I did something I haven't done for several weeks: some renovating! I worked on the window exteriors in Le Chateau, the windows that open into the staircase. Today I applied MAP around all of the big gaps. Tomorrow I can sand and caulk. Dio has been prepping for his big oral presentation tomorrow. Zari has been memorizing hundreds of dates. Big stress tomorrow and then a nice 5-day wekeend ? Ivy's back has been hurting for 5-6 weeks now, every time after she plays soccer. We keep thinking it will get better but it hasn't. I booked an appointment with our family doctor, who I predict will orde ..read more

The 3 oldest kids were supposed to be on a 3-day camping trip. We're all glad it was cancelled, because they would have already been in day 2 of steady rain. I finally managed to dry some of my breech-related items enough to pack them away. I had to put them on heaters and run fans on them. Putting them outside on the laundry lines just got them wetter! Ivy and I are working on a quilt for one of her friends. It's mostly done. I told the kids, "Good thing I love you so much that I make cool things for your friends!" Our fridge, which has been broken for something like 2 months now, has been ..read more

I got home last evening and tried hard not to do anything but the most urgent emails. We've been doing some crafty things, watching Doctor Who, lots of laundry and some deep cleaning. Some scary things were growing on leftovers in the fridge...Eric hadn't taken them out since before I left in early April! It's been raining on and off all day, which has frustrated my attempts to do laundry. I did three loads but they're all wetter now than when I took them out of the washer. Ivy and Inga made a "green space" today, finding every green object in the house and decorating a corner of the living ..read more

After a great day of teaching a group of obstetricians and midwives (and one doula!), I came to my apartment all smiles. I get to go home tomorrow! And then I collapsed on the bed and crashed. Eric woke me up to check in--I'm glad, because it was too early to go to bed. I don't have to wake up early tomorrow (although I probably will, knowing my luck). I'll have an unhurried drive to the airport, only 15 minutes away, and see my family by the evening ..read more

If only I had a backpack, hiking boots, and walking sticks, I would blend in with everyone else. This city is the final destination of many pilgrimages. My mom did the final 100 km of the Camino de Santiago several years ago. I'm just a few minutes from the main cathedral. I wandered around a bit this afternoon while waiting for my airbnb to open up. I went out again to see a bit more of the central city and to buy some food for dinner. It's still not very warm: high of maybe 9 Celsius today. And my apartment is mostly unheated and I'm SO COLD. I hoped to warm up by taking a shower...and ..read more

Happy 15th birthday, Dio! I was able to talk to everyone twice today, once in the Prague airport and once in the apartment here in Barcelona. But it's not at all the same as being there. I can't believe it's already been 15 years! Dio had white-blond hair when he was born and little skinny chicken legs. He was just 7 lbs, very long and skinny. Kind of like he is today, except now he's over 6 feet tall, long, and skinny. My day started at 4:45 am...2.5 hour drive to Prague...flight to Barcelona...taxi ride to the venue...45 minute walk to pick up the apartment keys and the handouts...10 minute ..read more

We had a fantastic day of teaching. It started a bit stressful--the parking instructions we had weren't great and we couldn't get past the barriers and then we had to go a few different places. But we got it all sorted out and still had time to set things up. This workshop was funded by a grant that our amazing organizer secured, so all 32 participants got to attend free of charge! Because they enrolled relatively late, most had not done the online training beforehand. So we had to adapt a bit and do some teaching to the group before doing our simulations and other activities. I also came up ..read more

I rented a car for the first time in our Grand European Tour. I was a bit hesitant because I was driving into the Old Town and then back out again...but it wasn't so bad. We had a 2.5 hour drive to Brno, with heavy traffic the whole way. I'm not sure if this is something taught in Czech driving schools, or just something that everyone does, but when cars want to pass, they go RIGHT up to your back bumper. This must have happened to me at least 30 times (and I was going 130 km/hr!). Seriously, it's so dangerous. By the end, I could anticipate it and get out of the way quickly. But sometimes i ..read more

I worked most of the day on video and book editing. But I decied that I coudn't stay indoors the whole day! So I booked a "Prague Underground" tour that sounded really fun. In reality, it was underwhelming and overpriced. We saw the basements of 3 buildings, 2 of the 3 decorated with kitschy themes. The torture one was fun if only because I was taking pictures for the kids to see later ? I met up with Kristine and some of the workshop organizers and attendees for dinner. I had a beetroot risotto with goat cheese. So good! When we were walking to get Kristine, the street was com ..read more

I'm totally exhausted and my inbox is terrifying (so many emails since this morning that I can't evne see them all on one page!). I'm not even going to try until tomorrow ..read more