Our Week - The One with the First Week of School

Well, the kiddos are officially back in school and we’re all working to get settled into our routine for the year.  I’m not gonna lie, it was exhausting waking up at 6 AM every morning again (have I mentioned that we’re not morning people?) and doing all the things (seriously, so many things!), but we made it through, and I’m hoping this week we’ll all be a little less exhausted. 

Monday, August 8

Monday was the kids’ first day of school, so we were up bright and early!  Olivia popped right up and jumped out of bed when I went in her room to wake her… she was already awake and ready to go.  She. Was. Pumped. 

Jacob wasn’t quite as eager to wake up so early, but once he was up, he was excited, too!  Most of the time he’s very serious/tentative leading up to a big event/new situation, but on Monday, he was so ready! 

When we pulled up in the drop-off line, they had music blasting and bubbles blowing and it was just a super fun atmosphere and a great way to make the kids feel excited and at ease about their first day.  They both hopped out of the car and headed their separate ways, because for the first year ever, Jacob was headed to his brand-new middle school hallway.  Sigh.  Babies don’t keep.

Since I was back on my own for an entire 6-hour stretch, I had packed my day to the gills.  First up, was dropping off some plastic bags for recycling, and hitting up Publix to do a big grocery shopping trip. 

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, ordering all of Olivia’s dance stuff (so many shoes, y’all!), working on the blog, ordering various other items we needed, and generally getting my life back together after eleven weeks of fun. 

B worked from home all last week again since he was still recovering from Covid, so he was home on Monday, and even though he had tested negative on Sunday, he and I still didn’t eat lunch together.  We followed those CDC guidelines for five days of quarantine and five days of masking because, you know what?  I DO NOT WANT THAT MESS.  Haha.  And I’m so glad we did, because later in this post you’ll see why…

*slaps forehead*

By the time 2:15 rolled around I was dyyyying to pick up the kiddos.  I had basically been wanting to pick them up ever since I’d dropped them off.  I thought about Jacob constantly because he was having such a new/different experience, and I prayed all day for him to not have any anxiety over any of it.  I didn’t worry about Olivia at all because my little girlfriend loves every single thing about school, had been dying to go back to school pretty much all summer, and she has more confidence in her little finger than I do in my entire body.  Isn’t it crazy how two different kids with the same exact parents can be so dang different?!  Genetics are a trip!

This year, I’m picking up the kids from a different side of the school in a different car line since Jacob is in middle school now, and I have to say, while it didn’t run the smoothest on the first day (y’all know it never does!), it was SO MUCH BETTER than the first day of school in years past in the old car line.  Oh, my word, was it better.

When the kids jumped in the car, both of them were just raving about their first days.  Jacob proclaimed that he LOVES middle school and that it is so much better than intermediate school.  His favorite thing is changing classes and being able to get up and walk around after every class.  He only has one class with one of his best friends and he has zero classes with his other best friend, unfortunately, but he didn’t seem to mind.  They all eat lunch at the same time, so they’re able to sit together and catch up for 30 minutes in the middle of the day, so I think that does help.  He said his entire day had gone smoothly other than him forgetting to turn in his summer homework, but he had all week to turn it in anyway.

Olivia LOVED her first day, too, and she loves her teacher and her classroom and the fact that her two best friends are in the same class with her.  They had read a story about sushi, and they got to make candy sushi out of rice crispy treats, fruit rollups, and Swedish fish, and she said that was the best part of her day.

Of course, since it was the first day of school, we had to have after school treats, so I swung by the Dairy Queen that we frequent, only to see that it was closed for the day.  So strange.  Since we couldn’t get Blizzards, we decided that Chick-Fil-A was the next best thing, so I got in line at their drive-through only to find that their ice cream machine had just gone down.  We were striking out all over the place.  Lol.

After that, we headed down the street to Cook Out to grab milkshakes from their drive-through.  We’d never been there before, and we were shocked to see that they offer 44 milkshake flavors… FORTY-FOUR, y’all!  Say what, now?! 

