It’s been quite a while since I visited here. Back in the summer, as events at scales both near and far from me were causing stress, I decided it would be healthier to spend less of my free time monitoring current happenings. I had some success doing this back in 2020 when I got really desperate (ugh, COVID etc.), but old habits die hard and I’ve been feeling some of the same things (including loss of control) as I did back then. It can be challenging to disengage because I deal with stress by seeking out information.
So for the past few months, when I feel the urge to doomscroll or whatever, I hit play on my audiobook and busy my body with doing something while listening, or I pull up my streaming watchlists, or my spouse and I go to the library for book-books. We’re both now consuming primarily fictional information, haha. It keeps our brains happily distracted, which has felt so much better. I previously eschewed audiobooks as I tend to miss things in that format, but I’ve learned to appreciate them and I’m getting through way more books than when I just read. My spouse noticed me using crappy old headphones and said I needed to splurge on AirPod Pros. I said “nah I don’t need those” and then changed my mind. Now I wish I would have done it much sooner. They are really fantastic and well worth the money if you use apple devices.
S23 is doing well. His summer internship went great and he’s already had several interviews for next summer. Still no meaningful friendships at college, but he got invited to room with a friend and just signed an apartment lease for next year. He’s looking forward to making his own food. He contemplated transferring closer to his HS friends (at my spouse’s suggestion and with our full support) for a hot second but quickly decided against it once he thought about it more.
He’s very busy, excelling in his courses, playing in the pep band, and is working as a supplemental instruction leader which is a great job that pays well and he gets to keep for as many semesters as he wants.
He’ll be studying in Europe next semester and got additional grant funding such that our entire COA for spring semester is $1K. I actually got emotional on the phone when the bursar’s office told me that—the grants were a big surprise. He wasn’t able to go abroad to the other European country where he speaks the language, due to course offerings. But he’ll travel to visit some friends in his language country during spring break.
S26 is doing really well in school this year and is hanging out with friends a decent amount (both those things have been not so great during various times). He has an idea for a potential career, but getting him to talk about plans is nearly impossible. He wants to switch jobs to work at his favorite store (HomeGoods), which is delightful. We are treading very carefully with any talk of post-HS plans but in his IEP meeting he agreed that we’ll discuss it a bit over the holidays. He knows we’re okay with whatever he decides, as long as he’s engaged in some sort of work, training, or study. Should he decide to go to college, he’ll have decently affordable options, including via my employer or our state institutions. We’ll get a couple spring campus visits scheduled if he’s interested. It’s nice that he went on some with S23 so he has some context.
Can’t wait to pick up S23 at the train station tomorrow. Hope sophomore year is going well and everyone enjoys some excellent holiday break time with their kids. Off to bake an apple cider cake which should be done about the same time as my current audiobook… Here’s the fantastic (easy! vegan!) recipe: glazed apple cider doughnut cake – smitten kitchen
LOVE smitten kitchen 