A Visit From Nana

My mom and her sweet dog Coconut are here this week. This is kind of fun for Nana and X-man because they don't get to see each other a lot. We usually see my mom for eight or nine days in the summer (usually two trips) and then on Christmas and X-man's birthday and maybe one or two other one-day trips to Rockford.

X-man loves to have his grandparents around to show him all the things he likes to do and the books he likes to read and the art he likes to experiment with. Today, we took Nana to lunch at Culver's. Then we went home and played with the puppies for a while and read some stories (including a picture book story about death called "What Comes after 1,000" that totally made me cry, but deals really well with the idea that one moment a loved one can be here and the next minute they're not and all the anger, grief and confusion that comes with that experience.) I made shrimp tacos with goat cheese, red peppers and green olives for dinner with a side of sugar snap peas. And then we piled in the car with Lily and went to t-ball practice from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Afterwards, I came home and ran a miserable 2.5 miles. It was humid. I think my inserts are starting to load my achilles instead of hurting my plantar fascia, which is like trading horses in a bad way, so they may be coming back out. I have a doctor's appointment to follow up with that and to go over my new iron and platelet numbers on July 15th, as well as to get a TB test for work... so we'll see what happens then.

Then we all went outside and just sat on the new back patio. Mom and I chatted while X-man rode his awesome SWAP pedal car that he got from the Freaks around the backyard. Lily and Coconut romped until she was covered in big dog slobber. And at 8:45 p.m., we took X-man inside for a "calm down" TV show (He chose Bill Nye the Science Guy.) and I read him stories and tucked him into bed.

Tomorrow, we're doing swim lessons again, followed by our weekly trip to the Tolono Library. X-man has Pirate Camp at the Little Gym from 1-4 while I go to PT. And I think Mom and I might try to make it up to Prairie Fruit Farms in the afternoon to check out their on-the-farm sale in Urbana.

I promised Special K, I'd go to the 5:30 Body Attack class. And then I'm heading to El Toro Bravo for a 6:30 p.m. work meeting -- yes, all sweaty and gross. I'll get final confirmation about the class I'll be teaching in the fall at MMO and find out if I'll be alone or with a teaching cohort. So that's uber exciting. Meanwhile, Nana and X-man will totally enjoy each other's company. I figured I'd leave out his new word game for them and some art projects they can enjoy. I like to see my Mom, but I also realize that they get to form a whole different kind of grandparent/grandchild relationship, when I am not around. :-)