The kids both opted for Oreo Mint shakes and B and I both opted for Banana Pudding shakes, and oh my word, were they good!  We will definitely be going there again!  I guess it was a blessing in disguise that the other places didn’t work out because we found a new place to love.

We headed home after that, and then the rest of the afternoon was spent getting the kids unpacked, helping Jacob set up his new binder, going through paperwork, signing all of the class syllabuses for Jacob (crazy to me that he has class syllabuses now… I didn’t even know what a syllabus was until high school or college!), and talking about their day. 

Monday was my Daddy’s birthday, so we Facetimed him late in the afternoon, and then after that I cooked dinner.  Both kids were wired after being at school all day and then having sugary milkshakes, so I sent them outside for a bit to burn off all of their energy.  They were bonkers on Monday, y’all.

I had intended to go for a family walk around the neighborhood Monday evening, but we were all exhausted, so we opted to watch a few minutes of America’s Got Talent instead, and then we sent the kids to bed early-ish.

B and I watched an episode of Vampire Diaries, and then we headed to bed.  He slept on the pull-out couch again since he hadn’t reached the 10-day window just yet.

Tuesday, August 9

Tuesday morning, we were up bright and early yet again to get the kiddos to school, and then I ran a bunch of errands – I had to pick up Maui’s flea and tick medication from the vet, I had to drop a book off at the library, I dropped some Amazon returns at UPS, I had a gazillion returns to do at Target + some shopping to do, and I had to pick up my contacts from the eye doctor. 

I managed to get all of that done and be back home by 9:30, and then it was off to work on blog stuff and catch up on emails for the rest of the day.

Both kids had another successful day at school, and when we got home, I helped Jacob organize a couple more things for school.  He’d wanted a bigger binder to use as his home binder, so I helped him get everything moved over and set up.  I had also picked up a shelf and a magnetic pen cup for his locker, so we got that all packed up and ready for him to take to school on Wednesday.  Locker accessories hadn’t been on my radar at all prior to middle school orientation, so it’s something that we’ll have to remember to grab for Olivia when she starts middle school, too.  I’m sure she’ll want her locker to be decorated all bougie anyway.  Lol.

Olivia had her first night of homework on Tuesday, and her teacher is primarily using Google Classroom for their homework, so we got her school Google account set up on her laptop, and she completed her homework quickly.

By the time all that was done, it was time to cook dinner, and we just did breakfast since it’s quick and yummy.

After dinner, I had to cover all of Olivia’s textbooks with contact paper (my least favorite thing in the world – haha) and then I got in a quick arms workout and stair stepper workout while the kids showered.  Again, I had wanted to get outside, but we were all just exhausted again.  Those early wakeup calls are just not for me, y’all.  Man, I wish I was a morning person!

After everyone was ready for bed, we watched some more of America’s Got Talent, and then B and I watched a Vampire Diaries and some Better Call Saul before bed. 

Wednesday, August 10

Wednesday morning, I dropped the kiddos and headed straight home to tackle lots of blog stuff.  On the agenda was planning editorial content for the last quarter and working on several blog posts.  Now that the kiddos are back in school, I’m trying to get ahead again.  It’s always easier to blog ahead when I can. 

I also had a visit with my therapist Wednesday morning, and I always love going to see her.  I didn’t go much during the summer since the kids were home, so it was time to get back on track!

I picked them up from school mid-afternoon, and then we all came home to get homework done, cook dinner, eat, etc.  After dinner, I took Maui for a walk, and then I got in another two miles before heading home to watch America’s Got Talent with B and the kids. 

For the third summer in a row, Maui has been sick with a bad cough for a couple of weeks and her cough was finally almost gone on Wednesday, but she started having tummy issues and wasn’t acting right all day.  She’s been eating and drinking normally, and she was excited for her walk, but Wednesday evening she seemed really unsettled like she didn’t know what to do or where to lay, and she also didn’t want her nightly treat which worried me.  She had also been pretty lethargic all day until her walk. 

