Vacation is better, and two book reviews

It's been another 19 days or so, fully packed with activities and summer fun.

We picked up Kate at summer camp. She was barely interested in seeing me when we entered her cabin on pick-up day. (No giant hug, can you believe that?! She asked, "Where's Daddy?") She hadn't yet transitioned back to the real world and admitted that she didn't want to leave. In short, she had an amazing time just like we knew she would, and even made a friend that she's keeping in touch with (in this day and age the moms exchange cell numbers and the kids text!).

The very next day we packed up and pointed the car toward the Gulf of Mexico. As always, it was a week in the sunshine, with pool time and family time (cousins!) and lots of reading.

I read this book that I am having SO MANY feelings about! Finished it 3 days ago, and I think I'm finally over it...mostly. It's a Philippa Gregory, but I'm so glad it wasn't the first one I read by her, because it was terrible. And yet, so compelling. The main character was a Downton-Abbey-Lady-Mary-like daughter who couldn't inherit, but unlike Mary she had no morals whatsoever. Although she did get her comeuppance by the end of the story, even that wasn't quite satisfactory. It was the first of the Wideacre trilogy. At first, I thought I would certainly want to read the second book, but I have since decided against it. Still, I devoured this one - truly spent ALL of my free time reading its 650 pages at the beach - and I can't figure out if Gregory's writing style was what intrigued me, or just the utter dislike of that character, or the time period, or what.

Before Wideacre, I read Celia Garth, which was MUCH better. Big fan of that one. Totally recommend you read it; it's about Charleston during/after the Revolutionary War and simply charming. Well, a little tedious during the actual wartime, but I think that was on purpose, to illustrate the tedium and hardship of war itself. Still: Lovable characters.

After THAT, we drove north to Virginia to wish Nanny a happy 90th birthday. We were tired, and tired of driving, but glad to celebrate such a sweet lady and see some of Shawn's numerous cousins that we never see.

We're back at work, and the kids are going to gymnastics camp in the mornings.

Last week was better, but so far this week's okay. 

...annnnnnd I'm going to Germany

Naturally, I failed to update my passport "just in case" so today I spent 2 hours at the Post Office waiting for my turn for a terrible photo, so they could stamp "EXPEDITE" on my envelope.

But I'm going to Germany, to company HQ, in July. My manager's parting "gift" to me as she resigns, to move herself into, as she described it, an "8 to 5" job where she doesn't have to travel, since she wants to start a family. (Only slightly ironic since she's making me, who already HAS a family, leave the country on Alex's birthday. But I digress. Or split hairs.)

I'm not bummed about the trip, actually, except for my hesitance toward international travel in general, and travel during European HOLIDAY season which I know from experience can be an airline nightmare. It will be fun to meet some of my colleagues in person and, I mean, Germany! Reinauer! I'm going home, haha! (ALSO: BEER!)

I AM really bummed about the timing/short notice, and that I had to shell out extra for my expedited passport. And about the birthday. I know Alex will not really care up front, and Kate will be okay too, and Shawn will be okay. I just never saw myself as a world-traveling-working mom, I guess. Domestic, mayyyyybe. What I hope is that They - the corporate They - won't see this as their gateway to making me travel regularly. I am not interested in going abroad as a frequent flyer, TYVM.

Sigh. I don't know. Sherry, remember when we traveled to SWU (ATL to Charlotte, woo!) when we both had babies at home? That sucked. Thankfully they're not babies anymore, but still.

Germany! Beer! (trying to be excited)

Health kick, and a quick summary of May

I had half-caff coffee this morning and am therefore a little slow to start today. Need to grease up the wheels and get going, but eh... Monday. The managers are away this morning at a photoshoot, so I SHOULD be using the time to be productive, uninterrupted. I can't seem to do that just yet.

It's been a while, no? A busy couple of weeks there, at the end of May. We closed out the school year, I attended a local 2-day conference for work, Shawn got strep, I left him that very day to visit Jill in Seattle for her birthday weekend, he took the kids to Nanny's anyway (wore a surgical mask!), we began our Summer of Fun with Carli the Super-Babysitter, this past weekend we had my birthday and then dropped Kate off at WinShape, and here we are!

That paragraph doesn't seem like enough to illustrate those 20 days, but like I said, I'm less than fully awake. Jill doesn't drink caffeine much, so I feel like I should drink less. I'm also trying to be low-carb this week, and I vaguely remember from one of the low-carb diets that limiting caffeine is part of the deal. I do get headaches pretty badly when I don't have ANY caffeine, so maybe half-caff will be the way to wean myself from the addiction a bit. But ugh, it sucks right in this moment where I can't stop yawning.

*flits off to read more low-carb info online for a minute because you know how I love "studying" diet/nutrition ideas/rabbit-holes*

I do have some feelings about some of the previous weeks' events. Mainly:

• Kate being away at camp. Yes, I got teary when we left. My baby, so big. She expressed some understandable nervousness in the 2 weeks leading up to her departure yesterday, which in turn made me nervous. However, after many discussions with my parents and Shawn, we're all still convinced (I knew this going in, but sometimes emotions get in the way) that it's going to be wonderful for her. I think the independence from ME, in particular, will serve her well. She noticed her name on a chores list, when we were unpacking her stuff, and she was assigned to Mop. HA! I love it. Yes, indeed, teach the girl to mop and do all the other chores, please!! I realized that she's getting a small taste of what it will be like to move away from home when she's grown, and this is an invaluable lesson. I was lucky enough to have camps like this to prepare me, and so will my kids. I'm happy about that.
• My 42nd birthday. Some talks with a coworker recently about her health and getting older in general, as well as some personal body signals, have motivated me to reconsider (again again again) how I'm eating and that I must exercise. So. Low-carb for a bit. Eat LESS. Water. Vitamins. I walked 30 minutes last night and brought my shoes to work today. Let's do this.  (But let's not obsess or count or any of that ultimately deflating nonsense.)
• Visiting Jilly was fun. She's keeping busy, I can tell, and kept me busy, too, but she's also doing remarkably WELL for someone in her situation right now, and she is surrounded with the QUALITY friends that she needs and deserves, to help her if she needs help. I'm very proud of her and happy for her, and I promise, Mom and Dad, that you'll hear the bulk of the backstory soon. I learned that she was waiting for the final conclusion of the process, and that has happened. She told me that every time she tells it, she thinks it's good (meaning cleansing and healing).
• It was also fun because we did hot yoga! I was pretty intimidated but handled the WHOLE class - I didn't have to step out, although I did have to get used to dripping with sweat, something I have NEVER enjoyed. ;) But I could do the poses, even better than some of the other women in there (I know I know, yoga isn't about being "the best" but it's good to feel at least average). Also in my 42nd year I am going to try another yoga studio here. I AM, HEAR ME.