Our Week - The One Without Taylor Swift Tickets and the One with Olivia’s Field Trip to the Government Center

Last week was productive and fun, and I busted my booty to get as much done as I could before Thanksgiving Break.  Here’s the recap…

Monday, November 14

Monday morning, my to-do list was a mile-long, but these days, pretty much every day’s to-do list is a mile-long.  Haha.  I dropped the kids and got started!  First up, I had to drop off some stuff at the school office, and then I headed to Publix to do our shopping for the next two weeks, Thanksgiving included.

The rest of the day was spent at home checking things off the list until I had to be in the car line to pick up the kids.  Jacob and I dropped Olivia at dance, and then he and I headed to piano lessons.

B and I weren’t one of the lucky ones to get codes for the Taylor Swift verified fan presale, but we were supposed to get them via the Capital One presale at 2 PM.  Unfortunately, the verified fan presale was such a disaster that Ticketmaster had to bump the Cap One presale to Tuesday.  B and I have been avid concert-goers for two decades and I have never seen anything like that before.  I had friends who literally sat on the computer for NINE HOURS to try to get tickets and many of them didn’t even get them.  It was just nuts.  Taylor totally broke the internet.  Haha.

When we got home, I started cooking dinner while Jacob did homework, and then when Brian and Olivia got home from dance, we all ate dinner together.  After dinner, it was a stair stepper workout and an arms workout for me, and then we all watched Lego Masters together.

B and I decided to take the kids to New York City this December (just a few short weeks!), so we spent the rest of the night hammering out plans for that.  I am so freaking excited I could just BURST, y’all.  EEEEK!!!!

Tuesday, November 15

Tuesday was another day of doing all the things – lots of blog stuff, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, etc. – and I also had a hair appointment late in the morning… FINALLYYYY.  My hair was looking rough, y’all.

After my hair appointment, I had just enough time to eat a quick lunch at home, tackle one more task, and then it was time to head to the car line.  I used my time in the car line to start working on the itinerary for our trip to NYC!

After school, the kiddos got some homework done, and then Jacob and I dropped Olivia off at dance.  After that, I got in a quick (but intense) cardio workout done, and then it was time to make dinner. 

We had tacos for Taco Tuesday, and B and I had a rare mid-week drink… margs, of course!  During dinner, we made the announcement to the kids that we were going to New York City in just 3.5 weeks, and they were so excited.  The rest of the dinner conversation consisted of all things NYC, as you can imagine.

After dinner, I helped Olivia shower again since we’re still having to be careful of her eardrum after her surgery, and then after she and Jacob were both ready for bed, we watched an episode of Nailed It.

B and I watched Shark Tank after they went to bed, and then we headed off to bed, too.

Wednesday, November 16

Wednesday morning, I hit up Target to shop for our annual North Pole Breakfast.  We let the kids eat a bunch of sweets that morning, and I always buy the same thing, so I loaded up on all of those favorites – powdered donuts, candy canes, Christmas Dots, marshmallows, frosted sugar cookies, and hot chocolate.  That sounds terrible just typing it out, but it’s the one time we let the kids go wild with the sugar and it’s truly one of their most favorite mornings of the whole year, so we just roll with it.  It wouldn’t be an authentic Elf Breakfast if they didn’t eat all the sugar… and I suppose it’s better than syrup on spaghetti like Will Ferrell eats in the movie, Elf.  Hahahaha.

The rest of the morning was spent working on the blog, filming an Instagram Reel, and decorating for Christmas, and then after eating an early lunch at home, I met my Momma at the movie theater to see Ticket to Paradise.  It was really cute, and I loved Julia Roberts and Georgia Clooney together.  They were really great!  If you like 90’s romcoms, you’ll enjoy this one.

Immediately following the movie, I had to book it to get in the car line, and the Taylor Swift Capital One Presale was also starting, so I tried to get in there before I left the theater only to get 84 million error messages from Ticketmaster. 

