Indulgence

Wordle 376 4/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I had the house to myself. I made what felt like good progress in Warcraft (not getting anything totally new done, but a gear upgrade and a good position for the last boss), finished a minor but urgent task at work, and tried to get a few more long-standing, slow-moving tasks restarted. I also finished the laundry (or close enough) and did a couple other minor things around the house.

In the evening, we drove out to a brewery just outside the city to meet some friends. (On a weeknight! Taking advantage of being child-free!) It was fun. I wound up drinking more than I had planned... because T. didn't like the beer she ordered, but it wasn't my favorite either, and I wasn't going to be cheated out of two good beers.

This morning I had a bit of a hangover - not horrible, but not imaginary either. I'm getting old.

Day one of freedom

Wordle 375 6/6

⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I made one mistake, in terms of reusing a letter I already knew was wrong, but still, that's weird.

Yesterday was the first day of child-freedom. It was fine. Of course, child-freedom during the workday is the norm. We have plans to go out some evenings and weekends over the coming weeks; that should be fun. But yesterday during the day we caught up on laundry, which we were too busy to do over the weekend like usual. As for work, I just went to a couple meetings, sent a couple emails... the usual. One of those meetings was more fun than usual, in that we spent the time telling our supervisor all about what another team had done wrong. A bitching session, basically, which she was accommodating of, and there's some chance it may lead to positive change...

In the mid-afternoon I went to the grocery store. I walked in hopes that my knee would have improved. Maybe it's better but it's not completely healed yet, so I had the bright idea to make a detour down to the pharmacy on H St. and got a knee brace. It seemed to help.

Dinner was roasted asparagus (not the kid's favorite) and tuna steaks (she wouldn't touch it, especially not a recipe this peppery). After that we just watched TV and played our games.

Freedom

Wordle 374 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I screwed up the 3rd guess and didn't use one of my yellow letters, but I'm not sure I would have got it in 4 anyway.

Yesterday morning was a typical Monday, except the kid was around all day. It was funny in the morning. She got up around 7, earlier than usual for school. This is normally a little annoying; I appreciate the time to myself in the morning, and if she gets up early, she usually wants to watch extra TV, and we try to put some kind of limits on that. Maybe she detected this in my tone of voice when I said good morning, because she immediately said, "I know it's early! I'm going back to bed because I'm still tired! I just came down to get water because there isn't any in my room!" I felt sorry for her. She is so judged, and despite some annoyances, she's a good kid. 

Work was OK despite having her around. Not busy. T., her mother, and I all took turns helping pack, cleaning, and playing games with her. 

We left to get them to the airport around 3, plenty of time for their 5:40 flight to California, where the kid is spending almost three weeks without us. After that, a quick stop at C.'s to get something the kid had left there. Then an early dinner at the Shake Shack in the mall. We also made an impulse buy of a small Lego set for the kid. 

And then... we relaxed. Played our games and watched TV until bedtime. We have a lot of fun planned for this child-free time, but yesterday we were both happy to decompress.

OK then

Wordle 373 2/6

🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I'll take the win!

Yesterday had a lot of little things going on instead of one big thing. In addition to the grandparents, in the morning we were visited by these friends. It was nice seeing them, but it was a bit awkward because they asked for either masks or sitting outside (in addition to general caution, they have health issues that make covid extra dangerous), so we started setting up chairs outside for everyone. Also, one of the kid's birthday presents was a gem-digging kit (basically, a block of soft clay or artificial sandstone with gems embedded in it, and a chisel and brush), which was messy, so we wanted that outside too. Hot despite the umbrella we set up, and moderately heavy lifting just getting all that lawn furniture out there. My knee is still a little swollen.

T.'s cousin from Richmond also came to visit, overlapping with the newlyweds. It was nice seeing them too. My parents brought most of lunch but T.'s cousins brought a beet-based salad, mostly from their garden. Cool. The friends didn't stay long, so at least things weren't too crowded and we could go inside eventually. 

In the mid-afternoon, the kid went to the park with most of the grownups. Only my mother and I stayed home. I did a little cleaning but mostly we just relaxed and played our respective games. Unfortunately, it didn't last long; the expedition returned soon, the kid displaying a split lip and a scraped chin. She had fallen on the playground. 

T.'s cousins left shortly after that. For dinner, I barbequed ribs. It was very low-effort, basically straight out of the package from the grocery store. My dad made margaritas. There were six people (me, the kid, T., T.'s mother, and both of my parents). I had planned to make a green salad and some other course, but T.'s mother volunteered to make both a potato salad and that green salad. Cool. After dinner, the after-care nanny came to deliver a birthday present and say hello since she had missed the party. Shortly after that, our friend C. came for similar reasons. 

I put the kid to bed. (I'm not sure whose turn it was, but I don't care, because she's leaving soon, so this will be the last chance for a while!) We all got to bed a bit early.

Two parties

Wordle 372 3/6

🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I didn't go jogging. Partly because I had a long day ahead of me and wanted to save my energy, mostly because my knee hurt.

Around 7 in the morning I got in the car and drove to a grocery store for the essentials of the kid's birthday party: cupcakes and ice. (And several other things, but those were needed for the party at the last minute.) After everyone else got up, breakfast was pancakes and bacon. My parents arrived around 11 and we all spent the morning getting ready for the party. Cleaning, moving the table, ordering pizza, stringing up the rope to hang the pinata from, carrying things over to the park... 

