Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty-Seven

1. Open up the chest. Loosen up the spine.

2. The way the light hits the valley in the morning — you can’t help but stop and stare.

3. Ugh. 9 a.m.

4. First-world conversations like sharing your favorite water brands, though none of us drink one in particular—for ethical reasons.

5. What is this place?

6. The feeling of powerlessness.

7. Longest week ever.

8. The beauty of homecoming week is not having to make dinner.

9. I miss Powder Puff, but this is fun.

10. Almost done with this week's homework.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty-Six

1. Rest day. Rest day!

2. Waiting to see if he gets up so I can get in the shower.

3. Cup o’ noodles really hitting the spot, even in 80-something degrees.

4. Oh no. I watch him lift the photographer over the fence. Now I have to say something.

5. I knew I shouldn’t have worn this sweater.

6. He’s being so weird.

7. Schramsberg. Shrimp cocktail. Crunch Squash. Little Gem salad. Massican Annia for dessert.

8. I don’t usually yell at people from the car, but I can with her.

9. Should I eat one of those burgers?

10. Falling asleep while writing sentences.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty-Five

1. No legs.

2. Don’t forget your gratitude.

3. Why is she always walking in the middle of the street?

4. I open the umbrella and find a slice of sun on the bench. Perfect, perfect weather.

5. What time is it?

6. No! Don’t put it in Chat.

7. She tells me that she’s so lucky because she loves her job. She really loves her job.

8. Whenever they use my first name, it always throws me off.

9. She says that this is so nice. That it has such a community feel. That it’s so sweet that the parents do this for the kids.

10. Acquisition vs. Accessibility. Knowing what to do vs. being able to do it when it matters most.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty-Four

1. The beginning of the end. No light during the morning walk.

2. A slice of sprouted grain bread and a very thin layer of dry almond butter.

3. The color of mulled wine.

4. A headache day.

5. The cruelty. What a dark heart.

6. He calls us bright lights. No, you are.

7. “…it’s how other people feel when you do what you do…”

8. I want a cup o’ noodles.

9. Why does it have to be so hard?

10. No dreams tonight, please.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty-Three

1. Nooooo. The contact is torn. Headache.

2. That time of year when I’m lying on my back doing a spinal twist and I see just how dirty the windows are, but I know that winter is coming, so there’s no point in getting them washed now.

3. Maybe a solution?

4. I want so many things. Many are competing. This is an energetic drain.

5. This show is crazy.

6. I take him to the gym. Solo work today because he knows he doesn’t want to go all out with the adults.

7. I forget that he can be funny at times.

8. The ice cream didn’t come.

9. Flow.

10. Just a few more weeks.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty-Two

1. A late start.

2. Saturday, but wishing it were Friday. Can we add another day between Saturday and Sunday?

3. Feedback is information.

4. I stick my finger in the middle of the clay and begin. Here we go.

5. I let out a deep sigh, and she asks me what’s wrong. I tell her it’s just that I wish I could do this more often.

6. You see them do it, and then you wonder why it seems like it’s so hard.

7. The same thing over and over and over again.

8. It’s the layering of everything.

9. There is no such thing as catching up on sleep.

10. 2026-2031.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty-One

1. Slow to rise.

2. Morning pages outside. The little slivers of sunrays slipping through the leaves.

3. The woodpeckers have found another spot.

4. Another day in bed.

5. Sunlight falling through the window.

6. I think the headache might be the TMJ?

7. Under normal circumstances, one would be shocked or surprised. But not today.

8. Tomato soup and grilled cheese.

9. I don’t want to go back?

10. “Eat the meat, throw away the bones.”

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Fifty

1. A slice of sprouted grain toast and a slab of butter.

2. The smell of football laundry.

3. They saw David Webber’s mom.

4. The last two homework assignments for the week. Then more reading tomorrow.

5. “No shenanigans.” He tells me he’s too smart to do dumb things. I know that he’s right.

6. Another headache.

7. As we head to the store for the pick-up order, I realize that no one is actually going to be home for dinner. It’s just the two of us.

