Beating my head against a wall

Wordle 438 4/6

⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday the kid was sniffly when she woke up but felt fine otherwise. After getting ready for school she suggested a covid test (how responsible!). Unfortunately those take time. I biked her to school and we got there 2 minutes late. Fortunately no one noticed. 

After dropping her off I made a detour by the nearest library to return a bunch of books. Then I went home. I had the house to myself; it was T.'s one day a week to go to the office. I had a meeting at 10, which was productive enough. 

We've seen signs of a wasp's nest in our back fence (in the fence; it is wood and has two layers and they've apparently nested between the layers, where we can't get to them. Bad design), and when I came home from dropping off the kid and the library books, they were so bad that I came in in stages. (Open the gate, run away. Bring the recycling bin in, run away. Prop the door shut, run away...) So between that meeting and lunch I biked to the hardware store and got wasp/hornet poison, and while I was at it, rat poison - there are a lot of them in the alley. 

I didn't go jogging yesterday, but between the extra biking on those errands, and the timing of the meeting, and the heat, I don't feel bad about it. I'm overdue to do so today, though. 

Normally on a Tuesday I might spend my free time in World of Warcraft on Mythic+ dungeons and raiding - basically, the endgame progression stuff. But yesterday I got sucked into working on a Mage Tower challenge. I've tried the Closing the Eye challenge on a demon hunter, the sixth I need out of seven to get the mount, a ridiculous number of times by now - over 200. I suck. And it sucks. Out of frustration and almost simple whimsy I spent an hour or two putting together a timewalking set for my fury warrior and tried the An Impossible Foe challenge and got it in 5 attempts. That's an insane difference in balance. So now Closing the Eye is the seventh and last I need, and my next attempt will probably be on a class other than the demon hunter because they apparently suck, and I'm a bit behind on the endgame stuff for this week but who cares... 

Dinner was tortellini, the kid's favorite, and a new beet salad recipe, which she objected to, but less than I might have guessed. Victory, I guess.

Back to school

Wordle 437 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I biked the kid to school. On the way we were in traffic with a new classmate of hers for most of the route, and when we got there we encountered one of her best friends from school, both being biked in the same way. So that was fun.

Work was uneventful. I had three meetings but they were all easy; just listening to other people talk. Made progress on some minor-to-moderate tasks. (Just realized I forgot about a new task due yesterday. I had even used a calendar reminder, but I dismissed it instead of hitting snooze. Whoops. Luckily the exact deadline is only self-imposed, but it is due some time around the end of the month...)

I didn't get any exercise yesterday, except for biking the kid to school. Partly because the meetings kept me busy until it was too hot out, partly because I felt like I needed to recover from the day before.

We had to pick up the kid by 6 PM (the official after-care at the school goes later than the nannyshare we kludged together; progress!). For dinner I made beef tips and glazed carrots. Easy enough.

The last day of summer

Wordle 436 4/6

⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟨⬜🟩🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Well, that was straightforward.

Yesterday morning I went jogging around 8. Then I made pancakes for breakfast. Then I finished the work with the blinds in our bedroom. I still want to tinker with one because I put it up first and was still figuring things out, and maybe they could all have one more screw in each support to be a bit more stable, but still, the hard part is done and it was ready to clean up and no longer make our bedroom a work site, so that was nice.

 Finally, after that, I got cleaned up. Yay.

Around noon we went grocery shopping. As always we got more than planned. I blame T. more than the kid...

Around 2 we went to the local pool, where we met two of the kids' friends. The pool was crowded. Probably mostly because it was the last day that particular pool was open, but it didn't help that the deep end was closed due to a problem with the drain or something, so more people were in less space. But, still, the kids had fun. We stayed until almost 5 PM. 

When we went home, we brought one of the kid's friends with us. Her parents are very busy packing to move across town (they only live a couple blocks away from us, but it makes a big difference in the noise, violence, and drug use in their neighborhood, apparently), so the kid got a playdate while they got cleaned up and T. made dinner (enchiladas, of course). The friend stayed for dinner.

Getting locked in by a title

The title of this post is in reference to the kid's school year resuming, plus going swimming with friends, and the pattern set by the last two locked it in. For the past two months, she went to several different camps, she traveled a lot and we traveled a little bit, etc. We generally had fun even though we were working full-time most of the time. Now, she's back at school and she'll have extracurriculars soon. A different kind of fun and busy.

It was not in reference to the weather. It was 91 yesterday and will be today too. Ugh. 

If I wasn't locked in to that, I might have said something about exercise. Jogging, plus a home improvement project, plus swimming (I tried to tread water when keeping the kids company, so that's some physical activity), was exhausting.

