Somehow it is June. Whew! School is over and swim team is in full force and summer camps are happening and somehow I am trying to still do my real job amidst all of this? Anyway…
Maycember:
The end of May was a whirlwind of Jose’s birthday, our 15th anniversary, and the end of school. This was the first year we had a middle schooler and let’s just say it was *quite* the contrast to elementary school. Emma had a ramp-up in homework over the last month, and had exams the last week — even an exam on the last half day. Charlotte, on the other hand, enjoyed what was basically party mode for the last 3 weeks with themed days and class parties and award celebrations. Gotta love elementary school!
We celebrated Jose’s birthday, and then the next day was our anniversary. Way back when we decided to have our wedding right after his birthday, we were definitely not considering all of the other things that would swamp this time of year once we had kids — Mother’s Day and school. But too late to change it now! We actually had quite a nice time this year, since his mom was visiting that week. The girls stayed home with her while Jose and I went on not one but TWO! ACTUAL! DATES! And yes this is deserving of capitals and exclamation points.
On the actual day of our anniversary, we went out to a local Mexican place and had good food and even better margaritas. (I have added “learn to make a great margarita” to my summer bucket list.) A couple days later, we were able to go to the Museum of Fine Arts followed by dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant. Winning all around.
Swim team:
Swim team — this is our 3rd year! — kicked off at the beginning of May. I say “our” instead of “their” because even though it’s the girls who are swimming, we have learned that swim team is a whole-family activity. I’m one of the volunteer coordinators, which also means we get the “joy” of being on the setup and takedown crew for each home meet. This is no small feat given the amount of equipment involved + the fact that a good portion of it is stored in the attic of the pool pavilion + it’s about 100 million degrees outside (and even hotter in the afore-mentioned attic). Happily, we are already done with two of our three home meets this season, so only one more to go.
Both girls continue to impress with their swimming. Putting them in lessons before they were even a year old was such a mom win! Both girls have already set champ times in multiple events, so we’ve already blocked off the champ meet on our calendar in July. Emma has set champ times in previous seasons, but this is the first time for Charlotte! Super proud of both of them.
Knee woes:
I’m still mostly on track with my “move more” goal for 2024, but suffered a setback a few weeks ago with an unexplained knee injury. One Wednesday evening I noticed my right knee felt a little funny, but the next day it seemed ok and I rode the Peloton that Thursday afternoon. But then on Friday, it started to get swollen and stiff, and by that afternoon it was bothering me enough that I was limping around the house, and spent the rest of the day and evening on the couch with my knee elevated.
It remained swollen and stiff — though not particularly painful — through the weekend, so I went to the doctor and eventually got a referral to an orthopedist. There are no signs of any muscle or ligament tears or bone issues, and there was no acute injury I could point to as a cause, so it seems to just be general inflammation?? The doctor offered an injection, but I chose to give it a bit more time. I’ve been walking and doing yoga, but haven’t tried the bike again. It has slowly gotten better but it’s not 100% yet.
The fateful Peloton ride was on May 9, so it’s been a full month. The orthopedist said 4-6 weeks was typical for healing. Hopefully I’m nearly there.
Other stuff:
I am really enjoying playing with my computerized longarm setup, and only wish I could find a bit more free time to use it! After eyeing the Longarm League for several years, I finally decided I’m in a place where membership in the League could be beneficial, so I joined and am currently working through their “rookie season” curriculum. It is definitely geared towards people who plan to quilt as a business, and that is not me — at least not right now. But I’m finding it useful enough so far, and am also looking forward to finishing the intro content and moving into the regular LL community.
I’m also very interested in learning how to design and sell my own digital pantographs, so I recently signed up for a course on that. I’m about 20% of the way through the content, and have some sketches that I hope to be able to turn into useable, stitchable designs soon.
I’ve declared June to be the “month of house stuff” and one of the biggest items on that list is finally starting the process of getting our master bathroom renovated. Step 1 is simply to get a couple contractors out here to provide estimates! One came last week, and I have two more set up for estimates in the next couple weeks. Hopefully we’ll be able to move forward with one of them because I have been over the nasty bathroom carpet for, oh, 8 years now.
The girls are doing a basketball camp at the high school this week. One of them had a rough first day, but happily day two went much better and they are both enjoying it! Emma hopes to play on the middle school team next year, so this will hopefully lay some foundation for that since she hasn’t played anywhere besides our driveway.
On deck:
Most swimming! More camps! More quilting! Trying to stay afloat at my real job! Trying not to melt in the heat! Sum, sum, summertime indeed.
We also opted to get hitched the day after my husband’s birthday (in December); that’s a fun coincidence! It sounds like life is full but full of pretty good things for you these days. I hope your knee fully heals and feels much better sooner rather than later. This getting older thing sure is weird on the body (but I’ll take it)!
Oh, that IS fun! I have one other friend who did this also. Interestingly, all 3 are the day after the husband’s birthday, not the wife’s. We can read into that what we want, I suppose! Haha.
Looks like a busy and adventurous summer! We have one more year left of elementary and I’m going to savor it before intermediate starts and the inevitability of more homework! Happy belated anniversary.
Yes, don’t know about you but ours have had zero elementary homework other than the generic “read.” Which is totally fine. But definitely a different story in middle school!
Every year I find the difference between your swim team and my swim team experience amusing. It was in the 50s and raining tonight for practice, and our first (time trial) meet had the same conditions. It is crazy. Thankfully it looks like it’s going to finally warm up this week. Also, thankfully I don’t have to be anywhere at 6 am! Great shot of Emma doing butterfly.
I’m honestly not sure which conditions are more miserable for a swim meet — yours or ours! It’s just brutally hot, although this year actually hasn’t been as bad so far as last year.