Balancing Act

We are 11 days into this new year and I am tired already.  I think 2023 heard me waxing poetic about the old year and got offended or something, because it's not going easy on me so far. 

We are all fine, and busy transitioning back into our routines after a primarily restful break.  That alone is always a thing for this family.  We do, after all, vacation hard (and not just in the summer). 

This year the return to reality is being compounded by an extended health crisis for Gram and an extensive rehearsal and performanse schedule for COC.  Plus the start of ski season, with patrol shifts and training shifts to schedule around rehearsals and broadway series shows and swim meets and swim practices.  

That "balance" thing may have to wait a minute or two.  We're working on survival right at this moment, y'all.

Our 2023 life so far:

These furbabies make life more complicated... but also so much better.  Winnie girl was away for a week being bred to Patti and Jim's Sammy-- here's hoping for a litter of puppies in March!

An inordinate amount of time so far this year has been spent roaming the parking garages and winding corridors of University Hospitals to locate and vist Gram (she was in the ER for 4 days for a major UTI, then in two different buildings after that for IV antibiotic treatment).  

And my home for this week is the stage at Severance, with 4 rehearsals and 3 performances of the Schubert Mass in G, all in a row.  Good thing I really love this singing thing- and that this is such a sublime piece of music to sing- and that I adore my Chorus friends- or I might resent this schedule.  As it is, I'm having a lovely time each evening, and just a bit more exhausted that normal...

Look!  Our official COC photo!

We did manage to get Christmas decorations down on Ephiphany.  Now the house has it's annual January look:  desolate and barren and disorganized.  There's been no real time to clean up or redecorate so we are just going with that look.  It's in keeping with the whole vibe of the year so far, I guess. 

We are in the height of HS swim season, and this kid is doing awesome.  Coming off of a week of 4-hour practices over break, he's bulked up and is beating his own times left and right. Current PR for the 100 Breast is a 1:08.  He's hoping for a 1:03... we will see.  I love seeing him so motivated to work hard. And watching him dominate in his events is pretty fun too. 

Kitten. 

Doggo.

We got another night of skiing in, despite the week of rainy weather we've had.  Conditions were awful but the company was great. 

And we had a hot tub to soak in afterwards and this hot tub may in fact be the best part of 2023 so far. 

Also got a bit of demo work in at the Lucknow house.  The girls were absolutely thrilled to be in charge of taking out this random wall in the bathroom. They are beasts with a sledgehammer.  We've got a dumpster in place this week and a bit more to remove.. then we get the excitement of deciding on the layouts and materials we want for the new kitchen and bathroom.  It IS exciting.  It is also so very overwhelming.  I wish I had unlimited time and money so I could really have FUN with this project.  But doing it on a shoestring, ourselves, in our total of 4 free hours a week, will at least be an interesting challenge.  Who wants a boring life anyways.

 

Tonight is our first Schubert performance.  Rehearsals have been going well and I am looking forward to the concert.  Gram is out of the hospital and doing a few weeks of rehab at the Gardens.  We are all settling into school routines.  We are surviving.  And maybe even a little more than that.  Here's hoping for a little more balance to come in this new year....