Our Week - The One with Valentine’s Day, a UGA Basketball Game, and the Start of Brian’s Birthday Celebrations

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Before I get started on today’s post, I want to wish Brian a very happy birthday!!  We are excited to celebrate you (again – haha) tonight!

Monday, February 12

Monday morning, it was still raining.  It had rained all day and night Sunday, and it rained all.day.long on Monday.  I don’t know what the final tally ended up being for rain in our area, but last I’d heard was that we’d gotten 6-9 inches in just a little over 24 hours.  That made the drive to school reeeeal fun Monday morning.  I ended up taking backroads as the highway almost always has a wreck/traffic stopped every time it rains, but the backroads were so flooded in spots that it made for a not-so-fun drive.  It usually takes me about 30 minutes round-trip to get the kids to school and back home, but on Monday it took me a full hour.  Yeesh.

Thankfully, I had nowhere to be Monday, so I holed up in my office and worked all day.  Well, I alternated between that and laundry. 

At 3, I grabbed the kids from school (in the rain – STILL), and we swung by Chick-Fil-A to grab milkshakes so we could kill some time until our dentist appointments.  I loved being able to sit with them and hang out with them for a bit.  We usually have somewhere to be right after school, so they’re typically delving straight into homework when we get out of school, so it was nice to have some time with them to just chat.

After that, we all headed to the dentist office for our semi-annual cleanings and all three of us received good reports – no cavities for anyone!  And Jacob went home with a strong recommendation for a visit with an orthodontist.  They’d told us at his last appointment that it was about that time, but we were so busy at the end of the year that I never scheduled it, so now they’re telling us, IT’S REALLY TIME.  Haha.  Guess I’ll be getting that scheduled ASAP!

After our appointments, we drove home in the rain (of course), and then it was finally time to be cozy.  Thankfully, I’d thrown dinner in the crockpot Monday morning (Ranch Chicken Pasta), so dinner was about ready when we got home.  All I had to do was boil some noodles to throw in there, steam some broccoli for the side, and throw some bread in the oven.

We all sat down to eat once the food was ready, and then Olivia finished up with some homework.  She has hit a tough patch in math, so Brian had to help explain a few things to her.  Note that I said Brian and not myself… because I cannot even do the math that she’s doing right now.  In fourth grade.  Lol.

After the kitchen was cleaned up, I got in a mixed cardio workout, and then I got ready for bed.  We watched some more of Mary Poppins after the kids were ready for bed, and I finally pulled out all of our Valentine’s Day touches for the house. 

After the kids were in bed, B and I started the new episode of The Bachelor, and I fell promptly to sleep on the couch because I was so exhausted.  I’ve been low on energy for a couple of weeks, and I think it’s the combination of the weather and being in so much pain/tension from starting my braces rubberbands again.  These last few weeks have been really tough.  My body has felt wrecked because of the drastic movement my jaw has already made.  It’s affecting me from the shoulders, up.  And every single spot above my shoulders hurts.  Even my scalp, y’all.  It’s bizarre. 

Tuesday, February 13

Tuesday started out like a Monday, but it ended well.  I got the kids to school thinking that I had an appointment with my therapist at 9:15 AM, so I headed home after I dropped them off.  I had just made my hot tea and, thankfully, I glanced at my calendar when I got to my office, only to see that my appointment was, in fact, at 8:15 AM, which was only 20 minutes away. 

I flew down the stairs and to the car, realizing on the way out that I was literally on empty, so a gas station stop was necessary before heading to my appointment.  Thankfully, I made it to my appointment right on time, and all was well. 

Another thing on the list for Tuesday was to get Dave Matthews Band concert tickets in the Citi Presale.  I’d seen that the presale was starting at 9 AM, but Brian said that everything he’d seen said that the presale started at 10 AM.  So, after my appointment, I thought I had time before the sale started, so I headed to Staples to drop some Amazon returns, and as I was pulling in, I got a text from Brian saying that he’d popped into TicketMaster “just to check” and the presale had, indeed, started at 9 AM and all of the good seats were already gone.  Sigh.  Thankfully, it was just the presale, and there was another chance on Friday!

After that was done, I headed back home to work for the rest of the day and knock out the rest of the laundry.

After school, we headed home, and Olivia said that she was feeling really tired and dizzy.  She was supposed to have dance at 5, so I told her to lay down for a bit and rest, and then we’d decide what to do.  Meanwhile, I went for a quick run while it was still sunny.  I had zero desire to get out there because it was cold and windy, but I forced myself to do it, and as usual, I was so glad that I did.

By the time I got home, Olivia was feeling much better, so she got up and got ready for dance, and then she started her homework before we had to leave.

When we got home, I worked on my health and medical spreadsheet that I’ve been putting together, and then I got showered before it was time to cook dinner.

