Our Week - The One with Plants, House Projects, and Time at Home

Happy Monday, y’all!  This week was far less exciting than last week, but still good, nonetheless.  Let’s recap, shall we?

Monday, January 17

Monday, the kids were off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so we had a quiet day at home.  I had to finish catching up on things that had been neglected Saturday when we were in Athens.  We started the morning with breakfast and cartoons, and then I got a few things done in my office.  We worked on some more laundry, tidied a couple of spaces, played lots of games and did some crafts, and we spent the day indoors because it was soooo cold.  The temp maxed out at 39 Monday and it was gloomy all day, so nobody wanted to set foot outside.

After lunch, the kids played some video games and I fought with my computer… it’s suuuuper old, and its age has been showing for quite some time now, and Monday was just a really bad day to try to get anything done.  I had a blog post that needed finishing for the next day, though, so I plugged on and did my best. 

I had to stop at 3 to get Olivia to dance.  They are typically closed on holidays, but for some reason, she had all three of her classes on Monday.  While I took her to class, B and Jacob attempted to get outside and play some basketball, but they didn’t last too long because of the temps.  When I got home, I found them at the kitchen table playing another board game. 

I was able to finish my blog post when I got back, and by the time I was done, it was time to cook dinner.  Since B was off of work Monday, he was able to go pick up Olivia, so I didn’t have to delay dinner and that was really nice.  I had grabbed some child-safe knives from Amazon, and I taught Jacob how to chop veggies for the first time... first up was zucchini!

Olivia was thrilled Monday evening because she found out the theme for her end-of-the-year dance production.  It’s going to be… Sleeping Beauty!!!!  The dance teachers always let the girls guess what they think it will be the week before the big announcement, and for the first time ever, Olivia guessed correctly!  She scored a piece of candy for being right.  ;o)

After dinner, we all hung out for a bit.  The kids spent time reading Trivial Pursuit cards to each other to see how many questions they could answer – spoiler alert – not many.  Hahahaha.  And B and I sat by the fire.

After the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched the rest of Shark Tank and an episode of Emily in Paris, and then we went to bed early.

Tuesday, January 18

Tuesday morning, I got the kids off to school and then I headed to Publix to do our grocery shopping for the next two weeks.  Y’all.  Half of the dang store was empty!!  I mean, they were out of everything!  As a matter of fact, they were out of so many items that I wasn’t even able to get everything for three of the meals I’d planned to cook. 

The canned biscuit/cinnamon roll section was completely empty.  Not a single can of any brand or type in sight.  The cereal aisle was mostly cleaned out and they didn’t have a single box of Brian’s favorite cereal in any flavor.  Most of the spice section was randomly cleaned out.  They had zero packaged sausage other than one brand I’ve never heard of.  They had one single loaf of bread that I couldn’t get my hands on fast enough.  They had zero packages of salad dressing mix.  The frozen foods section was probably about 40% stocked, and they didn’t have half of the items we needed.  The packaged noodles section was probably only about 30% stocked and most types were completely wiped out.  I had to substitute different types for both noodles that I actually needed.  The bottled juice section was nearly empty.  They had zero packages of cream cheese (and I needed two for my slow cooker recipes – waaaahhhh).  And finally, they had no eggs except for a couple of cartons of some special kind/brand that I would never buy.  I mean, what?! 

It seriously looked like one of those grocery stores you see in the apocalypse movies except for the fact that our store was clean and there was nothing on the ground.  It was nuts.  And I didn’t even look at the paper products or cleaning products or bottled water… I imagine that stuff was probably all gone, too??

Yikes.

Anyhoo, I got the groceries home that I was able to buy and then I headed to my office to work for the rest of the day.  After picking up the kids from school, I got the pantry cleaned out, and then it was time to get Olivia to dance. 

While she was at dance, I dropped all of the donations off and then I stopped by a small, local grocery store to see if I could find any of the items that I hadn’t been able to get at Publix.  I was able to score the ranch dressing seasoning packets and the cream cheese that I needed for my recipes, so it was a success!  They didn’t have a canned biscuit or cinnamon roll in sight, though, so that was a bust.

When Olivia and I got home, I cooked dinner, and then I cleaned out the fridge and freezer afterward.  I’m really good about staying on top of those areas throughout the year, and since I meal plan, we don’t usually have much waste, so there wasn’t much to do there.

