The Screaming Sartorius

 A week ago, I tweaked a muscle in my upper thigh. The weird thing was it didn't happen all at once like I would expect with a pulled muscle; it just kind of started hurting more and more over a few days. Based on where it hurt, I figured it could be either an upper quad muscle, a groin muscle, or a hip flexor. My hip joint was also feeling creaky, so I went to the chiropractor on Monday morning (March 24th). The chiropractor said my muscle strain was likely caused, at least in part, by my hip being out of place, since the movement of the out of place hip torqued the muscle differently than it was supposed to move. He suggested that I check in with my physical therapist. [Side note: how high maintenance does this sound? "My chiropractor suggested I check in with my physical therapist." Yeah. This is middle age apparently.]

Napoleon

I'm getting around to doing the final France post at last! On our last day in France, Thursday, February 20th, we went to Les Invalides, which had the Army museum and Napoleon's tomb. After that we walked the Champs Elysees. Here's a journal entry from my tired self on that day:

Thursday, February 20th: The head cold that's been threatening for the past 2 days finally descended today. Ugh. I almost held it off till the end of our trip! I was so snotty and tired today. I did run 4 miles along the Seine out of sheer willpower, but I was tired and headachy the rest of the day. We went to Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides and the Musée Armée today. The kids liked it way better than me, just like last time. Jay said it was his favorite museum that we've gone to.

The track season within a track season

Middle school track season has begun! The first day of middle school track practice was Monday, March 17th, two weeks after the high school season started. Middle school track season will end about 2 weeks before the high school season ends, so middle school track is the season within a season.

Before practice on Monday, I felt perfectly prepared yet somehow still jittery. Practices went smoothly all week. The kids were interested and working hard, and we only needed our med kit twice. Even with the relative smooth start to the season, it was a long week. The mental burden of being in charge at practice every single day weighed heavy on my brain. With planning and effort, I made sure we had dinner every night at home, and that our house didn't go into complete disarray, although I did have to delay bathroom cleaning till next week. The weather was kind of a downward spiral all week: sunny nice shorts weather on Monday, windy and cooler but still kind of sunny for the next two days, then cooler, extra windy, and cloudy on Thursday, culminating in cold, windy, and rainy on Friday. 

Les Egouts et Pompidou

I'm still trying to finish up the France posts, but it's hard because I didn't finish them before middle school track started and now I have less time and energy for extra blog posts. After this post, only one more France post to go! On Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, we went to Les Egouts et Le Centre Georges Pompidou. In case you can't tell: the title rhymes. It's pronounced "les eh-goo eh lu pomp-i-doo." Trust me. 

Preparation

It was a week of planning and preparation for middle school track season. Middle school track practice begins today (Monday, March 17th), so I went into full prep mode last week: adjusting practice plans, updating the team roster spreadsheet, dreaming up new workouts, etc. All of the prep work is done. It's time to take the leap into the busiest 8 weeks of the entire year, where both Jeff and I are head track coaches. I already went through the first week of track practice chaos with Jeff two weeks ago, but now I get to start over with my own middle school team chaos! Bring it on. Power pose. Yes I can. 

Wind and dogs

It must really be springtime in Sunnyside: high school track season has begun, and both the wind and the dogs are on the move. We had more days with strong winds than not this week, which made track practice a blustery exercise in maintaining a positive core body temperature. Even though I was chilled at windy track practices, the actual temperatures were mild: high 50s to mid-60s. A side effect of the warmer weather is that dog owners leave their pets outside. More of my runs than not were invaded by dogs this week, which made me alternately scared and angry. Seriously, the dog situation out in our corner of the countryside is annoying at best, terrifying at worst. 

Le Tour Eiffel

We went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower: how could we not?

The lighting at the Trocadero is notoriously awful for photography in the morning, but we did it anyways because it was on our way to the Eiffel Tower. I had to edit this picture so the kids' faces were visible.

L'Arc de Triomphe

To finish off our massively packed Monday (still February 17th) in Paris, we climbed up the Arc de Triomphe for a spectacular night view of Paris!

Sacre Couer and the Louvre

Monday, February 17th continued: after Rose and I did our morning run to the Eiffel Tower, we all went to Sacre Coeur and the Louvre together!

Once we showered and ate breakfast [second breakfast for me], Jeff needed a nap so we relaxed for an hour before heading out to take the metro to Sacre Coeur around 11am. Stairs, stairs, stairs! Getting up the  Montmartre hill requires lots of stairs, starting with 180 stairs out of the metro station (no escalator). Next came the first set of five long flights of hillside stairs, followed by at least two more sets like that.

Together at Sacre Coeur.

Spring in February!

I'm briefly pausing France travel posts to stay current with the times: Spring came to Sunnyside this week, in February! After some seriously sloppy mucky wet weather, the rain let up and the air warmed up. We had one windy transitional day on Tuesday, and then POOF! Sunny calm 58 degree weather the rest of the week! I have seen enough spring weather around here to know that this golden week of beauty is no guarantee that we get to bypass the wild windy wet volatile seasonal transition that spring often is. That's what made this week all the more enjoyable: the ephemeral nature of such gorgeous weather so early in the season.

Rose's Eiffel Tower run

Monday, February 17th: Rose and I ran to the Eiffel Tower together! We ran 3/4 mile with Jeff from our apartment to the river, then he sped up and disappeared into the distance while Rose and I continued along the river together. I told Rose that the Eiffel Tower was 3.3 miles from our apartment, and she decided to throw caution to the wind and run all the way there, even though she knew it would be a stretch to run there and back again--over six miles total. I am always up for a boundary-pushing distance run, and Rose has run 6 miles once or twice before in her life, so we went for it!

Sunday in Versailles

On our second day in Paris, we left Paris and took a train to Versailles for church and chateau-ing.

On Sunday morning (Feb 16th) we left our Airbnb at 8am and took the train an hour out to Versailles. We went to church there at the biggest ward I've ever seen in France! The church building (its own separate church building, not rented rooms!) was a 1 mile walk from the train station. The overflow gym room behind the chapel was full by the end of sacrament meeting. And, a second large ward met in the building after our ward finished! There is a temple in Versailles after all, so it makes sense that there are two big wards there. 

My feet in la Ville de Versailles. I wore these brown leather boots walking all over the place and they were just about perfect for a winter urban adventure: waterproof in rain, comfy and warm enough for cold but not too warm for less cold, cute, versatile for church and everyday wear, and easy to slip on and off. I love multipurpose travel apparel!