Our Week - The One with a Fall Carnival, a Phillip Phillips Concert, a Lego Convention, Two Birthday Parties, and Another Flat Tire

What a busy week.  Whew.  This time of year is just nuts, but it’s busy from the good stuff in life, so while we’re all exhausted heading into the new week, we’re also happy!

Monday, October 16

Monday, I had a super long to-do list, so I dropped the kids at school and took off running.  First up, was Walmart to grab groceries for the next couple of weeks, and by the time I left that place, I was in a MOOD.  Our Walmart that I frequent only offers self-checkout now, which is fine, but they recently got a new “sophisticated” system, and that has resulted in soooo many issues and, in turn, I keep getting harassed every single time I go.  It never fails, on each trip now, the Walmart employee will come running over telling me that he was alerted that I “missed a scan” so he has to come over and review the video, and every single time the video reveals that I, in fact, did NOT miss a scan.  Sigh. 

This time, he was particularly accusatory (which makes me feel like a thief even though I would never in a million years steal anything), and it happened not only once while I was checking out, but twice.  Sigh.  If Walmart can’t get a better system and they’re going to continuously accuse their customers of “missing scans”, then they just need to shut down self-checkout altogether.  It’s utterly ridiculous for me to be interrupted every single time I go because they think that I didn’t scan one of the items that went into my bag.  That has never once happened to me at Publix.  And trust me, if we weren’t saving money by shopping at Walmart, then I would just stop shopping there altogether.

Rant over.  Haha.

Once that was done, I went home, I got the groceries put away, and I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon working on the blog, getting things done around the house that have been hanging over my head, working on some things for the kids’ school, and various other housekeeping things.

We’ve been having internet probs for a couple of weeks which is highly unusual, so we had to have somebody come out to check, and naturally, he ended up coming and shutting the internet off while I was right in the middle of important business.  Sigh. 

Monday was definitely a Monday, but it was all first world problems, so I tried to keep that in perspective.

At 3, I grabbed the kids from school, and then we headed to the kids’ pediatrician’s office so Olivia could get her flu shot.  Jacob was able to get his at his well visit, but Olivia didn’t, so we wanted to get her all squared away, too.  My little girlfriend HATES a shot, but she did so well this year, and we were so proud of her!

After that, we were able to go home and settle in for the evening.  Golf is over now, so we finally have a free weeknight!  Woo hoo!  The kids got started on homework, Jacob started building bridges out of popsicle sticks for his science project (the dreaded science project… uuuugggghhhh), and I wrapped up some housecleaning and cooked dinner.

On the menu Monday night was sheet pan roasted sausage and veggies.  I throw different things in there each time, and this time I did turkey kielbasa, yellow and red potatoes, onions, zucchini, broccoli, and carrots.  I made some gluten free blueberry muffins to go with it, and it was a yummy, healthy dinner.

After dinner, I got the kitchen cleaned up.  I mentioned last week that Brian injured both of his knees at his tennis match last Sunday due to the courts being slippery from the rain, so he was in pretty bad shape all day Monday.  I didn’t want him on his feet, so I got the kitchen cleaned up, and then I headed to change and get ready for a workout.

It was dreary and cold Monday – the temp maxed out around 60 – and with the wind, it felt even colder.  I bundled up for my run, and then I got in 2.38 miles.  I also set the wrong workout on my watch (a walk) when it was supposed to be a run, so just know that I really ran.  I also had the best pace I’ve had since my vertigo started.  And I was also treated to the most beautiful sunset amongst the dreary clouds.

And speaking of vertigo, my spinning was much milder when laying down and getting up from laying down early in the week.  For the last few weeks, I’ve only had issues when reclining or laying down, sitting up from a reclined position, and tilting my head up (looking up at the sky/ceiling), and then also a little towards the end of a run.  That has been constant for the last three months and has not let up… until this past week.  I was still having the dizziness in those positions, but it was mild for the first time in three months.  Aaaand then later in the week, the mildness wore off and it was back to being super dizzy every single time I lay down or got up from laying down.  Sigh.