By the time that was done, it was time for the kids to get showered and ready for bed and I got in a quick stair stepper workout while they did that.  Afterward, we all watched a Fresh Prince, and then it was off to bed for the kids.  B and I stayed up and watched Ordinary Joe and This is Us and then we went to bed, too.

Wednesday, January 19

Wednesday, we didn’t have anything on the schedule for the entire day, so I spent the morning in my office trying to get ahead on the blog (the struggle is real) and catching up on life things.  It’s already time to do school registration for next year and it was time to get Jacob registered for baseball, so I checked those things off the list, too. 

Jacob surprised us this time saying that he didn’t think he wanted to play baseball this season, but he ended up deciding to play one more season.  He told us that he wanted to switch to golf, but since he’s still so inexperienced, we told him it might be best to do one last season of baseball so that will give him the spring and summer to practice golf and learn the rules and such.  We didn’t want him to jump into anything with so little experience.  We hope to get him to the golf course a bunch and maybe put him in some private lessons so next school year he can play for his school.

After the kids got home from school, they did homework, Olivia and I played a game together while Jacob finished up, and then after that, they headed outside to play basketball while I went for a run.  It was my first run since November and man, was I feeling it.  Within 30 seconds of starting, I felt a twinge in my knees and my legs felt stiff.  I also got that tight, cold feeling in my throat and chest, and I was struggling, y’all.  Lol.  I pushed on for two miles and may have felt like I was going to die by the time I was done, but I got it done.  I really need to start running somewhere other than our neighborhood.  It is so hilly.

When I got home, I showered quickly and got into my PJs, and then it was time to cook dinner.  I made some stir fry with chicken, rice, broccoli, red peppers, and pineapple, and then we all sat down and ate dinner together. 

After dinner, the four of us played a round of Pictureka, a new game that Olivia got for Christmas, and then one round of Brian’s old childhood game, Mad Magazine.  Olivia had said Wednesday morning that she wanted to have a family game night Wednesday, and she got her wish.  ;o)

After that, the kids showered and got ready for bed, and while they did that, I got the games cabinet cleaned out.  The kids have outgrown several games and puzzles, but they do still play most of the games we have, so I wasn’t able to get rid of much.  But I was able to say goodbye to a few things. 

After the kids were in bed, B and I watched two episodes of Emily in Paris, and then we called it a night, too.

Thursday, January 20

Thursday morning was rainy and cold, so I dropped the kids at school and then headed straight home to snuggle in a blanket at my desk and get some work done.  Mid-morning, I got up from my desk, and I took some time to clean out my office.  You may remember that I did a massive clean-out back in 2019 (I think?) and I literally went through every single box and file and everything else (including all of my keepsakes), so my yearly cleanouts since then are much easier as I don’t go through every single keepsake box and file.  Instead, I focus on the areas that I use most often like my desk, my craft table, my bookshelves, etc.  Since I’ve been excellent about maintaining my office since 2019, there wasn’t much to get rid of, and the whole process was pretty quick and easy.

After lunch, I finished up cleaning out my office, and then I had to head to the kids’ school early for a meeting.  I’ve mentioned before on here that I’m the playground committee, and we had a follow-up meeting to discuss how to proceed now that we’ve officially met our fundraising goal for the new equipment. 

By the time the meeting was over, it was time to jump in the car line, and then the kiddos and I swung by my parents’ house to pick up some leftover beef stew my momma had made and saved for us.  Since my momma is retired now, we were able to see her, too, and that was just the best! 

After that, we headed straight home to hibernate because it was just so darn cold and rainy.  I had listed our couch on Facebook Marketplace the night before, and my phone was blowing up all day with people inquiring about it, so I had scheduled a lady to come pick it up, but the rain continued all through the afternoon and evening, and we had to reschedule.  Boooo.

Instead, I worked on clipping the plant in my office that's been out of control, and I put a few clippings in water to try to root them.  Wish me luck because I do not have a green thumb!

I had done a slow cooker meal earlier in the day, so dinner was hearty and easy – beef stroganoff! – and I also made some broccoli and blueberry muffins to go along with it.  I’ve made it my mission to teach the kids more life skills this year, so I ordered some child-safe knives from Amazon last week, and the kids have been learning how to chop fruits and veggies.  I let Olivia chop for the first time Thursday evening, and she did a great job on the broccoli!

