Done

As one of our Scoopers says, "I'm not going to hold you" with today's email. I'm super tired after an intense weekend. I went to a day of my K-12 school reunion in Washington, DC, on Friday. Then I got stranded that night after my 10 p.m. train—the last one for the evening—got delayed four hours. I needed to be back in the city by 6 a.m. to run my last 9+1 2026 marathon qualifying race, the Mastercard Mini 10K. By the time they announced the second train delay, I started trying to figure out my escape route. I ended up getting on a 12:35 a.m. bus that got me back to the city by 5:30 a.m. I got home by 6 a.m., took a shower, grabbed Ila (who was running in the kids' portion of the 10K), and dropped her off at her track teammate's house so I could pick up my bib and head to the start line.

Ila and I on a blocked off Central Park West after running the Mastercard Mini 10K

At this point, I was operating on five-ish hours of bus-chair sleep and midnight-snack-machine trail mix. I ran the race and somehow didn't feel like death afterward, even running through the humidity. The rest of the day was full of errands for the store and the kids as I prepped for my trip this morning to FAB, a conference created for women working in food and beverage

Here at FAB, I was able to catch up with some of the ladies that I’ve met through the Black Women in Food conference. Left to Right: Vanessa Daniel, strategist at Figure8, a 2025 Black Women in Food Honoree, and Nina Oduro, co-founder of Dine Diaspora, Black Women in Food

Yesterday evening, as I was washing my hair—one of the few things left to do before going to bed—Ila reflected back to me how crazy the last two days had been. In so many words, she told me I was doing too much. I had traveled to and from a state in less than 24 hours, slept very little, run a 10K, taken my children to their different activities and social obligations, made dinner, and washed Zadie's and my hair. When you hear your 12-year-old tell you you're doing too much, it hits different.

It's so hard for me to say no to myself. I'm a joiner to my core. And if my commitment to sending these weekly missives is a testament, I don't like to give up when the going gets tough. I saw this illustrated in my 10K race pace analysis—I went faster on some of my elevations than when the course was flat. What can I say? I lean into hard. This has gotten me far, but as I've been saying for the last few weeks, I know burning the candle at both ends is not sustainable.

I’m here with some of my ice cream people! Left to Right: Tamara Keefe, owner/founder of Clementine’s in St. Louis and Andia Xouris, co-owner/co-founder of Andia’s Creamery in North Carolina.

So, again, I'm not going to keep you because this mama is tired. But mark my words: this time next year, I will have a new organizational structure in place for Sugar Hill Creamery that will have a resounding positive impact on my life and my team's, and I will have figured out how to better manage my childcare needs so that I have time for self-care and my other projects.

I'm out!

Petrushka

Your Local Ice Cream Lady & Life/Business Coach