Our Week - The One with Lunch with Coworkers, a Sick Kid, and a Low-Key Weekend

This weekend didn’t go exactly as planned since we ended up with a sick kid, but since the weather was dreary all weekend, it was actually kind of nice spending the whole weekend at home… even if it did start giving Covid era vibes towards the end.  Haha.  Here’s how our week went…

Monday, March 11

Monday was the first Monday after moving the clocks forward an hour, so I was on the struggle bus aaaallll day.  That early wakeup call was roooough but we made it through.  And I wasn’t the only one struggling.  When I went downstairs to make my breakfast, Jacob was on the couch with his hoodie over his head and face just laying there.  Hahahaha.  He’s usually up and doing stuff because he’s the morning person in the house, so you know it’s rough when he’s struggling.

I got the kids to school in the dark (the worst), and then I dropped all of the dance stuff back at the school office before heading home.  I did get to enjoy the very beginning of the sunrise on the way home, though, so that was a treat. 

The rest of the day was spent working at home and trying not to fall asleep at my desk, and then I picked up the kids from school at 3. 

When we got home, they tackled homework while I did my Bible study, and then they played outside for a long time since it had warmed up in the afternoon.  I went for a struggle run – I had no energy, but I did it anyway! – and I made it 2.38 miles before heading home to cook dinner.

We had sausage, peppers, and onions tacos, tortilla chips, and fruit for dinner, and then after that, we all went out for a long family walk around the neighborhood… the silver lining to this time change.  The kids rode their scooters, and Maui was as happy as a clam to be out walking, and it was a nice, low-key evening.

 

When we got back home, I got showered, and then the kids got showered.  I threw in another load of laundry and got some files transferring, and then we watched an episode of A Series of Unfortunate Events.  B and the kids had started it while I was doing the Mother/Son dance Friday night.  It doesn’t interest me in the least, so I wasn’t sad to miss.

After the kids went to bed, B and I started The Bachelor, and then we headed to bed a little early because I was so tired!

Monday, we also found out that the kids’ school isn’t doing a middle school spring golf season, so we were bummed about that.  Jacob does have the opportunity to play as an independent, but instead, he and Brian are just going to set up regular golf dates, so he won’t get rusty by the time fall rolls around.

Tuesday, March 12

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then headed home to work all morning.  And when I say work, I use the term very loosely, because mostly, I was trying to stay awake, I was texting with friends, and I was scrolling through social media.  Haha.  I just couldn’t get it together on Tuesday.  Spring fever settled in something serious.

Thankfully, I had a lunch planned with my old co-worker, Greg, so I had an excuse to get out of the house.  And my old co-worker, Donnie, ended up joining us, too, so that was fun.  We went to my very favorite local pizza place in town – the place Greg and I always go when we get together – and it was so great catching up with him and enjoying that yummy food.  Greg didn’t come to our dinner last month, so I hadn’t seen him since our last lunch together. 

After lunch, I headed back home to work just a bit more, and then I grabbed the kids from school, and we headed home.  They both worked on homework (which was very minimal) and I did my Bible study and enjoyed a cup of hot tea. 

At 5, Jacob and I dropped Olivia at dance, and then he and I headed back home for the rest of the evening.  The weather was beautiful, so he and I got out to walk Maui for a bit, and it was nice to get some fresh air and sunshine.  I love my one-on-one time with him, too.  I know I’m a wee bit biased since he’s mine, but he is truly the greatest kid. 

After our walk, he played some games on his computer, and I got dinner in the oven.  Once dinner was baking, I did a strength workout, and by the time that was done, Brian and Olivia were home from dance.

We sat down to one-pan baked chicken, potatoes, and broccoli, and we had Hawaiian rolls on the side.  After dinner, we got the kitchen cleaned up, and after the kids were done getting showered, we got them in the bed.  B and I finished The Bachelor for the week, and then we went to bed super early because I was so dang tired again.

Wednesday, March 13

Wednesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and went home to work all day.  I was laser focused all morning and was able to complete two blog posts and work on a couple of others.  I also spent a lot of time backing up files (pictures, videos, papers, and music), and I took the time to shred my massive stack of old medical papers that I had transferred to my medical and health spreadsheet that I created earlier this year.  It felt so good to have all of that done!

