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I’m really appreciating a slower pace these days.  While I’m sad that the boys can’t participate in their usual summer activities and we can’t just turn up at our favorite restaurants or go to a Cubs game, I love that we’re not busy all the time.  Our weekends aren’t jam packed for once.

Over the past weekend, we picked out flowers from a couple local shops and walked along the river trail at the forest preserve.  It was unseasonably cool and I loved it.  We’re still eating outside as much as possible (though I saw a spider today so I may never set foot out there again) and playing badminton in the back yard.  We’ve created more chalk drawings than I ever thought possible and tried new recipes (spaghetti carbonera… yum!!) .

This past month has been the busiest at work for me and the slower pace of things has helped me not feel too overwhelmed.  The same could be said for grad school.  If this was a “normal” summer, taking a class on top of all the activities would have been really tough (not to imply that it isn’t tough… this class has been odd).

In other news, my intern started and I’m really enjoying being a “boss”.  I like helping others learn and I enjoy sharing knowledge.  I’ve appreciated the experience more than I expected.

A and I are also still enjoying weekly trivia nights.  I’m still terrible, but love participating.

Looking forward to celebrating A this weekend!

Life Lately

Ugh.  It’s been a bit since I posted.  The state of the world right now is heavy on my heart.  We need to do better.

I keep meaning to write something on my “lunch break” (ha!), but lunch breaks look different these days and the weeks are just challenging.  So here we are.  Lots of updates…

Our weekends have been wonderful!  For as challenging as the week days can be, the weekends have been restorative and (mostly) peaceful.  I’m living for the weekends.  Memorial Day weekend was beautiful and we spent the majority of our weekend outside.  We took walks and played badminton in the back yard.  My mom and Nani and Papa came over for a socially distanced cook out.  It was great to catch up and it was wonderful to have a little “normalcy” back in our lives.

We’ve participated in a couple “drive by parades” for A’s students and we have a couple scheduled for the boys.  I am absolutely loving these and think they should become a thing even after virus concerns dwindle.  W has already asked for one for his December birthday.  Not sure about that, but I do know we’ve had fun creating signs, decorating the car, honking and waving. 😊  We’ve also enjoyed seeing a few parades take place in our neighborhood.

All the guys have finished school for the year and that comes with very mixed emotions.  I’m elated to be done with eLearning.  But I’m also heartbroken the boys didn’t finish the school year AT school.  When they left in March, we had no inclination they may not return.  This was S’s final year of preschool. He left without saying goodbye to friends, some of whom we likely won’t see again.  There was no celebration, no closure for such an important milestone.  And my contemplative W missed out on field trips, projects only his creative teacher could effectively demonstrate, thoughtful instruction, and fun with friends. A and I tried our best, but between juggling our own work and having no experience teaching little kids, there’s no way we could fill the shoes of the boys’ amazing teachers.  I’m just so sad this school year ended the way it did and I’m praying both boys can return to school in the fall.

We visited the lake this past weekend.  The boys loved climbing on the rocks and running along the shore.  We stayed far away from any other people.  I absolutely love the water – it’s so calming.  The boys didn’t want to leave and asked if we could return the following day.  Can’t wait to visit again.  This particular state park is only 15 minutes from our home and we never visit – that needs to change.

We’ve eaten dinner outside quite a bit lately and I’m loving it.  A commented that we have eaten outside more times in the past month than we have the entire time we’ve owned the house.

We bought a new car!  A’s car wouldn’t start a few weeks ago and we had it towed to a repair shop.  There was a pretty long list of maintenance work that needed to be done.  We were hoping it would last through the summer, but it didn’t make sense to spend money on fixing things when we didn’t intend to keep it much longer.  I guess the timing worked out because we were able to trade it in and I feel like we got a good deal and 0 percent financing.

I guess that’s all for now.  Stay healthy and be kind to one another!