The last day of travel

Wordle 435 4/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟨⬜🟨🟨🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday we started driving a little after 9:30, much later than a day in which we would be going the whole way to my parent's place, but the circumstances are different, so who cares. T. drove for the first leg of the trip. We met them at the James Gandolfini Rest Area, roughly halfway between their place and ours, around 2:30 (half an hour later than originally planned, but traffic is reliably unreliable.) In addition to the kid, we also got some art I made when I was a kid that my parents thought would make more sense at my house than theirs. I discussed throwing it away. I'm not sure how seriously they took me or how serious I was. I may have thoughts about this at some point.

We stopped for dinner at 7:30. This pizza place was a hit, so we took the kid there. Bedtime for her was, of course, hard.

The laaaast day of freedom

Wordle 434 3/6

⬜🟨⬜🟩🟨
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I went jogging earlyish, let's say 7:45, but not the earliest of this week. Work wasn't too bad. Finally finished my draft of I had been 90 percent done with for the past week, and sent it to the subject matter expert with lots of questions. (Not a lot in absolute numbers, but it felt like a lot per page or whatever.) Around noon we went to the bank, successfully this time. After that, got lunch of burgers and milkshake from a place nearby, and planned exactly when and how to meet my dad and get the kid.

Starting around 2, I tried something that had been on the agenda all week (not directly related to being child-free, but indirectly, because being child-free meant more free time overall) and tried to put up new blinds in our room. I got two done, with a little jury-rigging, by 4. A happy hour we wanted to go to had started at 3:30, so we planned to finish the third blind later. It was fun. It was for parents at the kid's school, with kids invited and running around like maniacs, of course. It was at Union Market and I appreciated being able to walk there.

We stayed until 7, a lot longer than I would have guessed. Dinner was salmon and brussels sprouts. During and after that we watched The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which I had borrowed from the library weeks ago and, again, not found the time for until now. It was fun.

A frustrating day

Wordle 433 3/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Woo hoo.

Yesterday I slept in by almost an hour because of the night before. First thing at work, I tried to deal with a sticky problem with someone getting access to the wiki. By the time I was done with that, it was after 8 and I had a meeting at 9, so I couldn't go jogging first thing. Oh well.

My meeting ended by 10. I had another one at 11, but I figured I had time in between. I did a shorter route just to be safe. I got home and showered with 8 minutes to spare before the meeting, although it was only like 3 minutes once I got dressed... 

Work was uneventful for most of the rest of the day. There was an all hands I heard the first half of, but we tried to go to the bank before that to deposit some checks. Unfortunately their Web site was out of date and we got there two minutes late. That was frustrating. After getting home we had a quick snack.

Dinner was pizza at a scouts leadership committee meeting. The meeting was productive enough, but I'm not sure we needed to go. As usual, I didn't have much to say, but I confirmed leadership of our den for the next year (it's not me, yay), so it wasn't a waste. 

Just to clarify the title, I was in a fine mood most of the day, but T. got grumpy about the failed bank trip, and hangry, and the scouts meeting wasn't fun for either of us but she had even less reason to be there than me, and we got some annoying news about this weekend. I was kind of walking on eggshells by the evening.

The longest day in a long time

Wordle 432 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Went jogging first thing again yesterday. 

Work was much like the day before, except for not having the catharsis of being able to complete a ridiculously delayed task. Dealt with minor issues. Didn't get as much done on more recent tasks as I should have, but they aren't actually urgent. Played World of Warcraft and read and wrote random stuff in downtime. :)

At 4, we walked over to Union Market, to meet some of T.'s co-workers for a going-away happy hour for one of them. That was fun. They seemed nice. (Although I'd note that her boss wasn't there.) We started out at Las Gemelas, an expensive taco bar, then walked to Last Call, a genuine dive bar. 

We left those in a hurry because we were late for another event: meeting friends at a Decemberists concert. (We got there well before the music started, but well after we had said we'd meet them.) It was fun. It was here, but this time it didn't rain. Yay. With no kid and good conditions to enjoy, we stayed through the end. Then we had to sit in the car for 20 minutes as traffic cleared out. We actually got to bed after midnight. Living it up...

Progress, I guess

Wordle 431 5/6

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

After the third guess, I had a one in three chance of getting it in 4, but I took the safe strategy and went for a certainty in 5.

Yesterday I started jogging at 7:02 AM and enjoyed sunny, cool-ish weather. Goal met. (I went the usual route in a decent time, but the goal for organization and motivation and stuff was met.) It was so nice, with the morning sun casting long shadows on the rowhouses, that I took pictures.

