friday that her friends can’t seem to commit to. It was just a lot of people feeling stressed and upset and I was over it by the end of the day.

This week is short and stressful with our daughter’s 8th grade promotion on Thursday and the party on Friday. This is the kids’ last “real” week of school as they only have two days next week. Summer is coming hard and fast. I’m so glad my husband and I had two lovely days this past weekend to slow down and enjoy each other. I hope that can carry us to the summer fun that’s scheduled for early July.

I did it! I made it to Friday!

When I get really underwater with a couple of big, important events, I get tunnel vision (oh! another tunnel metaphor!) and focus almost exclusively on what is right in front of me. I think this is good in that it keeps me from heaping on more stress by thinking about other stuff I can’t prioritize in the moment. But if I do it too thoroughly, I can come out on the other side of the big commitments to find the rest of my life has been thrown into a dumpster fire. This is never a great feeling.

Last night, after our Celebration of Learning, I collapsed on the couch. I managed to drag my ass up to put my son to bed, but then I passed out. This morning I spent the drive to work reminding myself of all the other areas of my life that need my attention, now that work is quieting down. When I got in, I opened my planner and calendar for the first time in FOREVER and started writing things down. And then I decided that maybe if I wrote a post about stuff, it would settle my brain a bit. So here is what I’m focusing on now that the onslaught that was work has subsided.

Daughter’s 8th grade promotion and party. It’s on Thursday. She needs to decide if she’s okay with the dress and shoes she already has or wants something else. We’re going to dinner with the grandparents after and she’ll be getting her promotion/birthday presents then, so I don’t have to host in a couple week (yipee!). Then on Friday she’s having 10+ girls over for a sleep over. Lord help me.

Cleaning the house. The house is not where I want it to be. It hasn’t been for a while. But when I do go to clean it up, it doesn’t take as long as it used to, so I haven’t undone ALL that work from earlier this year. I need to tidy and clean before Friday (see above bullet point), and I won’t have much time during the school week, so this weekend it will be.

Winter/Summer clothing switch. I need to purge some winter wear and pack away what I’m going to keep. I need to go through everyone’s summer clothes and see who needs more pieces (probably my daughter, definitely my son).

Quality time with my husband. We need it desperately, as we’ve been in what feels like survival mode for months. Between my knee, his work stuff blowing up, my work stuff getting crazy, and three different sickness cycling through the family, it feels like we haven’t even spent a weekend night together in weeks. My parents are taking the kids on Saturday and he made reservations for dinner so we’re definitely doing that. I’m really looking forward to hanging out and reconnecting, because it’s been a while since that happened.

Summer fun book. Every year I create a photo book of the four days we spend at “the farm” in St. Louis. If I want to be able to take advantage of a good sale I need to get it done ASAP, so I have time to wait for the best discount to present itself. So this weekend I’ll be going through the photos and sorting the best ones. I take over 3,000 photos over the four days we’re there, so it takes a while to look through them all. I’m actually really late starting this so I hope to get a lot done this weekend. {Update: I had already favorited them and I just moved them to computer via AirDrop. I’m so thankful to my last summer self for favoriting them.}

And now I’m off to officially start my long weekend. I hope you all get what you need over the next few days!