Left it all on the field...

19 June 2026: Site visit is done. Proud of us and the work we've done. Left it all on the field, as they say. Now we wait. 

And, after I clean up the classroom, I am heading home to crash and try to relax this evening. 

Ready for tomorrow...

18 June 2026: Valerie and I set up a classroom for our site visit for a grant to support the SUWP. The room looks pretty good, considering it's hard to "show" a lot of what our NWP site does. I like this picture, though, based on an idea the third member of our team came up with last week: we asked the teachers in our current Summer Institute to respond to the prompt. They did great. I mean, present company excluded, teacher have great handwriting--but beyond that, their comments are golden. 

Boxcars!

17 June 2026: It's sometimes hard not to feel guilty about doing "fun" things these days, but man, I had a great time tonight at my first Boxcars' game of the season with Carrie and Amy. Perfect night for baseball (even if the home team couldn't pull off a win).

"Secret of Life"

16 June 2026: Listening to Faith Hill's 1998 album Faith while I get some work done this afternoon. This was a major soundtrack of my summer of '98, when I was doing Summer Scholars research at Roanoke. Anyway, there's a lot of gems on this one, including "Secret of Life," which always struck me as wise in its simplicity. 

Maybe my favorite lines?

"The secret of life is to try not to hurry,

But don't wait, don't wait..."

Love that tension in the ideas and the way she repeats that second "don't wait."

I find myself navigating that tension (internally) a lot. 

Anyway, kind of cool to return to this album 18 years later. And Faith is so cute in this era! (She's always beautiful, but this late 90's cute is really something.)

Disclosure Day

15 June 2026: I really enjoyed Disclosure Day. A lot of fun and filled with hope and light. I'll take all the hope and light the world offers these days.

Knicks, Revolution, and Lil Soups...

14 June 2026: Checking in with the girls?

Jo had Knicks Fever last night, just like me.

Veronica, earlier this afternoon, about five minutes after I freed her from the office, where I had trapped her to apply Revolution. (Yes, another "Revolution on Cats" day.) From freak-out mode to staring at me from the coffee table in five minutes...

Not pictured, the Lil Soups they will both enjoy later this evening, a belated birthday treat for BabyCat.

Summer Institute 2026 and Christian's Birthday

13 June 2026:

Two things make today special. 

First, it's Christian's birthday. Every year, I am more grateful for how amazing he is. 

Second, we had the in-person portion of our Summer Institute today. Like every year, it's simply inspring to be surrounded by talented teachers who give so much.

Respites...

12 June 2026: A quietly dark day here, with a lot of uncertainty up in New York. It was also a busy day. Today that combination felt overwhelming at times--so much to do and all so soon. 

But other moments were respites: a phone call with a friend, a drink (mocktail for me) and some conversation with a couple of friends. So grateful for those moments that let me catch my breath. 

"Cracklin' Rosie"

11 June 2026: Since it popped up in an episode of Deadloch, "Cracklin' Rosie" has been on my mind. It's a great little song, but it also makes me think of my mom, who really loves Neil Diamond.

"I can't believe this. They f****** forgot my birthday..."

10 June 2026: After our regular post-Common-Reading-meeting-lunch, Hannah and I were walking back to her office. She mentioned something about the day's date and I stopped and gasped. 

"I forgot BabyCat's birthday!" (On Monday...)

Hannah, who is always the best, a) didn't call me out for being ridiculous, b) didn't miss miss a beat, telling me, "I am sure she understands. She knows you've been going through it."

BabyCat, of course, is the cat who is least likely to understand, but I'll see if I can make it up to her. I'll give her some extra treats tonight and get her a Lil Soup over the weekend. And she can freely imagine her own little movie, Eleven Candles. 

In the meantime, here's a picture from mid-May that illustrates just how gorgeous she remains at age 11. 

Good luck, little one!

9 June 2026: This little baby was on my back patio when I started mowing the lawn today. Watched me just about every time I passed her. 

Worried, worried, worried that she was sick or injured or abandoned the whole time.

Put the mower away, swept the driveway and sidewalks, and then checked again. She was gone. 

Watering watcher...

8 June 2026: Caught someone watching me water the flowers this morning. 

Culture Gabfest

7 June 2026: I always wondered how I'd feel when the Culture Gabfest called it quits--which I could kind of sense coming?--but to have the news come right now? Well, I literally cried. 

So grateful for eighteen years (!!!) of top-notch entertainment. 

Home...

 6 June 2026: 

[Catch-up post...last one...]

Drove through blinding downpours in the homestretch, but made it. Grateful always to have this place to come home to. 

The Anna Karenina principle proven (again) in a single day

5 June 2026: 

[Catch-up post]

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

By the end of Friday, I couldn't get these lines out of my head.