Running on autopilot

Every year I am looking forward to summer thinking that I will have time to do a lot of training and spend the time with the kids and every year I am surprised that I still cannot find any time to do anything. As soon as school ends, life becomes very hectic. Last two weeks of June were actually grate - one week both girls were at gymnastics camp, the next week kid#1 went to visit her grandmother so I only had to deal with kid#2, but then the hell began. Kid#1 started volunteer work at the elementary school, helping first graders that go to summer school, kid#2 is alternating between gymnastic camp one week and then Russian camp the next one. This means that my schedule is not only changes every single week, but it differ every single day. All I know that I need to leave work and run somewhere. The hard part is making sure that I remember what time I need to leave that day. If I manage to leave on time then while running to the car I, hopefully, can figure out who I am picking up right now and map out the directions to the destination in my head.

The next complex task is actually to stay on target route. This evening, for example, I thought I was going home. Luckily, I woke up just in time to have a chance to cut across two lanes and take the needed exit. Considering that in order for me to get the kid#1 from a friends house and then deliver her to gymnastics by 5pm I have no room for error, I would have been livid were I to miss the exit and have to spend precious minutes U-turning and dealing with additional traffic.

I find myself quite often driving somewhere on the auto pilot just to realize that I do not need to go to my office or the gym, but somewhere else. Gymnastics schedule is brutal - during the school year girls start practice at 4pm. Yes, there are some parents who can deliver their daughters to the gym by that time, but not me. Even that I work only 15 min away from home, I simply cannot leave office run home, then run to the gym and go back to work, so I don;t think the gymnastic practices could continue without out friend Sarah who is a college professor and hence comes home just in time to take her and my girls to practice.

As a payback I am trying, whenever I can, to bring her girl home from practice especially that the their house is right on the way home, but here comes the embarrassing part - consistently I forget that I do have O in my car. Running on autopilot as usually, I happily miss the turn to their house not blinking even once. Honestly, how hard can it be to keep the fact that I need to drop O at her house in my head for just 10 min. I think I remember it for about 5.  As usual, last night I was taking girls home, thinking about what ever I was thinking when the sudden smirk coming from the back seat brought me back to reality - sure enough I missed that damn turn again! In my defense, it doesn't help that there was a dead silence behind me. What 13 year old girls can ride quietly in the car? Apparently these two can, at least after 3 hours of gymnastic practice. I am thinking that maybe next time I should ask them to be loud so I can remember who is in the car with me.

On completely unrelated subject - there is something to say in support of the pocket camera, even if I am having a hard time taking the shots I want - I can carry it around everywhere. I sure would not bring my cannon to the quick trip to the creek, but I seem to take my small Olympus sz-10 everywhere I go for the last two days. On the bad side I spend more time playing with the camera and hence our walk lasts much longer than was planned - good for the dogs, not so good for me as it cuts into our training time.

Belle fishing

exploring the cave