Once I was in the car line, it took 20 more minutes for me to finally get in the queue, and I ended up staying in the queue foreverrrr before Ticketmaster pushed out a message saying that the presale was all sold out.  B, on the other hand, was able to get in about an hour into the presale, and every time he would click on tickets, it would say that someone else had already gotten them, and he was only able to be in there briefly before Ticketmaster crashed and kicked him out.  And then he had to get back into the queue and wait all over again.  I mean SERIOUSLY, TICKETMASTER.

The presale for the west coast shows started at 5 PM our time, so B jumped on there to try to get tickets for Vegas or LA and then we figured we could sell those to pay for the exponentially high prices that we’ll have to pay on the secondary market if we couldn’t get tickets in the general sale to the public on Friday, but he had no luck with any of those shows either.  Sigh.

The rest of the evening was spent doing an arms and squats workout, cooking dinner, and then hanging out with Brian and the kids.  The kids were invested in the game they were playing so they opted to continue that instead of watching anything on TV, and then we got them in the bed a little earlier than usual so B and I could relax for a bit and get to bed a little earlier, too. 

Thursday, November 17

Thursday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then headed straight home to work all day.  I got tons done, but still barely made a dent in my master list, but I suppose that’s usually the way it is this time of year. 

We had Thanksgiving lunch with Olivia at school Thursday afternoon, so B and I met there for that and enjoyed spending the lunch break with our girl. 

After that, it was back home to work for a bit longer, and then I had to head back to the school to pick up the kids.  Olivia had voice lessons shortly after school let out, so we headed there after a brief stop at home to get snacks, and I edited an Instagram Reel while Jacob read. 

While we were there, my friend Jen, sent me some breaking news – that the Taylor Swift general sale to the public was going to be canceled on Friday due to “too high of a demand and insufficient ticket inventory.” 

What.

The.

Hell. 

(I totally used a different word when I found out, but I try to keep the blog under PG-13.  Lol.)

Y’all, just when I thought Ticketmaster couldn’t get any worse, they did.  They could not have botched this ticket sale any worse.  I have a TON of things that I could say about them, but none of it is remotely nice (and a lot of it involves very rated R words), so I’m just going to leave it at that.  I can also think of a TON of different things that they could have done to make the ticket sales go more smoothly, but again, why bother?  It’s not going to make a difference now.

So, if anybody has two tickets to any of the Atlanta shows next year, hit me up!  We are willing to pay more than face value! 

After Olivia’s voice lesson, we headed home, and I started all of the prep for Friday.  When B got home, he and I made breakfast for dinner, and then after dinner I got in a quick (but aggressive) cardio workout.

By the time I was done working out, the kiddos were ready for bed, so we watched an episode of Lego Masters, and then after they went to bed, B and I watched some more of Saturday Night Live.  We also booked tickets to see The Rockettes in NYC.  EEEEK!

Friday, November 18

Friday morning, Olivia had a field trip to our city’s government center since they’ve been learning about the three branches of government.  I went with her along with several of the other parents, and we got to meet with the judge, the district attorney, and the head sheriff in our city, and it was a really great trip!

When we arrived, they whisked us up to the eleventh floor to sit in one of the courtrooms, and the judge talked to the kids for a bit followed by the DA and the sheriff.  About halfway through the presentation, a man in a suit walked in the courtroom, and I almost fell out of my chair because it was a police officer who did security at the movie theater when I worked there back when I was 16 years old.  He and another guy that did security for us were absolutely the best, and we all got to know them over the years, and we all loved them so much.  I hadn’t seen him in literally 21 years, so it was crazy that he was there for part of the field trip.

After the presentation was over, he came around and stood next to me, and I was thinking he may remember me, so I said his name and his eyes lit up, and we hugged.  We were able to catch up for a few minutes, and I asked him about the other guy who also did security at the movie theater, and he told me that they still worked closely together.  He ended up calling him on the phone and I shouted into the phone, “WHAT’S UP WITH MY DAWG?”  Since that’s what we always used to say to each other.  And he started cracking up because he remembered me immediately. 

