Our Week - The One with Two Lunch Dates and Two Birthdays

We had yet another wonderful week, and today I’m recapping it all on the blog! 

Monday, March 14

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school and headed straight to Publix to get all of our grocery shopping done.  I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working until it was time to get the kids from school.

At school, Olivia had taken her quarterly STAR reading test (the one that determines their AR level), and when she got in the car, she was bursting with the news that she had gotten the highest score in the whole class.  I had already received an email with her scores, and I was blown away when I read the results.  She always does very well, and her reading level has always been above her age/grade level, but each time she takes the test, her scores skyrocket.  This time she scored higher than 99% of kids in the nation her age, and her reading level increased to 4.1 – 6.3.  That is a fourth to sixth grade reading level!  And she’s only in second grade.

She was verbal from a verrrry young age, and her vocabulary has always been advanced for her age, so I’m not at all surprised that she’s excelling at reading.  The funny part, though, is that she doesn’t really like to read, and she only does it when she has to.  She’d much rather be writing, drawing, singing, dancing, or playing.

After school pickup, we headed to Olivia’s dance studio for her Monday classes, and then Jacob and I headed home to tackle homework and house chores for the afternoon.  I also squeezed in a very short 30-minute weights workout before it was time for me to leave to grab Olivia.

Once dance was over, Olivia got changed back into regular clothes and then we hit up the Chick-Fil-A drive-through to grab dinner on the way to Jacob’s baseball game.  Have y’all tried the Kale Crunch from Chick-Fil-A?  It’s one of their new-ish healthy options for a side and it’s soooo yummy.  I’ve been getting grilled nuggets with a side of kale crunch lately and it’s my favorite thing!  It’s nice to be able to eat healthy at a fast-food restaurant, especially right now since we’re about to be eating it at least once a week with dance and baseball taking over our schedules.

When Olivia and I arrived at the ball field, it wasn’t quite time for the game to start, so we ended up eating in the car and then walking to the field with Brian and Jacob after they arrived.  My parents joined us for the game, and although we got off to a rough start, we ended up winning again, 12-6.  Jacob was walked both times, and he scored a run on one of them.  His team is now 4-0 for the season.  Woo hoo!!

When we got home, the kids got showered and in the bed, and then B and I spent a few minutes downstairs with Maui and watching The Bachelor before heading to bed ourselves.  After daylight saving time, I had been dragging all afternoon. 

Tuesday, March 15

Tuesday was errands day, so I dropped the kids at school and then headed to UPS, Target, and Fresh Market before getting home and working for a bit.  At lunchtime, I met my old coworker, Brad, for barbecue at a place right down the street from my house.  So convenient!  Now that Covid is at a lull, I’ve been making the lunch rounds again trying to see all of the people I haven’t been able to see these past two years. 

After lunch, I headed back home to work for another hour, and then it was time to pick up the kiddos.  Olivia had dance at 4:30, so we stopped at home long enough for the kids to do homework and get changed, and then we headed to the dance studio.  Since her class is short on Tuesdays, Jacob and I just sat in the parking lot and read in the car.  Midway through our wait, another one of my old coworkers called and we chatted for about 20 minutes before scheduling lunch for Wednesday.  #AllTheLunchDates

After dance, we headed home for a quiet evening at home.  I made dinner and then we all kicked back and watched an hour of American Idol after the kids got showered.  Now that the time has changed and it stays light much later, I’d hoped to start getting outside after dinner for family walks, but it was rainy and yucky Tuesday, so we were forced to stay inside.

Jacob had brought home his art portfolio from the school year, and my favorite piece was this one that he had done of Frida Kahlo.  So so good!

After the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched some more of The Bachelor (still getting caught up) and I was appalled.  I cannot believe that Clayton made himself out to be the victim and started gaslighting those girls after he did what he did.  So gross.  If you watch, then you know what I’m talking about.

We paused The Bachelor at 9 to watch This is Us – always SO GOOD – and then B and I headed to bed.

Wednesday, March 16

Wednesday was another dreary/rainy day and another day of blog work.  By Wednesday morning, I had eight future blog posts completely ready and done and scheduled to publish and I think that’s the most I’ve ever had ready all at once.  It felt so great, y’all!

As I’d mentioned on Tuesday, I’d scheduled yet another lunch date on Wednesday with another one of my old coworkers.  And I say “old coworkers” for all of these people, but really they’re friends, too, obviously, since I still keep in touch and hang out with them all these years later.  Greg and I went to our favorite local pizza place that we always go to when we do lunch, and we talked our faces off for the whole hour. 

After lunch, I headed back home to work for a bit longer, and then I headed out to pick up the kids from school.  We didn’t have anywhere to be Wednesday night, so we spent the whole afternoon and evening at home.  I got dinner in the oven and then did a HIIT workout while it was in the oven, and by the time my workout was done, dinner was ready. 

We all sat down to eat together and then after dinner we went for a walk around the neighborhood.  While I hate how exhausted I am after the time change, I do love the extra daylight in the evening.  It’s always so nice to resume our after-dinner walks. 

