It’s only Tuesday and I’m spent. I was supposed to meet a friend for a walk and coffee this morning and ended up spending most of my day troubleshooting technology issues that still haven’t quite been solved. Every day I go to bed thinking “Now that I’ve got that all figured, tomorrow we’ll be able to really start getting into our groove.” but when tomorrow arrives there is always some new problem to be solved. (As I typed that all out, I realized that sounds a lot like…life.)
The garden produced one small zucchini, so many tomatoes, delicious green beans and peas, some peppers, and small but tasty carrots. We also had one under-ripe and one really delicious melon (Abram and I sat at the counter and ate the whole thing in about ten minutes), some lovely lettuces and a few radishes and a couple of broccoli that weren’t anything special. My fava beans and onions were a complete bust. I learned that I liked gardening, that squash vine borer is a disaster of a pest, that I’m going to try trellising tomatoes instead of using cages, that I should wear long sleeves and gloves when weeding, and that if I’m going to make dilly beans I really need to plant more because they really don’t even make it into the kitchen before I eat them. I have lots of ideas for next year and I’m still sending Jesse zillow listings for land.
Abram had his first cross country meet this weekend. It was a doozy of a course and after it was all over he said he’s looking forward to track, but he’ll be signing up for soccer next fall.
Knitting: Same as last week.
Watching: I watched The Founder this last week and to say that there was a lot I didn’t know about how McDonald’s became McDonald’s is an understatement. It makes me wonder how different the world would be if Ray Kroc had never met the McDonald brothers. Last night I continued my 90’s-00’s movie-a-thon with Turner and Hooch (it’s ’89, but close enough). On my list to watch: America The Story of Us. My friend is doing “documentary Wednesday” with her son and I’m thinking of adopting it as well.
Reading: Atomic Habits, Why I’m Not Talking to White People About Race, Anxious People, Caste are all in rotation right now. It’s ridiculous. I am not good with reading multiple books at the same time.
Making: Progress. I didn’t get my children’s books sorted. I did get a box for the books to be donated which is miserable progress but progress all the same. This week I’ll make some more.
So that’s me. I’m hanging in there and hope you are as well. Please let me know what you are reading, watching, listening, making, or whatever -ing you feel like sharing!
“…when tomorrow arrives there is always some new problem to be solved. (As I typed that all out, I realized that sounds a lot like…life.)” Exactly!! I came to this conclusion recently too!!!
My favorite picture is your dog giving you “the eye!” Love it. Is there a story behind it?
That carrot would make a wonderful nose for a snowman. Lots of character! But I guess you two already ate it. Oh well.
It is late, so tomorrow I will send a note with my -ing!
Had a good productive day, so time for sleep -ing.
You are so right about the carrot! I didn’t even think about it until you mentioned it, but looking back at the picture, it would have been perfect!
No story behind the dog giving me the eye, really. Just that she really wanted attention and I wasn’t giving it to her fast enough. (I’ve honestly never met a more needy dog.)
Productive days sure do feel good. I’m glad you had one, TD. I hope it led to good rest.
Your dog’s face here is my mood. And I’m with Abram on cross country. Not that I ever did cross country. I ran track (sprints) and my coach used to try to get me to do cross country but I thought those guys were crazy masochists.
I totally understand why you are spent. The tech issues are huge. Everything feels huge right now, doesn’t it? I’ve spent all day the last two days in training via zoom, and I don’t know how our kids are supposed to do it. I HATED it. I did it because I’m getting paid to do it. If I weren’t, I dunno… I was constantly on my phone doing things I wasn’t supposed to be, but it was what allowed me to stay engaged. Still I was so exhausted and gritchy by the end of each day.
I watched The Social Dilemma. The imaginary parts were hokey to me, but the interviews with tech industry folks were fascinating. In the way a car wreck is fascinating. I’m listening to The Guest List, a British suspense novel. I hate most of the main characters, but I’ve got to see it through the end now. I can’t focus much on reading print. Too many hours in front of screens. And too much distracting me.
I’ve been working crossword puzzles, though. I have a New York Times subscription and each week they share 4 puzzles from their archives. The puzzles get harder each day of the week. I can do OK with Wednesday-level puzzle, but they’re really hard for me after that. I can knock out a Monday puzzle in about a half hour. I might have to subscribe so I can get more. It’s mindless but occupies my mind, if that makes sense. That’s what I’m needing these days.
You are so right when you say that everything feels huge. I feel like we’re all being asked to tolerate so much that even the littlest things (like tech issues) feel like one more hurdle in a never ending mountain climb. Gritchy is the perfect word for how I’m feeling – a little too electric and burnt out.