The party itself went as well as I could expect. T. suggested I get 3 pizza. I got 4, and 3.5 were eaten. I'm vindicated. On the other hand I wish I had got fewer cupcakes. We still have about 20 in the house. There were no major injuries or discipline incidents I'm aware of. Can't complain. I also got to meet the parents of some of the kid's classmates, and visit quite a bit with my old friend Paul. He lives out in the suburbs and has three kids, two under 5 (I think the middle one might have turned 5 recently, but the vaccine was only approved for 5-year-olds recently, so it didn't matter?), so covid has been particularly hard for them.

The party wound down around 3. The kid got to play with a friend who lingered a bit longer. The grownups just tried to clean up and relax. Dinner was tortellini and cauliflower, two classics, but the cauliflower was cooked a bit differently on the mother-in-law's advice. It was good. 

After that, we dropped the kid and her grandmother at a Smithsonian event, and then T. and I went to ANOTHER birthday party. This being the 40th party for a friend of ours. We got home around midnight. Fun but tiring. May add more details later.

Good Friday PERSONALLY, but...

Wordle 371 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday wound up being the best WAR day in a long time. The main factor was, they were all submitted by 11 AM, maybe earlier. One of the guys who was very late last time actually got his in on the deadline this time for the first time I can remember. Recent changes to the process have made it so that editing it and compiling it are much easier than they used to be, so now timeliness is the only problem, and it wasn't a problem yesterday.

I went jogging in the mid-morning. The usual route. 

The kid got to watch a lot of TV in the morning as T. and I worked and her nana slept in. Eventually my parents arrived, a little after noon, right when T. was in the middle of an exercise class... Oh well. My parents drove T.'s mother and the kid to the National Mall for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Sounds like they had fun. 

At some point in the morning, the news about Roe v. Wade had dropped. So at 5, we arranged things so the grandparents would get the kid (and her friend) to gymnastics class while T. and I went to a protest. After that we met up at the gym. Then all 6 of us went out to dinner at the Boxcar Tavern. Haven't been there in a while. Afterwards, my dad had a problem finding the restaurant from where he had parked, but he managed eventually. The grandparents and the kid drove home while T. and I took the bus. For some reason, my knee started acting up when I got off the bus. This is a problem I haven't had in a while but it's not completely unfamiliar. I limped home and around the house last night and this morning.

The kid got to bed after 10. In addition to getting home from dinner after 8, Nana read to her, and was generous about it. Probably not a record, but close.

Normal day with guests

Wordle 370 4/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

That was a weird pattern of letters.

Yesterday was a busy day at work, by the numbers, so to speak, but it didn't feel that bad. The biggest thing was the urgent short-notice template review, but most of the planning and setup of that, the actual thinking, was done the day before, so it wasn't too hard today. Because I was taking the lead on that, one of my teammates took notes at the usual Thursday meeting for me. I listened in on that and another one but mostly just went through the templates. 

Meanwhile, it was raining off and on, so the kid watched a lot of TV. T.'s mother was here but jet-lagged. My parents had made it to the campground in the suburbs late last night, so they were very slow this morning. There was a break in the rain around 1 so I went jogging then. I was in the shower when my parents arrived. We hung out for a bit. Then we asked the three grandparents to get the kid out of our hair for a while the kid to show her grandparents the cool stuff to see in the Union Market and Cosecha area. We tried to get a little more work done, both for our jobs and for school-related stuff. 

A friend of the kid came over for a playdate around 5. I made dinner while my dad made cocktails and everyone relaxed a bit. Dinner was chicken with a vermouth and caper sauce (a favorite I haven't made it in a while due to the kid's alleged vegetarianism), a new quinoa and carmelized onion recipe (pretty good), and green beans (sauteed with pine nuts, improvised but pretty good). A hit all around but I feel like there wasn't enough food. I haven't cooked for 6 people in a very long time, if ever.

Crazy day

Wordle 369 4/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday was crazy. It started off by biking the kid to school a one-day arts camp due to a gap between the end of the school year and the start of our summer plans. That camp was just a block from school, though, because it was recommended by a classmate's parent, so the route was familiar. On the way home I did a little shopping for things I had forgotten the day before.

Before and right after that I revisited the deliverable. I pored over it, focusing on grammar, using a file that tracked the changes since the version submitted last year. I got over halfway through and found a few minor grammatical errors, plus a few things that might not be technically wrong but I wish we had fixed. But here's the thing... almost all of those were in untouched parts! Language that hadn't been changed since last year! So, yeah, I admit I didn't review those bits too closely in the past few weeks, because they were OK with all of us and the client last year! And THAT is what L. was bothering us about at 4:50 on the due date???

I gave that up in disgust when I found something new to be annoyed at. Over a month ago the help desk people reached out to us about updating and standardizing their templates for notifications. We weren't too clear on the overall effort, but shrugged, did our part, and asked to be looped in as soon as possible on follow-ups. Yesterday at 9:27 AM, one of them emailed us about 24 files related to the effort and asked us to work on them by Monday. Getting further details made things worse: they want to start using these first thing Monday, so we really have to be done by Friday night, and they also want some work with SharePoint permissions and a change log. The work on each individual file is easy enough, but still, this is ridiculous.

While sorting that out and getting started, I attended a meeting about a proposed policy change (to greatly summarize) at the school. Sentiment seems to me that they should fix their current problems before choosing to take on new ones. After that it was the end-of-year parent-teacher conference. That was pleasant. The teacher likes our kid.

After that, a little more work. The kid's art camp ended earlier than the usual school day and we had moved the guitar lesson to line up better. There was a little more running around than usual to get her from one to the other and get everything of hers from the camp. On the plus side, we got better cookies than the usual snack during the guitar lesson.

