Making Memories

Zach of Note

• Rachel shared that Jewelle thinks Zach is a “role model”
• He’s gotten into cooking! 
• Piano recital! 
• Playdates with Theo, Jackson, Tom, and briefly with Lorenzo at the pool before volatile weather
• Enjoys the Flight Simulator game
• Multiple conversations about classmates’ crushes
• Lost: the aerobee, his white GFR game jersey
• Loving Imagine Dragons, getting back into some Matchbox Twenty/Rob Thomas; enjoyed Zach’s 2024 birthday playlist
• Kicking off summer with Reston Camps’ Day Camp and friends, Alexander and Paul
• Getting back into Sudoku

Orthodontics

Still doing an AMAZING job

School

• Zach did well with his behavior with Senora S. I think we heard from her twice in the last quarter. 
• Board game club
• The project on simple and compound machines
• Zach did well on his first SOL tests and even got a perfect score on the Reading SOL! (He learned some good test-taking strategies, and he completed ~5 practice tests before the real test.)
• End of year art show is always fun! 
• The end of school is hard with changes and kids leaving. This year, Zach is losing two friends to other schools, but he has a great core group of 6-7 boys who will stay at LAES. 

Soccer

• Spring season is tough. Disrupted by Spring Break, then tryouts, and then the focus is on next year rather than this year. Practices cancelled for thunderstorms and post-season practices cancelled. All in all, pretty underwhelming. 
• Even more of a challenge this year because of the poor management of GFRSC as a nonprofit, we learned about a lot of concerning activities and ultimately as a nonprofit, they are not following best practices. It took courage, and I spoke out at the Board Meeting.
• The boys had a good season. They were very competitive. 
• Zach was offered a spot on the A team (Blue), and there might be two goalies! 
• Goalie training with Liam is amazing as always! 
• Most of his team (though not Owen) is staying with GFR and moving with Zach (at least for now), but Jenny’s boys are moving teams and Jenn’s son too, so I’ll miss my practice walking buddies! :(
• GFRSC Team manager kudos from Beth, Nivine, and Doug

Susan & Zach

• Don’t forget about Cirque Mechanics!
• Kitchen Showdown
• Fun with hockey cards
• Bowling
• Summer Learning/Activities: 
• Reading The BFG with plans to watch the movie
• Projects are bowling and ice cream shops
• Ongoing piano
• F&Z are running/biking
• Juneteenth event at Sully Historic Park was really cool! 

Frank & Zach

• Bowling!
• RC car fun in Winchester
• The Water Mine
• Hershey Park
• Father’s Day in Lewes

Family Time

• Dinner at Finn Thai
• Mother’s Day trip to Sperryville
• Excursion to Clifton after the Memorial Day tournament
• Loudoun United games as a family
• Fort family dinner in Winchester
• Gin Rummy games
• Watching: 
• You Gotta Believe
• Airbud movies
• Inbestigators

Frank & Susan

Date afternoon time in May while Zach enjoyed board game club at school on Friday afternoons

Connection

• Loudoun United games as a family and with friends: Theo and Teddy, Jewelle, & Erik and Josh & Karen
• A post-soccer breakfast with Owen & Lauren and bowling with Owen & Tim
• Ran into family: Tim, Meaghan, and Nolan in Sperryville
• Hanging out with Auntie Em
• Emily and Andrew’s party - Zach had good conversations with Emily’s uncles, and I got to catch up with Patrick!
• A meet up at Black Ankle with Mary Kay and Hance (post-soccer game in Maryland)
• Memorial Day picnic at Auntie Em’s - yum!
• Went to Teddy’s soccer game
• Dinner and a movie for the Fordams with the RETJ
• Call with Paige
• The Zuazo Family :) <3 and biking and tennis for Zach with them
• Lewes with Kate, Kathleen, and the Zuazo family
• Support from Rachel, Agathe, Sarabeth, Kate, Kathleen, Mary Kay, and Claire about my challenges at work! 
• A walk with Mary! 

Callie: Headed to her first vet appointment in late June!