As for the virtual, I bought some fidget toys for them to play with while watching lectures or in group meetings and it’s been super helpful. It IS hard and it makes me so sad that our kids are having to deal with the consequences of bad leadership. If anything has taught me that the most vulnerable pay the consequences for the decisions of people in power, it’s this year.
I read The Guest List this summer. And you’re right, every one of the main characters is horrid. I won’t say anything more for fear I ruin the ending.
The crossword puzzles sound like a really good way to unwind. My mother in law has always done crossword puzzles. I’m not very good at them, but maybe I should try. ”
It’s good to hear from you, Rita. It was so nice to see a post on your blog last night; you’ve been on my brain. I’m hoping to get a chance to comment today. Sending hugs!
I anticipated the sister connection, which I thought was plenty. I could even buy the wedding planner one. But the third one: No way. Too much coincidence. And I really wanted to hear more from the bride after it all came out, even though I detested her. What a miserable lot of characters.
Thumbs up from me on the fidget toys. My phone is my fidget toy. Maybe I should look for another kind.
We watched The Founder a few years ago and it changed how we looked at McDonald’s and I worked there in high school for two years. By the way, I haven’t eaten McDonald’s in over two months since I found out they have MSG in their fries. It broke my heart.
I feel you on the, if it’s not one thing it’s another. Every damn day. I hope your tech stuff is better, especially as it pertains to school.
I bet it was nice to be back in sports for Abram AND for you as parents. Being back in some sort of normalcy just feels nice when those things happen. It just takes us away even for a little tiny bit.
That cemetery sign, I almost want you to steal it and put it on YOUR wall. I mean, it’s kinda cool. No? We’d have matching signs! Ish. 😉
My sister worked there when she was in high school too! We didn’t have one when I was in high school so I worked at a frozen custard restaurant. 😉
Thank you for your good wishes. The end of this week has definitely been smoother than the beginning – at least on the technology front.
As TD and Rita have already said, the photo of your dog says it all 🙂 . I’m curious about the photo of the phone (and the elevator buttons)—is there a story behind it (them)?
I take my hat off to you for being your kids’ tech support. I don’t know what it is about technology, but when things go wrong with it, I have an extremely hard time maintaining any semblance of patience or calm.
All three of my kiddos did (do?) cross country. I love that even though Abram is in the virtual stream, he can still participate. If sports are eventually allowed here (so far they aren’t), it’ll only be the kids who are actually in school who will be able to take part.
I watched The Founder a few years ago, and it made me SO angry. (But I get angry at a lot of documentaries…) I got through about half of The Social Dilemma last evening before having to turn in for the night. I hope it goes viral (can one say that about a documentary?). Although Rita said the imaginary parts (it’s a docu-drama) were hokey, so far I’m kind of liking the dramatic elements, especially the protest element. They’ve made up an “extreme centre” movement to illustrate the way social media can cause radicalization, and although this will probably make some people groan, I think it’s a good way to make sure the documentary isn’t immediately dismissed by either the right or the left.
I had to laugh at the progress of getting a box for the books. This is my kind of progress too, Kate 🙂 .
My -ing is mostly the same as last week. Still knitting my sweater and a pair of socks, still reading Villette (I’m such a slow reader), still on ST Enterprise, still processing kale. But yesterday was a big day for us: My youngest went to school for the first time in over six months. He has science this week. Yup. Science all day, all week. Next week he gets to switch to French. (They’re doing quadmesters at his high school. One of his friends has fitness all week; his other friend has guitar all week. I’m not sure if this is better than being at home and on a screen most of the day or not, but it is what it is, and he got through the first day and went off happily enough this morning for his second day.) Yesterday was also the day my daughter defended her master’s thesis. We’re all relieved that she passed.
I’m sorry you weren’t able to get out yesterday for your walk and coffee with a friend. I had a friend over for a backyard visit this morning. Other than accidentally running into each other outside a store—while masked, so neither of us had the ability to focus on a conversation—we haven’t seen each other in over six months. It was wonderful to visit with her; I hope you’re able to reschedule your visit with your friend soon.
Have a good week, Kate.
Congratulations to your daughters! I bet that feels so good! I like how your son’s school is doing things. I bet it can be hard to absorb all science all day all week, but from a risk stand point it seems wonderful. I’m not going to even talk about what I think about how it’s being handled here. Suffice to say, this house is doing what it can.
No story. I was at a building for an appointment and I really loved the typography.
I, also, am not calm when juggling technology issues. There are a lot of things I’m not good at doing that I’m learning to do better. I remind myself of that (and that I like learning new things) over and over and over again. 😉
I made more progress yesterday. I put five books in the box. HA! I’m really hoping to get it packed up by the end of the weekend.
So glad you had a chance to visit with your friend. We tried again today. It was a quick visit – I had to get home for a conference call, but it felt really good.