After that, we dropped her off at a friend's house for a long play date, while T. and I drove to the airport to pick up T.'s mother. She's staying with us for a few days as the start of summer plans. We had planned to drive her home, have a quick dinner (probably pasta and green beans), and go to a political event before getting the kid. I was leery of being so busy and wondering if I should excuse myself, but I didn't have to. The event was cancelled, and traffic was so bad getting the mother-in-law from the airport that we opted to have dinner in the area instead. (We went to a restaurant T. and I had been to before. We happened to order pizzas and a salad. One beer with it, in deference to the craziness, but that's still less than I would have had in an evening a week ago or more.) We picked the kid up on the way home from that. 

No exercise, unless just barely hitting the goal for the number of steps qualifies as exercise. First time in a while, I think. Oh well, it was certainly busy enough. Hopefully today.

Awful

Wordle 368 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I biked the kid to school. I went shopping on the way home. 

We had a cleaner come over because we have company coming soon (T.'s mother, my parents, and a general birthday party for the kid), so my day was a little disrupted. While she cleaned upstairs, I worked downstairs, and then we switched. It was only really a problem when she was vacuuming during my one meeting in the morning.

Yesterday afternoon was a lot more aggravating than its productivity would indicate. As for productivity at work, I got two big documents done. Yay. But both were a pain in various ways.

• For the first of them, a SOP that's fairly important because it's mentioned in two documents due to the customer, the person responsible for it sent an email yesterday morning indicating that she thought the deadline was today, when it was actually yesterday. I don't want to say that was scary, because I had clearly done my part and she did in fact re-prioritize when I corrected her, but it was frustrating. Her final changes were minor and logical, but it left me wondering why they weren't made weeks or even months ago. Oh well. 
• The second was one of those documents due to the customer, so it was even more important. Way back here I got what was supposed to be the final edits to it. Since then there were many email discussions of it, for both good reasons and IMO bad ones, but no new questions, comments, or edits to the document itself. But then!
• There was a meeting about it at 3 and I had no news to share. It continued to be ready. 
• At 3:28 I heard from L., a woman on the team that owns these documents. She had a question about the document by Teams chat. At first glance I wasn't clear what she was asking. There were formatting problems introduced by copying and pasting into Teams. (In her defense, I could have read more carefully and/or paid more attention at first; all I can say is, I was distracted.) So I made a couple minor edits and thought it was done.
• I went to get the kid at 4:35. Exact timing will become important soon. I got the kid and T. at the school and got to the pool without major problems; details to follow. But while walking through the pool parking lot at 5:23, I noticed a text message from L. on the deliverables team. She had sent it at 4:51. She was asking about "multiple grammar and spelling errors in those documents". As the person responsible for grammar and spelling on one of them, this is scary, but I couldn't do anything about it at the fitness center. I replied to say as much. 
• Around 8, I checked my work email. Apparently the files had been sent at 7:30, so they figured out an approach that was good enough, but that is really, really not how this was supposed to go.

Getting the kid after school went well enough, but was a little more complicated than usual because of end-of-school-year festivities and cleanup. Getting to the pool was difficult because the rec center it's in is also a polling place, and yesterday was the primary election, so we had to park a block further away than usual. Getting into the rec center was difficult because the place isn't very user-friendly. For several weeks we've been confused about the dress requirements in the pool area, because they say one thing but enforce it spottily. Last week I learned that there's a separate sign-in for the pool the kid uses and the fitness center I use. This week we learned that they apparently they have to see one ID per adult, and T. had left hers in the car (which, again, was farther than usual), so that was annoying too. 

By the time we had sorted that out, I had less time to jog than usual. I tried to make up for it by going faster than usual. My phone thinks I did 2.92 miles in 25:38 minutes and the treadmill's tracker says it was even better. The phone doesn't think that's a record, but that might be a mistake and even if not it's definitely close. 

Dinner was fried rice. No drink but I was really tempted.

My feet still hurt

Wordle 367 6/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

If yesterday's entry seemed very brief, it's partly because I was tired that morning. Sleep issues have almost become the norm rather than the exception. This isn't just the fault of other people; I seem to have become a lighter sleeper than I was a year or two ago. Yesterday morning I woke up around 6 and tried to go back to sleep on the couch. It would be difficult to get back to sleep at that hour in general and unfortunately the kid woke up just 20 minutes or so after that and wanted to watch cartoons. I went jogging right after posting this. I considered skipping it, but it's easy to start jogging, and once I've started my route is a loop so it's easy to continue... my exercise routine is tailored well to my personality. 

Even though it was a holiday, we didn't have the usual big weekend brunch because we were low on or out of relevant stuff, so instead we called in an order to a nearby deli for bagels. I made a concession to my fatigue and drove rather than walking or biking to pick it up.

After that and general morning stuff, we went to Mount Vernon. It's a short drive from home and a mostly outdoors attraction, and the weather was good for it. It was fine. We got there around noon. We had a reservation for a house tour at 1:35, so we just explored the gardens before then. After the tour we had lunch in the cafeteria. (In hindsight we probably should have had lunch first. Oh well.) The kid was well behaved overall. Maybe I should give her more credit than that, it was mostly boring adult stuff and she was actually helpful with a few problems, but there was an incident or two... let's say a grade of A-.

While there we heard from our neighbors, the parents of the kid's best friend. They're members of a private pool not too far from home and invited us. I might have been inclined to skip it and relax at home. I woke up tired and spent all day on my feet. But our summer plans will have us gone a lot, so the kid might not be able to see the friend much, so we went. The kid spent about half her time at the actual pool and the other half on the nearby jungle gym. T. split her time between the pool and socializing with the other parents. I socialized a little but mostly just relaxed in a lounge chair.