When we got back home, Olivia practiced her reading for their school Mass on Thursday.  They have Mass weekly at school, and each week, a different grade is in the choir and does the readings.  Second grade was scheduled to do their first Mass on Thursday, and Olivia was one of the three kids in second grade selected to read.  She was SO excited. 

Once the kids were showered and ready for bed, we watched some more of American Idol, and then after the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched more of The Bachelor. 

Thursday, March 17

Thursday morning, when I woke Olivia up, she jumped out of bed and said excitedly, “TODAY IS MY BIG DAY!!”  Haha.  I’m telling y’all, she was so excited to read at church.  It was also St. Patrick’s Day, so she and Jacob were allowed to wear green shirts with their school uniform bottoms. 

I dropped the kids off at school in their green shirts, and then I headed home to squeeze in an hour of blog work before heading back to the church for their school Mass.  I met Brian and my Momma and Daddy there, and then we pulled Jacob out of his class to sit with us, too.  Our school does two school Masses per week – one for the lower school (PK4 – 5th grade) and then one for the middle school and high school (6th – 12th).  Parents aren’t allowed at the middle school/high school Mass because the church is too full already with the students, so this year will be the last year I’ll be able to attend school Mass with Jacob.  I’m just happy he still likes sitting with us in 5th grade.  :o)

We arrived a little early, so Olivia was just heading to the front to practice, so I was able to walk to the front and snap a couple of pictures of her up close.  

She ended up doing a fantastic job reading during Mass, and she was just as cool and confident as can be.  I have no clue where she gets it from… Brian and I both hate public speaking.  I’d rather have a tooth pulled.  Seriously.

After Mass, I chatted with Olivia’s teacher for a bit and then I chatted with my parents in the parking lot, and then I headed home to get back to work.  All afternoon I was just so grateful… to be able to be back in the church with the kids again after nearly two years… and also for being able to be a stay-at-home-mom and have the freedom to go to Mass on a Thursday morning.  When I had my corporate job, I missed soooo much at the kids’ school and I constantly felt guilty.  My employer kept us on a ridiculously tight leash, and I don’t miss that AT ALL.  Quitting that job has been the biggest blessing for our family.

The rest of the day was spent working on blog stuff and house stuff, and then I picked up the kids from school.  Olivia is in desperate need of new shoes as hers are completely falling apart, so we headed straight to Rack Room where we tend to get all of the kids’ shoes.  Unfortunately, we had no luck there as they had zero pairs of shoes in her size, and we didn’t have time to go anywhere else because we had to get home so I could cook and get Jacob to his baseball game.  We did pop in Bath & Body Works to grab some soap, though, since it was next door.

When we got home, we prepped for Friday and I got dinner on the table early, and then we all headed to the ball field for Jacob’s 7:15 game.  His team played AMAZING and they whooped the other team 16-5, putting them at 5-0 for the season so far.  Jacob was walked once and then he got hit with a pitch once, and he scored on both of those, so it was a win for him.  We could tell he was in pain when he got hit, though, because he doubled over when he took his base, but his coach got him to walk it off and then he was fine.  He did have a big knot/bruise on his shin when we got home, though.

They ended up calling the game early because of the Mercy Rule, so we headed home a bit earlier than usual, which was nice, because the kids were able to get in bed a bit earlier than usual.  Once they were in bed, B and I finally finished The Bachelor, and man, that guy was the worst.  That show has gone so far downhill that I’m not even watching much anymore.

Friday, March 18

Friday morning, we sent the kids off to school.  It was dress like a book character day for Jacob, and this was the last time he’ll ever do that (unless they change anything at school).  He has been working his way through the entire Theodore Boone series for the last year, so he wanted to dress like Theo.  Theo always wears jeans, a hoodie, and a baseball cap, so that was easy peasy.  Jacob said he’s also a Minnesota Twins fan, so Jacob had pulled up the Minnesota Twins logo the afternoon before and he drew the logo on a piece of paper that we pinned over his Georgia Bulldogs logo on his hoodie.  Then he carried a notebook around, too, since Theo carries one. 

The rest of the day was spent getting things done, mostly life things rather than blog things.  I shopped around and ordered Olivia’s First Communion dress and then I fought with my iPhone and computer some more, and by the time all of that was done, it was time to head to the school for Jacob’s quarterly awards ceremony. 

Since Brian was working from home on Friday, he and I just rode to the school together.  I was happy about that because the weather was awful on Friday, and it poured all the way there.  I haaaate driving in the rain (or driving at all for that matter), so I was happy to turn it over to him.  We were supposed to have really severe weather Friday (including the potential for tornadoes) but thankfully we never had any of that.

Once Jacob’s award ceremony was over, B and I got in the car line, and then headed straight home after we picked up the kids.  The weather was still yucky when we got home, so there was no opportunity for outdoor time, so we all just settled in for the evening.  I got some more work done in my office while B finished up working for the day, and the kids spent some time watching Minecraft videos on YouTube. 

