Hey, y’all, I’m recapping last week today!
Monday, March 24
Monday was suuuuper productive and somehow relaxing at the same time… it felt like I had infinite time. I don’t know how that works, but I sure do love days like that! I actually didn’t sleep well Sunday into Monday, so I was worried Monday would be a struggle, but it was quite the opposite.
I was awakened 30 minutes before my alarm to pouring rain, so I wasn’t convinced that it was going to be the best day. I got the kids off to school and then I made stops at the school office, Walmart, Publix, and the gas station (all in the rain) before making my way home. We were supposed to have an all-school Home & School Association meeting, but since I had sat in on the Advisory Board meeting earlier in the month, I decided to skip this one since I had so much else to do.
At home, I flipped the laundry I’d put in before I left, and I got another load started before settling in to finish my blog post for the next day and work some more on my Maui blog post tribute. And I looked at this picture that my Momma had sent to me on Sunday that she’d found in her camera roll. Look at that sweet baby girl.
So anyway, I got every bit of floor space sparkling clean on Monday, and that wrapped up my deep clean. It felt great to have it all done. I had just enough time to get dinner in the slow cooker after that, and then I had to leave to get in the car line.
I read my book while I waited, and I also got some books listed for sale for my sister-in-law in a private Facebook group. All of them sold immediately, so I spent some time getting details to the girls who purchased them, and then I texted Brian to go ahead and put one of them on the porch since she was swinging by to grab it ASAP.
Jacob had his first orthodontist checkup since getting his braces, but it was at 3:50 PM which meant that we had some time to kill between school and his appointment. I asked the kids if they wanted to grab a treat somewhere and they both agreed on Culver’s. They love that place so much!
Just as we were pulling in, I saw my parents’ SUV just a few cars in front of us, so I told Jacob to text them and ask them if they were headed there, too. They were, in fact, headed to Culver’s for a suuuuper early dinner, or “linner” as they like to call it, so we got to hang with them for a bit. The kids got concrete mixers, as always, and of course, we had to snap a picture with Pop and Cokie! It’s not every day that you randomly go to the same restaurant at the exact same time as your grandparents!
After his appointment, we headed home, and I looked over Olivia’s weekly folder of work that comes home every Monday. She’s started out the fourth and final quarter of fifth grade with a bang, and we know she’s going to finish strong!
I headed upstairs to my office with some hot tea after that, and I got my daily quiet time done. I spend this time writing in my gratitude and prayer journals, reading my daily devotional, and doing my Bible study. Some days this time feels rushed, and it was so nice that it didn’t on Monday.
The weather was still gross as it had been all day, so I didn’t send the kids out to play as we usually do on Monday. Instead, they both tackled some homework, studying, and tidying, and then I let them do some screen time for a bit while I cooked dinner.
Dinner was easy Monday night because the slow cooker had done most of the work for me, and we sat down to shredded chicken tacos, chips, and fruit for dinner. Easy peasy. This time of year, I rarely have the time to be cooking anything too involved. While dinner was finishing up in the slow cooker, I pulled all of Maui’s opened bags of treats out of the cabinet. I’m not ready to get rid of any of her stuff yet, but I do want to give the treats to someone so they don’t go to waste. I texted my friend, Jeannine, and asked her if we could bring them over for their new pup and she said yes.
Cleaning out the games cabinet made the kids remember just how many fun games they have, so Olivia announced that we needed to play What Do You Meme Family. That game is hilarious and easy and super fun for the whole family, and we highly recommend it.
All you have to do to recalibrate it is push a button in your Apple Watch app on your phone and then you need to take a 20-minute walk outdoors on a flat surface. Thankfully, the weather had started to clear, so I was able to get out for my walk, and I was treated to a gorgeous sunset that was revealed as the wall of clouds moved out. When I got back, I also did an arms workout, got some of the laundry put away, and I got ready for bed.
And that was my accomplished, get stuff done, and have some fun Monday!
Tuesday was quiiiite a bit different after the awesome Monday I’d had. It started out similarly in that I hadn’t slept well again, but I think it was because the air has been stagnant since we’re in that limbo where it’s not cold enough to need the heat, but it’s not hot enough for the air to kick on.
Anyway, the sun was shining Tuesday, and it warmed up a bit, which was nice, but the pollen was so awful Tuesday that I felt terrible all day. My nose has been running like a faucet for several weeks, but Tuesday it was on another level. Then in addition to that, I was very short of breath all day to the point where it was making me dizzy, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I also had a really bad day of neck, face, and jaw tension from my rubber bands, so it was just a yucky day all around.
