Another mostly slow, but weirdly tiring week. Insufficient and inconsistent sleep through the week, a severe lack of motivation over work (also waiting for others to deliver, as I am downstream), sluggishness because of another week of semi-enforced rest from a strained Achilles tendon, various minor pockets of life stress which add up. I can’t believe it’s already June.

Zone 1 friends

Late last week I face a bit of a dilemma on the logistics and mode of resigning, given a number of life constraints. I had a specific point of view, but wanted to sense check my thinking, by asking a few friends to get their opinions, knowing that people have different attitudes and levels of risk tolerance. I reckoned that the most helpful view would come from a couple of people who have a more sophisticated risk appetite. When I asked one of them, and shared the context, he immediately commented, “No worries, I understand – no need to justify it. Even if everything is fine in your life, one month’s salary is a good chunk of money, and not to be sniffed at. The problem is that you only have “Zone 1 friends” – ask a poor person like me, and you’ll get useful advice.” LOL. And he told me exactly what to do, which was actually a very creative, and elegant solution. I then asked the second friend with a more refined risk appetite as well, and she came to the same conclusion as I did, and would have executed it the way I had originally intended, taking a small but informed risk.

Life milestone – Hangover

I went out for dinner with the “Project Revamp” crew who helped me revamp the kitchen a while back, which also doubled up as a birthday celebration for Donut, one of the crew. We ended up drinking shedloads at MHH’s initiative – I had a cocktail, a glass of wine, 2 more cocktails (which didn’t seem like it had any alcohol), and 3 “rose tequila” (what??) shots. I could barely sleep, and had the worst (only?) alcohol hangover of my life the following morning. I guess it’s a life milestone, to get a (standard alcohol) hangover at least once in your life?

Running

Donut asked me what I liked best about the Bologna weekend apart from the wedding. It was quite a short weekend, so there wasn’t heaps to choose from, and I had visited Bologna before. But I thought about it, and said that my favourite part was running through Bologna in the morning. And I suddenly realised that I really enjoyed running in Mumbai, in Delhi, and in Bologna. While I still don’t really love running, I’ve come to realise that I really like putting on a comfortable pair of road running shoes, and running randomly, ‘getting lost in’, and exploring a new place. It’s a great way to feel the vibe, and get a taste of the rhythm, sights and sounds of a new place. Travel is still, and may always be, my first love, but I can easily incorporate running into my travel, and maintain a base level of fitness when I am away. I was told in no uncertain terms not the leave the hotel without an escort in Congo Kinshasa, but I reckon I can go running outside in most places.

My online physio said that I have Achilles tendinitis, and should cut back on my running – only do a max of 5K per run, at least 3 days apart, and no speed work. So I did a 7.5K easy run, 3 days later a 10K progressive long run, and because I felt kind of good, I went for a 6K easy run today (2 days after my last run). I think I probably strained my Achilles not just from running, because I also did quite a lot of strength work last week, after a bit of a break. My load is just a bit too boom and bust. Oh well.

Manic Monday Saturday

I had a long complicated kid run on Saturday because I had agreed for O to go to one of his good friend’s (Georges BD) bowling birthday party (14:00-16:30), during a window, when Chinese class was cancelled for him. But then we managed to sort out Chinese class again, which he had to miss, because I had already RSVPed yes.

I was in a pickle, because F still had Chinese class on the other side of town, and was going to suggest that maybe his dad helps with one leg of the drop off or pick up, but O was adamant, “No, you have to do it all.” So I messaged the birthday boy’s dad, explained my predicament, and he was very kind, and said that I would drop O off at their place between 12:30 to 13:30, and they would bring O with them to the party. This meant I had to push the boys’ swim class from Saturday morning – thankfully I managed to find a Sunday afternoon slot. After dropping O off at their very swish temporary apartment in town (the kids in the boys’ school are so ridiculously wealthy, it doesn’t feel like we are even on the same planet. But hopefully they’re not too aware of it, and it doesn’t affect my boys’ self-esteem), I went to Hammersmith to drop F off for this 14:15 Chinese class, and immediately head back to Holbrook to pick up O early from the birthday (15:05), and then back to Hammersmith again to pick up F after his class. We then ordered an Uber to Brentford for a Suzuki teaching workshop, and to do a Suzuki graduation recording for O. It was raining, and I was lost, and my phone wasn’t working well in the rain, and O started crying and getting stripy with me. Later on, he explained he was tired and grumpy because he ran headlong into a mirror at Georges’ place, and bruised his head and knee. 

What a day! And this was my hangover day too. I had intended to cook, but decided to be gentle with myself, per “House to Keep House While Drowning”, and ordered Deliveroo instead.

Spontaneous ‘sex talk’  

I ended up very casually / randomly touching on ‘sex talk’ with the boys today. When watching Cobra Kai today, there was an episode where the one of the ‘hot’ girls in school took pity on Demetri who was bullied, and had a dick drawn on his cast, and she wrote on the cast “I love your big dick”, and F turned to me and asked me why she wrote that, and what it meant. So, in an entirely unplanned manner, I touched on the topic briefly. “Well, she was trying to imply that she slept with the guy. And guys like having big ‘zizi’s – don’t ask me why, it’s not that important. And in high school – especially American high schools – people think it’s cool to sleep with each other. It’s not. Don’t do that.”

You and Me Against the World

Ginny & Georgia is back with Season 3, so I’m back to watching the Southern single mum, scrapping it out for her kids. “You and me against the world”. I finished “The Good Place”, as recommended by my colleague. It’s not really a series I would usually watch, but there were some good moments in the end, and I had time. But I’m glad Ginny & Georgia is back, even if Georgia’s southern drawl does grate a little.

Even if the boys fight each other, and me sometimes, we’re still a team. And I feel it, in the consideration they have for me. I hope they always remember that, and we’ll always be team.