After the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched another episode of Vampire Diaries, and then we put Maui to bed, and again, she was behaving differently than usual.  She’s usually a creature of habit, but her behavior Wednesday was just “off.”  We were wondering if maybe she’s anxious because Brian has been sleeping downstairs and using her bathroom where her bed is for the last 10 days, but who knows.

I made a mental note to call the vet in the morning if she didn’t start looking better by then.

Thursday, August 11

Thursday morning, Maui seemed fine, and she greeted me when I came downstairs and got excited when I fed her a little sprinkle of cheese as I do every morning when I make my eggs.  She seemed back to normal, so I figured it wasn’t necessary to call the vet. 

I got the kids off to school and got back home to tackle more blog work as well as a few other things that needed to be done.  We had planned to move Brian back into our bedroom Thursday evening, so we got all of his Covid sheets and bedding washed, and I got the pullout couch/mattress all sprayed down with some disinfectant.  However, Thursday afternoon he started sneezing a lot, so he tested one more time Thursday evening just to be safe (he’d already had one negative test five days in), and Y’ALL, HE WAS POSITIVE AGAIN. 

Apparently, he is one of the very rare ones to get rebound Covid, and because of that, his 10-day clock had to start all over again (unless he ends up having two negative tests 48 hours apart before then).  Sigh.

Thursday afternoon, the kids had music lessons, and then afterward, we flew home so I could make a quick dinner before heading back to the school for parent night for Olivia’s class. 

By the time I got home, the kiddos were showered and ready for bed, and we spent the rest of the evening getting everything prepped for Friday and hanging out.  Brian had quarantined himself in the front sitting room yet again, and that was that.

He and I did both sit in the living room together after the kiddos went to bed so we could watch another episode of Vampire Diaries, though.  We sat on opposite sides of the room and we both wore masks, so hopefully I’ll continue to avoid getting sick.

Friday, August 12

Friday morning, I dropped the kids and then headed home to work on the blog for most of the day.  I also got a few other things done around the house, and before I knew it, it was time to pick up the kids. 

We headed straight home where we spent the rest of the evening.  And the rest of the weekend, for that matter.  There’s no tired like the end of the first week of school tired!!  So between that and the fact that B still had the Rona, we figured we might as well stay put all weekend.

I grabbed barbecue from one of our favorite local places for dinner Friday evening, and after the kids showered, we watched some more of America’s Got Talent followed by a couple of episodes of Vampire Diaries.

Saturday, August 13

Saturday was part lazy, part productive – homemade waffles, cartoons, a little bit of reading and lounging, outdoor time, and also a cardio workout, some laundry, and some housework.  Brian got out and mowed the lawn as he was still feeling fine even though he’d tested positive for Covid again on Thursday.

 

For dinner, I picked up Mexican food from one of our favorite places, and then after dinner, we finally got caught up on America’s Got Talent and then we watched more Vampire Diaries.  We just found out it’s leaving Netflix on September 3 and there’s no way we’ll get through all eight seasons before then, but I’m hoping it moves somewhere else so we can continue it because I am officially HOOKED.

 

Sunday, August 14

Sunday was cinnamon rolls, planning the week ahead, prepping for Monday, a yoga session, some laundry, sidewalk chalk, video games, and blog work.

Brian tested again on Sunday to check his status, and even though he was feeling just fine other than a slightly stuffy nose, he was still positive.  Arrrrgggghhhh.  Apparently, he is going to be one of those people who tests positive foreverrrr.

I had contemplated pulling out the fall décor on Saturday or Sunday, but ultimately decided I didn't have the energy, but I did pull out my fall mugs because I was so ready to use them.  EEK!  I cannot wait for September!!

Sunday evening, I pulled some burgers out of the freezer that were leftover from the last time we grilled, and I made some hot dogs and mac and cheese for the kiddos.  After dinner, we all got out of the house for a nice long walk on our neighborhood trail, and we let the kids swing for a bit, too, before heading back home. 

When we got home, the kids showered and then we watched an episode of Fresh Prince, and then B and I watched another episode of Vampire Diaries.  And that was our week!  Hopefully next week will be a little more interesting, and a little less Covid-y.  Haha.

Happy Wednesday, y’all!