Dinner was Hawaiian pizza from the place around the corner. I'd usually have a drink with dinner but I skipped it in hopes that cutting back on drinking will help with sleep issues. The kid got to stay up almost half an hour past her bedtime due to the general fun stuff. While T. put her to bed, I cleaned up the house a bit, because we've got a professional cleaner in here now and T.'s mother is coming tomorrow. My app says that between the morning jog and general walking, I put in 12 miles on my feet yesterday. I'm a little surprised I didn't go to bed much earlier than usual.

Father's Day

Wordle 366 3/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I went jogging yesterday morning. The weather was great for it.

After the usual Sunday brunch, we did some laundry and went to Costco. While there we got the text that C. and the kid were waiting for us, so we rushed home. We chatted a bit. After C. had to go, the kid practiced her guitar. Then we ran some errands to get ready for the kid's birthday party next week.

Dinner was at a wine bar near us. T.'s treat for Father's Day.

Weekends are tiring

Wordle 365 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

That's cruel, NYT. (The word itself, not my performance at it.)

Yesterday was busy. I went jogging early and we had the usual pancakes and bacon. Then we got ready (quickly, because it was the last minute; maybe I should have done something simpler for breakfast?) for an end-of-school-year celebration. T. had signed up to help out and we were loaning them some lawn toys. (The ladder toss was a success, but I didn't get out the bocce set because I couldn't find a way to make a playing field for it, and it might be a bit dangerous for some of those kids anyway. And other people brought other things.) I spent the event chatting with the one dad there I knew best, which isn't saying much, and watching my kid on the jungle gym and the other kids with the lawn toys. I feel a bit antisocial about not getting to know anyone new, but, hell with it, I won't see any of them for the next two months if ever anyway. 

Right after that, T. had signed up for an exercise class with a friend, so I drove her to that. Then the kid and I went home and had a very quick lunch before I took her to the park to play with a friend she hadn't seen in a while. As soon as I got there, I found a voice mail from T. She had thought the exercise class would be yoga, and therefore she wore sandals, but no, it was something sneakers were required for. Whoops. So she was waiting for a bus to go home almost as soon as I dropped her off.

The kid had fun in the park for a while, but she soon came to me screaming. She had a blister on her palm and it had burst. In hindsight, after gymnastics class Friday night, and playing on the jungle gym at the school event, and just now, it's unsurprising. I walked her home and gave her a bandage. She got to play with her friend a little bit more. Then we noticed that we had left a laundry hamper at the park, intended for a clothing exchange, so I drove back to look for it with the kid. I didn't find it, but at least I got her out of the house for a few minutes while T. cleaned... Then we had our friend C. over for dinner. It was very simple: rice, a stir-fry, and soy chicken, from various kits. I would have made it fancier if I had planned on company when I last thought about shopping.

Then the kid went home with C. and T. and I had the evening to ourselves. It was fun. We went to two local bars and had cocktails. Extravagant.

Didn't sleep well last night. I think alcohol might make T.'s snoring worse, and I was a bit hung over myself.

Stumped

Today's Wordle is really tough.

Yesterday was fine. Biked the kid to school. I made it a point to start jogging before 10 AM because it was already really hot. I was glad to spend most of the day in our air conditioned house. 

Work was unremarkable; a little more work on that urgent SOP, a few emails about scheduling stuff and getting ready for summer changes. 

We picked the kid up early so we could return a computer to the school (used once for remote school due to covid), and took the kid to the library before gymnastics. 

Dinner was burgers, fries, and milkshakes. The kid didn't like her sandwich so she stole her mother's. I ate mine too fast but in my defense she probably wouldn't have liked it anyway...

Finally got it:

Wordle 364 6/6

⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟨🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Low-key

Wordle 363 6/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday was fine. Biked the kid to school. Took a picture of a car parked in the bike lane (it was there on my way out and still there on my way back) but have yet to do something with it. 

I went jogging in the late morning. At work I got one fairly big thing done: my draft of a SOP that is on short notice. I feel like I should be worried about this due to the time left and the usual performance of the SMEs involved. But somehow I'm not. I've done my part, the SMEs seem to be taking it somewhat more seriously than usual, and if they miss the deadline, I think I've documented who is responsible for what well enough. 

Thursday is one of the two days the kid doesn't have an extra-curricular activity after school, so the evening was a little more relaxing than usual. That lasted precisely until dinner was on the table, because she didn't like it. (Pasta and a salad? OK, it was a weird salad and a new kind of pasta, but still!) She was sulky and restless. But in the end, she behaved, and she got enough of the actual dinner down her throat to earn snacks. 

We watched Ms. Marvel together before her bedtime. Nice to have shows we can enjoy as a family.

Pushing myself

Wordle 362 4/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

As of today, my modal number of guesses is 4. Cool.

Yesterday I biked the kid to school. T. took a sick day. 

I had one meeting at 9. It was easy. So easy, in fact, that it was kind of pointless, it could have been covered in an email and arguably had. Oh well, at least it was brief. 

Shortly after that I went jogging. I tried to do the loop around the college twice to push myself a bit. This isn't my first time doing the loop twice but I thought I might be up for making it the new normal. Unfortunately I ran out of gas and had to walk for a couple segments. Maybe it was already too warm? Maybe it was too soon after pushing myself the night before at the gym? Maybe the hills in the route make a noticeable difference? Oh well, I tried.

In the afternoon I had another meeting. It was productive. Lots to discuss and we got to it all. 