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, I had tons of neck and shoulder tension – the kind where it just kind of tenses up and I can’t do anything to get the muscles to unclench – and then, at one point while I was sitting at my computer, I had another vertigo episode.  Thankfully, this one only lasted about two seconds, and thankfully, I was sitting down when it happened, but OMG, when is it ever going to stop?!  And whyyyy has it started happening again?!  I ended up being generally unsteady and having that boat-rocking sensation for the rest of the day, so that wasn’t fun either, but I was grateful that it didn’t’ affect my ability to drive or do anything else.  I just had to be really careful moving throughout the house for the rest of the day.

At 3, I grabbed the kids from school, and we dropped Olivia at dance on the way home.  Jacob did homework and played a game on his laptop for a few minutes when we got home, and I did my Bible study.  I spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and chatting with him.

I was supposed to have cooked stir fry for dinner, but I forgot to grab chicken from Fresh Market on Tuesday, so I texted B and asked him if they’d pick up Chick-Fil-A on the way home from dance instead.  Sometimes you just have to do takeout!

After dinner, I headed out for a nice, long sunset walk.  I was still feeling boat-rocky and generally “off,” but I was able to do 2.55 miles with no major issues.  It felt great to get out… I’ve missed my after-dinner walks/runs so much for the last few months!

By the time I got home, the kids were finishing up showering and getting ready for bed, so I jumped in the shower and got into my PJs, too, and then we watched some more of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Brian and I watched some of an old episode of Saturday Night Live that we’d recorded weeks earlier, and then we headed to bed earlier again since I was exhausted yet again.  When we went up, Olivia was still wide awake (and I have a feeling Jacob was, too) because of the time change.  Did I mention that I hate springing forward?!  Haha.

Thursday, March 14

Thursday was errands and appointments day, so I got the kids to school, spent a couple of hours working at home, and then I headed out to get gas, pick up a couple of things from Target and try on a couple of things to add to my birthday wish list, go to my orthodontist appointment, meet with my therapist, and return something from Amazon at Staples. 

My orthodontist appointment went well.  I told him about all of the excessive face/jaw/scalp/neck/shoulders tension I’ve been having, and I told him that I’d had two new vertigo spells since I started the rubber bands eight weeks ago, and he told me I could stop the rubber bands for a while if I wanted to.  However, stopping the rubber bands would most likely delay getting the braces off on time, so I told him I just wanted to power through.  The faster my teeth and jaw correct, the faster I can get these things off, and the faster I can (hopefully) heal from this vertigo and dizziness. 

While I was there, the assistant removed the chains and wires and put in new chains and wires, so my mouth ended up being sore all evening.  But the good thing – this time it didn’t hurt nearly as badly as when the assistant put in the chains the first time.  It literally felt like she was going to pull out my teeth when she did it.  This time, it felt like that a little bit a couple of times, but it wasn’t nearly as intense.

With regard to all of the face/jaw/neck/shoulder tension, the orthodontist told me to try wearing my rubber bands all day instead of just at night.  He thinks that going back-and-forth between wearing them and not wearing them is what’s causing the tension.  Because all night, my mouth is set a different way, and then all day, it’s like the muscle memory tries to pull it back to where it was prior to wearing the rubber bands, so it’s like a vicious cycle every day.  I started doing exactly that, and what do you know, my face tension seems to have improved drastically since then!!  He did tell me that my right side has progressed a little faster than my left, so he only wants me to wear the rubber bands on the left side for a while.  After a couple of days of doing that, though, my mouth started feeling lopsided and teeth started banging into each other, so I went back to wearing both rubber bands around the clock. 

After all of my errands, I headed home to eat lunch and work for another hour, and then it was time to pick up the kids.  Olivia had had her awards ceremony for the third quarter Thursday morning, and I had no clue they were having them that day, so I missed them (waaaahhhh), and of course, the one time I missed them, she got one of the special awards.  I was SOOOO sad that I had missed it, y’all.  This award is only given to one kid per class per quarter, and it’s named after their school, and it’s presented to a child who embodies the characteristics of the school’s four core values of faith, loyalty, honesty, and respect.  I am just so proud of my sweet girl for this achievement and I’m still so sad that I missed it!! 

