No headache!

I've been drinking lots of electrolyes (it's my long fast day) and so far, no headaches of any significance. That definitely makes a difference.

I did my normal morning exercise and then had a fairly sedentary work day.

Zari and Dio both had games and both teams lost. Bummer. Inga didn't have her extra practice so she was home "early" by 6 pm.

Early soccer Sunday

Zari, Ivy, Inga and I were up at 6:15 am for...guess what? More soccer! Ivy had an 8 am game about 45 minutes away, then we drove 30 minutes to Inga's game and then a bit over an hour to get home.

It didn't rain too much, just a bit towards the end of Inga's game. Ivy's team lost 2-0 and Inga's won 2-0. Inga didn't score but I filmed a few of her shots on goal.

We had a relaxed afternoon once we were all back home. I've been wanting to lie in bed. I'm not sure if that's bad or entirely sensible. It just feels so amazing to be horizontal and resting my body.

I made chicken soup using broth and leftover chicken from 2 nights ago. I have my long fast coming up again and I'm hoping that I can keep the headaches at bay by taking in enough electrolytes.

Today felt like a "proper" Saturday, meaning we did chores in the morning, worked on some house projects, made a fire and had Smores, and otherwise had some time together (not all of us together--Eric was still gone with Ivy and Inga most of the day, and Dio was gone half the day). But still...much more like a Saturday than most Saturdays lately.

I only had about 2 hours of breech-related work, which is much less than usual for my weekends. (I know, it would be great to actually not work on the weekends...but so far that has proved nearly impossible.)

I was particularly satisfied with my big garage organization and cleaning effort. We haven't ever cleaned or re-organized since we moved here 13+ years ago! It was time.

We got a big pile of salvaged shiplap boards moved to the carriage house side (they will eventually go back up on the garage ceiling on the carriage house apartment is done)...every item in the entire garage was unpacked, looked at, and packed up in the appropriate crate and then put on the shelves in a logical fashion...floors swept (13 years of dust!)...all items cleared away from the dividing wall to enable us to install shiplap siding on the wall. This will close off the garage side from the carriage house apartment side.

While I was organizing the garage, Zari had a friend over (okay, I think it's fair to call him a boyfriend!). They played fussball, ate lunch, and then went outside and helped me get a fire started so they could make Smores. It took several rounds with the plumbing blowtorch to coax the wet wood into burning...but we did it!

I also made another huge batch of pesto, enough for 8 meals. I now have 17 containers of pesto in the freezer. So satisfying and our basil plants are still going strong. Best decision ever to plant them in early August.

Four of us have a very early morning tomorrow: we have to leave at 6:45 am for Ivy's game, and then Inga's game. Zari is going to drive to get more driving hours in.

Inga and I got home at 10:30 pm from her soccer practice. I hadn't seen Dio or Ivy all day since they left for school! Ivy was already in bed by time I got home.

Dinner was homemade hamburgers in sourdough buns (I baked a big batch the other day and had lots on hand), edamame, and apple crumble. I had to leave before the crumble was done, and my fasting period had started by time I get back...so I have to wait until Friday to eat it!

Eric went to Dio's home game, which they won 8-0.

I went to get our Tesla's tires aligned, having phone ahead to be sure the place worked on Teslas. No problem, they said. So I brought the car in, waited about 10 minutes, and they came back out: "Sorry, we don't have the right equipment to work on Teslas." Now I have to get it done at the Tesla dealer about an hour away, which means waiting 3-4 weeks for an appointment and paying more than twice the normal fee.

Rain!

It's so nice to have more rain. The ground is finally softening up and the grass is starting to turn green. But rain also means rides to school, since Zari and Dio normally bike about 2 miles and I don't want them arriving soaking wet.

The rain paused during my morning walking group and started right as we were getting into our cars at the end. Good timing.

I've been working on video editing (specifically inserting translated captions and re-encoding the videos).

Zari had a game winning 3-2. She scored one goal and another kind of when the ball rebounded off her butt and into the goal. She said she also had a lot of really close shots that rebounded off of the goal post. Eric said it was the best her team has played so far this year. Ivy and Inga and a friend went with Eric to watch the game. I stayed home because I had to pick Dio up after his practice.

And amazingly, we were all home for dinner (late, but still...together). We watched one episode of Andor upon promises that the kids, Ivy especially, would go to bed right afterwards.

Fast days are so slow

I'm doing another full fast today--so about 36 hours of fasting. The hardest part are the headaches that get worse throughout the day. Well, and of course the hunger but that's to be expected!

We are super happy to have had a day of rain, a good soak compared to yesterday's light sprinkles.

Ivy and Inga are on their way home from a middle school game which they tied. They were very frustrated that they couldn't do better. Dio had a home game against a very good team, so it's not super surprising they lost 5-0.