It turns out both of them have moved way high up in the ranks over the years, and I can’t think of two better deserving people.  I was just 16-19 years old when I worked with them, but they were always such a bright spot in my day.  And they kept us safe and rescued us from crazy customers (which believe it or not, happened more than you know).  They also escorted me to the bank when I had to drop a massive load of cash at the end of a busy Friday or Saturday night.  (This was the late 90’s so most people didn’t pay with credit cards back then, and you wouldn’t believe the massive amounts of cash I would have to take in bank bags over to the night drop at the bank some nights… we’re talking, like, $20,000-$30,000 on really busy nights.) 

Anyhoo, talking to them on Friday just made my day/week/year!

 

After the presentation, they let every single kid sit on the judge’s bench and take a picture in his robe with his gavel.  A couple of the parents asked to do it, so of course, I had to partake.  I mean, if everyone else is doing it, right?!  ;o)

After all of the kiddos had their pictures taken, we got to walk through the judge’s office and admire the sweeping views of the city from the 11th floor, and then it was down to the 4th floor to have a party in the sheriff’s department.  They had donuts and cookies and candy for the kids, and every kiddo got a special backpack full of goodies.  It was such a fun day!

By the time we got done there, it was lunchtime, so I headed home and ate a light lunch with B, and then I got some work done until it was time to pick up the kids from school.

We had plans to watch the school football team play in the state playoff game Friday evening, but it was FREEZING, and neither of our kids were interested in going (shockingly), so we opted out.  I was a little bit bummed, but it was nice to not have to sit out in the cold all evening.  I was able to livestream it anyway, and we ended up whooping the other team 63-0 to advance to the final four.  Holy smokes.

B picked up barbecue and brought it home for dinner, and then afterward, we put our first fire in the fireplace, and we watched the first two episodes of the new show, The Santa Clauses.  Any other 90’s kids SUUUUPER excited about it like I am?!

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched two episodes of the new season of Manifest (we were glad it moved to Netflix since we’d watched the whole series only to have it canceled!), and then we called it a night.

Saturday, November 19

Saturday morning, I made homemade waffles for breakfast, and then I got in a really good cardio workout.  Olivia was spending the day at a friend’s house, so mid-morning, Brian and Jacob headed out to drop her off and get haircuts, and while they were gone, I pulled out some more Christmas decorations and got busy.

My Aunt Joy and Uncle Greg also dropped off some books that are on my list, and I cannot wait to dig in!

By the time they got home, it was time for lunch, so I made some grilled cheese sandwiches, and then I got back to decorating for a bit before getting ready for the day.  I was supposed to pick up Olivia around 3 from her friend’s house, but her mom told me that they were having so much fun they wanted to stay longer, and she told me she’d drop her off later at our house, so we didn’t have to pick her up.

Poor Jacob was lost without his bestie, but he managed to keep himself busy by helping me decorate for Christmas, playing video games, and watching the Georgia game with Brian and me at 3:30.  We also played a couple of board games with him during the game.

A little after 6, Olivia’s friend’s parents returned her to our house, and then we had pizza delivered for dinner.  After dinner, we put another fire in the fireplace, and then we watched an episode of The Amazing Race before sending the kids to bed.  B and I watched some more football and then headed to bed ourselves.

 

Sunday, November 20

Sunday morning, we got up, had cinnamon rolls, and watched an episode of Nailed It with the kids, and then we hit the ground running to get ready to take family pictures.  Normally by now, I have my Christmas cards printed and ready to mail, so we are incredibly behind in that department! 

We ended up doing the pictures ourselves in our own back yard, and they turned out pretty good!

After that was done, we headed to my MIL and step-FIL’s for lunch, and we hung out there all afternoon.  It was FREEEEZING and dreary all day, so when we got home, I snuggled up in my office with a warm blanket and Serendipity to get a couple of hours of work done, and the kids played video games. 

We headed to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner, and we spent the rest of the evening over there.  Monday we were off for Thanksgiving break, so it was nice to take our time over there and not rush out to get the kids back home to bed at a decent hour.  On the way over there, we saw one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen!  It was so vibrant and just incredible... it looked like the sky was on fire.

And that was our week!  Happy Tuesday, y’all!