Helsinki Report

There are so many things I loved about our stay in Finland. 

The walking and biking paths in Espoo and Helsinki. The swimming beach in Espoo. Salmon soup. Fazer. Long evenings with lingering light past 11pm. 

There were a couple of things I did not enjoy. The hot weather. Windows that you could barely open - so no ventilation inside our top floor apartment that got baked in the sun all day long. 

I am not sure how to feel about people being very direct in letting you know you were doing something wrong. I thought I missed that... But it sometimes made me feel defensive. Will write more about that later. 

In the photo: kids picked black and red currants, gooseberries, cherries, and blueberries. 

Almost Travel Time

We are flying to Helsinki tomorrow evening!

We are mostly packed. We have an approximate plan of what we want to do.

There were a lot of things that I wanted to do before the trip but I don't think I can squeeze them in.

I guess it can all wait until I come back...

Goals for the trip:

• Explore new places
• Eat lots of delicious food
• Go on a lot of walks
• Visit at least 3 castles
• Go to a at least 1 art museum
• See friends
• Connect with husband and kids
• Pick berries
• Touch the Baltic Sea
• If the water is not frigid, swim in the Baltic Sea
• Visit my hometown in Latvia
• Go on at least 1 date with my husband, without the kids
• Walk around city at night
• Watch sunset on the Baltic 

This may very well be once-in-a-lifetime thing... considering the political situation and general unpredictability of life.

Any advice for maintaining balance and having an eventful and relaxing trip all at the same time? Is it possible to combine adventurous and restful? Maybe not at the same time, but as long as we have some of both....

Serendipity

This week, H is a counselor-in-training, or CIT, at an outdoorsy historic farm camp nearby. C is doing tennis and board games combination camp through the school district. Even though both camps start at 9, H has to arrive early to set up, about 8:30. So, I thought it would work out all nice and peachy: drop H off then a quick drive to the high school where C has her camp. Except the most direct route is now closed for roadwork. So around and around we go, detouring through the park and a neighboring township. 

It really isn't too bad. Maybe 10 minutes longer, all in all. But at first, I still felt a deep annoyance at the universe for throwing this wrench into my perfect drop-off plan. Except on Day 2, after dropping H off, we stopped at a light and C noticed an antique shop we've never seen before. Because we don't usually drive that way. So we checked out the schedule and made a plan to go shopping. 

C said, wisely, that if it wasn't for the road closure, we would have never known it was there!

So... I guess the "deep thought" of the week is: you might think something is an inconvenience (like a detour!), but it actually may be an opportunity to experience something new.

Have you had any detours recently that brought you some place new, either literally or figuratively?

Time Conundrum

I feel very time-poor. I am not sure how that comes to be. I have only one job and I don't have to commute. I have 3 kids that are pretty independent. They've been making their own lunches and packing themselves up and getting ready for camp and/or work without any input from me. 

I drive them places (camp pick-up/drop-off, occasional dive practices, music lessons, and sometimes work or cross-country practices - although E has been biking most of the time) - but that can't account for the time sink-hole that seems to be taking over my life.

It's like I don't have time to cook! Or to read! And I always feel behind at work, and with cleaning, and forget gardening - those poor little plants have been left to fend for themselves. We haven't played any family board games or started any puzzles! We barely sit down for meals as a family.

I am not sure if I am just so disorganized... or if I am experiencing some weird time-related quantum phenomena.. or if some things are just taking longer than they should. Or maybe my brain capacity has diminished to dangerous levels and I am just not able to keep up with anything. Or maybe I am "loosing time" like a character in one of those thrillers, where nothing is as it seems and they are really going through a psychotic episode (I'd rather not...)

Today was like this:

Get up, get dressed, check news/email, make breakfast, eat breakfast (while reading a book for a couple of minutes), drive H+C to their camps*, work, have a snack, work, eat lunch and chat with E (he made ramen and I cut up a tomato), work, throw towels into the dryer, make a phone call, pick up H+C, work, take H to dive practice (pick up a few things at the store while waiting for her), drive home, help C with cello, eat dinner, work, watch Schitt's Creek, shop for gifts and necessities on-line, write blog.

Notice what didn't get done: no baking bread, no making beet soup, no gardening, no exercising, no games, no painting hallway, no work on the laundry room, no cleaning, no dishes.

*They are at 2 different camps this week, but the camps are nearby... However, there is road work, so the most direct route is closed, adding  at least 10 minutes to the drop off/pick up time.

Do you sometimes feel like time bandits are stealing chunks of your day?

Thursday Thoughts

I think I need to become a little more adventurous. I've been kind of doing the same things every week. I should take a few risks. Try something new. Get out of my comfort zone.

Active stuff:

• Kayaking? We do this on occasion at nearby lakes and streams, but maybe having some sort of organized kayaking excursion would be fun?
• Dancing? (Nah. Husband would not want to do this and I don't want to dance with random people)
• Sports classes or clubs? (Nah. Expensive. Also, hate sports + terrible at sports.)
• Hiking? (Love this, but already doing this - doesn't quite fall into the "take risks" category).

Cultural:

• More museums, more concerts, more time exploring nearby historic sites (YES! Need to do this)

Other:

• Spa? Sauna? I have never done much of these things.. maybe should give it a try? Not sure.
• Shopping? My daughters like going shopping and always beg me to take them places. I hate shopping (except for kitchen-stuff stores and IKEA). Perhaps we can do more of this?
• Gardening? (Maybe joining some sort of a club) - I don't love gardening but do like to be able to eat stuff we grow.
• Bee keeping? (Our neighbors set up a bee hive recently)

Adventure:

• Well, we are travelling to the Baltic region in a couple of weeks, so I suppose that counts.