The big thing at work was this documentation task that has been open for literally two years. I've been available to work on it for most of that time, but the subject matter expert hasn't, or they needed input from a higher-up who wasn't. Or couldn't be bothered, or didn't understand the process, or something. We found a logical way to argue that the current effort could be considered "done" and publish our document. Any future input from the higher-up could be considered a new version. ("We": the task was mine, but it unexpectedly became my teammates' problem over my vacation, so they had thoughts about it too.) Even getting what we needed for that was like pulling teeth. Apparently the document was approved, but they had forgot to CC us on that email. Who else did they think cares about approval? Seriously.

Other than that, work was fine. Worked a bit on a task that started after my vacation. We had a meeting, which was productive enough. I fiiinally got to sending an email I had been planning for a week, which is extreme but then it was awkward and not actually urgent.

Dinner was spaghetti and a beet salad. Afterwards we walked to H St. for ice cream for dessert. The weather wasn't nice now. I had been inside the air-conditioned house basically all the time since the morning jog, but I almost felt like I needed a shower just from walking 4 blocks. 

We caught up on Only Murders in the Building before bed.

Busy Monday

Wordle 430 6/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟩⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I got through a few quick things at work before 7:50 AM yesterday, had just one cup of coffee, and then I went jogging. It rained off and on yesterday, including when I was jogging, so going early probably didn't make the conditions any better. And it doesn't represent a great feat of organization or motivation because the main reason I can't usually do so is the kid. All that being said, good for me. And I did the usual route one minute faster than any day last week easily, so maybe it did help, just not enough to notice in the moment?

Work yesterday wasn't too busy after those quick early tasks. Around 12:30 I took the bus to the kid's school for a welcome-back event. (I started walking and would have continued it it were quicker, but the bus caught up to me about 4 blocks past the usual stop.) At 1 I was manning the parent teach organization's table. I solicited sign-ups in the group and tried to minimally supervise the used t-shirt exchange. My shift ended there at 2. I walked home so I could stop by the grocery store on the way. I got home just in time for a work meeting at 3. Brief and not much to say but I'm still glad I was there just in case. Then, back to school, more as an actual parent than a PTA volunteer although I also helped clean up PTA stuff later. The table was short-staffed, with several gaps in coverage between me and later attendees. 

It was nice to meet the kid's teachers. More to the point, it was nice to be allowed in to school, after things were so restricted last year. I don't want to speak for T. but this made me slightly more optimistic.

We took the bus home. By this point I was exhausted. I think I had underestimated how tiring it would be going to the kid's school twice, even though I took the bus for most of the travel. I made the simplest possible dinner from what I had bought and we watched TV until bedtime.

Getting home

Wordle 429 5/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜
🟨🟩⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I made so many mistakes there,  I'm surprised I got it in 5.

Not much to tell about yesterday after the previous post. Traffic wasn't great, but our ETA didn't change from Vermont to Maryland, so I guess traffic wasn't worse than Google Maps accounted for. (The day before, time just seemed to vanish, but that didn't happen yesterday as far as I could tell.) I mentioned multiple stops - one for a second breakfast, because the first breakfast was very small; one for beer, because there are Vermont beers we like or wanted to show friends; and one for gas, which turned into a bathroom break and an early lunch as well. Then in New Jersey we stopped for gas. Not very efficient travel. But we reminded ourselves that we didn't have a passenger who'd have a bathroom emergency or throw a tantrum when she got to the end of the rope - not that the kid did so yesterday, but she's young enough that it's a recent memory - so we thought we could handle a trip taking longer than usual, and turned out to be right.

We tried to go to a certain restaurant for dinner, this chain we've never been to called Texas Roadhouse, because we had a gift certificate there, but there was a wait for a table, so we went to the next-closest place instead. It turned out to be this pizza place with pour-your-own beer and similar drinks. Good stuff. I'd go back there.

Got gas less than a mile from home, because the tank was very nearly empty, and got home around 8. Can't complain.

Lots of driving

Wordle 428 4/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Ah, the waste-a-guess-to-eliminate-several-letters strategy pays off.

Yesterday we started driving at 8 AM. The kid watched TV episodes downloaded on her iPad until the battery died, then napped a bit, then either read or did a coloring book. The map said our ETA was 4:30 when we started. We spent one hour having a nice lunch and lost another hour to traffic and got to my parent's house at 6:30. 

My parents were glad to see us. Half of dinner was from their garden, the other half from Costco. 

This morning we left their house around 9:30, so that we could visit a bit first on this all-too-brief trip. Normally we'd never do this. If we weren't going to stay ourselves, we'd meet my parents halfway to hand off the kid at some convenient meeting place. But that doesn't work for my parent's schedule this particular weekend because of a golf tournament my dad is in, of all things.