We got the kid to her guitar lesson uneventfully. Dinner was channa masala for her, tilapia for me and T., and brussels sprouts for all of us.

Taking stock

Wordle 361 3/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I think I've got better at this game in recent weeks.

Yesterday wasn't as productive as the day before. Still, I've been/done worse. We drove the kid to school because it looked like it was going to rain, but it didn't. Work was OK. Not too busy but I stayed on top of things. I went jogging during the kid's swimming class. The app says 4.38 miles in 40:24, but I'm not sure how meaningful that is because the treadmill said a good 4.5 miles, if I remember correctly. Dinner was leftovers.

Slept well last night until snoring woke me up around 4. I slept soundly on the couch downstairs until 6. It's almost as big a problem for T. as for me, though. She's taking time off work due to fatigue and looking into medical issues

Musing

I feel like taking stock. Unlike this post, there's no particular milestone for today's except maybe the impending end of the school year. 

• A year ago, I gave myself a dress code. I found that I was basically only leaving the house for the bare essentials. (I don't remember exactly when the kid started which extracurriculars, but at first they were briefer and less social.) I worried that I'd degenerate to wearing pajamas all day or something like that. Not good for my professionalism and arguably not even my mental health. Now, I've been taking the kid to school daily, she has four non-school activities, and we are fairly social as well. Wearing t-shirts more seems harmless.
• A year ago, I wanted to go back to work. Now I have to admit I don't. I miss some things about that lifestyle and maybe I always will, but I can't argue with the convenience of being flexible about exercise, shopping, and dropping the kid off and picking her up. Maybe when the kid is old enough to get herself to school? Or if T.'s schedule changes to the point where it makes sense for her to deal with the kid every single morning?
  
• The last two summers were a chance to see family, get to the country, and relax. For example. This summer will not be, or only will be a different kind of relaxation. The kid will spend time traveling without us, and we're taking the first vacation since covid purely for fun to a new place. (I.e. not to either my parent's house or T.'s parent's house.)
  
• I've been better than I expected about exercise. Simply going jogging is easy enough to find time for. I've worked my way up to running 5 miles at a time once or twice. I'm getting to the point where I need to start thinking about what I'm doing and how rather than simply doing something or not. My upper body is neglected. The kid can now do more chin-ups than me. I have mixed feelings about that.
• When I quit World of Warcraft in January it was mostly boring. Now, the stuff I care about is mostly frustrating. There's a lot of fun stuff in WoW but raiding, in pickup groups, doesn't belong in that category for me. The current raid has 11 bosses. When I wrote this, I had just downed the seventh on Heroic difficulty. Since then I've gone back to Normal and got all of them for completeness, and got two more Heroic bosses. My progress feels asymptotic. I'm not sure this is a problem with the game, lots of people love to hate it, but it really might be a problem with me and my approach to it. This probably wouldn't exist if I wasn't trying to raid in pickup groups, especially not as a healer. 
• I almost didn't think of mentioning reading until I filled in the labels for this post, but it has fallen by the wayside. I caught up on my backlog, except for finishing The Lightning Rod. It's slow going both because I'm doing other things and because it's scary content, abuse and stuff. Not sure if I feel bad about that. Gaming aside, the real issue is I still don't want to increase the clutter too much but I'm still not getting to the library as much as I expected or wanted.
  

Who knew nine hours of sleep was good for me?

Wordle 360 3/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Someone out there who reads the same guides as me just got it on the first guess. For a while that word had been my first guess, but I swapped it for something I thought was better. Maybe I was wrong. 

Yesterday when T. logged in to work she found she'd have to go to the office for some set of meetings. I feel sorry for her. Horrible way to start a Monday, right? So I drove her and the kid in.

I impressed myself yesterday. Late in the morning I biked to the store to get a Father's Day card and a few other things. I also changed two lightbulbs that had been flickering or completely dead for a while. By the time I finished those tasks and a little work, it was around noon and 90 degrees, so I considered skipping jogging or shortening my usual route, but I went for it anyway. After that I weeded the back alley, which has become overgrown enough to make it hard to get the bike or trash bins out. I also called an architect to hopefully start planning some home renovations.

As for work, I wasn't incredibly productive in terms of pages written or tasks completed and there were no meetings to attend. However, I did finish a training due by the end of this month, so it was nice to get an annoying task like that out of the way. 

As for World of Warcraft, I think I played less than usual, but it was more productive and less frustrating than usual. Finished a Covenant armor set (13 down, three to go, maybe my math was off back then?) and killed a new raid boss (woo hoo!). I'd attribute this to luck or getting bored with the game rather than skill, though. More on this in a few days, probably.

Around 4, T. called me and asked me to pick her up, because it was 90 degrees out and she didn't want to walk. I laughed at her but agreed. She napped a bit while I went to get the kid. Apparently, despite being in bed for as long as me, she was still tired. (I'm going going to work didn't help.) She's discussing it with a doctor. 

Dinner was stuffed peppers.

It would have been great if we planned it but we didn't

Wordle 359 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday when I woke up it looked like it might start raining any minute. I decided to be brave and go jogging anyway. Breakfast was eggs and home fries.

The plan for the day was for the kid to do her chores, mainly music practice, and then we'd go to the National Gallery of Art for an hour or two and see the art, and then the kid would have a playdate with a friend. The friend's mother could probably supervise. Meanwhile T. and I could do some shopping to get ready for the kid's birthday party in two weeks, weed the back alley, or do other housework or errands. This plan was weather-tolerant; like I said, it looked likely to rain. I wore a dark shirt and brought my hat with me to the museum rather than sunglasses. 

