Weekend recap… A wet weekend in New Jersey, gray and drizzly but not cold. As I promised to myself, on Friday night I curled up with a glass of wine, a pillow and a blanket. T and I watched a movie – a prequel to “Rosemary’s baby.” It was good, a horror movie with a connection to dance, and I like dance. It was also set in fall/winter in New York City and that was cozy.

R’s back to school night was underwhelming. I mean – he is in pre-school. He has the same teacher from last year, same curriculum, but different peers. I talked to the teacher about his tendency to get frustrated when he cannot do something and she sees it in the classroom, too. His teacher is warm but not too warm (like me!) and she works with them with self-regulation, recognizing emotions, as well as letters and numbers. I liked that.

Saturday I went to yoga early, at 8, and it was a gray and wet morning. The yoga studio had the heat on (!) and salt lamps going. Again, cozy!

After yoga, I picked up the house, started laundry, then went with L to the nail salon, Panera, and her piano lesson. R was invited again to visit his buddy next door- they are so cute together.

After piano, I brought L home, changed, threw some makeup on my face and went to Luba’s birthday party. Luba is a mother of one of my Russian friends in the neighborhood; she is pretty much MY second mom.

Not everyone was Russian at this party but all were Russian-speaking. Example: a friend from Latvia that is not Russian but speaks fluent Russian. A friend who was born in Belarus- same situation. The table was pretty much breaking under the weight of all the delicious dishes Luba made (although it was HER 80th birthday, she still insisted on cooking and feeding people). A wonderful evening, full of toasts, memories, great friends and hearty food. Again- cozy!

On Sunday morning I was a bit off – wine headache. We were invited to a play date of my other Russian friend, whom I met at jiu jitsu lessons. R and her son are the same age, in the same jiu jitsu class, and they quickly became friends. We spent about 2 hours at their house, playing, talking, having tea and snacks.

On Sunday afternoon, I went to Korean sauna with my sister-friend H. We were both so tired and relaxed from the sauna heat that, at one moment, we were just sitting there, in silence, and staring at what was in front of us. She is a great person to be silent with, that kind of friend, you know?.. My massage was at 5pm but we met at 1:30PM to toast out bones for a bit. Heat can be so healing.

This week is going… It’s going. Three days of work, Thursday is a day off, Friday is work, Saturday and Sunday is off. As “off” as I can be… I am maintaining my yoga practice: yesterday, today, and on Saturday.

Random music recommendation: Constantinople music ensemble creates world music. I heard about them WQXR NYC classical music station. Look them up if you have Spotify or other streaming platform!

October

I hope that October will be better than September. September kicked my butt. It was just. So. Blergh. I looked at the titles from my September blog posts and had a good laugh since many are very negative:

Ah, moving on. To October!

Family

@ A date with T is my priority. We need some time to reconnect and not be surrounded by kids.

@ Hayrides and campfires event at the reservation

@ Flu shots for everyone 😓

@ Apple picking (thinking Basking Ridge…)

@ Piano/gymnastics/BJJ

@ Grounds for Sculpture on one of the Sundays w. kids

Specifically for T and L: ComicCon 2024 in NYC! T brings L for the first time! I am so excited for her.

Self

@ A comedy night for my sister-friend H birthday at a local vineyard (this weekend!)

@ Malevo dance performance with the same friend H at NJPAC

@ Grounds for Sculpture (that is for ME as well as for the kids)

@ Yoga

@ Weights (I bought a set of dumbbells that now are located in our master bedroom)

@ Halloween!!!

Professional/Work/Blog

@ New units for Sp 2 and Sp 3Honors

@ Continue creating interesting, collaborative activities for both levels

@ Continue meditation with students

@ Continue reaching out proactively to students

@ Wellness Committee meeting for the school

@ Take 1.5 PTO days off to care for my kids whose school is closed twice in October

@ Challenge Day for sophomore students at my school!

@ Day of the Dead celebration in both levels.

@ PSATs at my school -administration and proctoring

@ Continue blogging twice a week/ commenting and reading as much as possible without burning myself out 🙂

Fashion. I have so many nice shoes and I rarely wear them. No more! I brought some of my nice heels to work and will start wearing them – they make me feel good!