Before we left Vermont we made three stops for various reasons. Posting this roughly halfway through New Jersey.

Better-than-average Friday

Wordle 427 5/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday, before the kid could watch TV in the morning, she had to go some packing to get ready for our trip tomorrow. I biked the kid to her last day of gymnastics camp. 

Work was a biweekly report day, and we changed things up a bit because both my teammates are working reduced schedules this week. We only had the usual problems, more or less.

I went jogging around 10:30. Earlier than yesterday. Still too late to avoid the heat of the summer day. I feel a bit irresponsible about that, but between the kid's schedule and my own, I'm not sure what I could have done differently. Next week, while she's gone, I'm going to try to go jogging first thing in the morning, before coffee, maybe even before logging in to work, and see if the temperature then is noticeably better.

I got through the essentials at work just in time to go pick up the kid at 4. Then a little more packing and work around the house. Then, dinner here, with the same friends. 

This post brief and mostly written early because of the aforementioned travel.

Where does the time go?

Wordle 426 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I got up at the usual time but when I logged in to work I realized I had a meeting at 9, which was exactly the drop-off time for the kid's camp, so I couldn't take her. Fortunately T. could. 

I went jogging around 11:30. Really should be going earlier.

Around 3 I went to the nearby UPS store to plan how to return the damaged suitcase, since it's so new it's still within the return window. Shortly after that we had to go get the kid, and after that, we actually made the return. Then she and T. went to the park a bit to play.

In between that stuff at work I wrote up minutes of the meeting, did the usual Thursday afternoon report, planned and experimented with a new one, got in a lengthy process discussion with my team, and finished cleaning up my email after the trip. That's it, though. I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get more done, or even confused. Both a few things I've been putting off, or things I've genuinely worked on but didn't find time for. Where does the time go? I also wasn't playing much World of Warcraft yesterday, at least in terms of getting stuff done, but I can't swear I didn't spend more time than I realized dithering and managing missions tables and stuff...

Dinner was air fryer chicken, green beans with carmelized onions, and roasted tomatoes. The last was the kid's request because a friend had recommended it. It all came out awesome if I may say so myself.

A day to myself

Wordle 425 4/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday, Wednesday, T. had to go to the office, so she left just a little bit before I took the kid to camp. 

In the morning I sent a few emails and sorted a few new tasks before going jogging. I only actually got out the door like half an hour earlier than the day before. I made the usual 3-mile loop this time, at least. But near the end, I had to hop off the sidewalk to get around some machinery parked in it, and the ground I went in turned out to be incredibly muddy, so my new shoes (I didn't realize they were THAT new, wow) got suddenly dirty. So that's annoying.

In the afternoon I got the essentials done at work, played WoW (this new "Season 4" concept is interesting. Still not sure how I feel about it because of possibly non-representative details and because it started right before my vacation), planned some stuff for the next few days/weeks, and went to get the kid at the last minute. After that I cleaned the kitchen. (I feel like I should have done it earlier on principle, but oh well, no harm done.) The kid and I had a little downtime. Right around 5:30, T. got home, and just a little after that, it started pouring, and just a little after that, the kid was able to go play with her friend across the street. Can't complain. 

Dinner was pesto pasta and a tomato/mozzarella/basil salad. Easy and good.

Exercise Musing

Yesterday jogging went OK, but I've been sore a bit in between sessions, and I'm not totally sure jogging soon after biking is good for me. On the other hand, there were a couple hours in between, and the biking is intense but only brief. Should I look for something better than me than jogging, whether I'm biking or not? And I'm still confused about foot cramps. I almost seem to get them daily, either while biking or in bed, and I have no idea why.

The amount I write about exercise doesn't reflect an interest in anything truly competitive, let alone actual enjoyment of it. From 2010 to 2020 I happily didn't think about exercise at all. I biked to work, maybe occasionally went to the gym if it was convenient, and that was it. But now I feel like I have to. I want to continue to eat like a pig (or, to be less self-deprecating, simply to eat without counting calories) and maintain a sedentary personal life without getting obese, and I want to not completely embarrass myself when thrust unexpectedly into a situation calling for physical activity, even though I was never all that great at most athletic stuff to begin with and time is taking its toll on me - I want, in two words, to stay fit - and that requires some kind of deliberate exercise, and jogging seems to be the best balance I've found so far between pain and convenience. 

But it's far from perfect.

Just as jet lag ends, car alarms start

Wordle 424 6/6

⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday I got up around 5 - so, not on the usual schedule yet, but closer. The kid got up early too and watched TV after she got ready. I biked her to camp. Closer than the YMCA camp two weeks ago, farther than school, and uphill, so it feels like it might be enough exercise. 