After my run, I got showered, and then we all snuggled in to watch the rest of the Lego Masters episode we’d started the week before.  Brian and I watched an episode of Cruel Summer after that, and then we went to bed.

Tuesday, October 17

Tuesday was crazy… there was just so much to do on my list, and every time I crossed one task off, three more would pop up in its place.  It was just one of those days.  I ran errands in the morning – gas, the library to return books, Walmart (again) to grab something for Jacob that I hadn’t known he needed, and then the cardiologist.

My cardiologist appointment was, thankfully, very quick despite the fact that there were literally 30-40 people in the waiting room when I arrived.  They did an echocardiogram just to check my heart to make sure everything is good there since I’ve been having this vertigo.  I have to have one more test on Halloween (an ultrasound of my carotid arteries/back of my neck) and then I’ll get the results from both tests together after that.

After my appointment, I headed straight home to get to work.  I’m currently “blogging by the seat of my pants” again AKA finishing every blog post the day before they go live, and I always hate that because it puts on the pressure.  I like to try to blog 2-3 days ahead at minimum, but that hasn’t happened since this vertigo started.  I feel like I got so behind on so many things since I wasn’t functioning at 100% for so long, and now I’m paying for it. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent working on blog stuff, catching up on emails, fielding numerous emails/texts/phone calls from parents at the school regarding Jacob’s teacher’s cancer news and our upcoming auction, planning for several events at the kids’ school, and trying to get organized by making various lists for the many things we have going on right now.

I grabbed the kids from school at 3, and then we headed home immediately so the kids could get started on homework.  Both of them had LOADS to do on Tuesday, and Jacob’s science project has been looming over our head for weeks, so he worked on that diligently until it was time to get Olivia to dance. 

After we dropped her, he and I headed to Publix to grab all of the stuff that Walmart didn’t have, and then we used self-checkout and didn’t get harassed by an employee a single time.  ;o)

He and I headed straight home after that to put groceries away, and then Jacob buckled down and worked on his science project some more.  He is testing the weight capacity of different types of bridges, so he has to build nine bridges out of popsicle sticks, and y’all, wood glue does not dry quickly, so the process is slow-going.  He’s enjoying the process, though, so that’s all that matters. 

We also found out Tuesday that Jacob was accepted into the National Junior Honor Society at school!!!!  We are so dang proud of him!! 

While he worked on his bridges, I tidied the house, finished my to-do list, and then I got in a stair stepper workout.  I was soooo tempted to skip the workout and use those 36 minutes to cross a few things off of my ever-growing list, but I did the workout instead, and I was so glad I did.  You’ll never regret doing the workout. 

Once that was done, it was time to cook dinner – fettucine alfredo with chicken, steamed broccoli, and Cheesecake Factory bread – and then we all ate dinner together when Brian and Olivia got home.

Brian’s knees were feeling about the same on Tuesday.  He was able to go to work, but he said that they were extra stiff since he wasn’t able to get up and move around as much there.  Healing is definitely going slow for him right now.

After dinner, the kids got showered and ready for bed, and we got them into bed immediately since Tuesdays are our late nights thanks to dance.

After that, I got ready for bed, I meditated, and then B and I watched the last episode of season two of Cruel Summer.  I LOVED the second season, too.  It wasn’t as good as the first, but it was definitely another solid ending that I didn’t see coming. 

Wednesday, October 18

Wednesday morning, I dropped the kids at school, and I settled in at home to do some blog work all morning.  Two big boxes of Amazon Prime Day items were delivered late Wednesday morning, so I also spent some time going through those items and getting them put away.

After lunch, I headed out to run a bunch of errands – the gas station to grab a lottery ticket for an upcoming birthday party, CVS to grab a prescription, Hobby Lobby to shop for items needed for Olivia’s fourth grade class pumpkin, Staples to do an Amazon return (why they are starting to use Staples now is beyond me), Publix to grab a couple of bags of candy for Trunk or Treat at the kids’ school, and then to the school to drop off all of the class pumpkin supplies + juice boxes for the class Halloween party.  Yes, I definitely did that early, but I just want to get things off of my list when I can!

While I was at Hobby Lobby, I glanced over at the car next to me in the parking lot and saw this…

And it about gave me a heart attack.  Lol.

