It's Still Complicated and Complex

Zach of Note

• He love, love, love, LOVES his Lego fire station and all accoutrements! Jimmy and Gina, Duke, Rookie, and Daisy. 
• Teeth and a visit from the tooth fairy
• Visits to a new playground in Herndon and Frying Pan Park
• Airplane fleet in Legos
  
• Painting al fresco and nature art
• Ellen Reid soundwalk at Wolf Trap (https://www.wolftrap.org/calendar/performance/soundwalk.aspx) on my own and with Zach!
  
• Researched gun play and got some good insight and tips
  
• Running on Auntie Em's treadmill
  
• Kindergarten Orientation
  

Emotions/Empathy Corner

• We tried to get him to spell curious and he got frustrated that we didn't let him spell. We weren't patient enough.
• He chased me as a "bad guy" and I came up with the story behind the bad guys and he had empathy.
• Zach was upset that I wasn't spending time with him one morning, and I explained that we all need quiet time.
• We also all need to agree on what we do together. 
• Tried to help Logan, Cora, and Zach through a disagreement. Cora told Zach she was part of a gymnastics club that was girls only, but Logan could join because he was the best brother. Zach felt left out and then told Cora and Logan they couldn't join his gardening club. All misunderstanding and pain not acknowledged. I tried to help Logan and Cora understand Zach's point of view. :)

Zach's Words and Songs and Curious Questions

• More Hilary McKay and Binny series. Zach got Lulu books and Ana and Andrew for Easter. 
• He is also loving the book about the origin of the teddy bear, "Teddy's Bear," and we read about Paul Bunyan, which was pretty entrancing!
• We talked about the cicadas that are coming
• Purple question: Would all the trees on the earth blot out the sun? No.  
• We learned from Wow in the World that the air around a lightning strike is 5x hotter than the sun. It's true! https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-temperature#:~:text=Air%20is%20a%20very%20poor,the%20surface%20of%20the%20sun).
• Spelling "curious," because we've been reading a lot of Curious George.
• We talked about cosmic karma
• We read Under the Ramadan Moon. I wish there were more books on Ramadan!
• Showed Zach pics of Grand Teton, and he said we weren't safe rollerblading without our helmets. True.
• Overheard Zach bark and tell Tigey, “Tigey, get off of your brother,” referring to Huskey. He loves Huskey so much. Thank you, Charlotte!
• Zach told the people at the garden center, “Our backyard looks terrible.” Teehee!
  
• Zach said, “Am I in Spanish immersion?” Yes, so now it’s out there. Then he asked if he would speak better than me, and I said, “yes.”

Sleep Update

• He's a solid 10-10.5 hours. Some good nights. Some short ones. Some short naps. He comes in my room sometimes, but not too bad. 
• We lost power for the first time in his life, and he was pretty freaked out. Makes sense if it's never happened. It seems scary for sure!
• I sleep weirdly now. I don't know if it's taking estrogen or just age, but if I drink, I don't sleep very well. :( I have insomnia more often....
  

Good Food

• Thompson Italian Easter food and the Women in Wine dinner
• Milk shakes and ice cream!
• Tried out Caboose Brewing for coffee/breakfast, and it was not that good, but fun!
• Watermelon hops kombucha and watermelon sprouting! (Thanks, Rachel.)
• Green Grocer ramen, miso broth, baby chard, and other veggies. Delicious!
• Sour cherries from last summer! Yum!
• The tomato and feta cheese recipe
  

Connection

• Uber Ladies
• Jaclyn, Julia over email and text
• Some good "how's your mental health" conversations (Rae, Sofia)
• Sofia and Baby James :)
• Kathleen
• Emily R.
• Greer
• Hiking with Jenifer at Banshee Reeks and learned that her mom passed away in January: https://jewishobservernashville.org/2021/01/30/obituary-joyce-dubrov-fox/   
• Meeting up with Mom and Dad and Emily and Jeff at Norther Fauquier Community Park with a picnic from Red Truck. Beautiful! 
• An evening with Katie and Suji. Zach rode in Katie's Jeep to see a nest of horned owls. The Lego box at their house was by the far the most awesome part. 
• Adrienne met Zach. We walked and had Lake Anne Coffee House breakfast outside at Lake Anne on a beautiful morning
• Therapists = great. One bought and read Marrow and wanted to know what resonated. The other can be there for me when others aren't able! What?! Wow!
• Beautiful Friday night at Bear Chase with Mom and Dad and Emily. Emily rode with us, which Zach loved. They were playing great 80's Hits: I Can't Fight This Feeling, Glory of Love, etc.
  