8. The three-year-old is playing with a butter knife, clanking it against the table. She’s got one hand in her hair. I can tell that she’s done with the day.

9. Steak. Asparagus. Sub garlic parmesan fries for scalloped potatoes. Meyer Lemon Ice Box Pie. One glass of Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs. 2019 Schrader RBS To Kalon Cabernet. Decaf coffee.

10. Thank goodness for a third day. Thinking about adding a fourth.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Nine

1. TGIF.

2. Staring up at that ceiling after savasana. Sunlight pouring through the windows.

3. Why am I wearing heels today?

4. Yes. It’s always a yes.

5. No, I understand. I’m just confused about the “why.”

6. Windows down and Linkin Park up. Blue skies. The perfect weather for playing golf, he says. He’s got his arm out of the window, feeling the wind. It’s 3-something in the afternoon, and I think about how amazing it is to have a little bit more of this time. And this is why I want something to change. Because I want more moments like these.

7. Why have I never been here before?

8. A margarita, two Aperol Spritzes, and Dave Webber.

9. Having to dip early because you have to finish your quiz. And you’ve already had a margarita and two Aperol Spritzes.

10. I’ve got the best friends.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Eight

1. Feeling heavy-footed.

2. It’s 8:30, and I’m still in the bathroom. She asks me why I keep leaving the house so late. I tell her that I think it’s because that’s just how badly I don’t want to leave my house.

3. Constant headache.

4. I eat all of the food so it must not be that bad. And it’s even cold. It could be the 2 miles from this morning.

5. She will be missed.

6. We set out for our walk and look out into the distance. It looks like it’s raining over there, but we carry on.

7. A motorcyclist on the side of the road. He looks like he’s taking a break. I watch him step toward the edge and stoop down to pick something up off the ground. It looks like a picture frame.

8. The elusive third set.

9. Win!

10. 59 days.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Seven

1. Rest day.

2. I start to walk out the front door and realize the deck is wet. Wait. They did say something about rain.

3. “Alignment meaning: do my thoughts, words, and actions match?”

4. I think she’s crying. I almost stop to ask if she’s okay, but she’s actively trying to hide her face and look away. I tell myself that if I come back through and she still looks the same, I’ll ask her if she’s okay.

5. A light lunch.

6. “What happened to your dear friend?” Insert gut-busting laughter.

7. I tell the family chat that I’m trying to hurry up and finish my homework so that I can go to the game, too.

8. At first, I think she doesn’t care if I come, but then she says I can miss Back-to-School Night because I’ve already done it enough. Either she wants me at the game, or she doesn’t want me to talk to her teachers. I’m hoping it’s the former.

9. Look at all that green. Almost done.

10. Snoring.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Six

1. The cool, cool fog. A perfect September morning.

2. Whatever potential that was there is now gone.

3. “True wealth begins when you stop apologizing for the space you occupy.”

4. Meat bees.

5. Once you’ve had filet mignon, it’s hard to go back to cube steak.

6. I try to journal at my desk, surrounded by people, just to reset my mind. There is no focus today. Every day feels harder.

7. All the jokes about death.

8. “Does she still work here?”

9. He says he went down to the course by himself to practice short putts and chips. I wonder if he is missing his friends, feeling lonely. I remind myself that this path is his own.

10. Still five more pages to go.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Five

1. How would I feel if I didn’t do it? I'd better do it.

2. It feels a little like fall.

3. What’s the word? Punchy. I’m feeling punchy. I better stop drinking so much coffee.

4. Focus.

5. Perfect weather for an outdoor lunch. Except for the bees who want to eat my shrimp risotto

6. As we walk back up the hill, I tell them, “Well, yesterday on my family call, my uncle said, ‘Be encouraged.’”

7. The last two Tootsie Roll pops.

8. A sports-free night.

9. Miso-maple chicken with Brussels sprouts and rice. Only four of us talking about the Cubs and their home runs.

10. How much of it is necessary?

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Four

1. I really don’t want to get up.

2. She says it’s her favorite hairstyle she’s seen on me. And she’s been seeing me for six years.

3. Back in bed writing morning pages and drinking coffee.

4. Impactful. Creative. Joyful.

5. Creating containers.

6. When the headache spreads to your sinuses, and you feel it in your nose and cheek.

7. Keep it simple.

8. I know I really want ice cream when I’m willing to get it myself. I did, of course, check first to see if the teenagers were available to do it.