Music practice was more thorough than usual, and I supervised it more than usual. Normally T. does (because she cares about it more than me! Because I think this is almost counterproductive! Because I barely remember any of my trumpet lessons all those years ago and I think the kid hates this more than I hated that!), but she was busy organizing stuff and planning the party, so I figured I'd step up. In the end we spent almost half an hour making music with the kid actively participating. I call it progress.

We drove to the museum. The parking space we found was better than I expected but still not great. As soon as we got to the museum, the kid made a beeline for the activity stations from the event Thursday. She was very disappointed when we explained that they were just for that special event. Then she led us through the store. After we repeated that we weren't getting her anything there either, she led us out, disappointed.

However, there was something going on outside we hadn't planned on, the Pride Festival. To the kid it was just a party with a lot of rainbows and weird fashions, and she likes those. We snuck in some education about different gender expressions and inclinations. She saw a hair extensions booth and wanted to get hers done. It took over an hour, but she was patient. At some point between us entering the museum and her getting her hair done, the sun came out. It was hot most of the time we were in line. T. and I traded off holding the place in line, walking around to get water and snacks and try to find sunscreen, and standing in the little shade we could find nearby. Then we tried to get to the playdate. We got ice cream and Italian ice on the way. The playdate wound up taking place in the splash park by our house, so the kid put on a swim suit and shower cap to protect the hair extensions. 

After getting them settled I went home and started cooking. Dinner was a dish called "Mexican pizza". T. found it online; apparently it's someone's attempt to replicate a Taco Bell thing. Quite a bit of work, but not bad. 

After all this, we were all exhausted. T. and I were in bed with lights out by 9 PM. We needed it. The kid had a nightmare and came into bed with us around 4:30, but even so I got about nine hours of sleep last night.

A skip day

Wordle 358 4/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
🟨🟩⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday's breakfast was pancakes and bacon, as usual for a Saturday. Shortly after that we went to the birthday party for one of the kid's friends. It was at a park outdoors and it was drizzling off and on, so we thought it might be a bust, but it wasn't. Even though it was in the 60s and drizzling, there were fountains at this park, and the kids were happy to play in it. So the kid got soaked in regular clothes. Luckily we had a towel in the car. 

We had planned to go to the March for our Lives, but since the weather was bad and we had to do more to get the kid ready, we didn't. At 3 there was a birthday party for our neighbor, a grownup. We couldn't stay long because at 4:30 we went to a birthday party for another friend of the kid. It was at an "indoor adventure park", trampolines and climbing walls and obstacle courses and stuff. The kid had fun but was disappointed to find there was a time limit. The pizza we had there was most of our dinner. Afterwards we made two spur-of-the-moment stops on the way home, gas at Costco and roach traps (we've noticed them) at the nearby Lowe's. 

We were just a bit hungry after that so I heated up dumplings. Very low-key, easy, and small. 

I got no exercise, unless all the walking counts.

An unfortunately normal Friday

Wordle 357 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I biked the kid to school. At the time it felt rushed, it's always a struggle to get ready in the morning and get the kid moving, but the travel itself was uneventful. 

Work was a pain. The biweekly reports are due by close of business Thursday. I consider it a good day if they're all in by 10 AM Friday. Yesterday we were still waiting for three of them by noon. I might have liked to work on more long-term stuff (or, realistically, get a workout earlier), but I couldn't be so far away or distracted. I finally went jogging once I got them in and finished my review. I had a few other things to do at work but not much.

In the afternoon we got the kid to gymnastics class on time. While she was in there, T. and I went grocery shopping. We have two complicated, vegetarian or vegetarian-adjacent recipes on the agenda. We got burritos for dinner - I would have liked something we don't have so often, but we made the mistake of asking the kid's opinion. 

Didn't sleep well last night. I woke up around 4 because the kid was in bed with us. I put her in her own bed. Around 6 T.'s snoring woke me up.

A late afternoon at the museum

Wordle 356 4/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Whoops. There was an error I should have caught in my 3rd guess. Still, I don't want to complain about getting it in 4. 

Yesterday was fine. Biked the kid to school and got sweatier than I would have expected. Productive at work. A document I'm on is a mess but management can clearly see it's not my fault. 2 meetings but both were easy. I went jogging just after noon. Unfortunately, when I checked the app, it said that I did some zig-zagging that I don't remember. Yet another inaccuracy in the thing. Ugh. 

We picked the kid up at the usual time, but instead of going home, we went to an event at the National Gallery of Art. Taking the bus there was messy but we still had plenty of time to spend there. In addition to the art there was an arts and crafts station for people to make collages, and a digital painting screen, and a few other attractions. It was fun in its own right, and also, T. had coordinated with the parents of some of the kid's friends from school, so there were half a dozen kids around 6 there. Dinner was sandwiches from the cafe in the museum afterwards. Very lazy and not that great, but hey, it was already past the kid's bedtime.

ExpoSition

Wordle 355 4/6

🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday morning I had my usual cereal for breakfast. Then we dropped the kid off at school by car because her class had an exposition we were invited to - in person! For the first time of this school year! In June! It was scheduled for 45 minutes after the start of the school day, which was a bit awkward. I had a second breakfast and T. had her first at a nearby cafe while we waited. The expo was fun. The kids had been learning a lot about reducing, recycling, and reusing waste. Lots of arts and crafts projects, a worm garden for composting, a short video they all appeared in.

After that, T. I drove T. to the office because it's Wednesday, and I had the house to myself. Work was unexpectedly busy. A new, urgent task directly from my team leader, which I had to handle because one teammate was logging off relatively early and the other was busy with something else urgent. I got final edits to my deliverable done. I started working on something that became a priority of us on Tuesday, and unfortunately it's in a rough state. Bad news for someone, but hopefully not me or my immediate team. 