I had to go grocery shopping and cook dinner today. No fun when I can't eat!!

Homecoming dance

Forgot to write yesterday...here are a few pictures from yesterday's homecoming dance. I thought the wool cap was a nice touch, and Zari's date told her, "I think you were the best dressed girl there." Awwww.

When I dropped them off at the high school, I noticed that the current fashion was sparkles and sequins. So many sparkles.

Apparently it was very loud and Zari remarked that no one really danced: "They just jumped up and down a lot and sang along with the songs." Welcome to dancing in 2024. On the way home to drop her date off, I told them about our college days when we'd go swing dancing and how I took all sorts of ballroom dance classes. (Oh, and Irish dancing, too! But that's a different sort of dance, more performative than interactive.)

We had rain and cooler temperatures today. Ahhhh...Ivy had a game and they lost 1-0. We had a relaxed afternoon and watched 3 episodes of Andor. It's riveting.

Homecoming!

For the first time ever, our children all experienced high school Homecoming. They are all mystified by American football. Same for me. "It takes forever and nothing happens!" Zari said. But they went and enjoyed themselves with friends. It helps that it was quite warm, meaning they didn't get cold at all when the sun went down.

The kids asked me why it's called homecoming and why we even have such a thing called homecoming and honestly, I don't know. 'Murica.

Another huge soccer weekend spanning from east of Indianapolis all the way to Cinncinnati, Ohio!

I gave a lecture for the University of Utah's Project ECHO series. It was fun and sparked many good conversations. Since I have lots of personal ties to Utah (my grandfather was a civil engineering professor at Utah State, I did my undergrad in UT), I was a bit more keyed up going into it. A lot is at stake! I think we may be able to bring some substantive changes to that part of the country.

More victories!

I watched Zari's home game, with Eric joining me for the last 20 minutes. Her team won 5-0, with Zari scoring 1 goal and having another beautiful assist. And...Inga and Ivy's game was likewise a success, winning 6-0 (some reportss ay 5-0 and we're not entirely sure, even Eric isn't and he's the assistant coach!). Inga scored all of the goals, including a corner kick that curved and went right into the net.

It was "senior day" and there was a small ceremony and celebration before the game. The seniors were supposed to bring posters about themselves, which Zari opted not to do due to 1) lack of picutres and 2) lack of posterboard on hand and 3) lack of interest.

Turns out there's an unwritten protocol for these posters and it involves a stylized poster with lots of glitter and gold and stick-on letters and mylar balloon and snacks...A bit of an unspoken competition for the parents as well as the students. Note the bare spot on the right where Zari's poster would have gone.

Zari felt bad about opting out but also isn't into the American cultural spectacles. I told her to hold her head up high, enjoy herself, and observe the curious practices of this cultural ritual. "In France, we just go home after the games are done," she said. "We don't celebrate the people who are leaving that year."

Then there was a ceremonial marching onto the field, student by student accompanied by parents and family, with the student's bio being read out on the big speakers.

Dio's team tied (away game, so we didn't watch it) and he is frustrated with his coach. Apparently all they do is conditioning--no technical work, no scrimmaging.

My day was spent video editing and caption editing. Very tedious but necessary work. Plus an evening Zoom meeting.

Victory!

Ivy and Inga had a middle school soccer game and came back elated. They won 3-2 with Inga scoring all 3 goals. They were tied 2-2 until the last few minutes. Eric said it was of the most exciting games he's ever been to. Ivy said, "I think my stress is going to get passed down to my descendents!"

My day was a bit less exciting. I'm still feeling a bit off, just a touch, so I didn't exercise at the university. Lots of work but the sitting down kind.

Zari was feeling feverish this evening. She went to bed early.

We installed the dishwasher this afternoon and have run it twice already. I very much appreciate dishwashers. Since I had the electrical toolbox out, I decided to tape over all the annoying LED indicators on my computer, monitor, and other electronics on my desk. I hate having bright blue LEDs lighting up my bedroom!

I feel a bit ill, slightly weak and feverish. Not enough to put me in bed but enough to wish I were in bed!

Video editing all day, except for a brief visit to a rental unit to oversee a fridge delivery, then a zoom meeting this evening. We had time to watch and episode of Andor. We have a new dishwasher but it was too late to install it this evening (our old one had a hidden leak--we only knew because the floors started buckling but there was never any visible water until we removed the dishwasher).

That's about it. No soccer games today either!

I woke up well before 4:30 am with lots on my mind and couldn't get back to sleep. I read for a while, then laid there and pretended I was asleep. I was on the fence about exercising, but since I had to drop kids off at school (game day, so they don't take their bikes), I made myself go to the gym.

Pretty quiet day as usual. I recorded and edited a conference presentation for an upcoming ICEA conference. I also had a parent consultation meeting.

