I know we are all saying this, but how is it already July? And well into July. I was thinking about time the other day. You know how as you get older times feels like it flies by much faster…but does it actually? Can I accomplish and learn as much in the next ten years as I did in the last? I hope so, because I realized one of the things I want to do is read as many books as possible and learn as much about history as I can…though I’m more interested in historical fiction right now. I’m tearing through all the Philippa Gregory books in order and having a good time with it (and soooo glad I wasn’t born in the middle ages).

This week has been a bit hectic! We are preparing to head out of town for a short trip but I’ve had quite a few things going on in addition to prepping for that, my sister Carrie’s visit immediately after, and then only about a week until we leave for our epic road trip. It’s a lot, and Louie is more stressed than me, but I think we can handle it. I think my planning is done for the trip, and all that’s left is to pack, take care of the house, and actually do the trip! I woke up in the middle of the night twice last night to use the bathroom and thought to myself, oh my gosh why are we going camping because peeing in the middle of the night is so much harder while camping and also bears????

We had our annual “fourth of July” bbq on Saturday, but unlike normal years when it coincides with the Sublette Park fireworks, this year it didn’t as we are gone visiting family during that time. So we had a smaller crowd but it was a nice time anyway. The morning of July 4th Louie and I ran a 5k downtown here, and it was fun! I didn’t finish with any exciting time or anything (45:10) but it was a good run for me, based on where I am now with my running (slow). A woman found me in the crowd and decided I had a good pace and chatted with me the whole time..at first I was like, okayyyy, but then she was really nice and ended up being very encouraging and pushed me a bit, so I’m really glad she did. Afterwards Louie and I had a wonderful day off alternating yard and housework with watching episodes of Big Little Lies (loving the show!).

The race gave out medals, which was a little overkill, but hey, I’ll take it! And tiny pies.

A beautiful day! Lots of weaving around walkers at the beginning though, so I wasn’t THAT slow, I guess.

I saw this on timehop the other day. I believe this was shortly before I moved here…I sometimes miss my previous life, before moving to St Louis, because I get frustrated at the “small-town” feel here, but I think I can finally say I’m glad I’m here (Louie of course!) and I’ve met some great people and I am enjoying my life quite a bit. It’s been a struggle here, and I still feel like I don’t have much of a support group around me other than Louie, but I think friendship looks very different in your 40s than it does earlier in life. I know people who do things with friends several times a week, and perhaps live near them, and randomly hang out, but between not having kids (so often that is what brings people together) and working late too many nights, it’s just not a part of my life. I have a million students, more jobs than I can count, and I can see myself keeping this up and continuing my career as it is, so I think that I have achieved success. Or something

And now I have to make lunch, teach for about 5 hours, and then go play at the MUNY as a last minute replacement for a show…for one night, because of my trip. Every time I go on a trip I end up having to turn down work, but when I look back on my life I usually remember the trips more than the work, so I don’t feel bad choosing a balance. I do sometimes wish things lined up a little differently, but the truth is we can’t have it all, we can’t do all the gigs and teach all the students and have all the jobs AND have friends and family and vacations. But we can do many of the gigs and teach many students and many jobs and have some friends and see family and take a few trips, and that’s what I’m doing.

And we can read many but never all of the books! But I’ll keep at it.