1. Monday, August 16th was National Roller Coaster Day. Are you a fan? Did you celebrate? Last place/time you rode a roller coaster? 

God no. I have ridden plenty in my time but I’m not fond. I think the most I enjoy is something like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disney. Last time I really rode anything? Maybe a couple years ago at Wild Adventures. I didn’t do much when we went to Sea World or Busch Gardens in the past 4-5 years. I don’t like feeling like I am falling to my death.

2. Tell us about a time in your life where it felt like you were figuratively riding a roller coaster. 

This sort of came up the other night when Ash was having a particularly hard moment in his illness and the kids were being awful and so we talked about how different things are now compared to when they were young. When the kids were all somewhere between newborn and six, life was one huge roller coaster every single day. You never knew when one would be sick or injured or not sleeping or going through some change. It’s not the same now; they’re older and doing a lot of stuff on their own so it’s not as topsy-turvy.

3. Favorite treat to eat at an amusement park or state fair? 

Always fond of the corndogs, lemonade, or turkey legs. We did try the deep-friend Oreos one year and they were just ok, as are funnel cakes. Powdered sugar is overrated at best.

4. Are you easy to get along with? Elaborate. 

I would say yes but I think people feel I might be standoffish or stuck up because I am a little discerning. I may come off as negative at first meeting but I don’t mean to be. I do think I have become a lot easier to talk to over the last decade because I let up on a lot of my preconceived notions of friendships and whatnot. But in general, I think I am easy to get along with because I do want to compromise and find a common solution for everyone, ranging from co-workers to finding a place to eat with the family.

5. Something on your calendar to see-do-read-accomplish or just enjoy before month’s end? 

Well, it WAS going to be the Brewfest here where we’d be serving our homebrew but it got pushed back to some as-of-yet unknown date. I am pretty disappointed and feel it entirely unnecessary but hey, I don’t make public policy and the people who do are total morons. They claim it was due to a lack of vaccinations for the guests but they have absolutely no way of knowing if any of the 1,000 people who purchased tickets got the jab or not! That’s how you know it is BS.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

FINALLY, Ash is feeling more like himself. He’s not as feverish (even if he never actually clocked in with a fever) and his congestion is going away. I think the first day I really felt like myself and relatively normal was maybe Saturday. Another reason I think what I had was COVID and not a sinus infection; it lasted WAY longer than any sinus issue. Plus, I lost my sense of taste and smell for 3 days, plus I was way fatigued. So yeah, I cannot wait to get the antibody test. If it comes back negative I’ll probably be pretty mad.

We had tropical storm Fred blow through on Monday and the kids had no school. It really only got bad once in the afternoon but it was just heavy winds and some rain. The kids will have some sticks and branches to clean up in the yard but we never lost power or anything. Thank God for underground utilities. Today is sunny and nice and that’s great for Isaac, who has cross country try-outs this afternoon. I have about 10 things on my immediate to-do list that include but are not limited to: updating my calendar for things like his instrument rental night for band, looking into dance class for Dakota, planning a party for her and for Elliot, and getting my syllabi ready for my in-person classes next week. It’s all quite a bit and I know I’ll get there; just have to buckle down!

***

That was written yesterday. Isaac finished 2 miles in 13:15 so he probably made the team already but he might run again today, for posterity. I’m not sure Elliot ever had tryout times like that. His best meet time was 12:50. But I always knew Isaac had potential to be faster than his older brother. Elliot has potential to run longer distances. But speaking of, he’s having a pain low in his ankle, probably where the flex nails sit. He has not worn the boot in quite some time and has been walking almost without a limp. This is great progress from late April when he had surgery to repair his broken tib/fib. But now I am worried so I called his surgeon and left a message. Hopefully this is normal stuff but as doctors tend to do, he’ll probably get him in the office to take a dang x-ray.

I have a laundry list of small tasks today but I also feel motivated to work on them. Tonight I have an adjunct meeting and I am somewhat dreading just having to spend the time on it. I guess I shouldn’t complain because until last week, it was supposed to be in-person and who wants to drive across town in rush hour traffic? Not me!