I wanted to go jogging in the morning, but I had a meeting at 10, it took the full hour, and there were a couple follow-ups. I didn't actually get out of the house until a little after noon. I only went about 2.6 miles instead of the usual 3. Not sure if biking earlier was more exercise than I realized, I had become out of shape (I haven't been jogging since before Spain, and even that wasn't a regular thing; I didn't go jogging for most of the two weeks the kid was at the YMCA camp), or the heat from going so late in the day (the weather yesterday and the day before was very mild compared to most of Spain, or July here, but it was still fairly warm and sunny in the actual afternoon), but I tired quickly. 

In the afternoon I got a concerning call from the camp. Apparently their records had her scheduled for a full day Monday, but only half-days the rest of the week. I discussed it with T. and apparently it was a misunderstanding, at least partly our fault. Whoops. Fortunately they'll be able to take her for the afternoons. We picked her up at 4. It was hard to separate her from Lily (?), a friend she had made. We stopped at the library briefly afterwards and got a DVD for me and a few more books for the kid. 

Dinner was pork chops and cauliflower. I overdid the chops and underdid the veggies. Oh well. They can't all be gourmet.

Bedtime was marred by some fucking car alarm right outside our house that kept going on and off for no apparent reason. It started while we were watching TV, seemed to stop for good on its own while T. was on the phone with the police, but restarted while we were in or on the way to bed, and happened again half a dozen times in the night. If it happened once or twice I'd guess the owner had just hit the alarm button, but no one was nearby and I can't imagine why anyone within range would choose to ignore it. We didn't see any sign of someone trying to break in, but it was bad enough I was tempted to vandalize the car, just to give it something to cry about. So I'm tired and grumpy this morning.

Recovering from jet lag and stuff

Wordle 423 4/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟩🟨
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday we woke up early, as I said. We drove the kid to gymnastics camp at 9. She was nervous about not having fun or not knowing anyone there, and when we saw that she was one of the older kids there, I admit I was a little nervous myself. After dropping her off, we did some grocery shopping. We were out of basically everything perishable. Then, home. 

Work was basically just digging out my email. Some new messes came in while I was gone, some old ones hadn't moved and I sent out reminders. My teammates were busy and a lot of it were things that were my responsibility in some sense (one old task of mine suddenly became urgent, and two new ones came in that logically would have been my area), but I think I had basically done my due diligence, it was just bad luck/timing that they came up while I was gone.

My mouse hasn't been working well for a while. I guess it has just got dirty? So around 3 yesterday I biked to Target to buy a new one. Right after that we went to get the kid. It turned out she had fun. She didn't know anyone, but she seemed to make new friends there. Cool.

Dinner was spaghetti and sauteed squash. Easy. The kid tolerated a tiny bit of the vegetables.

Home

Wordle 422 4/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

That's more like it.

We spent yesterday traveling. Our driver picked us up at the hotel at 8:15, and breakfast service at the hotel started at 8, so that was rushed. The various lines in the airport were annoying, but we got to our gate with about half an hour to spare, not even counting the time we spent shopping to spend the last of our euros. While T. and I dealt with various last-minute issues, the kid played on a jungle gym near the gate, and made friends with some kids who would be on our flight. 

As fate would have it, they sat right next to us. They didn't actually talk or play together too much, their respective TV screens were more fascinating, but they still appreciated the company (and we appreciated neighbors we had to worry less about bothering). Our kid got frustrated at the entertainment options (her iPad died and wouldn't charge, the games on the seatback console weren't great, and I guess she couldn't find anything she liked on the TV or movie menu?) or generally stir-crazy near the end of the flight, but we managed. T. even gave the other kid's family our contact info. We live three hours apart, but T.'s cousin is in the same city as them, so it's possible...

We got home around 4. We did almost all the unpacking promptly, more because we didn't have anything else to do than out of any industriousness or urgency. The kid's friend across the street came over to play for a bit as soon as we were done with dinner (burritos we had delivered). I cruelly made them clean up their mess. I think the kid's tiredness due to jet lag was showing.

The kid's bedtime has been all over the place during the vacation, but last night she was asleep by 7:30 or earlier. T. was roughly the same. I stayed up until the wild and crazy hour of 9.

I woke up around 1. T. was snoring a tiny bit. On a normal night I might have tried to go back to sleep, or elbowed her to stop it, but due to jet lag I thought things would go better if I went downstairs to the couch. I slept until around 3, when the kid came to see me and said she couldn't get back to sleep. I explained to her that we were going to try to get back on the usual schedule and asked her to go to her room and read or something. Around 4:30 I gave up on sleep, logged in at work, and let her start watching TV.

