We had the very best kind of day today, full of family and friends who feels like family, sunshine, good food, gorgeous scenery, road trip snacks, great music, ice cream, swimming, and more. It was the kind of day where you expect (and hope) your kids will fall asleep by 7 because they’re exhausted, but then they stay up until after 11 because they’re so wired from maximum fun. I am simultaneously happy and tired is what I’m saying.
Festival of Shawn
It’s Father’s Day weekend so Shawn got to pick the festivities, which is how I’ve ended up in a very small “queen” bed (seriously, this thing is the size of a double) with two sweaty kids while Shawn starfishes it solo. Poppy is a hotel bed roller so we can’t trust the kids to sleep together (why are hotel beds so high? Why are there so many sharp corners adjacent to the bed?) Usually I sleep with Poppy (and build a pillow blockade on her other side) and Grady sleeps with Shawn, but we got to the hotel late and the kids were a ball of tired emotions and wanted to sleep together. So that is how I’ve ended up here, Poppy’s feet in my face and Grady snoring in my ear.
Tomorrow we’ll drive to Leavenworth for the car show. We’ll eat sausage in the beer garden and enjoy the sun and hopefully when we return, the sweaty bed hogs will want to sleep with their Dad. Happy Father’s Day indeed.
Read. Watch. Listen.
Today was a full day and my brain is struggling to make the words go so here’s a short list of things I’m currently loving.
Read
I just finished Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Technically speaking I listened to it on audiobook but I’m a rebel who counts that as reading. Listen, I’ve read different arguments for and against calling consuming content via audiobook “reading” and I’ve come to the conclusion that I literally don’t care what others think on this subject.
So I just finished Big Magic and I loved it. I’d heard good things but it took me a while to check it out because I was never a fan of Eat, Pray, Love. Big Magic made me feel like maybe there’s hope for this tired creative to reclaim some spark. I definitely rolled my eyes a few times but I rolled them in a “oh that’s twee” kind of way, not a “what’s up with this chick?” kind of way. It’s an important distinction.
Watch
I hate movies. I do my best to avoid them. I find movies really hard to sit through because they’re so long and often so violent / dumb / pointless. I hate blood and suspense, which greatly reduces the number of movies available to me. Netflix has been kicking out some pretty great movies lately though. We watched Always Be My Maybe last weekend and I loved it. The soundtrack was killer, the story was light and fluffy with just enough meat to make it satisfying. It was funny and smart and genuine. Plus parts of it were filmed in Vancouver and it’s always fun to spot the local landmarks.
Listen
Lizzo. My god. If you are not listening to Lizzo’s album Cuz I Love You, I don’t know what to tell you. Play it, loud, and just try not to dance. It’s physically impossible.
What are you currently reading / watching / listening to?
Parking Woes
I had an appointment at the cancer centre today. I’ve been seeing my oncologist for six years and it hasn’t gotten easier. I’m a mess of nerves, I don’t sleep much the night before my appointment, I’m snappy and weepy, and I eat a lot of carbs.
I say that the cancer centre has the worst parking lot I’ve ever encountered, but I’m not sure if that’s because it’s a truly crappy parking lot or if it’s so terrible because it’s the parking lot of a cancer centre. I’m not in a great headspace to begin with, I’m in no mood to forgive too-tight stalls and endless one-way lanes.
Usually I park on the other side of the hospital in the shiny, new parkade but today I decided I had arrived early and should take the opportunity to conquer my foe. I pulled into the terrible parking lot and immediately spotted the one remaining empty space. I was stuck in a maze of one-way lanes but I dutifully followed the path of arrows until I turned the last corner just in time to see someone drive quickly the wrong way down a one-way lane and zip into my spot (MY spot). I drove slowly by, giving them the stink eye the entire time, and quickly exited the terrible parking lot. I drove around the hospital and parked in my usual lot, continued walking around the other side of the hospital, and made it to my clinic with approximately 30 seconds to spare.
The moral of the story is: sometimes things are just terrible and you don’t have to prove you can best them. Sometimes it’s okay to just park in the easy lot, even if it means you have to walk farther to reach your destination.