Hi ! Welcome back. (I’m taking a small two-week break break, see below). This week I am thinking and writing about my week, sport at school, Italian dishes and massages - Eve D.❣️

G was away this week, completely out-of-communication range, and while dealing with the absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder reality, I threw myself into work, and am about half way done with stuff. I’m also tired. And even though it’s still technically winter here (27 deg, fwiw ), it’s summer somewhere in the world, and I have decided to take a two week “summer-break” from all non-work writing. So…. this week and next I will give you a brief summary of my week, and some things I’m thinking about, and we can resume regular programming after that. Deal?

Week in review…

🖥️ Like I said, I worked. Which, to be fair, entailed a lot of sitting around and thinking, but it still counts. I also did a lot of writing. I’ll share that in the coming weeks.

🎉 In between I: walked (not much), gymmed (fair amount; I am now onto strength exercise and am seeing improvements), lunched and coffee’d, tutored (my friend’s 8th grader) and watched The Bear (I am on season 3, don’t judge).

🎾 Signed Zac up for a tennis club, which is literally down the road from me. Don’t know why it took me this long. He also went rock climbing, got four blisters, and loved it. That will be another 3 hours of my life, weekly 🤯 (see below!).

👮 I run my neighbourhood WhatsApp group (like a tight ship), and this week I found out via private DMs that one of us (we know who) has scammed multiple residents for thousands and thousands and thousands. Big money stuff. And the scam was blatant (took stuff, and didn’t pay for any of it). And when I say “stuff” I mean things like a full oak kitchen from a house that was being demolished, etc. What I find utterly amazing about this is that the culprit lives among us, isn’t scared of consequences (police?), is a repeat offender, and doesn’t give a shit. The audacity of some people astonishes me.

🎤 Taylor Swift announced a new Album (!!), and its timing (3 October) means it will probably be my Camino soundtrack. Bring it on! The only reason I survived Covid lockdown and all the shitshow was due to Folklore and Evermore. Literally listened to those daily.

💍 Brad Pitt is apparently engaged, which is a pity. I had some hope that he and I would get married, given that Matt Damon has been off the table for quite a while. Bummer.

Food for thought:

Shower thoughts: 

🚿 Saw this framework about buying stuff: Do you actually want it, or do you want other people to see you have it? Not gonna lie, kind of hit home. I hope I am not materialistic and trend following, but I probably fall into this trap more often than I care to admit.

🚿 This fascinating article is all about how school sport actually inhibits parents’ social lives. At first I was all “huh?”. When Zac played soccer, I considered the sport meets to be mostly a highlight: go and hang out with other parents while kid trains etc. But, as the author lays out: nope. It’s a time thief, forces you to spend time with people you probably would not choose to be friends with, and people you will not hang out with once the sports season is done. Training and tournaments eat into weekends, holidays and daily life. And let’s not forget how expensive sport is, from equipment, to camps, coaches, tournaments etc. Once I was done reading, I thought of all my “sporty” parent friends, and I could easily see how all this plays out. Parents put on a brave face and make it look like this is exactly what they signed up for, but honestly, I am not sure this is true. Thank heavens my kids are academic and not sporty. Not even kidding.

🚿 One of my absolutely most favourite things to do is to get a massage. So I would seriously consider buying this robotic masseuse, and keeping it (him?) in my house. I read the reviews (it’s currently in demo use in Boston) and people love it. Sure, I’d be slightly worried about it going rouge and hurting me, but I assume they are ironing out all kinks. While we’re at it, why not a robot that does actual ironing? Wait! I also need a cook.

🚿 Saw someone describe themselves as “nosy bitch who wants to find out” and now I want to steal it as my tagline.

🚿 This is funny. A UK magazine published a recipe saying that cacio e pepe is made with spaghetti, pepper, parmesan and butter. The Italian Restaurant Association wrote to the UK Ambassador saying that the official ingredients are actually pasta, pepper and pecorino. Italians are funny and serious at the same time. Reminds me of this clip, which is hands down one of the funniest clips on the Internet:

🚿 Not gonna lie, I’d also be slightly confused:

Speaking of Italians…

I’ve been watching…

This week we watched The Color of Money with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Stellar cast, but a copout ending. I mildly recommend it, but you can probably do better.

Looking ahead…

If all goes well, I will speak to G today, after not hearing from him for a week 😍 . Can’t wait. Unfortunately, I will only see him on Friday! 😥 In the meantime, this coming week I am planning on working some more 🤣 . I want to walk at least 5km a day. I also have 3 coffee dates with friends lined up, which is funny because one of the things I want to write about here (when I’m back from my “break”) is how I don’t think I have enough friends, but I don’t have time for more! Zac is going to the dentist, so please pray for me. Will almost definitely watch more of The Bear, and honestly I really hope I also start reading a book because it’s been ages since I’ve read something that’s not an online article or post.

Thanks for reading!

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P.S.