I'm stretching my fasting muscles today and am fasting all day through tomorrow. I may not make it until lunch but we'll see...

Ivy and Inga's game was cancelled this evening. This allowed me and Eric to watch Zari's home game (Dio had an away game). I was laughing just watching Eric get so worked up and yelling all sorts of coaching advice. I doubt anyone can hear him but it makes him feel better, I guess. For the last 10 minutes he got up and started pacing up and down the edge of the field. Ultimately Zari's team lost 4-2.

You know what stinks? Cooking dinner and not being able to eat a single bite. I made something simple (pierogis, broccoli, and edamame) and fled the scene as quickly as possible.

More driving! More soccer! Less sleep!

Ivy was up at 6 am for a very early departure. I got her sent off and fortunately was able to get a bit more sleep in before I had to bring Inga to her game. Zari came with as the chaffeur.

We dropped Inga off and had some extra time on our hands before the game started, so we make a quick grocery run. Unfortunately, we got back a bit after the game had started and we missed a beautiful goal by Inga!! 🙁

Her team ultimately won 4-0.

We were all home by mid-afternoon and enjoyed taking it easy (everyone but Eric, who played Ultimate Frisbee and came back tired, sweaty, and happy). We had time to watch two episodes of Andor.

Guess what tomorrow brings? More soccer x4 children!

Another big soccer day

Eric and Inga left at 8 am for a tournament a few hours away. Once everyone was awake, I took Zari thrift shopping and she found 2 pairs of pants and a t-shirt. I count that as a big win becuase it's really hard to get her to shop at all.

It's supposed to be very hot for the next week or more with no rain in sight. So no yard work today.

I had a breech live session at noon.

I prepared a very early dinner because I had to bring Ivy to another soccer game at 4:30, getting home around 8:30. Eric and Inga came home about an hour later.

And...more soccer tomorrow! Ivy leaves at 6:30 am, then I drive Inga to hers at 10 am. Both are around an hour away.

What a treat--we had 3 of the 4 kids home today after school! Zari was home extra early, around 1:30 pm. Ivy had a game this evening about an hour away, and Zari came along to get more driving hours in. After they left, Inga and I went thrift store shopping and found several items of clothing for each of us. We got home just before Dio.

I started my day with exercise at the university, then spent a few hours doing repairs on a rental property. Then back to my usual computer work.

We've got another weekend full of soccer tournaments with multiple kids in multiple directions, some a few hours away. Phew.

Since Zari and Dio both had games (Zari's in town), I got to drive Inga to her far-away practice. We hit a total road shutdown on the way so we were 15 minutes late. From start to finish, it was over 4.5 hours to drive there, wait, and drive home. Too long! This is crazy! And she's doing this 3x per week not including games.

It's too bad we can't get Zari to do the driving. Maybe she'd be able to ger her 50 required driving hours in!

Zari's game didn't go well; they lost 7-1, I think. I'm not sure about Dio's yet.

My morning started with a Zoom meeting with someone in Australia...which means that I skipped my normal exercise for MWF. Ivy and Inga had a game at the high school, winning 2-1 with Inga scoring the first goal.

I did a bit of yard work at dusk.

What else? Took a trip to Home Depot to buy a new dishwasher for our house (ours is on its last legs and leaking) and a fridge for a rental property. I also enjoyed watching several recaps of the Harris-Trump debate, both serious and comedic.

Debate

Everyone is buzzing about the Harris-Trump debate. Oh my. We were yelling at the screen and then laughing in astonishment and then rolling our eyes. The best part is yet to come via the "immigrants eating cats and dogs" memes (I've already seen some amazing ones!) and comedy shows and analysts' commentary. Seriously it's going to be so hard to do anything productive tomorrow.

I missed the first half; I was upstairs working and then had to pick up Zari from an away game. We all watched the last half together, even though it was late for Ivy.

I have a number of projects I'm coordinating outside of breech-related work (repairs and renovations of various sorts on 3 properties, running underground water/sewer/electric to our garage, deciding which trees to plant and where after our lumberjacking). I've also got to do BWB taxes at some point...

I made a nice tidy to-do list, compiled from several post-it notes and a piece of scratch paper filled front to back with notes.

Oh, Zari's game went very well! They won 2-1 and Zari scored the first goal from a through ball. (I learned today what a "through ball" is because to me, I just see balls being kicked around and didn't know there were names for the varations of how and where to kick them.)

Back to our weekday schedule, in which I don't see any children until 6 pm at the earliest. Why are we doing this?

I started a big spreadsheet for Zari's university applications. She's already enrolled in France this year but wants to see what her others could be for the following year. She's very interested in the University of Ottawa because it's bilingual and in a great city. We need to stay on top of these applications because there are so many forms and deadlines.

