Not a Wasted Word

Today was another nice day of break. After two days of gray and rain, the weather today was beautiful. I took my son and his friend (who spent the night) to the Great Highway with their bikes. This time I felt great running and would have wanted to run much longer but I was having some hip pain, so it was probably best that it was a short run.

At home I got the Christmas tree up and secured. Last year our kittens were only five months old and fairly new to our family at Christmas. I was nervous about putting up the tree so I secured it to the sides of the two doorways it sits between. I left those anchors up all year so I could do the same again. The cats are bigger and heavier and no less curious. They climbed into the tree quite a bit last year but it never fell over. I hope that track record continues to stand (the not falling over part I mean).

So this is how I cat proof our Christmas tree. I zip tie it to a small table and then tie it with twine to anchors in four spots on the sides and to another spot behind on the wall.

All that keeps the tree standing. But what about the ornaments? Last year I only used the non-breakable ornaments. This year I’m going to leave the tree up for a couple days with just the lights so I can see what the cats do with it. If they aren’t in it much I might put some of my favorite photo ornaments up toward the top, where they don’t usually get to. We shall see.

How do you keep your decorations safe from four-legged friends?

It can be easy to see a one-week break as an opportunity to do ALL THE THINGS and hard to remember that life still has to happen, even if formal work doesn’t. It took me a lot of years to pair down my expectations of week-long breaks to better reflect what’s possible. I still need reality checks from time to time.

This morning I sat down with my planner and gave myself the reality check I needed. I wrote a list of what I want to get done, and the specific time commitments we have, and started prioritizing things in recognition of the fact that it’s just not all going to get done.

And we’re off to a good start. I went to the dojo today for General and Sparring. Sparring was really fun because it was only blue and red belts there so it was all ground grappling. I love ground grappling and have a lot to learn, and everyone had something valuable to teach me.

My daughter is at her grandparents’ house and my husband is out with a friend. My son has a friend over tonight so I’m not on call to keep him occupied. We a got pizzas and played Ticket to Ride and now they are watching a movie. I got my 1B tests scored while they were playing and finished a book I’ve had from the library for MONTHS.

I’m quite pleased by my first day of break. I hope the rest of the week can be as nice a balance of productivity and down time as today was. Hopefully my morning planning will help make that possible.

And now this cat would like me to stop writing so I will oblige her.

Five things on a Friday seems to be popular around these part of the blogosphere. I’ve never done one before, but I think I can probably figure it out. 😉

So five things I’m thankful for at the start of this Thanksgiving Break:

Appointment Availability

I can still not believe I can take the car in and get a new prescription this week. The car has needed to be serviced for MONTHS and I really want to take advantage of vision insurance covering one pair of glasses per calendar year. The fact that I can get both done when I have the time and space to do so is amazing.

Older kids

And I don’t have to worry about child care coverage while I do these things because my kids are old enough to stay home by themselves. So while I’m making my way home Tuesday morning after dropping off the car my kids will be watching themselves at home while my husband is at work. It’s a whole new world.

Bringing a side

I can also check off these old, festering boxes on my to-do list because I am not in charge of Thanksgiving dinner. My parents make the main meal and I just bring stuffing, which is my favorite thing. I am not a whiz in the kitchen so I appreciate not having the stress of pulling of such a large culinary event.

Margins

I have plenty to do this week but I’m pretty sure I’ll have the margins available to get most of it done. We aren’t traveling and we don’t have much planned. I’ll spend half a day at work closing out the first trimester and preparing for trimester 2. I’ll score some tests at home. I have plenty of photos curated for the calendars I need to order. My daughter is ready to help me put up the tree and decorate the house. I think it will all be pretty doable, especially if I use my time strategically.

Family and Friends

I’m excited to spend some time with my parents and my in-laws this week. A couple friends are not going away so I’m hoping we can hang out. I think a few of my kids’ friends will be around. I’m taking them and a friend each to Great America’s WinterFest the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It should be the perfect mix of hanging out at home with the family, being with extended family and seeing friends.

Today was a rough day at work. The kind of day where I sat with the heels of my palms in my eyes for long stretches.

So many students making poor choices. So much effort just to get them to do the bare minimum.

And then my daughter and I went to cheer on her friends (and my friends’ daughters) in their championship volleyball game and they lost at the end of the 3rd game. It was heart breaking and I’m exhausted so this will be all I write tonight.

Just one more day of school before the Thanksgiving break. We all need this week off, and badly.

Sorry for my pity party toddler tantrum last night. After I pressed publish I sat down and graded the fronts of 1.5 classes’ assessments AND finished the backside of one class. So I went from being 1/4 done to 2/3 done! Hurrah! I have grand ambitions to finish off another classes’ tonight.

At work today I made a service appointment for the car and an eye appointment – both for next week when I have so much time! I still can’t believe that happened. I was seriously going to ask if they had availability for the car the first week of January.

Finally, I went to PT and I think the exercises and stretches he gave me are going to help. I did one lower back release and held a plank for one minute and the movements that usually send pain down my leg were no problem! I’m trying not to get too excited but if this is all it takes to resolve pain I’ve been feeling for two years I’ll be thrilled.