In addition to that, she made Principal’s List, the Religion Award, and the All Day Everyday Award since she wasn’t absent this quarter.  She did not meet her AR goal in the third quarter, but we knew that was coming (she kept forgetting to bring her books home from school so she could actually read them – LOL), and she and I have been going round and round about that.  Haha.  I think that might be the first time in her life that she didn’t meet that goal and get that award, but in the scheme of things, it really doesn’t mean anything.  It’s still baffling to me that I produced two children who don’t care much about reading.  Hahahaha.

While I was out and about, my friend, Jeannine texted me this picture of the white board in their play room.  Apparently, Olivia had written this sweet note on there for her boys the last time we were over there, and they had just noticed it.  Y'all!!!!  <3

After school, the kids had music lessons, and Olivia was pleased to see that Mrs. Janice was still wearing her bracelet that she’d made her.  And Mr. Steve had put his bracelet on his Hairy Dawg statue in his office.  He is a die-hard Georgia fan like we are, so Olivia had made him a red and black one, and he used it to dress up the UGA mascot in his office.  So sweet.  :o)

When we got home, the kids did their homework (which was nothing for Jacob and barely anything for Olivia), so that took all of five minutes, and then they went outside to play since it was a gorgeous day.  I got my Bible study done while they were outside, but they kept coming in and out and into my office to ask questions/borrow stuff/tell me things repeatedly, so my Bible study took twice as long as it usually does. 

By the time I was done with that, Brian was already on the way home from work, and I hadn’t set foot in the kitchen to get it tidied, cleaned, and prepped for dinner.  I got down there just as he was walking in the door and got started. 

We made breakfast for dinner (eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, and toast), and my parents stopped by while we were cooking so they could bring some St. Paddy’s Day treats to the kids since we didn’t see them on Sunday.

After dinner, I got out for another walk since it was supposed to rain for the next three days, and the kids got showered and ready for bed while I was gone.  We watched some more of A Series of Unfortunate Events, sent the kids to bed, and then B and I browsed all of the streaming services to find something to watch with no luck. 

We ended up going to bed super early yet again (because… you guessed it… I was exhausted), and when we went up, Olivia was still up reading because ever since the time changed, she hasn’t been tired at all at night.  We can’t get her or Jacob to fall asleep and then we can’t get them up in the morning. 

Friday, March 15

Friday was one of those days where everything went wrong.  I started the day off with major computer issues, and I ended up wasting most of the morning getting those squared away.  Right before it was time to pick up the kids, Maui scratched me to let me know she needed to go out, so I headed downstairs right behind her, and she apparently couldn’t hold it, so she pooped all the way down the stairs.  It was storming all day Friday, so it was super dark in the stairwell, so naturally, I stepped right in it.  Sigh.

In addition to that, my face and neck and shoulder tension was extremely high – about as bad as it gets – all day, and I felt on the verge of a panic attack all day for no apparent reason at all.  The anxiety and the tension made me feel dizzy all day, so I had that going for me, too.  Anxiety… sigh.  It’s exhausting. 

Right as it was time to pick up the kids from school, a huge storm hit and it poured all the way to the school, the whole time I sat waiting, and all the way home.  On the way to get them, I passed a horrible wreck on the highway, so traffic was backed up, but when I see something like that, it always puts things in perspective that my problems could have been so much worse.

When Jacob got in the car, he didn’t look so good, and he said that his throat was hurting.  He had told me Monday morning that his nose was a little stuffy and he wanted some Claritin since we all have allergy issues, but apparently, it wasn’t allergies, because by the time 5 PM rolled around he had a fever, too.  He went downhill from there and he ended up spiking to 101.8 before I told him he needed to take some medicine.  We tested him for Covid and he was negative, so we’re assuming it was just some kind of cold.  He never had aches or anything like that, so we don’t think it was flu.

Needless to say, I was in my PJs by 3:30.  Lol.

Brian headed back out into the yucky weather to pick up Olive Garden takeout for dinner, and then the kids showered and got ready for bed.  While Jacob was showering, Olivia told me that she wanted to spend some time with me, and she requested that we play a game of Memory, so of course, I couldn’t say no to that!  She whooped me as usual.  I don’t think I’ve ever beaten her.  Her memory is insane.