When Brian and Olivia got home, we had sausage, peppers, and onions tacos with tortilla chips and leftover Super Bowl gauc for dinner (plus some grapes to add something healthy – haha), and then Olivia wrapped up her homework for the evening. 

The kids had done Valentine’s Day at school on Tuesday since Wednesday was Ash Wednesday (a day to be solemn), and they’d also had a Mardis Gras parade for Fat Tuesday, so Olivia had hoped to sort through all of her loot, but it was so late that we did showers and bedtime instead.  Since she’d been so tired after school, I told her it was best to get to bed on time anyway, and she didn’t argue.

After the kids were in bed, B and I watched some more of The Bachelor, and then we headed to bed, too.

Wednesday, February 14

Wednesday was a busy day.  I dropped the kids at school and headed straight to my follow-up appointment with the neurologist about my vertigo.  I am still having extreme dizziness every single time I lay down and sit up from laying down, so they ran another test (a positional blood pressure test) to make sure that my blood pressure wasn’t dropping with movement.  It came back normal.  I never got to see the actual neurologist, but I spoke in-depth with one of his nurses about my braces, and how I have been wondering if they could potentially be the culprit, and while she didn’t completely dismiss the idea, she didn’t seem particularly convinced either. 

At my last appointment they had prescribed a medication that would mask the dizziness (not actually fix the root problem, since we don’t know what the root problem is), but I ultimately decided not to take if after the pharmacist warned me that it may sedate me (WHAT?!)  The potential side effects for the medicine were terrifying, too.  Severe depression and suicidal thoughts?  Hard pass.  Since I decided not to take the medicine that they prescribed for me, they said that there was nothing more that they could do for me, and they released me from their care.  That means I’m officially on my own again.  Sigh.

After my appointment, I headed back to our church and school, and I dropped a ton of clothing donations at our outreach center before heading to the school office to return all of the stuff that I’d used for the Daddy Daughter dance.  By the time that was done, it was almost time for Ash Wednesday Mass.  Our lower school had a Mass at 9:30, and Olivia was in the choir, so I sat with my Momma and my Mama Cass, and we got to see her sing.

Four generations at Ash Wednesday Mass.  <3

After Mass, I finally headed home to get some work done.  I only had a couple of hours, and they flew by, and before I knew it, it was time to get in the car line.

After school, Jacob and I dropped Olivia at dance.  She had twisted her ankle at dance on Tuesday, so she had been limping a bit all day, but she still wanted to go and try to dance.  She told me she ended up mostly watching because her ankle was hurting too bad, but at least she didn’t get behind.  They’re right in the middle of learning their routines for their recital in May, so now is not a good time to miss.

While she was at dance, I got all of the laundry put away and prepped for Valentine’s Day dinner.  We don’t do much for Valentine’s Day, but I do always pull out all of our heart-shaped dishes and decorate the table all fun.  We do also get the kids something small.  This year, for Jacob, it was a small Lego set.  I usually grab the Valentine’s Day themed set for the year, but this year I didn’t see any new sets that he didn’t already have, so I grabbed a cool 3-in-1 set with a parrot, a fish, and a frog.  For Olivia, I got her a pink tee with candy hearts all over it, and the candy hearts have the names of all of the Taylor Swift albums on it.  SO CUTE.

When Brian and Olivia got home, we made breakfast for dinner minus the bacon and sausage since it was Ash Wednesday (we abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday as well as all Fridays during Lent), and since we didn’t have those things, I made homemade waffles instead.  The kids were thrilled.

After dinner, my parents swung by to bring some Valentine’s Day goodies for the kids, and then it was time for the homework, workout, get-ready-for-bed hustle.  Olivia’s dance class had run 35 minutes late, so we were way behind.

By the time I finished up with my stair stepper workout, it was time to get the kids in the bed.  As a matter of fact, Olivia was so tired, that she had put herself to bed.  Haha.  I walked in her room and she was in the dark, under the covers, eye mask on, stars twinkling, with lullabies playing on her Echo.  Hahahaha.  My Boo did pop in during my workout to show me the chameleon he had folded.  He is very into origami right now.

Once the kids were in bed, B and I watched some more of the never-ending episodes of The Bachelor for the week, and then we went to bed.

Thursday, February 15

Thursday morning after I dropped the kids at school, I headed straight to the doctor’s office for my breast ultrasound.  I always have to do an ultrasound alongside my mammogram since I have dense tissue, and thankfully, all was well.  I had a moment of worry when the ultrasound tech lingered in one spot for far too long again, but then when the doctor came in, he looked at whatever it was that she saw, and he said it was nothing to worry about.  And my tumor that they found last year hasn’t changed, so I got another clean bill of health for the next six months!

