HR Mom

❤️ 🇲🇽

Yesterday Regina Martinez Lorenzo made history as the first woman from Mexico to compete in the Olympics in a cross country skiing event.

Martinez, an ER doctor from Miami, started skiing whie completing her internship in Minnesota. Fighting lonliness and seasonal depression, the sport became her refuge, and she would say, saved her during that challenging time.

As she grew to love the sport, she reached out to someone who agreed to coach her and intensify her training. Martinez mostly worked out in snowless conditions, using roller skis to improve her technique and endurance.

Many times she struggled with maintaining her medical studies and her training, but she did not want to choose. For her, the sacrifice was worth it. At one point she even supplemented her income by becoming a dog walker so she could afford the airfare to compete and train.

Yesterday she proved that you can still win by coming in last. She finished a distant 108th place out of 108 competitors--and she still made history.

The best part? Several medal winners and competitors were at the line to celebrate with her. Martínez was first embraced by Brazil’s Bruna Moura, then greeted by Karlsson and Ebba Andersson of Sweden and American legend Jessie Diggins — the three medalists who waited to congratulate the final finisher. The crowd roared as she came finished with iced tears on her face.

The Olympics feel a little cluttered this year. We are on top of the athletes with drones, we're pressing them for social commentary, we're diving deep into their personal lives.

But still, at the heart of it, are ordinary people defying the odds to do something magnificient--and then the super humans who remind us that simply crossing the finish line is something to celebrate.

What a moment for Mexico. What a moment for women supporting women. What a moment for Martinez.

What a moment for sports.

What a moment for us.

Reminder today to carve a few minutes to care for your own nervous system.

Here’s the latest addition to my little crochet collection.

💊 “If you’re happy and you know it, it’s the meds!” 🎶

❤️ If you need them, take them. 😘

P.S. Set yourself and your family up for a successful week by prepping lunches, laying out clothes, getting ahead on assignments, whatever it looks like for your family team.

Review the week’s calendar together so everyone knows what to expect, and what their individual family role entails. You should not have to carry this load alone.

For almost two weeks now, I’ve been working on a long piece to post about policing in America - about Renee Good, then Alex Pretti, ICE juvenile detention centers in my own state… and as soon as I thought my fragile flooded nervous system could handle the onslaught of comments it will bring, the headlines would deliver another blow.

I would add to the post, and it would become longer, sadder, and angrier.

Then this administration would reach yet another low.

Met with zero accountability.
Silence from his supporters. Gaslighting from the very top.

Then another blow.

I would continue to spiral.
I have not figured out how to manage it.

This is the life of a neurodivergent perimenopausal parent in the midst of her tween daughter’s adolescence, her Senior’s college applications, husband’s work travel, and her country’s descent into fascism, I guess.

But silence is violence in times like these, so the other post must wait.

Then Trump posts the newest outrageous racist trope. His staff immediately downplays it as “images from Lion King” - *cough* there are no apes in Lion King - then labels it fake outrage, then Trump says “go to hell,” and finally deletes it.

At this point, it should be absolutely impossible for ANYONE to deny the blatant racism of this President and his cabinet.

Their frequent use of known N**i language and symbolism on official White House pages is intentional. Then group chats riddled with N-words, gas chambers, swastikas, Hi**er references… all totally brushed off. Their most recent nakedly racist posts were created and posted on purpose. They’ve stopped us from talking about his being implicated in the largest s*x trafficking ring in human history.

As soon as accountability closes in on these rich white men, they know they can always appeal to the very worst of human nature; just redirect that anger back to their shared hatred of Black and brown Americans.

White Americans - we have got to stand in the gap, like many are doing in Minneapolis. They are paying a very high price to stand up for the safety of Black and brown Minnesotans. We all have to be willing to forfeit the benefits our protective shield of whiteness provides and say, “We will not stand for racism. We can maintain law and order and enforce immigration law without violence, abuse, and violating human rights. It has taken us far too long to get our hands dirty in this fight, but we’re in it now, and we are here to stay.”

Regardless of party, this racist behavior, from ANY American - but especially from a sitting President - is absolutely unacceptable.

There are pet people, and then there are PETTTTTT PEEEEOOOOPPPLLEEE. I think you know exactly what I mean.

I worked in HR at Petco Headquarters, so I’m actually professionally qualified to sus out true animal lovers from the mere pet likers. 😜 And man do I have some stories.

I love my kiddos’ two dogs, I really do, but I don’t remember our parents spending real US dollars on our pets like we have for our kids’ doggos - and I carry some internal moral conflict about it all. Anyway… it’s been an adjustment. 😬

So today, I drove 45 minutes (one way) to our beloved vet’s office for ’s important post-surgical Ph urine test.

He couldn’t/wouldn’t p*e 😐 (& his bladder too empty to take sample.)

Y’all. I had trouble fixing my face when the sweet Vet Tech Chippy McGee said, “No problem! Just catch a urine sample! Then draw it up into this here syringe and sq**rt it into this little vial and keep it in the fridge and swing it back by (90-min round trip) tomorrow!”

😳

Aside from my normal brain-glitching when given six-step verbal instructions, is this kind of at-home veterinary labwork more common than I realize?

Is this actually going to be no big deal? Easiest, most sanitary way for me and Little Sis (age 12) to do this?

🐶 🥣 💉🐾 🧪



{Image description: Close up of Toby, our black & gray Schnauzer/Westie mix, often called a “Wowzer”, wearing an inflatable pink donut of shame post-surgery from kidney stone removal. Inset is a photo of a tiny glass lab vial and syringe for urine collection that fits in the palm of my hand.}

⏰ It’s that time! ⏰

In our house, the success of our school week largely depends on the choices we make on Sunday evenings.

Set a five minute timer! (Or press play on “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Hotel California!”)

- Have the kids pack their lunches tonight.
- Make sure they have a full outfit laid out (with shoes!)
- Get all school forms signed
- All supplies and homework get zipped into backpack
- All devices are charged
- Put all bags (sports/bad gear, etc) near the front door or in the car

When we’re NOT on the ball like this, we end up scrambling around in the morning, and it sets the WORST tone for the next day and week.

If this isn’t already habit, handwrite this “Sunday checklist” in Sharpie on bright cardstock and tape it to the fridge.

⭐️ New rule: No screens on Sundays until it’s complete! ⭐️

Stay consistent, and it can become habit in no time!

It takes a far greater toll on our executive functioning, peace of mind, and relationships to scramble around all week than it does to just set a timer and focus on our short lists as a family every Sunday.

* What do you do on the weekends to set yourself up for success during the week? * ✍️

{Image: Big Bro is about to graduate high school using Little Sis’ old bright pink lunchbox because (after losing yet another one) we told him we weren’t replacing it. After two years, he’s well-known around school for his hot pink lunchbox and everyone on campus helps him keep up with it. 🙌😂}