By the time all that was done, I still had an hour before the kids got out of school, but since I was already there and I had no other errands to run, I just went ahead and jumped in the car line.  I used that hour to clean out both email inboxes, respond to some DMs, and make a phone call for our seventh-grade class auction basket.  It was actually a very productive hour in the car!

After school, we got Olivia to dance, and then Jacob and I headed home so he could work on his science project some more.  He worked diligently for about an hour and a half while I wrapped up some things on my to-do list, and then I pulled out some beef, rice, and peppers skillet leftovers from the freezer to heat up with dinner.  I served that with some tortilla chips and a bowl of fruit (strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi), and we had that for dinner when Brian and Olivia got home.

After dinner, we got the kitchen cleaned up, and then a bit later I headed out for another run.  I’m losing daylight very quickly at this point, and my days of evening walks and runs are numbered.  I’m surely going to miss them!

When I got home, the kids were finishing up showering and getting ready for bed, and I got showered, too, and then we watched an episode of Lego Masters before the kids went to bed.  Brian and I watched another episode of Only Murders in the Building, and then we headed to bed, too. 

Thursday, October 19

Thursday was BUSY and quite a doozy of a day.  I dropped the kids at school, headed back home to work for an hour, and then I had to be back at the church to go to Mass with Olivia and then attend her first quarter awards ceremony.

At our school, the kids go to Mass weekly, and they start introducing the kids to Mass in Pre-K4.  Since Pre-K4 kiddos have short attention spans and have a tendency to be wiggly in situations where they have to be still for a while, they pair each of the Pre-K4 students with a fourth grader (their “prayer partner”) and the fourth graders sit with them in church and encourage them to behave/be quiet/pay attention/participate appropriately.

Thursday was the first day of the school year that the Pre-K4 kids joined for Mass, so Olivia was paired with her prayer partner, and I sat with both of them amongst all of the Pre-K4 kids and fourth graders.  It was the sweetest dang thing, and the funniest dang thing because those kids were soooo wiggly, but it was so sweet to watch the fourth graders care for their prayer partners.  I think I giggled through half of Mass watching all of the shenanigans, but it was just the cutest thing at the same time. 

After Mass, third grade – fifth grade stayed behind to have their quarterly awards ceremony.  Olivia made Principal’s List, she got the AR goal award, and she got the religion award. 

I snuck out after fourth grade was done, and then I headed straight to meet an old coworker for lunch.  We always go to the same place – my favorite pizza place in town! – and we sat and talked forever.  I’ve known him since I started at my old corporate job nearly 20 years ago, and he and I hit it off immediately and have been friends since then.  He’s one of the few I keep in touch with from my old job, and I look forward to our lunches every few months.

We usually try to go once every 2-3 months, but we hadn’t seen each other in EIGHT MONTHS this time, although, we’ve had a few phone convos in between to catch up.  We either kept missing each other with scheduling, and then summer came, and I had the kids home all the time, and then I had vertigo and couldn’t drive for a month, so before we knew it, eight months had gone by without us having lunch together.  And I think that’s the longest we’ve gone without having lunch since I quit my job six years ago.  All this to say, he hadn’t seen me since I had my braces put on, and he could not get over how different my face looks since everything has shifted.

After lunch, I headed back home to get some more work done, and then I headed to pick up the kids from school.  We had just turned onto a neighboring street, when I got the alert on my dashboard that my tire pressure was low in my rear driver’s side tire, and it said that the PSI was ZERO.  Sigh.  We drove to the nearest gas station, which is, thankfully, right by the school, so I could try to fill it with air to get us to the tire place to get it repaired.

Well, upon inspecting the tire, it was clear that air was going to do no good because it was flat as a pancake.  I called Brian, and he offered to come put my spare on, but he’s still struggling with those MCL sprains, and I knew there was no way he’d be able to get the lugnuts off without having to step/stomp on the wrench since they’re always on so tight.  My dad is also still having core issues after a surgery a few months ago and he can’t lift anything heavy, so I didn’t call him either.  We don’t have roadside assistance with our insurance anymore either, so that wasn’t an option.  Sigh.  And while I know how to change a tire, I cannot lift a tire because they weigh too much.  Not to mention I was wearing a skirt since I’d been at church earlier that day.

