It's a pandemic. I was admonished by a man (while I was outside with Zach) for not wearing a mask. I was informed by my neighbor that wearing a gaiter was "worse than not wearing a mask." I listened to a podcast on wearing a mask that basically said, it should be a new mask every time you go outside, and it should be placed on the face with clean hands and never be touched once placed on the face. It's a lot.
This past month I had a morning - the first morning - where I woke up and struggled to remember what day it was. Just tired.
Susan & Zach
- Reston Camp in Box science project of dancing rice!
- Art with Zach = a challenge. I bought colored pencils and a coloring book, though, and am having fun.
- Zach has brought flowers for Mommy and played with my hair a few days
- Zach renewed his obsession with The Parent Trap and one morning asked me, “Who is Leonardo DiCaprio,” because Hailey and Annie talk about him in the movie. :)
- Karate Kid and "No mercy," became "Non, merci." Much better! We also watched a "kids learning karate video" since he wants to fight and hit now. :(
- Tennis continues and Auntie Em's grabber added a great new dimension!
- Playing hide and seek at the Fannie Mae building, visiting the pole park again, and making a fishing pole and "going fishing," not really - no hook, no bait.
- Okay, probably gross to some , he started picking at my toenail while he was watching shows, like he picks all of his nails. I had to say, “Stop it; these are my toes.”
- He bought more pets; he now has two unicorns (ugh). We started naming his pets, though. That was fun.
- Jokes! We recorded our routine for the company talent show! :)
Frank & Zach
- The pool, the pool, the pool! He's getting to be a very strong swimmer! He got new suits!
- Visits with Grandad
- His new Woom bike came, and it took him 2 minutes, according to Frank, to get used to the bigger size. It's blue, and he loves it.
Zach of Note
- When Zach drinks, he makes kind of a licking-his-lips noise with his mouth in anticipation!
- Zach now has imaginary friends, Chloe, Gabe, and Dabe. He also talks to a lot of people on comms. He even curses (oops) and asks me how old he has to be to start cursing. He asked last night about a movie I was watching, "Is there cursing in this movie?" (Uh-oh.)
Zach's Words & Songs
Books: We love the Mister and Miss series, and Aunt Agatha sent those to Emily and me as children. Right now, we talk like Mr. Slow, and we also go looking for Mr. Mischief as the book urges at the end. Teehee
Sleep Update
Still up and down. About 9 hours over night and 1-1.5 hour naps, so 10-10.5 hours/day :( He does adhere to 2-ish hours of quiet time every day, and that is a saving grace! I say, "We all need quiet time."
Good Food
- Beautiful and delicious lunch of salmon and summer veggies.
- Yummy purple potatoes with blue cheese and egg roll-less egg roll filling.
- We made cupcakes and ate and decorated them over several days!
- More shortbread cookies from Found in Charlottesville. We've tried all of them now!
- Fresh tomato sauce, bruschetta, roasted garlic, bacon
- Zucchini hash
- Emily's delightful blueberry and lemon curd muffins AND waffles!
- Peanut sauce!
- Cantaloupe smoothies and grapes from 78 acres
Visits by phone or Zoom with - so many good ones, and thank goodness!
- Daily breakfast calls with Gamma and Daddy Bob
- Sara Gay's 80th birthday on Zoom
- Sing-along with Bennie and SiSi. Bennie alerted Zach to more songs by Parry Gripp of Space Unicorn fame
- Kathleen
- Mary Kay
- Katie & Suji - Zach came!
- Mary Kay, Kathleen, and Kate happy hour on Zoom
- Greer
- Lucy
- Emily R.
- Yvette
- Regular visits with Auntie Em and we ordered in Indian!
Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary!
Emily and I reached out to friends and family via email and FB, and we got memories, cards, and photos! I put together a slide show. Emily had pictures in an easy-to-access, organized place. It was AMAZING! Mom and Dad came in for the celebration, and it was a great afternoon! A true highlight of a tough month.
Fun and Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)
- It started raining and I had to dig out my rain shoes and rain coat for my walks!
- Always, walks :) | I'm over halfway through my "hike" of the Camino de Santiago is Spain. - 60% complete!
- I'm officially fully recovered. My doctor added an additional 10 days beyond the 6 weeks. No Zumba yet, though, I just am not into it.
- Rick and Bri and Lola and Leo. I challenged Zach to "beat me" at saying "hi" to Bri, and he did, and it made Bri and Susan SO HAPPY!
- James brought a comedian to the block, shared his homemade peach and pepper hot sauce, and moved away!
- Went out west to Shenandoah University's River Campus for a walk and also ended up driving around the countryside listening to Sister Hazel. Great!
- Roller blading on the W&OD at Purcellville and an excursion to Moulton Park on the Shenandoah River
- Black Lives Matter = My 21-day+ challenge (https://www.eddiemoorejr.com/21daychallenge) continues
- Podcasts galore: 1619 Project was GREAT! The Feminist Survival Project 2020 = AMAZING, Nice White Parents
- I finally got into The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!
- Movies: Chemical Heart and High Strung Free Dance
- Reading: I'm Still Here, Walking to the End of the Earth (about The Way), Untamed, Burnout
- Continuing to focus my Instagram feed on more diverse voices
- Spanish study continues
- Listening to music: EFO, NKOTB (We Own Tonight), and Sister Hazel have been awesome! Fave Sister Hazel songs: Snow Globe World, Karaoke Song, One Love, Where Do You Go, and See Me Beautiful
- Feminist romance novels
- Additional giving/support: $250 to Guilford, the Impact Assets fund for COVID, and Jason Isbell merch.
- Good work stuff (rewarded with more stock!) and connections with Joe re: Europe and Wisconsin and Stu and Sam (give us a chance to miss you...) and Jordan K. hiking in RMNP and Haley at one of the other K1 companies. It's great to have an L&D partner in crime! Good resources from Scott C. through AMP and a strengths conversation.
- Emotional Intelligence 2020 virtual conference and bought into the Oji Life Lab
- Kudos from Bryce for the leadership skills he got before he left. Wow!
- Uncle Jim's death on August 6, remembering Jim.
- We remembered that Zach fed the birds with Jim, and Zach said, "Maybe Terri will help me feed the birds now?"
- Also, Jim's obituary had nice, funny parts about his good hair and ability to tan. Also mentioned his pups and playing frisbee in the great beyond! Shared his obit with many and received many kind words.
From the book, Burnout, this really resonates: "When you think you need more grit, what you need is more help. When you think you need more discipline, you need more kindness, and when you look at others and think they need more grit, what they need is more help. And when you think they need more discipline, what they need is more kindness."