Good Food 

• Whole Foods sweet and savory 2 Good 2 Go: key lime donuts, roasted sweet potatoes, and more
• Krispy Kreme and Texas Donuts
• Panera’s kitchen sink cookie
• Lunch at Taco Bamba in Falls Church with Zach
• Raza at Mosaic
• Costco’s mushroom ravioli is SO TASTY! Thanks, Auntie Em!
• Auntie Em’s red beans and rice and sour cherry muffins
• Zach’s strawberry cupcakes, blueberry and chocolate pancakes, cheddar biscuits, pineapple whip, chicken quesadillas, and croissant egg-in-the-whole

Personal and Professional (Fun and Not So Fun)

Health

• Poison ivy, and three nymph tick bites! Some of the itchiest mosquito bites I’ve ever gotten in Lewes
• Saville Center check-in - My increased weight training and Darebee exercises paid off in increasing my muscle mass!
• New individual therapist
• Colonoscopy - as always, an anxiety-inducing experience, but it’s over and no polyps!!!

Fun

• Auntie Em’s mama kitty and kittens
• Adventuring in Hershey, PA: coffee, Mexican food, a soft serve sundae, and a nice drive on small roads in Amish country
• Kate and Kathleen represented at the No Kings rally in Rehoboth
• Reading
• Before I Let Go
• The Very Secret Society of irregular Witches
• Cutting for Stone
• Watching
• Walker
• Abbott Elementary 
• Hacks
• North of North - I really enjoyed!
• Forever
• Sally
• Courses
• Lots of LinkedIn Learning courses in May-early June
• Learning How to Learn

Not So Fun (Personal)

Said goodbye to Baxter

Professional: As of June 4, taking a leave of absence from work

Fun

• Leadership Institute, DEIB
• Cultural Awareness and Belonging sessions!
• Liesl and Nikki
• Got feedback from Judie that I got kudos for being a professional development inspiration, and a colleague who is kind of standoffish even said, “I want to be like, Susan.”
• Learned a lot from the IT Leadership program feedback; it seemed harsh, but putting it in the context of cultural differences helped! Also, received praise that I “put my heart and soul” into the program.
• Angela! 

Not So Fun: Privacy, Works Councils, AI Enablement, Comms Plans

Resources/Things to Remember

• Breathing in suffering and breathing out compassion
• Good Inside
• Hug your kid until they let go. 
• Asking Zach, "What can I do to be a better mom?" (Answers were more sweets and screen time, but still...)
• As Americans we don’t take advantage of the support that is available to us. 
• From the Gurdeep Magazine
• When you truly believe in the choices you've made, when you know in your heart that these decisions represent your authentic self, then others' criticisms, judgments, and beliefs should not have the power to shake your emotional well-being or make you feel vulnerable.
• Choose your story's direction with confidence, always remembering that as long as your choices don't harm others, they are valid expressions of your authentic self.

Catching Up: March - May (before and after Spain!)

Ongoing

• Soccer practice, though pretty disrupted with coaches taking important time away and time off for spring break and tryouts
• Piano
• Board game club
• Lake Anne events galore: Math & Literacy night, Fiesta honoring 30 years of Spanish Immersion, basketball game
• Skiing for Frank and Zach in March
• Orthodontics: Zach moved from the expander to Invisalign. Again, he is doing an AMAZING job. He wears it and is responsible. There have been some breaks, tears, and the loss of only one Invisalign piece in April.

Week of March 9

• Sprained/jammed my ring finger playing Kitchen Showdown. OW!
• Andrew and Anna’s birthday party
• James’ birthday party
• Great Harvest’s shortbread!

Week of March 16

• Skiing for Frank and Zach
• I met up with Janna at Mosaic’s FreshFarm market - lovely!
• A new pair of used pants split! No!! Zach was such a good sport! 

Week of March 23

• Muffin exchange - a HUGE success!!!
• Line dancing at the Reston library
• Started work on our Greek theatre mask project
• Late night out for Jackson’s birthday! They took the Metro to a Wizards game. What. A. Blast!

Week of March 30

• Lake Anne v Forest Edge basketball game

Week of April 6

• First soccer game of the season! 
• Happy Mail - from the teacher he has struggled so much with this year! So proud of all his hard work!
• Greek masks
• Cirque Mechanics - It’s now our joke to try some feat of flexibility or contortion and say, “I’m in Cirque Mechanics.”
  