I knew there were loads of people I could call who work at the school, but they’re all ladies who I knew probably also couldn’t lift a tire (lol) so I called our school resource officer and asked if he could help.  He’s SO kind, and he would do anything for anyone, and sure enough, he came right over and changed the tire for me.  I’m so beyond grateful for people like him who will drop what they’re doing to help someone in need.

The kids were supposed to be at music lessons at 3:30, but I knew we’d never make it, so I had to call them and tell them we wouldn’t be there.  Instead, we drove to the tire place right near our house to see if they could patch it really quick, but the guy there informed me that due to the area where the tire was punctured, they couldn’t patch it and I needed a whole new tire. 

And y’all, I JUST HAD NEW TIRES PUT ON MY CAR, LIKE, TWO MONTHS AGO. 

Sigh.

Since I needed a new tire, I knew I wanted to get it done at the dealership since I have a contract with them, so we got back in the car to head home and call the dealership.  On the way home – and I still can’t believe this – I got the notification on my dashboard that my spare tire was going flat, too. 

Whyyyy.  Haha.

I have THE WORST LUCK with flat tires.  I seriously get them, like, once a year.  I just had one last December. 

We ended up getting home later than expected because of all of the flat tire business, so the kids scrambled to get homework done and study, and Jacob worked on his science project some more.  I made breakfast for dinner since it’s quick – eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, and toast – and then after dinner, Jacob got back to his science project while Olivia jumped in the shower. 

I wanted to run Thursday evening, but it was drizzly, and I was frazzled from the busy day, so I did a quick mixed workout at home – arms, squats, stair stepper, and a few other random things – and then I tackled a few more things that needed to be done.

Olivia has a new trick that she learned at dance, and she can now stand on her hands with her legs sprawled out over her elbows and support all of her weight like that for a few minutes.  She asked me to take a picture, and I wasn’t going to say no to that! 

We all settled in to watch TV after the kids were ready for bed, and first up, we watched Olivia on the local news!  One of our meteorologists had visited with her class earlier in the day, and Olivia was front row center during the filming.  That’s her pointing at herself.  Haha. 

After that, we watched some of The Amazing Race, and then B and I watched The Golden Bachelor before heading to bed, too. 

Friday, October 20

Friday was the start of a very busy weekend, but first on the agenda was getting a new tire for my Telluride.  I drove the kids to school in B’s SUV, and then he met me at Kia in my SUV.  I didn’t want to drive the kids all around on the spare tire, especially since it had started going flat, and thankfully, B was able to make it there without any issues.

After we dropped my car, he and I headed to Home Depot to scope out some artificial Christmas trees.  We have sworn every year for the last 2-3 years that it was finally going to be the year that we get an artificial Christmas tree, and we still haven’t made the purchase.  I think this year is finally going to be the year, though. 

I am incredibly picky about artificial trees.  I only want one with the branches that look real, it must be SUPER ULTRA full of branch tips, and it needs to have a gazillion lights.  Seriously, the more the better.  You can never ever have too many lights on a Christmas tree.  Ever. 

I had scoped out a couple that I wanted to look at, and upon seeing them in person, I realized that while they looked really great, they weren’t quite as big as what we need in our living room.  I also hate that many of the artificial trees at Home Depot use the microdot lights.  I’m old-fashioned and I want traditionally-shaped lights.  While we were there, I did find one that was similar to the others, and it fits all of the qualifications.  It doesn’t have quite as many lights as I’d like, but it has enough to be acceptable, so I snapped a picture of it, and I’ll probably order it this week.

After we were done there, we swung by Lowe’s just to check out their selection, and all of their trees were horrible with the exception of one, but the one good one was almost twice the price of the one at Home Depot.

After that, we headed home, and I got cozied up in my office.  The day had started out drizzly and cold, so I was chilled to the bone and all I wanted to do was warm up.  I spent the next few hours working on blog stuff, working on school auction stuff, downloading some new music – Pentatonix has a new Christmas album! – and unboxing aaaallll of my Amazon Prime Day stuff.  We ordered quite a few Christmas gifts, so I had to get my Christmas gift spreadsheet updated, too.