I got the kid to guitar practice. It went well. Dinner was ravioli and a salad. The kid played at her friend's house while I made those. She didn't like dinner, what a surprise.

Hectic evening

Wordle 354 5/6

🟨🟨🟨🟩⬜
🟨🟩🟨🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I biked the kid to school and did a little shopping on the way home. The morning and early afternoon were fine. One meeting in that time period I attended, but only listened in on. The late afternoon was unexpectedly hectic, though. 

T. had a school-related meeting at 4. I had a meeting at 4 as well - not originally scheduled for then, hopefully I would have thought better than that, but it had been moved twice because an attendee kept having conflicts. I was playing WoW at the time and this was a meeting I was actually leading - whoops! I muddled through and it was productive, although admittedly starting a couple minutes late. 

And as soon as they were over we had to run out to get the kid because it was time for swim class. We discovered when we were halfway down the block that we had to switch drivers, because T. had her reading glasses on, so she couldn't see well enough to deal with traffic. (Later on we found that she couldn't read the license plate of the car directly in front of us when we were going less than 20 MPH. Good thing we discovered the problem early...) The kid was a bit annoyed when we got her because it was raining and we hadn't planned well around that, so she had been stuck outside part of that time. Oh well. But swim class went well. I jogged on the treadmill while she was in the pool. With a little experimenting I discovered that my phone's fitness app is thrown off by being moved around, so I figure it's probably less accurate than the treadmill's tracker. I can only hope my phone's app is accurate enough while running on the street.

Dinner was fried rice. Boring after all this time, but easy enough on days when we get home late. Maybe next week I'll have a slow cooker recipe ready.

A just barely good day

Wordle 353 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I biked the kid to school and did a little shopping on the way home at a grocery store slightly out of the way. After that I had the house to myself. T. had to go to work for some reason. 

Work was fine. Two meetings (a third had been scheduled but someone had to cancel at the last minute). I got my edits to a document done at literally the last minute before my deadline to get it to other people so they'd have time to review it before the meeting this afternoon.

In addition to work I went jogging in the afternoon, finished folding the laundry, and cleaned the kitchen. 

T. was stuck at work late, so I drove to the kid's school to get her, and then we both drove to T.'s office - not all THAT late, I guess, but this morning she thought there was a chance she'd get home before it was time to get the kid, so later than she expected or wanted. 

Dinner was a bean dish and roasted broccoli. The kid rated the bean dish with her thumb not up or down but perfectly level. Could be worse. 

Musing

I continue to worry a bit about ADHD. That's a lot of stuff to get done at the last minute. On the other hand, I did get it done, and not later than the last minute, so maybe I'm fine as long as things don't slip any farther?

Camping details

Wordle 352 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Saturday I wore close-toed footwear longer than I've become used to. I put boots on around 10 when activities started because I'd be tramping through the woods and took them off around 6. That's probably longer than at any point since December, if not since the Before Time. I don't do it much because I get heat rashes easily, and sure enough, my feet still itch now. That night the kid had a teary breakdown at bedtime, partly due to the stress of using the gross camp bathrooms, partly because I had forgotten her pajamas. I packed most of her clothes Friday afternoon, but I figured that we'd pack the pajamas we wore Friday night when we all woke up Saturday morning, but I didn't tell anyone else... whoops. Also, T. forgot to pack her own toothbrush, and I didn't sleep well Saturday night due to noise. Sounds weird due to being in the wilderness, right? But there was a wedding or some other kind of party at a nearby property. Even after that, tents were close enough together that I could hear people snoring in other tents, let alone our own. I brought earplugs but couldn't find them in the tent in the dark.

Despite all that, and getting lost in the woods, and other peoples' annoying kids, it was fun. It was our fifth camping trip as a family. Camping is a skill we're improving at. The only things we forgot were the pajamas, the toothbrush, and a broom to clean out the tent, and I feel like those don't count. (The pajamas and toothbrush aren't camping-specific; that could have happened on the trip out of town last week. The broom would have been nice to have, but I was also able to borrow one from the campground, so who cares?) Our camping tableware could be better, but we remembered to bring it, unlike previous trips. The tent and sleeping pads we got last fall are far, far more comfortable than our old ones. The kid had fun with friends and was eager to try new things. Last time I was worried about her being shy and withdrawn; this time I was worried about her and her friends making trouble. Which is a problem, obviously, but a problem I'm more happy to have.

Once we got home we were lazy. We got back around noon and the kid had a birthday party for a friend at 4:30. In between getting home and going to the party, we did laundry, cleaned ourselves up, and sat around and watched TV and played our games. 

I feel a bit bad about that. General principles aside, we should have made her practice her guitar. And my only plan for dinner was the pizza at the birthday party and in hindsight it was inadequate. Fortunately we had tortellini ready to cook but it was still a small, boring dinner. All I can say is, we were all tired.

Camping

Wordle 351 4/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wordle thinks the streak ended, but I know in my heart of hearts that I just did yesterday's on my phone.

Went camping yesterday. Got fully packed (or as close as we could) during the day Friday. Left the house by 6:30 or close enough to it. Got to the campground by 8, plenty of time to join the scouts for breakfast and get stuff set up before activities started. I was assigned to get the kid's group to their activities throughout the day. We got lost in the woods once. Several of the kids were annoying in various ways. 

Also, I forgot to pack the kid's pajamas. There were tears at bedtime. But otherwise things were fine. Details may follow tomorrow.

