Tuesday Tidbits: End of Summer Edition
Happy last day of August! Where the heck did summer go? (Ady has started saying "What the heck?", but she thinks that it is a very naughty word that she is only allowed to say in the car and not at school. Lol!)
When does summer end for you? Back to school (which was August 16ht for us)? Labor Day? Fall Equinox? More importantly, when do I have to stop wearing my white pants, and when can I get a pumpkin spice latte?
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| Summer babes |
A few tidbits about life during the past few weeks:
1. The Olympics are usually my favorite event of the summer every four years, but they seemed to get lost in the shuffle a bit this year. I'm still sort of in disbelief that we actually pulled off a worldwide gathering in the midst of a global pandemic, but it sure was a nice break from the regular depressing news stories and COVID positivity rates. My family liked watching the gymnastics, swimming, running, and volleyball, and how cool was it to see skateboarding and surfing in the Olympics for the first time?! (Oh, and I later learned that karate and climbing were also included as new events this year!) We celebrated and cried with Suni, screamed for the American swimmers in their very close races, laughed out loud at the Australian swim coach who couldn't contain his excitement, and Tom Daley is my spirit animal.
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| Tom Daley, the ultimate multitasker |
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| First Day of PreK! |
3. Meredith is 19 months old and her favorite things right now are dogs, stickers, dog stickers, busses (or any large vehicle), flap books, and coloring with markers (sometimes on the paper). She is on the go and is learning lots of new words! She discovered the joy of slides at the playground, but doesn't like it when they're too hot.
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| Putting dog stickers on the dog. Why not?! |
4. Kua turned 10 years old this month! I still think of her as such an energetic puppy, so it's hard to believe that she's a senior citizen in dog years. She's getting a little gray around the face and takes longer naps, but she's just as vibrant as she was 9 years ago. For her birthday, her human sisters picked out some treats and toys at Petsmart and sang to her. (Mere also sampled a doggy cupcake.)
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| Happy birthday, Kua! |
5. My girlfriends and I had a night at the opera last week! The Santa Fe opera is world renowned for its breathtaking venue and the quality of the shows. We saw Eugene Onegin, a Russian lyrical opera that was action-packed with heartfelt solos, creative costumes, and a dramatic duel. The director had to be really inventive with how to incorporate the cast and chorus safely while upholding COVID precautions, so the chorus was seated off to the side of the stage, wearing masks. I was so impressed with their vocal projection! I was also really pleased with the opera for requiring masks in the audience, which unfortunately is the reality for the foreseeable future.
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| Opera set for Eugene Onegin |
6. Ady's first season of T-ball has come to a close. As her first introduction to organized team sports, I was so impressed with how much the kiddos learned, and especially with the patience of the coaches! They are truly saints. The thing I think was most valuable about doing sports at this age was learning what it means to be committed to a team, to show up for your teammates when you would rather do other things, and to take turns. The motor skills and exercise I think are secondary to the social skills and collaboration gained. (But learning to run to 1st base instead of 3rd was a plus!)
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| Tiny batter. Her form improved a lot! |
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| Go Raptors! |
7. Everyone pause for a moment to admire my amazing new lunchbox from Bento&Co. I thought Bento boxes were just for kids, but this is my new favorite thing.
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| Happy lunch! |
8. We went to our first Isotopes baseball game as a family of 4 on Saturday! Between wrangling the kiddos and eating endless snacks, we didn't get to see much of the game, but we still had a good time. The highlights for Ady were the cotton candy and dancing in the rain!
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| Meredith's first baseball game! |
9. Work is really busy as we gear up for the impending COVID surge, and this time around seems much more difficult in the midst of a really high hospital census, trying to catch up on surgeries and clinic visits, guiding patients in their management of chronic conditions, supporting people who are battling addiction and mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic, and battling with our own compassion fatigue, ethical dilemmas in practice, and burnout. I'm not sure what the next few months will hold but I don't see an end to the pandemic any time soon until vaccination rates increase substantially. In the meantime, we'll keep showing up and doing our part.
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| Another day of COVID rehab |
10. And finally, the books I look forward to reading for the remainder of the year. (Spoiler alert, I probably won't finish the whole stack.)
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| I think I need a staycation... |
This fall I look forward to traveling to see family, assisting in organizing two virtual conferences in physical therapy and ethics, kicking off a new season of Girls on the Run, training for my first 5K in over a year, planning a fall campaign for the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, studying for my cardiovascular and pulmonary board exam, and welcoming the fall colors in the mountains! Stay safe, everyone!
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