Sheepie and Peanut Butter kept me company all day per Olivia’s request since she hadn’t been able to bring them in the car that morning due to all of the switching around of cars from my service appointment.

Mid-morning, I got a call from the school that Olivia had fallen off of a stool backwards and hit the back of her head on a corner of a table.  They told me that she seemed fine and that they would ice it, and that they didn't think it was necessary for me to come and get her, so I told them to call me if she started feeling bad.  

My phone rang again about 30 minutes later and I immediately felt panicked because it was the school calling again to tell me that she kept saying her head was really hurting.  They told me they still didn't think I needed to come pick her up, and they told me that they could give her some pain reliever with my permission, so I told them to go ahead with that and to not hesitate to call me if she was still feeling bad after that.

Thankfully, I never got a call again after that, but she did have a little knot on the back of her head when she got home.   Hits to the head always scare me to death, so I was grateful she was okay.

I took a break midday to go grab my Telluride.  They had replaced the tire – it was, indeed, not able to be patched – and I almost fainted when I saw the bill.  Just painful since we’d just put new tires on it.  Why oh why are tires so expensive?!

The service advisor also confirmed that the spare tire was quite low, but not as low as I had thought, so they filled it with air and checked it for holes as well while they had it, so hopefully I’m good to go for a while!

School dismissal came way too soon, and then when the kids and I got home, we all got prepped and ready for the school fall carnival.  It started at 5, so we got there right on time and we spent the next couple of hours there chatting with friends while the kids ran around.  I took zero pictures of Jacob – I try not to bother him too much now that he’s in middle school, haha – but Olivia and her friends are always down for a picture, and they asked me to take several.  The witch pumpkin is Olivia's class pumpkin, and the Coco pumpkin is Jacob's class pumpkin!

Brian and I had a 40th birthday party to attend for one of our friends, so we left the carnival a little early with Olivia in tow.  Jacob spent the night out with one of his friends (for the first time ever!) so he just stayed at the carnival and went home with his friend, Jack.  On the way out, we grabbed Olivia a hot dog and a bag of chips from one of the food trucks, and then it was on to the party.

B and I felt bad about having to drag a kid along to an adults only party, but the birthday boy wanted us to come and he told us it was fine to bring her along.  We went prepared with the Nintendo Switch so she could play that in another room if she got bored, but it turned out that she just wanted to hang out with all of the adults all night.  Haha. 

The party was catered so we had some yummy pulled pork, mac n cheese, collard greens, and broccoli casserole, and then we all sat around and chatted for the rest of the evening.  The party was for one of Brian’s old coworkers who is one of our dear friends, so everyone else at the party was Brian’s current and old coworkers.

Around 9, the party broke up, and we all went home.  B and I got Olivia in the bed, and then he and I watched Only Murders in the Building until heading to bed ourselves.  When I did my nightly tuck-in of the kids, I was so sad to see Jacob’s empty bedroom.  Why oh why do they have to grow up so fast?  Sigh.

Jacob’s friend’s mom did send me a couple of pictures throughout the evening, though.  They sat around the fire pit cooking hot dogs for dinner, and then they made s’mores.  :o)

 

Saturday, October 21

Saturday morning, Brian and Olivia and I got up and had homemade waffles for breakfast, and then we watched some ESPN College GameDay.  While we watched, Brian came across a great deal on a hotel in New York City that’s a better chain, a better location, and a better price than what I’d already booked, so he booked that one for us, too, and I’m going to cancel the other one.

After that, I got up and got my booty in gear because I only had a few hours until we had to leave for Atlanta to see Phillip Phillips in concert!!!!

First up, was a cardio workout followed by a couple of loads of laundry + all of my Saturday chores.  Jacob got home mid-morning and he’d had a blast.  In addition to the hot dogs and s’mores they’d also watched a movie, hung out, and they had Waffle House for breakfast.  I can’t even believe it, but we’ve never taken our kids to a Waffle House before, so it was his first experience.  As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve been there since I was like, 19, and it was probably at 3 o’clock in the morning.  Haha.