I dropped the kids at school and spent the entire day working on my blog post for Maui with the exception of stopping for an hour in the morning to meet with my therapist.
Despite working on the post all day, I was still nowhere near done by the time I had to pick up Olivia from school, so when she and I got home, I went right back to work while she did homework.
Brian picked Jacob up from Velocity and then the two of them went to play golf for a little bit of practice.
I dropped Olivia off at dance a bit later, and then I went right back home and worked on Maui’s blog post until 6:45. Whew. It was a labor of love, that post (aaaallll the pictures!), but it was so worth it to have all of her memories in one place.
As soon as I finished, I wanted to move my body, so I got my shoes on and went for a super-fast walk, getting home just in time to start dinner, load the dirty dishes from breakfast and lunch in the dishwasher, and tidy the kitchen before Brian got home with both kids, as he and Jacob picked Olivia up from dance.
After that, I did a super late Bible study, and then after we got the kids in the bed, Brian and I watched some of American Idol.
Tuesday was just one of those days where I felt like I was spinning my wheels all day and not getting anywhere, so between that and all the allergies and braces pain, it was a rough one.
Wednesday, March 26
Wednesday morning, I was determined to have a better day than Tuesday. I dropped the kids at school and then I headed home to get down to business. On the agenda – blog stuff. First up, I responded to the backlog of blog comments that I’d gotten behind on. Then, I caught up on my blog reading for the week. And after that, I managed to knock out Friday’s blog post and Monday’s blog post from start to finish. Granted, those weren’t posts that took as much time as some of them do, but it felt good to get them off my desk.
After that, I got some of the laundry put away because I was tired of sitting at my desk, and then I came back to my desk to catch up on the blog post you’re reading now.
Once all that was done, it was time to go pick up the kids from school. I drove Jacob straight to the golf course where Brian and my MIL and step-FIL met us, and then they stayed with Jacob for his match. I had to get Olivia home to study, get her snack, make her dinner, and then get her to dance. And I did my Bible study while she studied.
Olivia and I also had a little bit of time to sort a few things in her room since she’s wanting to do a big room cleanout. We didn’t get much done, but anything at this point is helpful. Haha.
When I got home from dropping her at dance, I got the kitchen cleaned up, and then I headed out for a quick run… don’t know what happened to my pace either. I was sitting between 10:41 and 10:50 the whole time, and then at the very end of my run it jumped up by a whole minute. Makes no sense whatsoever. Hopefully recalibrating my watch didn’t mess it up.
Jacob told me all about his match – he’d gotten a bogey and two double bogeys which is pretty good considering this new course he’s playing on now is huge compared to the one he’s played on in previous seasons.
After dinner, we cleaned up the kitchen and then I got showered. Jacob got showered after I was done and I put away some of the laundry while he was getting ready for bed. Brian left to pick up Olivia from dance, and while they were gone, Jacob and I pulled out a new puzzle to start. This one is only 550 pieces and there are a lot of unique parts to it, so it won’t be nearly as tough as any of the ones we’ve worked on in the last few years. We listened to 90’s R&B music while we worked, and it made my heart happy.
Thursday, March 27
Thursday morning, I had nowhere to be, so I settled in for some blog work, and finally, some alumni relations work. The school hired me earlier this school year to update a big database for them with all of our alumni, but I’d been locked out of the spreadsheet for months. Someone was finally able to get me back in Wednesday night, so I have a LOT of catching up to do now. I ended up working on that for a couple of hours, but that only put a small dent in it.
After school, the kids and I went to music lessons. Jacob practiced a couple of songs in his book, and Olivia asked Mr. Steve to teach her how to play Happy Birthday because she wants to play it for my Mama Cass at her 96th birthday party in a couple of weeks. She picked it up very quickly, and she even learned a cute little slide in the middle.
After music lessons, we headed home. The kids got some studying done and then went outside for a bit, and I got my Bible study done and then headed downstairs to put a frozen pizza in the oven. At that point, I was checked out for the week, and since Brian had a tennis match, I decided not to cook. While the pizza was in the oven, I cleaned out a couple of our kitchen cabinets, and I got rid of a bunch of mugs and a couple of other items. I love the way the Rae Dunn mugs look, but I rarely use them because I don’t love how chunky/large they are in my hand… especially since I drink tea. So, I decided to get rid of a bunch of my collection to make room for other mugs since I collect so many different ones. I’m going to sell the Rae Dunn ones in that same local Facebook group that I sold the books, so hopefully I’ll get most of my money back for them.
