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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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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!

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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...

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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.

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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.

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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!).

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