Spain, day 9

Wordle 421 X/6

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨

⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜

🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩

I'm not a smart man. That is a word I am familiar with...

Yesterday we planned to go to a park in the late morning and had timed entry tickets to the Prado around 2. However, due to a bad weather forecast, the park was closed. (Never actually rained as far as we could tell, though. Weird.) So instead we went to the Thyssen museum nearby. Also art. We didn't have time to see all of it before lunch at the cafeteria  and then the Prado. More art. This one had more famous stuff. It taxed the kid's patience  and tolerance for gruesome images, buy with four adults to keep track of her, she wasn't too big a problem. 

When we got tired of and had seen most of that, my parents went back to the hotel, I took the kid to a playground we had walked by a couple times, and T. saw some more of the Thyssen. She was late to meet up with us because of that. Then she wanted to do some souvenir shopping. We got back to the hotel around 7. We tried to let our feet recover a bit before going out to dinner in Spain one last time. Fancy. 

A royal palace? Really?

Wordle 420 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨

🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜

⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

This stupid game...

The big event yesterday was the royal palace of Madrid. I was surprised to learn it was still in use. As we toured the palace I kept making guillotine jokes. But in fairness, America is a very unequal country too.

After that we walked to the Thyssen, or maybe the Prado? But the line was so long we just went to the nearby botanical garden instead. The kid's stamina was at its limit by the end. Dinner was light on the food but we all had nice cocktails at the hotel bar. 

Then we switched rooms. This whole time, T., the kid, and I have been sleeping in the same room. My parents swapped with us and put the kid to bed while we had a sort of date night. It was fun. Walked around a bit, went to a bar for a quick beer, etc.

The train ride

Wordle 419 4/6

🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜

⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜

⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday morning we packed to leave Seville. I did as much of the packing as I could while T. and the kid had breakfast, but T. was stressed anyway, because of things she needed that I had packed too early or when we couldn't find one of the kids' toys. 

We went out of our way a bit for lunch, to a little hole-in-the-wall place that T. was interested in because it had her name. I was worried about the timing, but I have to admit that we got to the train station with half an hour to spare. 

The train to Madrid was comfortable compared to the planes, of course. I almost feel like the kid didn't appreciate it enough, but she could watch movies on her iPad either way, and is too young to care about things like public investment in infrastructure. Plane seats aren't too small for her either. 

For the first time of this trip, the three of us are staying at the same hotel as my parents. After getting settled we had a leisurely dinner at a nearby bar.

A healthy vacation

Wordle 418 3/6

🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Tried a new starting word there and I'm glad I did.

Yesterday we met my parents at the Cathedral of Seville. Looked impressive. The kid was scared of all the crucifixion in the art. Then lunch at a nearby bar. Empanadas, octopus, and of course beer. 

We each went back to our separate hotels for a few hours in the afternoon. T. and I took turns swimming with the kid. Then we met up with my parents again at 7 for a flamenco show. It was cool. After that, dinner. (And a comic book shop across the street while waiting for our order. T. planned this stuff well.) It was our biggest meal here yet. In addition to the language barrier, it's sometimes hard to tell if you're ordering a tapa or a full plate, and last night we ordered more full plates than we thought. 

Despite dinner last night, we're living healthy here. Most meals have been modest. Yesterday was less walking than the day before, but still twice as most typical work from home days, and of course the kid insists on swimming as much as we let her.

Lots of walking

Wordle 417 6/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜

⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜

⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜

🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜

⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

In hindsight I'm not sure why I did that with the 5th guess. 

My fitness app says I walked 8.46 miles yesterday. 

From our hotel to the Real Alcazar, a palace (fortress?) used by both the Moors until the 1400s or so and Spain's Christian royalty right up until the 20th century, and all around the huge complex. For the adults, the main attraction was the intricate tile work and stuff like that. For the kid, it was the hedge maze.

Back to our hotel by a longer route, with my parents. We stopped for a horse-drawn carriage ride, but the driver brought us back to where we started, so it didn't same us any walking. 

We showed my parents around out hotel and had drinks at the hotel bar. We went our separate ways around 5. They got a cab back to their hotel, and T., the kid, and I walked across the river to a bookstore I had seen on the map. We got the kid three books in Spanish (two Tintin, one Loud House). The bookstore turned out to be in a sort of mall and we had some shopping to do. We got dinner there. 

After all that, the kid and I walked up to the hotel pool, because she has to go swimming daily if possible. Unfortunately it was closing right when we got there. She only for to play in the water for 15 minutes or so. 