After dinner, the kids worked on their comic books that they’re currently writing, and I did some minor redecorating in our dining room, and then while the kids showered, I got in a short cardio workout.  B made a quick trip to our neighborhood Walmart Market to grab a couple of essentials, and then we got the kids in the bed. 

Once they were in bed, we watched an episode of Emily in Paris, and then B watched another episode of Bobafett while I caught up on social media for the day.

Friday, January 21

Friday morning, I got the kids to school and then I spent all morning working on the blog in my office.  Right as Brian and I were just getting ready to eat lunch, my phone rang, and it was Jacob saying that his throat was hurting.  Ugggghhhh.

I headed straight to the school to pick him up and, thankfully, he tested negative for Covid.  He currently has a kid out in his class who does have Covid, though, so I wasn’t totally convinced he didn’t have it.  Sometimes those tests give false negatives in the beginning of the illness, so I knew we’d need to lay low all weekend.  Thankfully, we’d planned to do that anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

I picked Olivia up from school later in the afternoon, and then the kids played and watched some YouTube videos until it was time for dinner.  I spent the rest of the afternoon in my office filing a few things and getting a few keepsakes put away in the kids’ keepsake boxes, and then B picked up pizza from our favorite place.

After dinner, we all piled on the couch and started season 2 of Secrets of Sulphur Springs.  Our whole family looooved season 1, and we were all so excited to see that the whole season had been released on Disney+.  We ended up watching the last episode of season 1 to reacquaint ourselves with the storyline, and then we watched the first two episodes of the new season. 

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched an episode of Emily in Paris and then B started the new season of Ozark.  I’m not a fan, so I promptly fell asleep.  Haha.

Saturday, January 22

Saturday morning, Jacob woke up feeling fine… he still had a bit of a scratchy throat, but had no other symptoms, so thankfully, it hadn’t manifested into anything major overnight.  We made homemade waffles, and then I sipped on some hot tea while the kids watched cartoons.  Mid-morning, I got in a cardio workout, and then I did my usual Saturday things – laundry, tidying, etc. while B headed off to a tennis match.

The kids were busy all morning playing in the playroom and then doing their laundry, so I took some more time to continue refreshing some of our dining room décor from items that we already have, and I also got a few other minor projects done around the house.  By the time I had finished with those, it was time to make lunch for the three of us.  

B got home just after we'd finished, and after eating a quick lunch, he and the kids went outside for a long time and played basketball.  I was wondering if our kiddos would tire quickly of basketball, and I’m happy to see they haven’t yet.

By the time they got back inside, it was time for them to do their afternoon tidy up and then they played video games for a couple of hours.  It was soooo cold all day Saturday, so I didn’t want them spending too much time outside, especially since Jacob had a scratchy throat.

While the kids played, I got some work done, and then I spent some time in our laundry room trying to figure out how to get everything settled in there.  You may remember that I started a laundry room refresh back in 2020, and then Covid closed everything down, so we weren’t able to hire someone to come and build the shelf/table over the washer and dryer like I’d originally wanted.

Fast forward two years, and we just bought a new washer and dryer – this time a top-loader – so I can’t even have the shelf/table installed like I originally wanted.  Therefore, I wanted to figure out how to have a narrow ledge installed instead, but because the ledge can’t be as wide as it was going to be originally, I had to come up with another solution for storage. 

I finally figured out that if I move a couple of things around in there that we can buy a small cabinet to hold all of the items that’ll no longer fit on the shelf, and then we can just have someone install a small ledge over the washer and dryer to hold decorations, and that will cover up the ugly plug and wires.  Our laundry room is tiiiiny and it also houses our breaker box as well as the box that holds our router and all of the wiring for our internet, so there is barely room for anything else.

Once I knew that I wanted a small cabinet to put in there, I immediately checked Amazon, Target, and Walmart.com, and I found the perfect one to go in there.  It had to be just the right dimensions to fit, and thankfully I was able to find exactly what I was looking for without compromising any of the functionality or style.  I went ahead and ordered that, and now I’ll just have to get it all put together when it arrives later this week.  Eek!  It’s exciting to have things underway again after a super long hiatus. 

