And oh, did I have grand plans! I'd take Katrina and Julian to the park, to meet up with the 2006 Las Madres group at 10am (finally!). Then I'd take them running in the double jogging stroller. Katrina would get her morning nap there, then we'd go home and have lunch. I'd take the kids to Rite-Aid to pick up a prescription, and buy more kid toothbrushes (to resolve a nightly conflict over the one SpongeBob toothbrush), and Katrina would take a good nap in her own bed in the afternoon.
The Plan fell apart by 9:45am, when Katrina really, really needed a nap RIGHT NOW. She napped until noon, I gave her and Julian lunch, and went about the thousands of details needed to get two kids out of the house, and myself ready, to run.
By the time we hit the trail, it was 1:15pm, and it was hot. We're having a mini-heat-wave right now, and somehow I managed to pick the hottest time of day on a hot day to run an open enough trail for a double jogger, which means little shade. And it was hot. And tough. The route I took isn't all that steep, and I've run it before with the double, but today I compulsively tacked on an extra little bit. It darned near wiped me out. I couldn't believe how bad I felt on the way back, which was mostly downhill.
When we finally arrived at the parking lot, I was shocked at how dizzy and strange I felt in the head. I'm not entirely certain, but I think a lot of that was due to a migraine flickering the background. After all, yesterday was Monday. Then again, much of the exhaustion could easily be from the heat and supreme effort of pushing the double jogger up even the most modest of hills. Whew.
My car was parked in the shade, and the parking lot was actually fairly breezy, so its outdoor thermometer shouldn't be too far off. Should it? It read 100 degrees.
I had an impulse to pick Gabriel up on the way back, early at 3:15pm, but decided that today wasn't the day to test out having him home early. I was so so tired and hungry, and knew that as it was, I'd have my hands full with the younger two the second I walked through the door.
And sure enough, Katrina came through: fussy and edgy and crying and impossible to please. The low point came trying to wash my face from eye-stinging sweat with one hand while holding her, and trying to snag gulps of warm water in between. Sheesh, grownups in the real world are allowed a few moments to take care of themselves when they're completely wrung out!
I got her down for a nap and took a quick shower while Julian played by himself downstairs, as he had much of the day. He was angelic today; calm and cooperative and sweet and playing quietly with books or drawing. He doesn't get much unfettered time alone at home, it was nice for both of us. We had a nice yogurt snack together before going to pick up Gabriel.
After dinner, I attempted to get a photo of all three, since it so happened they were all dressed in light blue today. It's not a total accident, as I do choose all their clothes the night before. But it's not really a conscious matching thing either. I was just in a light blue state of mind, I guess.
The photo session was a bust though.
First, the boys were still excited about their reunion, the exact moment of which marked the end of Julian's affability. Immediately, he was injected with Obnoxious Potion and did his utmost to cause trouble thereafter.
Then Katrina was crying inconsolably. I took a picture anyway, and unwittingly captured a rather tender scene of Gabriel genuinely trying to comfort her. It never ceases to warm my heart to see how consistently and completely he loves his little sister.
Meantime, Julian just did his best to ruin the photo shoot.
I whisked Katrina up off to an early bedtime, nursed her for a good long time,then picked her up for the bath.....uh-oh. It was hot today, but not hot like this. Her skin had that now very familiar burning sensation. Sure enough: 101.7. No wonder she'd been extra-high-maintenance tonight, and didn't eat well. This is her first real temperature, too. I wonder if it could be teeth?
Selfishly I'm praying that she'll be better tomorrow. My one baby-free day of the week is coming up Thursday. I'd even toyed with the idea of tackling the tough PG&E trail again. But not with today's temperatures. Both of them.
8/28/07
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