The Marriage of Figaro comes to mind

Wordle 416 3/6

⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜

🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday we got up earlyish (7:30, but we're still a bit jet-lagged so it felt earlier) for the flights to Seville. Good thing, too. Airport check-in and security took so long, our group started boarding 5 minutes after we got to the gate. 

The flight itself was fine. At only 2 hours, it was trivial compared to the flight to Spain. When we landed, we found that our bigger suitcase was badly dented and scratched, but it would still close so the airline wouldn't cover it. I've sworn off flying budget... 

We all went to my parent's hotel together in hopes that we could be transferred there or vice versa. No such luck. After dropping our stuff off there we tried to get a late lunch/early dinner. We couldn't find the first place the hotel recommended. A place I saw on my map was closed. The next place we saw, I guess it was strictly a bar or something, because it had a "no kids" sign. The place after that looked closed too. When we finally found something, it was a cheap neighborhood bar unused to tourists and had only one beer choice, but the food was plentiful, good, and cheap, and we would almost have been happy at McDonald's at that point. 

After that, our own hotel. It seems fancier. The pool was mandatory, of course. 

Lots of stuff going on

Wordle 415 4/6

⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜

⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩

⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday our plans were the chocolate museum, the zoo, the beach, the Jean Miro museum, and dinner with the elders. But the first three things took longer than planned. Fun, though. We met my aunt and her boyfriend about an hour and a half late. She they were annoyed and I can't blame them. Just to make matters worse, our messages hadn't gone through. 

Oh well. Fun otherwise. 

Happy Birthday to me

Wordle 414 4/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜

🟩⬜🟨🟩⬜

🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday we met my parents at the Park Guell as soon as it opened, to get ahead of both the crowds and the heat. While there we ran into our neighbors. This wasn't as surprising as it sounds, since we already knew they were in this city, but still, what are the odds they'd be at the same tourist attraction as us?

My parents did their own thing for a couple hours at this point. 

Then, the Sagrada Familia. That was cool. Then a little relaxing at the hotel pool/bar. 

Our dinner reservations were at 6. I took a separate cab there from everyone else but managed to get there first. Hah.

Spain, day one

Wordle 413 4/6

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜

🟨⬜🟨🟨🟨

🟩🟩🟩⬜🟨

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Our flight yesterday arrived about an hour late. It took us about an hour to get through the customs line. After that things were basically fine. There was a comical mixup when looking for the driver to take us to our hotel. May fill in details later.

We decided to deal with jet lag by powering through the first day. We were able to settle in the hotel and get cleaned up unexpectedly early. After that, we went for a walk for lunch and to go shopping (a book for me, postcards for T.). Some famous place called the Rambla. The kid complained about being tired a lot. I didn't join in but privately sympathized. When we finished, we went back to the hotel and up to the pool. The kid loved it, of course. Then, showers again, of course. 

Dinner reservations were at 7:30. We met my parents and aunt and her boyfriend there. It was nice. The kid slept through dinner and I had to carry her the five blocks back to the hotel. 

Posting from the customs line

Wordle 412 6/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜

⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩

🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩

⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

First time linking that to a NYT account. 

Starting to write Friday morning's entry on Thursday morning as part of getting ready for travel.

Went jogging in the morning. After that, bacon, eggs, and muffins for breakfast, both to use up perishable stuff and because we were low on or out of some more normal stuff. After that, roughly half a day of working from home, while packing and getting ready to go. Reorganizing as we take care of all the things we can only do at the last minute. Repacking because we got new suitcases for this and aren't used to them. Washing dirty clothes we want to bring with us and some we don't want to as well while we're at it, and of course it all has to be folded. Lunch was a weird mix of whatever in the fridge would spoil while we were away.

The Lyft to the airport is scheduled for 2 PM.

The flight was about an hour late but otherwise uneventful. 

Firsts

This is lots of firsts, or firsts-in-a-long-time. This is our first real vacation not merely to stay at my parent's house or T.'s parent's house since covid and the first trip overseas the kid is likely to remember. Beyond that? In 2019 we went on a trip mostly in my parent's RV through Quebec and some of the maritime provinces of Canada. In 2018 we went to Seattle to see a friend of T.'s and my aunt, uncle, and cousins. In 2017 we went to France, and in addition to independent tourism stayed in my aunt's house for a few days. In 2016 and 2015 we only traveled to see family, due to the baby. 

So this will be our first trip in eight years when we don't have access to a home's washing machine. We tried to pack clothes for every single day of our stay, at least underwear and shirts, because if we didn't, we'd have to figure out a laundromat in a foreign country.

Getting ready

Wordle 411 4/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I feel like I should have got that earlier, my third guess was definitely a weird one, but I can't complain about making par!