• Isn’t it only Spring Break? Zach had music and PE performances at school and the gallery walk for his Greek project
• April 11-20: Spain! See Spain 2025!

Week of April 20

• Soccer Tryouts
• We're getting back in the groove of walking to school again
• First farmer’s market of the season and chatting with Dania
• Muffin exchange - Take 2 - a much smaller group. Nahid and Ahmed came! 

Week of April 27

• A soccer game win and brunch with Owen and Lauren. The soccer game was with a team with only 6 players, so after two goals, Jake took us down to 6 and move the team to all different positions. Zach scored a goal and had an assist!
• Game night with Theo and family
• First SOL - 3rd grade reading
• Dinner with Sam and Zahra when they came to town for a softball tournament
• Game in Manassas - a tie. Zach and I went to Krispy Kreme and then Naz’s Halal and had cheese fries. Yum!
• Watched My All American, and Zach cried more than I’ve ever seen at a movie. He said, “That was the best and worst movie,” because he felt so much empathy for the main character who died. 

Fun and Not So Fun

Health

• Finger sprain and ongoing recovery. The time off from typing while we were in Spain helped a lot.
• Weaning off Gabapentin: helps with hot flashes and maybe anxiety, and I was also really worried and anxious, but I went from 300mg capsules to 100mg capsules and was able to reduce and eliminate. Whew!
• Appointments: annual dermatologist and breast cancer doctors, annual physical - A1C was down! Wahoo, Glucose Goddess!

Fun!

• Hanging art at the school - as always! 
• Lots of good hanging out time with Auntie Em
• Connecting with Paige

Not So Fun

• The current president, DOGE and the ongoing assault on American systems and democracy. 
• Auntie Em’s tough decision to retire
• Work is a work in progress. It’s getting better, I think, and it’s giving me major empathy for Zach. I don’t love my job the way I have for the past six years, just like he doesn’t love everything about school!
• GFRSC nonsense, but also being courageous and stepping in to help out with my nonprofit knowledge
  
  
  

Spain 2025!

First, worries pre-trip:

1. Lack of sleep because of the red eye. How will I manage as the adult in charge?!

2. How will it go single parenting for 11 days?

3. What if I lose or misplace my medication? 

4. How will the FC Barcelona game go? Will it be complete chaos? 

5. What will it be like trying to re-enter the country? 

Luckily, in all of these situations, things went fine and either the worry didn’t bear out, or in the case of number one, I did fine. In fact, despite only an hour-ish of sleep, I felt absolutely fine, good even!  

Madrid: Thursday, April 10-Saturday, April 12

Zach was SUCH. A. TROOPER. At the airport in Madrid, after getting our luggage, we wandered around for a while, trying to figure out where we were supposed to go. We eventually found the Metro and took the train. We got off one stop too soon. Back on the train. Off at the next stop and the map indicated we had to go above ground and find the next station. A very nice person helped us realize that Google Maps was trying to get us on a local commuter rail. He advised us on how to stay on the Metro, where we had bought three day passes. But staying on the Metro meant three different lines, instead of two. Ack! The Metro in Madrid reminds me of Paris. The lines go all over the place and you have to walk a lot to transfer stations. Zach stuck with me, and we went on the two different lines. At our second (third) change, we had trouble finding the right direction. Another nice woman helped us. Yay! At one point Zach was frustrated to have to cart his luggage up and down stairs, and a man picked up his suitcase for him and carried it up the stairs. I captured him in this photo, though that was completely unintentional. 

On Thursday, Day One, we made our way to Chocalateria San Gines, and I prepped Zach for a possible wait since this is a very popular tourist destination. They had a HUGE operation, so we were seated immediately and had delicious churros with chocolate. A nice man sitting at the table next to us must have heard Zach say he was thirsty. He got up to get two waters for him and his companion and brough two to us too! So nice! 