I hate productivity

Wordle 350 5/6

🟨⬜🟨⬜🟨

🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜

⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜

⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Friday morning I biked the kid to school. I had to the house to myself for a few hours after that because T. had a doctor's appointment. In that time I finished the annotation for the school board meeting recording and made progress on several medium- and long-term tasks at work. I also dealt with an urgent request on short notice, even though it wasn't communicated to us clearly to begin with. Aren't I nice.

In the afternoon I took care of a few more things at work, but also got ready to go camping. We got the kid after school and got her to gymnastics class. Dinner was pizza. We left Saturday morning around 6:30, hopefully...

Busy day

Wordle 349 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Drove the kid in again yesterday, to pick up some shirts destined for a school event the previous owner can't make it to themselves. 

Busy day. Work itself had a bunch of random things going on. One thing with a deadline and a lot of distractions from it. Fortunately, nothing is individually too big or hard. In addition to work, I tried to annotate the school board meeting recording. They gave me something that frankly seems designed to obfuscate and meet the bare minimum of the legal requirement for transparency but I think, thanks to Microsoft Word skill and maybe a little reporting experience, I'm putting together something that will be useful. Good for me, but it wasn't actually fun to work on...

Most days after school, the kid plays in the school playground, with a boy, a nanny we've hired with his parents, and other random school friends. But when it rains they'll usually go to that boy's house, and it rained yesterday. And another friend of the kid goes to school fairly near the boy's house, so we offered to pick her up and save her parents the trip. So she came over for dinner (fried rice from the freezer; it would have been the meal after swim class, but that didn't happen this week) and they had an impromptu playdate all the way until bedtime. 

The kid came into bed with us last night for about half an hour around 2 or 3. Ugh.

Flirting with heat stroke

Wordle 348 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I drove the ladies in. I could have biked the kid in alone, but T. had to go to the office, and it was so hot she appreciated the air conditioning. 

A little before 11 in the morning I went jogging. The usual route with just a little zig-zagging. I didn't technically get heat stroke, but I still wish I had gone earlier, or done an online exercise entirely indoors. 

Lunch was huge. Finishing off multiple leftovers. Not sure if that's actually bad or not if I wind up snacking less. Dinners have been weird lately due to the travel and cooking experiments. Work was fine. Not too busy. One meeting, productive. Made progress on a new, weird task. I didn't finish anything, but officially finishing anything has little to do with how important it is or how much work it requires anyway.

At the end of the workday I drove to pick the kid up and get her to her music lesson. T. had a going-away party for a soon-to-be-former co-worker, so the kid and I got through music just the two of us. At home she watched TV while I cooked. Dinner was pasta with pesto from a kit T. had picked out while shopping over the weekend, and a new recipe I found for broccoli with pine nuts. I thought each of them could have been improved a bit - the pasta could have cooked longer, the broccoli would have been better sauteed than steamed - but were basically OK. The kid liked the broccoli but said the pasta was "OK..." and mimed a thumb down diagonally, "But barf." Her standards are high and weird. T. got home like 10 minutes after the kid and I finished eating.

It was T.'s turn to put the kid to bed, and she did sleep through the night this time. Yay.

Summer is here

Wordle 347 5/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday morning I biked the kid to school. On the way home I did a little shopping. I had two recipes in mind, but for various reasons I didn't get everything I needed for either of them. (Pay attention, this will be important later.) 

Work was OK. One bit of work on an existing task. One new task, which was/is kind of confusing. One bit of troubleshooting a problem with last week's report. In some downtime I tried to review a school board meeting. Among the problems with this school is even when we get information, it's not very user-friendly. 

Since it was Tuesday, I planned to exercise while the kid had swim class. I was thinking I might tone it down a bit, just because I was still sore from the past few days. Little did I know, swim class would be cancelled. We normally do an easy, straight-out-of-the-freezer dinner on swimming nights because we get home so late, but since we hope to reschedule swim class for later in the week, I planned another night's dinner. I decided on one of those two recipes I didn't get everything I was missing ingredients for. When we picked the kid up, we also brought a friend of hers home to save her parents a trip. Afterwards we went shopping for the missing ingredients. The shopping list was only four items, all produce, but somehow we managed to fill two bags. 

That new recipe took much longer than I realized. Dinner was on the table at 7:50, so the kid got to stay up a bit later than usual. She didn't mind. 

In the end I didn't wind up exercising yesterday, but between how busy it was and how much I worked out for the past few days, I don't really mind.

Last night the kid came into bed with us around 4 or so, but I managed to get her back to her own bed and get us both back to sleep separately somehow. I want to be considerate of her when she has nightmares, and I'm not sure what's developmentally appropriate for sleep independence or bad-dream-management but I'm not otherwise worried... but sharing a bed with her is usually than with a snorer.

Musing

Re: the title, I wound up taking two showers most days of the past week. One right after exercise and another at the end of the day, just because I would get grimy enough after a day of just existing in the DC heat. Our house has air conditioning but it doesn't help when walking to the car or park. Yesterday I got tired just biking the kid to school, even though biking on city streets is far from strenuous.

We can expect weather like this for most of the next four months or more. A month ago I was looking forward to it. That seems pretty silly right now. One reason is because I don't like wearing shoes much. I didn't back in the Before Time and for the past two years I've been able to wear sandals or go barefoot a lot more. My feet sweat and even get heat rashes easily. If it's 50-60 degrees, it's a bit too cold for sandals, but wearing most other shoes for an hour or more would be uncomfortable if I'm doing anything more physical than sitting around an office. So I don't like weather that would otherwise be a nice spring day. But I miss those now.