After dinner, we got the kitchen cleaned up, and then the kids had some screentime. While they had their screentime, I worked on the alumni relations stuff for a good 30 minutes, and then I got in a strength workout while the kids got showered and ready for bed. It appears that my watch is still crappy with the calorie burning even after the recalibration. As a matter of fact, it may be worse. I only burned 60 active calories in 30 minutes. I used to burn at least double that for a strength workout. Boooo.
Brian and I ended the night with some more of American Idol and then I started a new book since I’d finished the one I’d been reading. I’ve never read The Fault in Our Stars, and a friend let me borrow it, so I finally started that one. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but so far, I like it.
Friday, I had nowhere to be, so I spent the day catching up on emails, blog comments, blog reading, working on this blog post, and then working on alumni relations stuff for a couple of hours.
I also downloaded some new music, got my quiet time/Bible study done early, and I tied up a bunch of loose ends since we were leaving for Nashville on Sunday.
After school, the kids and I headed straight home, and I worked on alumni relations stuff for another 30 minutes. Then, I got to packing. The weather is supposed to be awful the whole time we’re in Nashville – tons of rain – so between that and the fact that the temps are going to span from really cold to really hot, we’re all having to pack a large variety of clothes and shoes because there’s no telling what we’re actually going to need.
I struggled to pick out what I wanted to wear, but I decided on about half of my outfits, gave up, and then moved on to Olivia’s room to help her pick everything out that she needed. We got her (mostly) packed, and then I moved on to Jacob. A lot of the stuff he needed was dirty, so we gave up on that, and then I went back to packing myself.
A little after six, we headed to my friend, Jeannine’s, house for poker night with our usual group… it was much needed after a very busy week! They’d picked up pizza and had a big salad with tons of toppings, so we all grabbed a plate and a beer and then sat around all evening while the kids hung out in the den and outside.
The adults played poker all night, and my friend Jeannine had bought a little deck of movie trivia cards that we went through randomly all evening. And, of course, we chatted the night away and got caught up on all of the happenings in everyone’s lives. We see each other often, but there’s so much going on right now that there’s a lot to catch up on after not seeing each other for a couple of weeks!
Saturday, March 29
Saturday morning, we slept in, Olivia made homemade waffles – she used the waffle iron all by herself this time… she’s been too scared to use it prior to this – and while she did that, I unloaded the dishwasher and assisted her as needed.
After breakfast, we got word from my brother that their beloved Doberman of nine years had just passed suddenly Saturday morning. Our whole family was crushed to hear about it as we loved Toby so much. He was such a good boy – so gentle and loving – and he will be missed dearly. I dreaded telling our kids since Maui’s loss is still so fresh, and they both shed a few tears over sweet Toby.
The rest of the day was spent packing. My head, neck, face, and jaw tension were off the charts, and between that and the pollen I felt awwwwful all day. Packing was a challenge because I was so dizzy, and I was also overwhelmed and overstimulated with the kids coming in and out and asking 500,000,000 questions about the weather, what to wear, what to pack, and a ton of other things, so I finally gave up and took a break around 3:30.
After church, we went to dinner with our usual group – my parents, Mama Cass, Aunt Joy and Uncle Greg, and we also had my Aunt Maureen and Uncle Chris join us. We went to the little pub down the street from church that we love so much, and thankfully, they were able to seat us within about 15 minutes, which is usually not the case when we have a large group like that.
Right after we’d just sat down, some of our old neighbors walked into the restaurant. We hadn’t seen them in yearssss, so it was wonderful to see them. They moved into our neighborhood when I was probably eight or nine years old, and their boys who were slightly younger than I was, were my first neighborhood friends. We grew up playing street hockey, building forts, playing Sonic the Hedgehog, and swimming in our neighborhood pool.
Eventually, they had another baby, and I used to baby-sit him for them. They moved out of our neighborhood a few years later, and I continued to baby-sit for them even after they moved.
We are friends on social media, but I hadn’t seen Kim or her husband in probably 25 years, so it was great to hug their necks. They went to sit and eat at the bar, and Kim eventually came back over to snap a picture with me so she could send it to her son who I was closest with.
Sunday, we got up, had cinnamon rolls, I finished a blog post, I watched my sermon, we got ready, we finished packing, and we hit the road for Nashville. I’ll recap that day in my Nashville post, so stay tuned for that!
Happy Wednesday, y’all!
