French apartment renovations, Day 171: Chim chimney chim chimney, chim chim cheree

5,628 steps

I woke up at 5:30 am. Ding! I was exhausted yet also wide awake. I think it's from the light outside. By time my alarm went off at 7 am, I was soooo tired. I nudged Eric out of bed and went back to sleep for a short hour.

My whole body was exhausted, like wading through syrup exhausted. I did some computer work and finally decided to make myself move even though I felt like I would pass out.

So I suited up and went downstairs. I drilled more holes in the walls where we will put MAP (for adhering drywall). Then I played chimney sweep and cleaned the soot out of the top half of the chimney. Even after showering, I still smell like wood smoke and campfires, a smell I adore.

Eric joined me later on and helped run more electrical lines (this one for the ductless minisplit blower unit). We worked until 2 pm, and then I took a break to eat something.

 

Back downstairs again, this time to plaster over the electrical cables with MAP. We stopped once our first batch ran out, since it was time to pick the girls up from school. I finished cleaning the tools and buckets on the street outside of our apartment (the only place to do something like that) right when Ivy and Inga came home with Eric.

Then...no rest for me! Time to make dinner. I made chicken pot pie, so I had to chop and/or cook onions, potatoes, peas, mushrooms, and chicken; make the herb roux, and then finally put it all together with puff pastry (pre-made because it's super cheap here and it's the real deal made with pure butter).

Zari came home from soccer practice despondent. She felt like she played poorly and didn't contribute positively. And she continues to feel awkward and uncomfortable around the other girls. Being social over here is really hard for her and then it turns into a self-sustaining cycle because she feels awkward and then she acts awkward and the other girls don't know to interact with her and she doesn't know how to interact with them.

I can so very much sympathize. I told her, "I wish I could do something or say something to make it better. It's hard being a parent because we see our kids having a hard time and we can't always fix it."

It's after 11 pm and I've been working nonstop ever since dinner, trying to catch up on my other job: breech work. I sincerely hope I can rest well tonight. I need it!