The Week

I'm coming to you this morning with a bowl of oatmeal bake and a steaming mug of coffee, amidst our usual homeschool mess.

The kids aren't up yet and although we usually do read-aloud and start our homeschool day at 8:30, I'm inclined to give them an extra few minutes to sleep today, as they're usually finishing school by about 2 PM anyway these days, and we don't have anywhere to be this afternoon.

Not having anywhere to be this afternoon is something that hasn't happened (for me) in about a week, so I'm also inclined to sit here and enjoy a breather for a minute or two!

About 30 minutes ago, my oldest baby got on a plane to Colombia for her first experience with international travel!

She is traveling with my brother and sister-in-law and her little cousin.  My brother and sister-in-law are attending a wedding in Colombia and needed some child care help, and I wanted some immersion Spanish practice for N as part of her senior year language curriculum, so it was a win-win!

I know she is going to have an amazing time and probably get pampered a little by her aunt and uncle.  Of course any kind of letting her go comes with a bit of worry, so I'll certainly breathe a sigh of relief when I hear tonight that they are all safely landed and checked into their hotel.  Sending good travel vibes today!

M and I spent the latter part of the weekend bopping back and forth between Annapolis, MD and Alexandria, VA.  On Saturday I made the usual 1.5 hour trip upstate to orchestra rehearsal with N and L, then we drove another 1.5 hours straight to a dance rehearsal for N, then 30 minutes back home (sushi in hand because... long day).  The very next morning we left around 9 AM to meet my brother and sister-in-law in Annapolis (another 1.5 hour drive) so that we could notarize a document we all had to sign so that N could travel internationally without her parents (basically we signed a paper to say that my brother was not kidnapping her!).  Then we spent the night at my brother's in Alexandria and I drove back to Annapolis Monday morning to have the paper certified at the County Clerk's office and then given an apostille by the Secretary of State of MD.  

(At least it was a lovely day to be in the state capital!)

So, in case you're thinking about having your child travel internationally without you, those are the steps you have to take!  We basically learned by doing and went to whatever place we were told by the state official we were in front of at the time.  But yeah, crazy times.

via GIPHY

But yes, as I was saying before, this year has been sort of a series of exercises in "letting go" for me as her Mama, and I sense that I am being prepared for the eventual time in the not-so-distant future when she will no longer be living with us.  First it was the beginning of this year when she started driving herself to all of her activities, which was simultaneously a huge relief and terrifying.  Then things like visiting colleges, now this trip... so many Mama feelings about all that.  Maybe I'll snag a chance to write about them soon.

Other than that, our week has included an orchestra concert with an overnight stay in the city, a college visit for N (University of Delaware), choir concert for the girls (didn't get a picture of them in their dresses, dang it... but trust me, they looked beautiful!), and all of our preparations for the Colombia trip.  I do have some videos of their performances, which perhaps I will upload later, but the only thing that I took pictures of, in all the craziness, was my food.

I have jumped on the cauliflower oatmeal bandwagon lately and have been enjoying some delicious creations.  These last two days after all of our busy travel have been a bit more quiet with just my three gals at home, and it has felt great to catch up on some things and just enjoy time with L, C & J.  We have been doing some healthy things for ourselves-- I went for a jog with L yesterday in preparation for a Thanksgiving Day road race we will probably run together, and we've been trying to sneak in more fruits and veggies after eating on the road a lot.  Somehow, starting the day with a vegetable in my oatmeal just feels really really good right now.  It seems to set me up for more good decisions and self-care throughout the day.

The plan for today is for us all to go to our neighborhood fitness center and work out together.  It feels awesome to have the time to do something good for ourselves, and spend quality time together to boot.  We have also been doing the stretches from Animal Crossing every morning this week (did you know that they are based on the actual Radio Taiso exercises from Japan?), and 10 out of 10 would recommend that.  Really great way to start the day.

Speaking of starting our day, it's time for me to do that, so I'll sign off for now.  Wishing you all a pleasant week and a Happy Thanksgiving if we don't touch base again soon!

P.S. Since the post is titled "The Week", I'll just include a picture of J reading "The Week, Jr.", one of our favorite magazines, in the hallway before bed last night.