The churros were a nice sugar rush, and we felt spry enough to investigate an interesting looking street, which turned out to be the Plaza Mayor. Not as big, but it reminded me of the Grand Place in Brussels! Next stop, our Airbnb. The instructions for getting inside to drop off our luggage did not work. We were supposed to call a number that would buzz us in. That didn’t work, but someone else came in the building, so we got entry. On the 4th floor (actually 5th floor) since here in Spain, ground level is 0, the cleaning person was there, and she let us in. She did not speak English, but we communicated effectively enough. We dropped off our bags, and I messaged Elena on WhatsApp. She said she’d be able to buzz us in when we went back at 3pm. 

Zach and I wandered over to a mercado (market) for some more substantial food. Nothing impressive, unfortunately. In hindsight, I should have gotten a glass of wine there because the wine scene was very unimpressive (bad even) at the Hotel Best and at the restaurant we went to in Cambrils. Zach was so tired. He closed his eyes at the mercado. We watched the movie, Home Team, that we had downloaded. 

At 3pm, we got into the Airbnb easily with Elena’s help. We took a two-hour nap. LAES called me during the nap to ask questions about Zach missing school. Such bad timing. After our nap, we called Frank, and Zach broke down in tears. He was so tired and said his stomach hurt. Poor little guy. We went down to the grocery store to buy a few provisions for dinner, and Zach felt better walking around a little bit. We ate and headed to bed around 8/9pm. 

The bedding was hot, so we woke up in the middle of the night sweating and had to get rid of the comforter, but then we slept pretty well. 

We woke up on Friday morning and headed out pretty directly for churros and chocolate again. San Gines wasn’t fully open and there was a line, so we went around the corner to a competing churros spot, Chocolateria 1902. The chocolate there was more milk chocolate than dark chocolate. We enjoyed it. Next stop, we took the Metro a few stops to get closer to the Parque de El Retiro and the Madrid City Bus tour. Zach loved the park and walking around. It was so cool and cute how he chatted away as we wandered the park. I LOVED THAT WHOLE EXPERIENCE. We took the first of two bus tours and saw some sights. After bus tour No. 1, we came back into town. It was raining, and we got pretty wet, and we ducked into La Casa de las Torrijas, where we had the Spanish “French toast” and a tortilla (omelet) with potatoes. This was a real hole in the wall, but again, free water and toilets - what’s not to love. 

We went back to the Airbnb and dried off and rested. Our second excursion of the day included bus tour No. 2. We went past the Real Madrid stadium and then ended up at Legends Football museum. The museum was mostly trophies and memorabilia with video footage, but they did have a 4D theatre where we got sprayed with water and a virtual reality room. When we had seen all of the museum, I was hungry, so we went to their roof top restaurant and had expectedly average food. On our way home, we stopped by El Riojano for royal cookies. We got several to try, which we enjoyed. 

Saturday morning, no coffee shops opened until 8:30 or 9am. We had breakfast at the closest coffee shop and then headed out. On the Metro, we encountered a man who rapped on the train. We gave him a Euro. At Madrid’s main train station, the Metro, commuter rail, and train sections were confusing. I asked a security guard, and he got me to the right spot. Zach was nervous about missing the train and a bit impatient with me. I told him to chill out. In the end, our timing was perfect. The train was a highlight and we enjoyed the countryside. I put my phone in airplane mode (because the power had gone off overnight at our Airbnb and I wanted to make sure I conserved my battery on our travel day). The GPS did not track us on the train, and I was so confused because at two hours into the ride, we were still quite far away from Camp de Tarragona. Once I came off Airplane mode, the tracking updated, and we showed close to our end destination as expected. We took a taxi and arrived at the Hotel Best just in time for a late lunch. 

Villanuys, Spain: Saturday, April 12-Saturday April 19

Zach and Andrew found each other and began the week-long playdate! Zach enjoyed his other teammates who came from Virginia, Colorado, and Florida. The team was joined by two Spanish players and a Spanish goalie. 

Saturday was check-in and verification of player eligibility. The boys met their coach, Alex. On Sunday, they had their first game, which also served as their first practice. Other teams came as a club or a national team, so their play was elevated. The emphasis here, which makes sense in hindsight, was an exchange. Having the boys meet other kids from the United States who love soccer and meet other kids from around the world who love soccer. The Mudialito exposed them to Spanish and international football culture. I expected the experience to be more intensive soccer-wise, but they had no practice space. The team (without the Spanish players) practiced at the beach. Very low key. At their age, they could head the ball and Zach could punt, so they enjoyed those novel experiences. 