I scrambled to get everything done for the rest of the day, and then it was time to go.  Olivia had put on a denim skirt and a sweatshirt that belonged to me when I was a kid, so of course, I had to take a picture of that.  ;o) 

Then at 3, B and I dropped the kids with my parents, and we headed to Atlanta.  We met Fahed and his partner (the same guy who we’d celebrated the night before for his birthday!) for dinner since he lives in Atlanta. 

We hit up Hobnob Tavern in Atlantic Station for dinner, and it was delicious.  The food was tasty and fresh, and the company was great, and it was just a really lovely evening.

While we were out and about I got this text from my Momma… she had done a fancy hairstyle for Olivia for church per her request.

After dinner, we walked around Atlantic Station and chatted some more, and then it was time for B and I to head over to see Phillip Phillips!!  The concert was at Center Stage Theater, and it only holds about a thousand people, so the show was very intimate, and I loved every single second of it.  We had seats in the second row behind the pit, and we were actually invited to watch from the pit, but we opted to stay in the seats.  With B having his knee injuries and me still having this vertigo, it probably wouldn’t have been a wise choice.  Haha. 

Jonah Kagen (who I’d never heard of prior to this concert) opened for Phillip and he was great!  And then Phillip ended up playing many of the songs I’d wanted to hear, although, he didn’t play either of my all-time favorites of his (Wanted is Love and his cover of Wicked Game).  But the show was great, and I enjoyed it so much.  I’ve loved him for eleven years, and I picked him to win American Idol from his very first audition.  I’ve followed his career since he did win back in 2012, and I’ve been wanting to see him in concert forever, so it was nice to put a check on the concert bucket list. 

After the concert was over, we made the drive home, and on the way I uploaded a few videos to my IG stories from the concert.  About an hour later, I got the notifications that Phillip Phillips had liked all of them and that he had shared one of my stories in his stories.  Total fangirl moment, y’all.  ;o)

Sunday, October 22

Sunday morning, B and I slept in, and then we got ready and out the door to pick up the kids from my parents’ house by 9:45 because we had tickets to the Lego Convention in town at 10 AM.  But first, a quick trip to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte and cake pops!

At the Lego Convention, we met our friends Khristina and Ian and their son, Noah, and we all walked around together.  They had some really cool stuff including really huge Lego builds, unique Lego builds, discontinued sets, and lots more.  The kids were able to meet Kerry from “The Grandpappies” who were on the last season of Lego Masters, and they thought that was neat.  He was so kind and he chatted with them for a bit.

 

We stayed there for a couple of hours and then we grabbed sandwiches at Jersey Mikes before we had to get Jacob to a birthday party at one of the local entertainment centers.  He spent the next three hours eating pizza and cupcakes, playing laser tag and mini golf, and playing arcade games with his three best friends.  Just living the life!

While he was there, Brian, Olivia, and I headed home, and Olivia helped me get the house tidied and photographed for the Halloween home tour blog post that was scheduled to go live the next day.  Nothing like waiting ‘til the last minute! 

After that, she studied and did some “how to draw” videos while I did #allthethings – prepped my planner for the week ahead, caught up on the morning sermon I listen to every Sunday morning, transferred pictures from my phone to my computer, sorted and edited all of the photos for the home tour post, and put the home tour post together.  Then I worked on getting some things ready for the week ahead – I sorted all of the dirty laundry to be washed, I tidied up some of the spaces in our home that were looking rough, and I got some stuff prepped and ready for the kids.

Brian picked Jacob up around 4, and then when they got home, he had to study for a test on Monday, and then he and Olivia played a very short few minutes of video games before it was time to head to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner.

Momma made spaghetti and salad and bread, and lemon crinkle cookies for dessert (one of my favorites!), and we ended up leaving there around eight so we could get the kids in bed early.  They had both stayed up late Friday and Saturday night and they were exhausted. 

Brian and I watched an episode of Saturday Night Live, and then it was off to bed for us, too, so we could get a good night’s sleep to start all over again on Monday! 

Whew!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!