fun in the sun

S U M M E R V A C A T I O N

It's amazing how being stuck inside for months can make a weekend trip downstate to visit my parents into the Event of the Summer.

It's also amazing how well the Event of the Summer works as motivation. By 3:30 p.m. on Friday, I had showered, packed, done all my work for the day, taken out multiple loads of trash, paid the rent, and walked 10K steps. I was washing the dishes when Dad texted to say he was almost there. (He came to pick me up so I didn't have to take the train. Thanks Dad!)

It was a great evening. Dad and I went cruising around downtown, conquering gyms and beating up Team Rocket members. We also two-manned a Rayquaza raid (that double ice weakness) with 35 seconds to spare. Then we came home and Mom had dinner waiting for us: salmon, quesadillas, and homemade salsa and chips. We had a long talk over dinner about BLM and defunding the police and such. I got to tell them all about my recent disagreement at work. Mom agreed with me!!

With all that going on, I didn't have time for a nap, so I conked out shortly after midnight. (Lately my bedtime has been pushing 3 am.) Is this the path to resetting my sleep cycle?

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Saturday was a chill day. It rained all morning; Mom and Dad went shopping while I stayed home in the sun room. Dad had the sun room installed a few years ago and it's basically one of the seven wonders of the world. It's full of greenery both inside and outside (the limelight hydrangeas are taller than me, and wider than they are tall) and is populated by a thriving community of animal figurines and cool rocks. I sat there drawing artfight stuff while the rain drummed softly on the glass ceiling.

The rain let up late that afternoon, and we went on an hour-long walk in the woods. Couldn't ask for a better time. We saw nine deer, all of which were very chill. They seem basically indifferent to people. As we were driving back, there was a deer at the side of the road; he moved a couple feet to let us pass, but he was very unbothered.

Also Dad and I two-manned another Rayquaza for the heck of it. That's another 12 revives, rip my item bag. Dad showed me he was bragging about our raiding prowess to his raid group chat. Now that he has connections, the tables have turned; he's the one overflowing with legendaries (10 Kyurem) while I have none of the new ones. He traded me a Kyurem.

That night, Mom was repping Homestuck with her Dave Strider t-shirt. She doesn't know she's repping Homestuck, it's just a hand-me-down shirt from Jem, but it makes me smile every time.

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Sunday was a little less chill because of surprise guests. (Well, a surprise to me, anyway. When I showed up on Friday evening, Mom was like "We were going to just have a quiet day with you on Sunday, but...") A few days ago, Jeremy and Raquel told Dad they'd be passing through town, and Dad invited them to lunch, and then he randomly also invited Jasper. Getting the whole gang together again.

I opted to stay mostly outside. It was a stunning blue-sky day. I took a walk around the neighborhood, then returned to the garden to do some photography in proper sunlight. I spent a lot of time by the water's edge watching the dragonflies flit up and down the shore. Most were blue-black with striking white wingtips; I also saw some tiger-striped ones, including a mating pair.

(Soaked up a lot of sun today. Earlier, Dad went shopping and I walked for 20 minutes in the parking lot; then we went on a brief walk at the local forest preserve; then there was my long neighborhood excursion. Felt more tired than usual, I think. Probably just not used to the summer sun.)

Overall, great weekend, great time hanging out with Mom and Dad, great everything.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the static arranged a Sunday raid at the usual time, with Frey agreeing to sub for me. Frey even bought gear off the market board because he didn't have a dps at the required item level. Then Silver no-showed. He turned up two and a half hours late apologizing for sleeping through his alarm. HGR was facepalming in scum chat. "I don't mind so much when it's just us," he said, "but I feel really embarrassed with a guest here." So I was not the limiting factor on raid this weekend. Poor Frey though.