Once that was done, I headed home to work for the rest of the day, and then at 3 I grabbed the kids from school.  Olivia had her semi-annual thyroid checkup, so we swung Jacob by my parents’ house so they could take him to piano lessons, and then Olivia and I headed to the ENT doctor. 

Unfortunately, the nodule on her thyroid grew significantly this time in between visits, but thankfully, the doctor said that he doesn’t think it’s necessary to do another needle aspiration or biopsy because it doesn’t seem to be affecting her swallowing/breathing/etc.  And he said that the matter inside looks to be the same, so it still shouldn’t be anything to worry about. 

Only two-ish more years to go, and she’ll have an operation to remove the nodule once and for all.  The doctor just wants to make sure she’s big enough, because the bigger she is, the less of a chance there will be that he’ll have to remove part or all of her thyroid.  We want to avoid that for sure.  I can’t believe we’ve been monitoring this thing for six years now.

Once we were done there, we grabbed Jacob from my parents, and then we headed home.  Olivia had homework to do, so she worked on that while I got dinner ready.  We had leftover Ranch Chicken Pasta from Monday, and I steamed some green beans and warmed some Hawaiian rolls to accompany it. 

Brian had a tennis match Thursday evening, so he wasn’t around which meant I was on homework/kid/cooking/cleaning duty.  By the time I finished up in the kitchen, it was time for the kids to get showered and ready for bed.  While they did that, I did a strength workout, and then, I was just exhausted.  I have been so very tired lately, and it’s so odd for me to be this way because I have always naturally had a lot of energy.

Brian got home during my workout, and then we all piled on the couch and finished Mary Poppins.  Well, everyone except for Jacob.  He was bored with the movie, so he worked on his current origami project.  I was right there with him… I have never liked Mary Poppins.  Didn’t like it when I was a kid, and apparently, I still don’t like it as an adult.  I had hoped my opinion would change now that I’m older, but man, that movie still bores me to tears after all these years.  Haha.

Once the kids were in bed, Brian and I finally finished The Bachelor from the week (there were two two-hour episodes last week – goodness) and then we went upstairs suuuuper early because I was so tired.  We were lights out by 9:45 which is just unheard of for us.  We usually stay up until 10:30/10:45-ish during the weekdays and usually midnight on the weekends, but last week I guess I just needed more sleep!

Friday, February 16

Friday morning, I hugged my Boo goodbye before school because he went home with one of his friends after school Friday to sleep over. 

After that, I headed home for a day of work.  I had nowhere to be, so that was nice.  Plus, Dave Matthews Band tickets went on sale Friday morning, and that always takes a good chunk of time.  B was the luckier one this time, and he was able to get some decent seats for us, but they weren’t quite as good as I’d hoped.  I’m so spoiled, and I’m used to being in the first few rows behind the pit, but this year we’re 12 rows behind the pit.  It’s just impossible these days to get anything good the way they do things.  

At 3, I picked up Olivia from school.  Since Jacob was spending the night out, he rode home with his friend’s family.  Olivia and I blasted Taylor Swift all the way home since Jacob wasn’t there.  Haha.  He is so sick of Taylor Swift because Olivia plays her music constantly at home, so I try to be mindful of that when he’s with us.

When we got home, I worked on my medical and health spreadsheet for a bit while Olivia worked on a project she wanted to finish and then she and I got her all dressed up and took pictures for her birthday post.  We stopped doing the chalkboard pictures for Jacob at 10, so this is officially my last birthday chalkboard I’ll ever do.  *Tear*

Meanwhile, I was getting pictures from Jacob’s friend, Jack’s, mom keeping me updated on all that they were doing.  She had taken them to the local arcade for games, laser tag, and dinner, so Jacob was in heaven!

Shortly after that was done, B headed out to pick up dinner.  We were both craving fettucine alfredo from our favorite local Italian place, but when I called to place the order, they informed me that they were still doing a Valentine’s Day menu that didn’t include that (boooo) so we had to come up with something else.  The second best alfredo?  OLIVE GARDEN!!  Y’all can hate all you want, but OG is the best!

While Brian was gone, Olivia and I had a dance party in her room to none other than Taylor Swift, and then I poured a glass of wine and started the book The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.  I’ve heard incredible things about it, so I thought Lent might be the perfect time to read it.

When B got home, we all sat down to eat, and that OG fettucine alfredo was banging just as it always has been.  I was stuffed by the time I was done. 

We got the kitchen cleaned up and then snuggled up on the couch with Olivia for the evening.  She had us all to herself, which is rare, so we let her pick what we watched.  And you’ll NEVER guessed what she picked, y’all… TAYLOR SWIFT MUSIC VIDEOS.  Hahahaha. 

