Adults!

Today, the boys are 18. EIGHTEEN.

We went to our usual dinner at Texas Roadhouse last night (they’re supposed to have a game tonight, but the weather is pretty yucky so we’ll see) and they got shoes and socks as their gifts. Yes boys, adulthood is boring.

And the 17 birthdays prior to this one:

London, 2025

Better late than never, eh?

I just want to document the trip to London Kiki and I went on. Our first trip together I think since 2000 or so. Pre-blog!

I had a conference for work (the same one I went to last summer) and so the plan was for her to meet me afterwards and we would stay on for another several days.

The trip didn’t start out promisingly – I was supposed to arrive the day before the conference so I could get some sleep beforehand, but my flights were an unholy mess and I didn’t arrive until the morning of the conference, and I was a wreck. I’d had to get a hotel room in Miami for a few hours during the day just so I could get some sleep. A little. But otherwise I’d been awake for two and a half days on maybe 5 hours of sleep total. Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. But I made it through, got to see my coworkers, had a great conference.

Karen and I went into London together, then met Kiki at Paddington. We had lunch at a cute pub near the station. I had bangers and mash. Yum.

After lunch, Karen went to her hostel and Kiki and I found our airbnb, which was fantastic. It was across the street from Battersea Power Station, and even though it was south of the river, it was quite convenient and easy to get around from.

That evening, we got some groceries and stayed in, since Kiki was pretty tired.

Saturday

Took a walk to Camden. Went to see a play with Ewan McGregor (play was meh, but we breathed the same air as him so it was worth it.) Had dinner at a Michelin star restaurant. Forced Karen to come meet us one more time.

Sunday

Walked across the river, stopped by our old flat, met a friend for tea at Liberty. Bought some fabric. Bought some shoes because my feet were killing me.

Monday

Took boat to Greenwhich, explored the o2, took gondola across river. had lunch at Seven Dials Market (featuring the cheese conveyer belt), went to bookbinding store (thank you Kiki!)

Tuesday

Went to Kensington, walked a bunch, did pedal boats, got lunch at Harrod’s, ate at park, Kiki let me go back to book store (THANKS KIKI!) Dinner at Dishoom.

Wednesday (home)

Borough Market, ate a bunch. Walked around a bit, went to airport.

And some more pictures from various days (I can’t remember which, exactly. I know I could figure it out, but if I don’t finish this now, I never will.)

Hopefully it won’t be 20+ years before we do this again!

17 years, 11 months

aka the last monthly picture as children.

Some people have asked if I’ll stop when they turn 18. No, I will stop when I cannot take them anymore. I suppose next August will probably be the last one. 😦

17 years + 10 months

I am very proud of taking this and posting it on the correct day! (ETA: well, apparently the narcotics haven’t completely worn off because I originally titled this 17 years + 2 months.) Especially since this was done mostly one handed. And with my left hand, no less!

(Shoulder surgery was a week ago yesterday and holy shit did it hurt. Am starting to feel better now, but won’t have the use of my right arm for many weeks.)

Boys are doing great, getting ready to start submitting college applications. Can you believe it?!?

17 years, 9 months

I don’t even know what to say here. They’re almost 18. Adults. It’s going to be a weird month. I’m having shoulder surgery in a couple of weeks. How am I going to be able to take the picture one handed? I’ll have to use my phone, I guess. Even that will be hard. The whole thing is going to be a lesson in letting go of control, which is not easy for me.

The last first day of school

Well, at least that I’ll be there to take pictures of. Maybe the last one they’ll all be together? Who knows!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a great picture because they had to be at school at 6am for Senior Sunrise, and since obviously the sun wasn’t up yet when they left the house, I had to try to take one in the dark. I ended up taking one in the living room.

This is the 15th first day of school picture I’ve taken. Here’s the first (yet again):

(LOM on today’s pics, MLO on the bottom.)

17 years, 8 months

A week from today is their first day of senior year.

(I’ll save any thoughts I have on that for next week’s post.)

17 + 7

They had their senior portraits taken last week. I didn’t cry! So proud of myself.

17 and a half

Don’t forget to take the monthly pic before we leave for the airport, I told myself. Okay, I forgot. Don’t forget to take the picture before we drop the boys off at my sister’s. Okay, forgot again. Thanks to Aunt Jenny for getting a pic of the boys before the day was out!

We had a busy week in Virginia between my niece’s graduation, four college visits, and an MLS game, but it was a lot of fun!

(To answer your questions, no, they don’t want to go to the same school and they want to study Sport Management or similar.)

Junior year, over and out

Just like that, junior year is over. They’ve gotten taller, their hair has gotten messier.

It was an eventful year for our family, and since I have neglected to post much, I’ll just go over it all now.

I was on sabbatical August through October, which was fun. I traveled a bunch. To Canada, Florida, Virginia, and Chicago. My friend had a baby. My mom and Larry moved to The Villages. I redid the upstairs bathroom. The boys turned 17 while I was in Turkey for work. Oliver got his driver’s license. We went to Florida for Christmas. In January my brother’s house burned down in the wildfires. I turned 50. Kiki came to visit. We took family pictures. It snowed here. A lot. The boys did some extras work on a movie. I went to Virginia for Kiki’s 50th. George got mugged. I went on a cruise. George’s dad died. I got some new tattoos. I learned I’m probably going to need shoulder surgery.

So while a lot of good things happened, a lot of terrible things happened as well. I am hopeful for the next year, even if the world is a dumpster fire. We are going to Virginia next week for Emily’s high school graduation and we’re going to visit some colleges. I am going to England for work in July and Kiki is meeting me there. It’ll be our first time there together in almost 25 years. Maybe Linus will get his driver’s license (no rush!) In September we’re seeing Pulp again. In October I’m going back to Singapore for work. Somewhere in there I’m likely going to have that shoulder surgery. The boys will apply to colleges. They’ll decide where to go.

And then the house will be empty. Okay, I’m done thinking about the next year!

17 years, 5 months

It’s flying by. Too fast!

Five years on a bike

I have so many more pressing things to blog about (my 50th birthday, travels, family stuff) but hey, if I’m feeling inspired I should just go with it.

I was doing a ride on my Peloton this morning and realized I have had it for five years. I like milestones!

I’m pretty proud that I’ve kept with it for that long. Before I got one, I never wanted one. I never understood why anyone did. I had taken one spin class and NEVER AGAIN.

But then the pandemic hit, and I had to quit going to Orangetheory and so I figured, may as well. I ordered it right at the start of quarantine so I was able to get it pretty quickly, and my first ride was on April 13, 2020.

Since then, I’ve completed 3,397 workouts. Well, that sounds more impressive before I tell you that about 750 of those are sleep meditations. But over 2,300 are on the bike.

It will surprise no one that my favorite thing is doing live rides for my milestones and getting shout outs from the instructors. Here’s a memorable one from one of my very favorite instructors, Christine:

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I’ve done live classes in New York and London, and just recently did some classes on the water (I was pathetically excited to see a row of Pelotons on the cruise ship last week.)