Still, she has a fantastic option that is (almost) free if she decides to stay in Nice. And it's a 3-year program so she could be done faster and have plenty of time for graudate school if that interests her.

It's cold inside the house! Just 5 days ago it was over 90 degrees and now I'm layering on all the sweaters. But it's supposed to get hot again this week--close to 90. We put winter comforters on all the beds because we were getting too cold at night.

A big soccer weekend

For the next month our lives will be dominated by soccer. Then, once the school soccer season ends, it will be more reasonable (although once school teams end, we're adding MORE soccer by doing an indoor league).

Yesterday Dio had a morning game (taking the bus with his school team). The rest of us drove in with Zari behind the wheel. We dropped Eric off to see the first half of Dio's game, then brought Ivy to hers, which was just 5 miles away. Once we dropped Ivy off and waited a bit in the car (it was chilly!), we went back to get Eric and brought him to Ivy's game.

Zari and I took another short drive to Aldi to buy some snacks. We saw the last half of Ivy's game and then we all drove home.

As we were pulling into our driveway, Eric realize he had left his chair, backpack, and wallet at the soccer field! (30 minutes away). So he had to drive all the way back and fortunately they were still there.

We had a relaxed afternoon. I got the kids to help with more yardwork (transporting mulch). In the evening we made a fire, made S'Mores, and then watched the first episode of Andor.

Today was...guess what?...more soccer! Inga and I left at 10 am for her game a bit over an hour away. A bit later, Eric drove Ivy to her game that was 30 minutes away. Inga's team won 2-1, with Inga scoring the first goal. Sadly, I missed it because I had accidentally scheduled a Zoom meeting during the same time as her game. So I was stuck in the parking lot of a nearby McDonald's (free wifi) at a meeting. I saw the last 10 minutes of her game. Ivy's team lost 3-0.

So yeah, so much soccer. At least the rest of the day was more relaxed. I took an inadvertent nap while reading. Eric, Zari, and I went on a walk before dinner. And then after dinner we watched two more episodes of Andor.

Phew. I need a weekend to recover from the weekend!

Lots of computer work and Zoom meetings today. I got some big things checked off my to-do list, which is satisfying.

Eric, Inga, and Zari are on their way home from an evening game about an hour+ away. Zari came to get driving hours in.

Ivy and I took a late evening walk at dusk today.

Not much else happening at the moment...

I'm back from the Amish midwife meeting! The drive was uneventful and required only one charging stop.

Ivy and Inga had a middle school game and they won 11-0. Dio is still gone at his game (away).

I'm trying to catch up with emails and also transfer all my computer files over. It's been an enormous task since I have files in various locations and I'm also backing up my external hard drives at the same time.

As I was cleaning up files, I found this stop-motion movie that the kids were working on over the summer. They had planned a long epic film and this is scene 1.

Midwestern Midwives Meeting

I traveled down to Fulton, MO for a gathering of around 100 Amish and other Plain midwives. It's been a lovely event. They have been so friendly and welcoming, even though I'm the outsider.

They scheduled me for a 2-hour presentation this afternoon. I did my best to cover the most important aspects of breech, knowing that this could not be a comprehensive training. I had all sorts of teaching materials with me: giant pelvis, Sophie and Her Mum simulator, regular doll & pelvis, full-color cardstock handouts, clinical scenario booklets, and of course our new books.

I didn't want to be driving late at night, so I'll stay here tonight and leave first thing in the morning. My IUD car (seriously, that's all I can think of when I see the Tesla logo) is plugged in and charging overnight.

American picnic, family weeding party, more soccer

Yesterday we had a lovely languid afternoon out in the country at an informal picnic. It was a friend of Zari's from school and his family, extended family, and family friends. We had perfect weather and a quintessentially American afternoon:

✓ Turn of the century farmhouse nestled among corn and soy fields
✓ Ducks, rabbits, sheep, dogs, and cats
✓ Classic rock playing softly in the stereo in the garage
✓ Beverages nestled inside coolers filled with ice, set next to hay bales in the garage
✓ Potluck meal with fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, several pasta salads, green salads, fruit platters, chips & dip, cookies, bars, and other desserts (I brought sourdough rolls, not knowing this was an event involving food, so it was a lucky guess!)
✓ Wiffleball game in one of their fields as the sun was coming nearer the horizon

Today is a national holiday, but not at the university. While Eric was up at work, I rounded up the children for an hour of weeding and landscaping. They were remarkably good-spirited and got tons of work done. Dio mostly did the trimmer and blower. Ivy and Inga shoveled mulch into the wheelbarrow. Zari weeded and spread mulch.

Inga and Ivy went to a soccer practice out of town this evening. I headed out on a walk with Dio and Zari just as they were pulling back into the driveway. They're so much fun to hang out with. I feel like a tiny teeny little person next to Dio (and I'm not short!).