Yesterday the kid actually did go to camp. A bit late, and we stopped on the way to get Kleenex because she was still a bit sniffly, but she got to see other kids and we didn't have to work with a kid climbing the walls in the house. Yay.

Our actual jobs weren't too busy. We worked full days, but didn't have meetings, deadlines, etc. 

When not working, we got ready for our upcoming trip. Packing, travel paperwork (there's some covid-related stuff, of course), meeting with the cat-sitter, etc. Shopping for a toothbrush case on the way home from picking up the kid. 

Dinner was chicken and glazed carrots. The recipe was a bit different to use up stuff that won't last.

A day off but only for the kid

Wordle 410 4/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Good game. I feel like 4 guesses is par.

Yesterday the kid stayed home while I worked. No doctor's visit needed, no moaning in bed with headache, stomachache, or feverish agony, no reason to suspect something potentially lethal, she was just coughing and sniffling too much to spend the day outside the home. T., however, had to go to the office, so it was just me and the kid. Uh oh.

At first it was fine. She entertained herself quietly in her room reading until after 10. Unfortunately, I had a meeting at 10. This weekly meeting normally only takes 15 minutes or so, but yesterday it took over 45. She was definitely making more noise by then, and openly asking if I could do something with her.

After the meeting and a couple follow-ups from it, I drove her to the library. We got six books. Four Tintin books, one Lumberjanes, and one Peanuts; she was least familiar with the latter. I hoped they would keep her busy this afternoon and the following day if the worst happened and she couldn't go to camp again again. Then to the grocery store. Nothing perishable, but a few things for lunch or snacks before we leave or things that will last until we get back. 

Then back home for more work in the afternoon. The kid did a little cleaning up after a mess created in the morning, and a little packing, and a little reading. She said she was finished all six of those books well before 4. (She mostly just looks at the pictures.) At that point I could have got more work done but I didn't really need to, so I logged off.

We played chess briefly, but it turned into Calvinball - she's interested in the game, but just too young for it. T. got home around 6 and the kid and I had already gone out to pick up pizza. After dinner we went for a little walk as a family, just to use our legs a bit more.

Musing

Having the kid home all day was okay. She was very well-behaved early on. Could have been a bit better later, but we can only ask for so much. And she genuinely was sick, not just reluctant to go to this camp, although that didn't help. In the end, we got through it with her only watching 1 hour of TV, so that's impressive. If she was 10, I can imagine there being no problem at all with a day like this. But she's not.

Just a little bit sick

Wordle 409 6/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I made one mistake there, but still, that was tough. 

Yesterday morning the kid was hoarse and had a runny nose. But a covid test came back negative, so I biked her to camp anyway. We got there a little after 10. A little before noon, the camp called to say she had a headache and wanted to go home. So much for that... I drove to pick her up. 

In the afternoon we just worked with the kid around. She was well behaved enough. She napped a bit, read a bit, and moaned a bit (she is/was sincerely feeling sick, it's not just an act to get out of the camp she doesn't like). By 3:30, our meetings were over, so we let her watch TV. 

I felt kind of bad about taking her to the camp, but it wasn't covid, and I'm going to use a big chunk of my PTO soon, and it's hard to distinguish between her not liking the camp, her wanting to play with us in the morning and generally being an impulsive 7-year-old (but not avoiding camp specifically), and her being sick.

Dinner was tortellini and cauliflower. Easy, although it unfortunately heated up the kitchen. Muggy here.

Easy enough family day

Wordle 408 5/6

🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Words with that letter combination seem rare.

Yesterday I actually managed to sleep in until 7. How decadent. I went jogging shortly after getting up. For breakfast, pancakes and bacon. In the later morning I took the kid to a playdate with a friend in the neighborhood she hasn't seen since roughly the start of summer. It was also nice for me to catch up with her dad. Immediately after that (like, I was checking my phone to see when we had to kick them out), we went to the pool to meet some friends from school. 

Unfortunately the scheduling didn't work out well. The pool date was originally planned for 2 with three families in addition to us. I looked at the weather yesterday morning, saw a high chance of rain, and suggested going earlier. One family agreed and got there at noon. I myself didn't make it there until around 12:30. Another family arrived probably between 1 and 1:30, so by the time they got there, the first family was kind of bored with it. The fourth family couldn't make it before 2 at all, and sure enough, it sprinkled a bit so we fled, and they didn't bother coming. However, it didn't really rain hard until like 5 that evening. Too bad for them!

In the afternoon we just hung out and tried to get some stuff done around the house. Dinner was air fryer chicken, leftover salad, and leftover quinoa - very easy. After that, T. planned some sightseeing for our upcoming trip and I played a card game with the kid. She's a poor winner and poor loser, but it was fun otherwise...