9. Can’t sleep.

10. Be encouraged.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Three

1. Three hours. So tired; it’s like that same feeling of being hungover.

2. Gas and green juice and coffee. A woman who is not from here asks me if the green juice is good. I mean, it’s green juice.

3. What a cool campus in a beautiful city-town. Clean. The fog has cleared, and everything is bright.

4. She seems offended that I am moving to the other side of the bleachers where they aren’t. I’m sorry that I don’t want to be a part of your purple-sequined brigade.

5. Loud.

6. We walk to the corner market to grab lunch. It’s like a tinier Sunshine. $10.49 for a can of frosting if you’re in a pinch.

7. You can see it on their faces.

8. A rough weekend of sports.

9. Debating a PTO day on Monday, but then reminding myself that the following weekend is Labor Day weekend. I can make it one full week. Can’t I?

10. Trying.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-Two

1. TGIF.

2. Coffee at home.

3. Calling for a meeting, then not doing any pre-reading for the meeting.

4. “I mean, it’s not rocket science.”

5. Fried chicken fried rice with a sweet and sour sauce. 2024 Trefethen Riesling.

6. You can tell we’re close to the coast by the way the trees have succumbed to the wind.

7. It’s way less stressful when your kid isn’t the one playing.

8. He’s a lot funnier than I thought.

9. The desire to write a strongly worded letter.

10. Full moon over my shoulder.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty-One

1. Things are different, but have they changed?

2. Sixty-seven days.

3. She gives me a referral to a sports med doc. Finally.

4. Water spilling everywhere and then I go and break the coffee caraffe which means no more coffee for me.

5. It’s almost laughable.

6. “Did I make the meeting tense today?”

7. “When seeking guidance, don't ever listen to the tiny-hearted. Be kind to them, heap them with blessing, cajole them, but do not follow their advice.”― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves

8. Sitting at the tiny desk and taking tickets and narrowly escaping being decapitated by a rogue volleyball. Back at it.

9. He asks me what was a good part of my day today. I say that it’s leaving work to come watch volleyball.

10. Too many things.

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Forty

1. Rest day? Rest day.

2. My fingers still smell like onions from when I make my lunch.

3. It’s the longest week. It’s still only Wednesday. If we could just have one more day back to be at home. I like being in my house. I like my friends, but I also really like my house.

4. Crying over Kitchen Nightmares.

5. Use all the senses.

6. “What are you excited about?”

7. A thrilling third set for the win.

8. A full-ish moon dangling above the ridge line.

9. I think I still have one more homework assignment to do.

10. What am I excited about?

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Thirty-Nine

1. Another weird dream. I blame it on stress. Eclipse season?

2. Big strength, little strength.

3. Six tiny breakfast sausages in a paper cup.

4. I really gotta work on my timing in the morning. I can’t get out of here fast enough.

5. Gratitudes.

6. There’s something off about their energy today. Disconnected? Aloof? Distracted? Whatever it is, I’m regretting that we’ve added them to these meetings.

7. Slow down, sir.

8. Perfect lunch weather. If nothing else, at least there is this.

9. Not the referral I was hoping for, but at least an order for bloodwork.

10. Wait. What happened to the chili?

Ten.Two Thousand, Seven Hundred & Thirty-Eight

1. So many nightmares lately.

2. These American bakers are not as talented as the British bakers.

3. The upside is the cool morning air on my scalp instead of heat building up under the hat.

4. Maybe faster.

5. Very rarely does he say something that makes me this… perturbed.

6. I’ll hit my 10,000 steps today. Thank goodness for the intern.

7. These views. These views.

8. She says we work so well off of each other, and she’s so right. We do. And that’s why our work looks so good. Why do they want to tear us apart?

9. I really need to read.

10. Should have ordered the ice cream.