Denver Solo

Denver Solo sounds like Han's trendy granddaughter, but what actually happened was I went to Denver by myself last week. Math has never been my forte, but here's my attempt at an equation describing the trip: 

Same day x (Father's Day + my Mom's birthday) + [expiring 2020 flight credits] = Solo Denver trip

My Denver Solo trip lasted from Saturday, June 18th to Wednesday, June 22nd. It was a very peaceful visit. I have never spent so much one-on-one time with my parents in my life! The day I arrived, I briefly congratulated my brother Brad on his graduation from medical residency on our way back from the airport. That evening, I got to help my parents prep for a senior missionary social dinner that they were hosting. The 50 or so senior missionaries who came to the dinner were very nice. Several people asked me if I was home from college for the summer, and I got a kick out of that. 

May BOOKS

I read nine books in May.

As a dedicated Kindle user, I don't read paper books very often, so it feels like a photo op when I do.

Last/First

During the first half of June, we had several last days and first days all clustered together:

Shaina Day!

Sunday, June 12th was the second annual Shaina Day, observed by my husband and kids. Shaina Day is a day that is completely my own. It is not a set date; it comes in June when the time is right. In other words, even though the day itself is mine, I let Jeff choose when it happens because that's the way to secure his presence (physical and mental) on my day. A quick review, since this is still relatively new: I share my birthday with Amber, and I share Mother's Day with track season/all mothers everywhere. Apparently I am selfish enough to want a day that is entirely my own, so we created Shaina Day.

Shaina Day is a combination of a birthday and mother's day celebration. My family gives me gifts and writes me notes and I don't have to cook or clean. For my Shaina Day dinner, I couldn't think of anything and I hadn't been to the store in while, and the point was no stress, no work, so I chose to have pre-cooked frozen hamburgers. I keep a Costco box of these quick-heat-and-eat burgers in the freezer for emergency rations (especially handy on Friday nights when my family is indulging in cheesy killer pizza that I can't digest). The kids were overjoyed to be eating my secret stash of hamburgers on Shaina Day, and I love a good juicy burger, so everyone was happy. 

Forty

 Jeff turned the big 40 on June 1st! He is rather birthday-neutral and merely requested brownies for his candles and curry for his dinner. We gave him his birthday presents before school: Jay gave him some new Darn Tough socks. Rose gave him an electric kettle. Amber gave him a velcro ball catch game. I gave him some bluetooth earbuds that he picked out. Our parents and siblings on both sides of the family sent Jeff well-wishes in card, visit, or text form. After school on his birthday, Jeff went on his first real run in four months since battling long Covid: it was a 30 minute jog with Jay and a few kids from the cross country team--a double edged sword of a birthday gift to himself. (Based on Jeff's report, it was a combo of "Yay, I can finally run again!" and "Ugh, I'm so out of shape!")