In addition to the cabinet, I’ll be moving a couple of items around, I have to move the ironing board organizer to a different wall, we have to find someone to install the ledge, I need to hang all of the décor that I’ve had forever, and eventually I’d also like to get a new light fixture to hang in there as the one that’s in there is the old, ugly builder-grade light that doesn’t provide enough light.

By the time I finished with all of that, Brian was heading out to grab dinner at Five Guys, and I headed downstairs to set the table.  After dinner, we watched two more episodes of Secrets of Sulphur Springs followed by one episode of Mighty Ducks Game Changers, and then 1/2 of a Secret Benedict Society.

B and I watched the season 2 finale of Emily in Paris and then another episode of Ozark, and I took that time to clean out some of my List Master app before falling asleep again.

Sunday, January 23

Sunday morning, B headed out to grab some donuts for breakfast.  As a mentioned before, we still can’t find the canned cinnamon rolls anywhere here in town, so B went out and bought some for us instead.  We watched Mass virtually, and I got my planner organized and ready to go for the week ahead.

After breakfast, we tested Jacob for Covid a second time, and he was negative once again.  He still wasn’t having any other symptoms, and the rest of us were still fine, so we figured it was fine for him to go back to school on Monday.  I ran it by his teacher via email, and she responded almost immediately saying he was good to come back.

After testing, the kids watched some cartoons, and I played around with the décor in our dining room and front sitting room some more.  It always takes me forever to get things exactly how I like them and I often have to leave things out and sleep on them for a while before I finalize them.

All the while, I was still dealing with selling our old red couch on Facebook Marketplace.  UUUUGGGGHHHH.  People are just AWFUL on there, y’all.  AWFUL.  The first lady who wanted it and reassured me over and over again that she was going to come get it ghosted me on Friday, the day she was supposed to pick it up.  So, I contacted someone else who said they wanted it, and she told us she’d stop by Sunday after church and then she ghosted me.  A third person was just completely noncommittal and wouldn’t even tell me a day and time that she wanted to come look at it, and then I had another guy who kept messaging me way too much, but his Facebook profile was super shady so I wasn’t about to give him my address.  Sigh. 

After lunch, B and the kids and I went outside to play basketball, and while we were out there, we saw the people who just bought the house across the street from ours taking a walk, so I ran over there to introduce myself.  They have two boys (one who is older than Jacob, and one who is Olivia’s age) and a Goldendoodle puppy, and they were super, super nice.  It was good to finally meet them.  I’m so awkward and I just don’t like knocking on someone’s door if I don’t know them, so we hadn’t had a chance to meet them yet.  Them taking a walk around the neighborhood sure made that easier!

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing a little bit of work while the kids played video games (it was freezing again Sunday so we didn’t stay outside too long), and then for dinner, B and I ate some leftover white chicken chili that my mom had cooked that we’d frozen. 

After dinner, the kids got showered, and while they did that, B and I filled out some paperwork for Olivia.  We received a letter from her school on Thursday saying that she has met criteria to be in the Challenge (gifted) program at school, and they want to test her further.  

After the kids were ready for bed, we finished the episode of Secret Benedict Society that we'd started the night before, and then after the kids were in bed, B and I watched Shark Tank as well as the end of that crazy NFL game.

And now for a few current things…

Currently Reading

 

This month, I’ve been reading the new Nicholas Sparks book, The Wish, and I’m really enjoying it.

 

Currently Watching

 

With B:  This month, B and I have been watching This is Us, Ordinary Joe, Supermarket Sweep, Shark Tank, The Bachelor, and Saturday Night Live on network television.  And we, of course, watched the National Championship game earlier this month… GO DAWGS.  Then for streaming, we’ve been watching season 2 of Emily in Paris and Bobafett, and we also started the new season of Ozark.  Not my favorite, but B loves it.

 

With the Kids:  We’re still working our way through The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and we also picked Mighty Ducks Game Changers, Secret Benedict Society, and Walk the Prank back up after a long hiatus.  We started the new season of Secrets of Sulphur Springs and we also watched Sing 2.

 

Alone:  My TV watching in my office has ceased for the most part and I’ve just been listening to music, but I have watched The Big Wedding, Father of the Bride, and My Best Friend’s Wedding recently.

 

Currently Listening To

 

The 90’s pop station on Amazon all day, erry day… THE ACTUAL BEST!!!!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!