Family Fun

• Easter egg hunts, candy to Charlotte, and watermelon seeds!
• Visits to Frying Pan Park. Baby goats and pigs. Baaahhh. An amazing peacock. Friends and a giant frisbee.
  
  
  
• Great Falls on a foggy day and a booming rock climbing day
  
• Hiking on the AT (very briefly); the 4-H Center is in a beautiful valley/hollow
  
• Games: Forbidden Island and Castle Panic are my favorite

Fun and Not So Fun Stuff 

Personal 

• A rough month for sure. I definitely had to release my stress cycle and work through some challenges! Pillow Potion. Amazing.
  
• Finished Virgin River and have had trouble finding the next series. Watching Zero Chill. Watch the Fat episode of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
• Reading All the Days Past, All the Days to Come by Mildred D. Taylor
• Watched part of The Bourne Legacy, so good.
• Introduced to the music of Raye Zaragoza
• Awesome journaling and connecting the dots day on 4/18!
• Podcasts I've loved: 
• Teaching Hard History from Mar 16, Malcolm X Beyond the Mythology w/ Clarence King. https://www.learningforjustice.org/podcasts/teaching-hard-history/civil-rights-movement/malcolm-x-beyond-the-mythology 
• https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-dr-angela-duckworth-on-grit-and-the-importance-of-trying-new-things/ 
• https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-dr-pippa-grange-on-fearing-less/ 
• https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-jason-karlawish-m-d-on-the-problem-of-alzheimers/ 
• https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-samin-nosrat-on-grief-gratitude-and-connection/ 
• https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-dr-angus-fletcher-on-life-changing-inventions-in-literature/ - I loved the thought-provoking comments about memoir and Maya Angelou
• http://laylafsaad.com/good-ancestor-podcast/ep050-diego-perez 
• http://laylafsaad.com/good-ancestor-podcast/ep025-sarah-jones 
• PUBLIC HEALTH ON CALL294 - Dr. Michael Osterholm on the Race Between COVID-19 Variants and Vaccines... | https://www.jhsph.edu/podcasts/public-health-on-call/ 

Professional

• I won the empathy rockstar award! Felipe called me the goat (greatest of all time) and Geoff messaged me directly! Cool. 
• Viyas referenced how I was crushing them all in the fitness challenge! Won the steps week of the fitness challenge. Yay! Starbucks gift card!
• Culture Onboarding! Always good and Rae joined on 4/23!
• I've had a lot of fun with recognition this month and have given out lots of badges and shared with team members and team leads. Reinforced by Radical Candor and Eric Mosley podcasts! Chris Bryant mentioned that my kudos to Charlie "mean a lot coming from you." Awwww. I am so lucky!
• Bye, bye Amanda. :( 
• HBR article on mental health shared the question: how's your mental health?

Health Corner

• Thanking my feet. They are SO BEAT up. Poor feet. Rubbed and lotioned.
• The vaccine for me and Frank
• Mary didn’t seem to think variants would be too bad for kids as long as they still wear masks and distance.
• The virus came to our neighbors :( brought them Chick-fil-A, and I've never seen so much animation and excitement from TK

What I'm pondering

• 1.) Notice it 2.) Sit with it 3.) Put it in perspective
• There are two kinds of people

1.) People who experience pain and struggle and get help. 

2.) People who experience pain and struggle and work it out on themselves or others.

• Getting out on the water this summer (kayak, canoe?)
• Writing memoir