We literally watched Taylor Swift music videos for the next two hours – we watched almost every single one haha – and she was in heaven.  Brian is such a great Daddy for putting up with that all night.  ;o)

After we got Olivia to bed, B and I watched another episode and a half of Stay Close that we’d started the previous week.  This is another Harlan Coben show on Netflix, and it’s good so far, although, not quite as good as the others we’ve watched.

Saturday, February 17

Saturday morning, we were up early to head to Athens for a UGA basketball game.  But first, we had to pick up Jacob.  They had gone to Waffle House for breakfast and were just finishing up getting gas, so we met them in the Walmart parking lot.

He gushed about his night, and his morning.  He and Jack had gotten up at 5:30 AM to maximize their time together since we had to pick Jacob up at 8:45 AM.  Lol. 

We headed straight to Athens from there, and the drive up was smooth.  We ended up getting there a little earlier than expected, so of course, we had to swing by Trader Joe’s to pick up some snacks.  Our current faves right now – the chocolate chip cookie dunkers, the peanut butter-filled pretzels (for Olivia), their vanilla bean scones (OMG), their gluten free cinnamon streusel muffins (also OMG), and, of course, their Charles Shaw wine. 

We got to Stegman Coliseum right as the doors were opening for the game, and we headed straight to the concession stand to pick up lunch.  B and I grabbed Chick-Fil-A sandwiches while Olivia opted for a hot dog, and Jacob was still full from Waffle House, so he didn’t get anything but a water.  But first, we had to stop and take pictures at the National Championship wall!  ;o)

We found our seats after that.  They were up near the top, but at least they were on the sideline and not behind the goal.  And really, there’s no bad seat in that whole place.  There’s a great view from mostly anywhere.  Olivia was thrilled because she was seat #13... Taylor Swift's favorite number, of course!  ;o)

We played Florida and expected to get our butts whooped, but we were up the entire first half and it was a really exciting game.  Jacob got hungry about halfway through, so I went down to grab a hot dog and some fries for him, plus some candy for both kiddos, and then we stayed until the very end of the game because it was so close.  Florida ended up coming back in the second half and beating us, but it was such a close one.

I don’t normally enjoy basketball – I find it incredibly boring, haha – but this game was pretty enjoyable… definitely the most enjoyable one we’ve been to so far and I think this one was our third?

After the game, we made the drive back home.  Again, we made miraculous time considering we had to drive through Atlanta on a Saturday, and we got home just in time for dinner.  B dropped the kids and I at home, and then he headed back out to grab dinner from our favorite local barbecue place.  While he was gone, I unpacked, I got everything put away from our trip, I put up the Trader Joe’s goodies, I got the table set and ready for dinner, I got in my PJs, and I mixed up some Moscow Mules for us.

When he got back, we all ate, and then the kids finished getting showered and ready for bed.  While they did that, I baked a chocolate chip bundt cake for Brian’s birthday dinner at my parents’ house the next night, and Brian put a fire in the fireplace.

Brian and Jacob wanted to watch Guardians of the Galaxy, so I fell promptly to sleep on the couch, and Olivia worked on projects on her laptop.  She’s always busy crafting or making time-lapse videos of herself doing crafts (her newest thing), or drawing, or singing.  She has really learned to entertain herself these past few months, and that’s a great thing since she used to be so dependent on everyone else to keep her company.  She is definitely a people-person, and that is a great way to be, but I’m really glad she’s learned to do some things alone.

After the kids went to bed, I rallied, and B and I watched more of Stay Close before calling it a night ourselves.

 

Sunday, February 18

Sunday morning, we all slept in and had a lazy morning.  The kids watched a movie and did their laundry since they hadn’t had the chance on Saturday.  I got my planner ready for the week ahead, watched my Sunday morning sermon, caught up on my gratitude journal, did my Bible study, and did 30 minutes of yoga/stretching, and then it was time to get ready for the day.

We had lunch at my mother-in-law’s and step-father-in-law’s, and while we were there, we celebrated Brian’s birthday since it was approaching on Tuesday.  We had a cookie cake, and he opened gifts, and it was a great afternoon over there.

When we got home, I did some work in my office while I watched The Wedding Planner, and then it was time to go celebrate Brian with my parents at Sunday dinner.

My Momma made the best fettucine alfredo bake, a Caesar salad, and bread, and then we had chocolate chip bundt cake for dessert.  While we were over there, we celebrated Brian’s birthday, and we also showed the family our finished One Second a Day video from 2023.

 

Since the kids were off Monday, Brian and Jacob watched some more of Guardians of the Galaxy when we got home, and Olivia and I hung out in her room.  We chatted and tidied for a bit, and then we started reading more of her book, The Care and Keeping of You.  It’s the American Girl book that discusses all things about the body, and it’s a fantastic resource for navigating all of those sticky subjects like puberty.  I cannot believe she’s going to be TEN next weekend.  Sigh.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!