Since the team hadn’t practiced and didn’t have a space to practice, they lost all of their games but one. After game one on Sunday, Zach told me that his team would have a Spanish goalie joining them on Monday. I was surprised since he tried out and was selected as a goalie. At game two, the plan was for him and the Spanish goalie to split playing time. The Spanish goalie seemed like the better goalie in that second game, so they did not end up splitting the time. But, the goalie did commit a foul near the end of the game that got him thrown out! So, Zach went in for the last five minutes. 

Zach was glad to get some playing time and a break from goalie, but in the end, he didn’t get a lot of playing time in the field, and after their last official game, he cried about how little playing time he’d gotten. (Heartbreaking!) They ended up having a friendly match on Friday with the other American team (HP Elite) that qualified for the gold bracket. Zach’s team (Futstars) qualified for the bronze. Given their different level of play, HP Elite beat them. At half time, Zach was ready to come out of goal because they were losing 5:0, but I asked him to listen to his team, which mostly thought he was doing a great job. (Andrew said, “It’s like he forgot how to play goalie.” No, Andrew, no!) He stayed in goal for the second half.

From left to right --> lightest to darkest hair!

Throughout the week, some highlights: 

• Music on the bus. The Australians played Land Downunder. We heard Eye of the Tiger. Singing to the Backstreet Boys’ I Want It That Way. 
• Wednesday day trip to Cambrils with Zach
• Wednesday night viewing of the Real Madrid versus Arsenal game
• Thursday evening dinner in Salou at a creperie
• Friday viewing of the Boys 2012 Liverpool team

By Thursday/Friday, I was ready to be done with the Hotel Best and Villanuys. Only possible missed opportunity to the area was their beachside path for rollerblading! 

Barcelona: April 19-20
We decided we’d check out on Saturday and stay the night in Barcelona after the game. Great choice! Zach was disappointed that he and Andrew did not sit together on the bus to Barcelona, but they sat together for the first half of the game. We had great seats, and the game was so exciting. Barcelona was down 3:1 and then came back to win 3:4. I had forgotten how beautiful Barcelona is and loved the views from the high vantage point of Mont Juic. Zach and I had a lovely final dinner of Italian-style pizza and gelato!

Delights

• Definitely Madrid and churros with chocolate!
• Cookies from El Riojano
• Two of my four cappuccinos at Restaurant Beatriz
• Small winding streets and mountain views
• Cake at Cafeteria pastisseria la font
• Pizza Da Dina Restaurante y pizzeria
• Downtime movie watching: Home Team, The Main Event, Hoosiers, and Mixtape

Hotel Best Highlights

• Beets, carrots, lentils, dressing and corn nuts at the Hotel Best salad bar
• Muesli, milk, and yogurt at the Hotel Best buffet
• Mint and green tea medley at Hotel Best

Most Unexpected

• A Spanish goalie!
• All the fast food in Madrid: Five Guys, included!
• The market was mostly a flea market
• The entire bottle of wine that came with my tapas bar lunch
• Zach’s meal came with a Sprite Zero. No!

Of Note

• Bathrooms and water have not been that hard to come by. 
• In Madrid, tap water was available for free. In Barcelona, our pizza place did not serve tap water, and there did not seem to be tap water on offer in Cambrils or Salou.
• The coffee is not great. Not cafe con leche, not cappuccinos. I think all the milk is fat free or 2%. I think this is the main problem, but it’s strikingly bad. 
• Restaurant Beatriz provided two tasty cappuccinos! :)
• The boring wine at the bar at the Hotel Best; it was from Spain at least
• Zach told Frank that I was "killing it" speaking Spanish! :)

Differences

• Hotels: You have to put your key in a slot to turn on the lights. 
• Tiny napkins, grease napkins, no napkins
• Corn nuts are still a unique Spanish snack
• Popcorn on offer at the concession stands at Mundialito and the FC Barcelona game
• Lots of hand dryers and very few paper towels