Another Start of ‘New Normal’

“Normal” is a temporary state. We’ve definitely learned this over time. Life has chapters and seasons – and our latest chapter has begun – and thus another, new version of our “normal”.

Karissa started her 1st grade teaching job. Adelaide started 2nd grade. Emerson started Kindergarten. And I now have an empty house from 7:15am until about 5:00pm. We’ve all seemingly transitioned into our new “normal” quite well. The kids are getting up on time and getting ready pretty quickly. I spend my waking minutes packing the three lunches and putting together a quick breakfast for all. They rush out the door, nearly late, every morning in a panic. And then the house falls silent.

Emerson is enjoying his first few weeks of Kindergarten. Making new friends and building upon old friendships. He seems mostly used to and comfortable with the school day. He hasn’t been nearly as exhausted after a full day as his sister was when she began attending school in-person. Adelaide is also enjoying school so far. She has been able to diversify her favorite friends a bit while continuing to have connections with old friends. She’s hopefully coming out of her shell a bit and we hope that shows up in new and exciting ways.

Karissa has been the one struggling with energy. She has a lot of “new” in this role – a new grade, a new number & selection of kids, and a new school. She’s always busy/exhausted at the start of a school year and the “new” of it all has definitely added to that. But we’re hoping it becomes a bit easier soon.

I’ve been spending my pre-work, quiet-house mornings running. I’ve now built up to a 21-day streak of running at least a 5K (3.1 miles). I usually take Runty – but give her a few days off each week. I end my runs with a dip in the pool and a shower before logging on to work.

Other recent events: Adelaide had a 5-friend sleepover. They spent a TON of time in the pool. It was a success – though five 2nd grade girls have lots of energy! We’ve been continuing to try and eat well. Lots of experiments in food – mostly successful.

We’re also experimenting with our home decoration style. We put up a test piece of black contact paper above our cabinets and put some plants up there. We think it adds some drama & warmth to the kitchen so ordered a bunch more plants and paper to finish the job. We think it fits our current style well! *note more black will be applied in 2nd photo on right when it arrives.

Karissa and I had a date night for my birthday! She surprised me by dropping the kids off at friends houses and we decided to go try a fully vegan restaurant for the first time. They are takeout only, which we didn’t know, but it was fine – we ate in the van in the parking lot. We ordered a bunch of food and mostly enjoyed it. The feeling of “normal” and being able to choose anything was amazing. The “beef” was hard to distinguish from Chinese-food beef – and quite tasty. It’s the kind of place that we’d frequent if it was closer but don’t have a need to go out of our way to visit again. Food was all good, just not great. It was definitely a good date night and birthday treat though.

So here’s to our new “normal” and getting into the swing of things again. We don’t have anything “new” on the calendar in the near-term, so hope to settle in and find some time to relax and have fun amidst the chaos.