Mt. Si

 On Wednesday, June 29th, I went on my first trail run-hike of the season! Lots of my favorite trails are still under mountain snow, so I went out near North Bend, WA to climb Mt. Si. I did this trail three years ago and it nearly crippled my quads on the way down because it is such a steep steep grade. This time I vowed to be careful and gentle with my legs on the way down. I ran almost 4 miles at cross country practice that morning, then got in the van and drove to the mountains for my trail run-hike. The forest welcomed me back like an old friend, and I felt all kinds of Pacific Northwest love as I basked in the greenery and breathed that fresh Cascades air.

"It was calming how the trees stood and offered themselves to my heart." 

--Quiara Alegria Hudes, My Broken Language

June Album

The last half of June can be summed up in four words: swim, run, read, screens. Monday through Thursday were swim team days, with practice early in the morning and one or two meets in the evenings. Monday through Friday were summer practice for the cross country team. Jay and Rose joined in for a portion of the cross country practice after 80 minutes of swimming. They ran for 20-40 minutes with the team most days. Buff kids! 

During Rose's first run at cross country practice, she got a painful side stitch and had to walk a lot, and felt pretty frustrated. That night during family prayer, Jay prayed for Rose not to get any more cramps while running. My coach-brain thoughts said "That's a nice thing for Jay to say in his prayer. Rose will eventually stop getting side cramps when her core gets stronger, her running form improves, and she gets used to the motion of running. So I guess this prayer will eventually be answered." But Rose hasn't had a side stitch since! Time for me to dig up some extra humility and faith.

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!") 

April Books

I read seven books in April. I got totally sugared out on the Kindle Unlimited clean romances, so I turned back to some more tried and true faves that I already own. My fiction books were all re-reads, but I branched out into new territory on the non-fiction, and struck GOLD. I savored Untamed by Glennon Doyle and Bittersweet by Susan Cain. Wow. They captured many nebulous thoughts and feelings that I've had and converted them into beautiful descriptive language--pure alchemy. 

The end of track and May

What a week! Jay had a band and orchestra concert on Tuesday. Jeff left on Wednesday for the state track meet. He was gone from Wednesday through late Saturday night, so I was flying solo at home. I missed my husband! Now he is home and track season is officially over. I need to write those blessed words again: TRACK SEASON IS OVER. Whew! Jeff is exhausted, and for good reason:

• It was his first season as head track coach. The track team is over 50% bigger than the cross country team, so it was a big jump in overall workload. 
• He took over for the former head coach, who passed away at age 42 from aggressive cancer a few months ago, which added an extra emotional dimension to his role. 
• He managed six assistant coaches and 100 teenagers on the team, some more dramatic than others. 
• Practice was 5 days a week after Jeff had already spent all day teaching high school classes starting at 7:50am.
• He was a teacher for 40 hours per week and did his head track coach duties for another 20-30 hours per week, for a total of 60-70 hour weeks (for 40 hour pay).
• Jeff gave up 85% of his/our Saturdays for 3 months to go to track meets. 
• Even though he has never pole vaulted before, he got certified to coach pole vault because nobody else knew how either. 
• This was the coldest spring ever of all time, and there were only one or two track meets where Jeff was comfortable wearing short sleeves outside, which is insane--the weather was rough on the coaches. Standing outside for long hours in the cold/wind/rain/hail/snow is extremely draining.
• He did it all while battling long Covid symptoms and managing his usual mental health status quo. 
• And he did it all extremely WELL. I am in awe of Jeff's abilities.

The teenager

Jay's 13th birthday fell on a Saturday this year. He was a good sport about dealing with all of the non-birthday things on his day. Jeff had a track meet (day two of the district meet), and had to leave the house by 8am. I figured 7:30am present opening would suffice, but all three kids were up and raring to go an hour before that. I told Jay that I wasn't sure if he was really a teenager if he was getting up before 7am on a Saturday, to which Jay responded that he had been up since 4:30am unable to fall back asleep. He said he decided to read his scriptures "to start off my new age the best way." 

The birthday interview. I made him choose a favorite superhero and a princess, allowing female superheroes in the princess category, haha. When asked "what is scary?" Jay said "moving and change--I like stability!" Classic Jay. He is so totally related to me.

Mellow Monday

Monday evening (May 16th) was breezy but mellow, with golden sunlight bathing the peaceful fields behind our house. After dinner, I suggested that for family night we could go on a scooter ride together. The kids  rushed to get ready. Jeff was away at a coaches meeting, so it was just me and my kids, passing the golden hour outside together. We have had so few days with nice weather this spring (wind, rain, wind, snow, windstorms, hail, wind). Even though the breeze was a bit stronger and brisk-er than my ideal, it was still wonderful to just BE outside together. 

We scootered the entire length of the paved pathway behind our house, for a total of one mile. Amber chose to ride her bike. When we arrived at the grassy field at the far end of the path, we stopped to explore, play, and bask in the sunshine. Rose scampered off to climb her favorite tree. Amber started collecting pinecones. Jay walked around, plotting ways to tease his little sisters. I sat down in the plush green grass and took it all in. 

Savannah Finale: A Tour and Tybee

Friday, May 13th came in two parts: a tour of a historic building in the morning and an afternoon on the beach at nearby Tybee Island.

On Friday morning, we ate breakfast together at the darling Mirabelle Café (where I discovered that lavender and lemon curd topped waffles and fresh strawberry lemonade go surprisingly well together). After breakfast, we walked to the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters, where we split up. Em and Dani went shopping while Alivia, Mel, and I took the 45 minute guided tour of the historic house. 

The Owens-Thomas House