As I am looking through these bullet points, I keep thinking - maybe instead of seeking out risks and new stuff, I should do more of what I already enjoy doing (but feel like there is never enough time). Like, an afternoon trip to Philly to visit a museum. Or an early morning hike on a weekday... 

What if I can manage to make the mundane stuff feel like an adventure? Like, try a brand-new recipe when making dinner.... or try some exotic laundry method... 

Did you have an adventure this week?

July Long Weekend Report + Messy Emotions

It was a busy weekend and a not-so-productive weekend at the same time. I mean, we got some stuff done... planted a few more tomatoes in the garden... weeded a bit... went shopping... but also things felt kind of "meh", like I could have done more if only I tried a little harder.

Friday: made a ton of salads, caught up on some work, and puttered around the house... My parents came over for a celebratory early dinner (but because of all the political crap, things just didn't feel all that celebratory). Still, had a wonderful time hanging out with my parents, chatting, and enjoying the food.

Also, had a ton of salads left for the rest of the weekend.

Also, took the kids to a nearby fireworks display. Somehow, our kids had never seen proper fireworks! They loved it. I cried.*

Saturday: went shopping with the girls because they needed sneakers and flip-flops. Bought a few things for the kitchen, including an adorable popsicle mold shaped like strawberries (C has been making popsicles daily!). Also bought 2 dresses for myself.

Also on Saturday: went to AAA to get foreign drivers permits with my husband. Stopped by Home Depot and bought stuff for painting our hallway.

Went to the neighborhood pool and had a picnic there with leftover hamburgers and salads from the day before. Kids had a blast (for once, there was almost no fighting) - the pool had a giant inflatable slide that they put in for the July 4th weekend. I brought a book that I never got around to reading - because I was too busy cooling off in the pool or laughing at the kids' antics.

Sunday: Went to Farmers Market and walked around town with C... realized that the Neal the Knife Sharpening Guy was there but I forgot to bring the knives. So after dropping off the produce and C, I took E to work - he works just a couple of blocks away from the Farmers Market. This time, I brought the knives and had them sharpened. 

And then there was the Linda Incident. This lady just cut in front of me in line when I was picking up the knives! I was so angry! It was as if I didn't exist. Stupid Linda. (I learned her name from Neal - he puts customers' names on packets with sharpened knives). I should have said something to her but I  was afraid to make a scene... Ugh, I should stop being so disgustingly polite to strangers.

And then C's friend came over, and there was pool, and cooking, and laundry, and watering the garden, and... I don't even know, the day just kind of ran away from me. 

Now we are half-way through the week - the girls have camp, E has running and work, and I have a few uninterrupted hours to get work done... But household stuff is still a mess (kids complain there is no food**, there is always the issue of "what's for dinner", the laundry room is a disaster zone, the hallway walls [dark brown] are depressing) - none of this is super urgent and all can be taken care of, I just need to do one thing at a time...

*I seem to have a lot of pent up emotions and end up having inappropriate reactions to random things... I start sobbing when watching sports... or horse racing (that's the worst!)... or fireworks... or when listening to emotional music... But I can't seem to be able to cry when I am actually upset, or sad, or at my kids' elementary school graduation events (although that's probably a good thing).

**There is always some food. Just maybe not the junk food that they crave.

Any plans for the upcoming weekend? 

Bad Mood

Crazy bad mood today.

Everything is just... not good.

And I feel especially annoyed because I feel like I have no choice about things... I didn't go to the pool, or for a walk, or read my book, or do anything remotely enjoyable - not because I didn't want to but because there were things outside my control. 

I feel like I messed up at work. Nothing terrible -  it was more like... failure to impress. I had a chance to do something and it just went "pfffft".

I want to throw things.

I wanted to throw a cast iron pan. But I didn't want to damage it. I like my cast iron pan. So I went outside and drop-kicked a small metal bowl a few times. That felt pretty good. 

I think I might take up knife throwing. Or, better yet, ax throwing.

[Went outside and threw a few knives. That felt surprisingly satisfying.]

[I know my husband has a few axes that he uses to chop wood. Perhaps I should give it a try.]

[I threw a few potatoes, too. That was fun. Planting a couple of those in my garden.]

I want to destroy things. 

When I was a kid, I sometimes would rip random pieces of paper apart.

What do you do when you feel like... well... destroying the world, shoving it into a garbage can, and kicking that garbage can as far as it will go?

Current July Happenings

Happy July 1!

We are back at home. The kids don't have anything going on this week, but having 3 big kids at home is so much easier than having 3 little kids at home. I can put my headphones on and get work done!

Good stuff: My oldest is perfectly content designing airplanes, taking apart tractors, and printing out random music for violin and then playing it (and also watching youtube videos... let's be honest here... ). The middle kid has been listening to audio books and planning our upcoming trip (and watching youtube videos). The youngest one has been reading, doing her summer work, and sneaking up to the older two to watch youtube videos with them.

They can make their own breakfast and lunch, they can clean up the dishes. They are supposed to help out around the house, but there hasn't been too much to clean recently. But that's about to change - there's mudroom and family room cleanup in the near future! 

Books: 

• E is listening to Michael Connelly's Bosch (not sure which book)
• H is listening to one of The Mysterious Benedict Society books (I think book 3?); she is also partially through Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.
• C is reading the Percy Jackson series (she is on book 2).
• I am reading Turning to Stone by Marcia Bjornerud
• Husband is reading At Home by Bill Bryson

TV:

• The girls are watching Desperate Housewives
• E is watching Bosch
• Husband: nothing
• I started watching Etoile - I really like it! 
• Wouldn't it be nice to have a show that we could all watch together... Unfortunately, we are at a point of wildly divergent interests and ability to handle mature themes.

Videogames:

• E is playing The Witcher 3

What are your July plans and happenings?