B picked up Mexican for dinner, and then we all watched some more of American Idol followed by America’s Got Talent Extreme.  The kids always love watching America’s Got Talent during the summer, so when they saw that there was an extreme version, they wanted to watch that, too.

After they were in bed, B and I watched A Million Little Things followed by Shark Tank, and then it was time for bed for us, too.  I was exhausted all week from the time change, so I was out like a light in two seconds.  I think Maui was exhausted, too.

Saturday, March 19

Saturday morning, I made homemade pancakes, and then the rest of the day was a typical Saturday – an hour-long cardio workout, laundry, and getting the house back in order after the week.  B and I also worked in my office aaaallll day trying to get the last of my computer stuff switched over so I could finally make the switch to the new laptop. 

Since I blog every single day, the files on my laptop are constantly changing, so I knew that the day we moved the last of the files over was the day that I had to make the switch to the new laptop.  We finally got it all done, got the laptop hooked up at my desk, and we got everything working!!  WOO HOOOO!

Once that was done, came the moment of truth – was the computer going to FINALLY see the files on my iPhone so I could import all of my pictures and videos? 

NOPE.

Waaaahhhh!!!! 

I was so dang frustrated to keep getting the same stupid error that my old laptop had been giving me.  I ended up doing lots of Googling and troubleshooting, and after trying three different cables in two different ports, restarting the computer, and restarting my phone, it FINALLY recognized the files on the phone and started to import.

The only problem was that there were 15,000 files, so I had to let it go all day.  While that was going, Brian, Jacob, Olivia, and I all went outside and played basketball.  I also finally got the piece of trim painted for the kids’ bathroom refresh, so now we can finally hang it along with the new towel hooks.

About 1/3 of the way into the photo and video import, the laptop stopped recognizing the iPhone and the whole thing crashed – SIGH – but thankfully, the pictures and videos that had imported so far had stayed on the computer. 

After that failed, I went through and started cleaning off a bunch of old photos and videos that I had already imported last year, so that way, the next time I tried to transfer them again, there would be fewer to do.  Deleting the pictures was time consuming because they were all stored across hundreds of folders that the phone creates, and it wouldn’t just let me delete the folders.  I had to open each one, highlight all of the contents, and delete that way.  Talk about a pain in the butt, y’all.

I wasn’t able to delete everything I wanted to because it was time to get ready for my Mama Cass’s birthday party… she turned 93 on Sunday!!!!  The party was at my Aunt Joy and Uncle Greg’s house, and we arrived right at 6 and got the drinks flowing.  Y’all know I needed one after dealing with that technology all day.  Haha. 

My whole extended fam came, so we had a house (and back yard) FULL, and it was the best evening hanging with everybody.  We had barbecue and sides for dinner, plenty of drinks, and not one, but TWO cakes.  We ended up staying until almost 9:30, and by the time we left, the kids were soooo sleepy.

It was just the best evening celebrating Mama Cass, and I pray that we are able to celebrate many more birthdays with her.  I still can’t believe she’s 93… you’d never know it!  Other than some knee issues, she’s still getting around just fine, driving herself everywhere, running all of her own errands, and she’s sharp as a tack.  I pray every single day that I have her good genes.  She is AMAZING. 

Sunday, March 20

Sunday morning, we slept in, made cinnamon rolls, and then watched virtual church because we were too exhausted to get up and go to 8 AM Mass.  I got all of my planning done for the week ahead, got in a HIIT workout, and then I went back to my computer to try to get more photos and videos imported.  The import worked right away this time, but I ended up having to cancel it before it was done yet again because we had to leave to go to my MIL and step-FIL’s house for Sunday lunch.

My MIL’s birthday was Friday, so we spent the whole afternoon celebrating her, too.  My step-FIL had grilled chicken, and they made a bunch of sides, and then we had Dairy Queen cake for dessert.  The kids played ping pong with their cousins for-eh-vurrrr after lunch, and they laughed hysterically the whole time.  They had the best time.

By the time we got home, it was already 3:45, so I had just enough time to import the rest of my photos and videos and test out a few new things on my new computer before heading to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner. 

Y’all.  All of my pictures and videos FINALLY imported (PRAISE!)  and my new computer is fast as lightning!!  I seriously don’t even know what to do with myself.  Prior to this, it was taking me about one full minute to edit one single picture, and now it only takes about 15 seconds.  As you all know, I edit a buuuunch of pictures for the blog, so prior to this, it would take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to edit all of the pictures for a single post depending on how many pictures were in the post.  Well, now it only takes about 5-15 minutes.  Can y’all even imagine how much time this is going to save me in the long run?!  I can be so much more productive now!!

Anyhoo, at 6, we headed to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner, and we celebrated Mama Cass yet again as Sunday was her actual birthday.  Momma cooked her yummy parmesan chicken, and it was a wonderful evening with the fam.  Yet again, I’m just bursting with gratefulness for all of the family and friends time that another week has brought. 

Happy Wednesday, y’all!