APEC is in town this week which means Presidents Biden and Xi are in San Francisco as I type this. What a shit show downtown is going to be all week. I’m so glad I do not have to venture there. My husband and daughter do, and I really hope it’s not as bad as everyone fears. Still, not my immediate problem! Woot!

I’m in line to pick up my daughter’s ADHD medicine, which is always a giant PITA but is officially happening so I can’t really complain. (Well, I already did, and loudly, to my husband, so I’ll leave it that). As long as I am actually picking up the stuff when my number gets called I’ll be happy enough.

I still have to move everything out of my bathroom, but I’m not as annoyed by it after all I got done today. I just hope they really do finish by the end of the week. At least the plumbing part… my guess is we’ll have unfinished floors in there for way longer than I’d like.

UPDATE: Getting my daughters Rx filled truly sucked but it’s over and I have it so I’m letting it go. Still need to deal with the bathroom, but dinner is almost done.

Here’s to big and small wins!

I’m not in a great head space. This week is going to be a tremendous slog, and I just want it to be over. I fear I will push a bunch of work to the break and then be resentful when I have to work over the break. If I want to get it done this week I have a lot of long nights ahead of me.

Our bathroom is getting torn up this week and I’m so salty about it. It’s not just the $8K (but ho boy does the $8K take my breath away), it’s also the inconvenience. But mostly it’s the fear. My bathroom is one of my favorite rooms in a house that can drive me a little crazy. What is they bust it up beyond repair? What if I hate it when it’s all over.

I feel like we’ll be spending a spectacular amount of money and I’ll probably like the space less when they’re done. Blerg. Why do pipes have to get holes in them. Such bunk.

I feel like I’m not even showing up here in the ways I wanted. I told myself I could do this, but maybe I can’t. At least not in the ways I wanted. I know it’s okay, but I’m still disappointed.

Mostly I’m just not sure why I’m getting my ass handed to me so hard this school year and I’m nervous about it. Is it really my student teacher? Or did I just take take on more than I could manage when I tried to accommodate so many students wanting Spanish? Or am I just getting old and run down and unable to keep so many balls in the air?

Sorry, didn’t meant to show here like this today but it’s where I’m at.

Here are some photos of the cats, who survived their vet visit. We may be investing in two micro chip feeders that will (in theory) keep Serval out of Panther’s food dish. He is a solid sir who evidently can’t get any more solid lest the weight gain cause him to develop diabetes. 😬

We’re all glad it’s over!

The rest of the weekend was quite lovely. I’m still more behind at work that I’d like, but I’m trying to be okay with it. My grades aren’t due until after the Thanksgiving break, so I have some time.

Saturday I went to the dojo for General and Sparring. There we’re only four is there for the General class and I got some one-on-one instruction about new blue belt techniques that I still don’t feel super comfortable doing. Sparring was fun. I ran that class for the first time and my efforts were recognized.

When I got home everyone was out so I cleaned up and did some laundry. In the afternoon my daughter and I went to watch her two friends play an important volleyball game. Their team won and will go on yo the Championships on Thursday!

We went to our friends house afterward to hang out. The moms watched the Warriors game (not a great one) and the girls hung out doing whatever 8th grade girls do nowadays. We headed home pretty early because my husband had been stuck with our son all day and he wasn’t feeling great.

Sunday I made pancakes. Pumpkin pancakes. So many pumpkin pancakes. My son doesn’t like many foods that pack easily as lunches, so every few weeks I make two boxes worth of pancakes and freeze most of them. Sunday was that day. I do love TJ’s pumpkin pancake mix. I ate a lot of pancakes, as did everyone else.

My son and I walked the 13yo to a birthday party. When we got home we left to run and bike ride on the Great Highway. It was a beautiful day and I’m so glad we made it out there.

It was not my best run, but I loved being out with my son and the weather was beautiful. He hasn’t been on his bike and had a great time.

In the evening the kids and I saw The Marvels. I couldn’t find my Goose shirt and I was pretty pissed about that, but I loved the movie. I love Captain Marvel and the Ms. Marvel series too, so it was awesome to see them on the big screen together. And of course Goose stole the show.

I have one (or more!) things every day after school this week, starting with a vet visit for both cats tomorrow. Please think of me at 4pm PST time tomorrow. There is no way or can go well. 🤣

It was a year ago this weekend that we brought these two crazy cats into our lives. It has been a roller coaster ride ever since.

We adopted them from a feral cat rescue as a bonded pair. They are not siblings but they have been raised together since they were a week old. We consider them siblings, and I imagine they do as well.

They play together a lot. Serval (on the left) is constantly messing with his sister. But Panther brings it plenty herself. (Serval and Panther are their blog names – even my cats remain anonymous here!)

Sorry I can’t write much more about them tonight, but my guess is you don’t mind pictures instead of words on this topic.

(If you would like to see more cat photos you can do so here and here and here and here.)

Today I did pretty much nothing. And it was nice. And dare I say, needed. But now I have so much to do. Sometimes I wonder if do-nothing days are worth it. Yes, you get to rest and recharge, but then you’re faced with even more the next day.

At least it is a three day weekend, so I still have 48 hours to get some stuff done. And next next week is Thanksgiving break, so whatever isn’t done at the end of the weekend can probably wait until the break.

I’m trying not to let the looming to-do list stress me out too much. Everything will be okay, eventually.