I fell promptly to sleep on the couch while they all watched more of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and then after the kids went to bed, Brian and I started a new show on HBO Max called The Girl Before.  It’s intriguing so far!

Saturday, March 16

Saturday morning, Brian woke me up at 8:45 because my body was still on pre-Daylight Saving Time (I told y’all it takes me forever to adjust) and I would have otherwise slept until, probably 9:30.  I headed downstairs to make some waffles for breakfast.  Jacob’s fever was gone – thank goodness! – and he was looking much better, but he still had some congestion, so we laid low all day.

For my vertigo, my primary care doctor had me start a morning dose of the medication that I’m taking for it, to hopefully control it better during the day since I’ve been having so many issues, so I finally started that Saturday morning.  I didn’t want to try it during the week for fear it would interfere with me driving or picking up the kids.

Sure enough, it made me feel soooo tired, and for several hours after I took it, I felt really sluggish and unmotivated to do anything.  So, I sipped some cinnamon tea and did my quiet time – gratitude journal, prayer journal, devotional, Bible study, Bible recap, and Bible recap video – and by the time I was done with that, it was way later than normal for me to get started on house chores and working out.

I got a load of laundry started, and then I tried my best to get in a mixed cardio workout, but I pretty much phoned it in because the medicine made me feel too relaxed, and again, unmotivated.  I also noticed that I couldn’t get my heart rate up very high no matter what I did… I guess another weird side effect from the medicine??

Anyway, after my workout, we all had lunch together, and then Brian headed outside to work in the yard for the rest of the day.  It was supposed to be dreary all day, but the sun ended up coming out here and there, so I took my book outside to read in the sun and soak up some Vitamin D, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up from a nap.  That medicine is definitely making me groggy and TOO relaxed right now.  I didn’t have any dizziness all day, though, so it’s definitely helping with that.  I just need it to not make my body want to curl up in the bed all day.  And I also need it to not take away my motivation.  That’s the worst feeling for me.  I love to be productive, so it’s weird feeling like I don’t want to do anything at all.

I did get a cute picture of my niece from my Dad, though, since they were at the beach with them.

After my nap, I felt great all afternoon, and I spent an hour cleaning out the kitchen – finally.  I didn’t get it all done, but I got most of it done, and I got rid of a bunch of stuff – mostly the kids’ stuff – so all I have left to do is a few more cabinets, and two of the closets. 

After that was done, I headed upstairs to tackle a bunch of tiny little tasks that have been on my list forever, so it felt good to get those crossed off.  Meanwhile, B had removed all of the brush from our privacy fence, and he trimmed all of the branches way back on our oak trees in the back yard so we can actually walk underneath them now.

Saturday afternoon, I worked in my office for a little bit, and then Brian picked up Five Guys for dinner.  After dinner, we went for a family walk around the neighborhood, and then I finally showered for the day.  Then we watched some more of A Series of Unfortunate Events with the kids before sending them to bed. 

Unfortunately, Jacob’s fever came back just before bedtime… it was low-grade at only 100.5, but it was still a bummer that it came back sine we were thinking he was on the mend.

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched another episode of The Girl Before, and then we headed to bed, too.

 

Sunday, March 17

Sunday morning, I got up and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Jacob still wasn’t feeling 100% - he still had tons of congestion and a mildly sore throat, so we decided to cancel our plans for the day.  My friend, Jeannine, and her husband always throw a St. Paddy’s Day party, but we didn’t feel right about exposing everyone to potential germs, so, sadly, we decided to skip.

It ended up being a rainy, dreary day, so it was the perfect day to hole up at home anyway.  The kids watched some cartoons, I watched my Sunday morning sermon, did some yoga, and worked on my Bible study for the day.

 

Then, mid-morning, Brian and I sat down together to plan a loose itinerary for our Disney trip.  We like to squeeze in as much as we possibly can, so we plan every single day out from wake-up times to what time to walk to the buses to what to run to at rope drop, etc.  We also have lunch and dinner reservations most days, so we have to figure out how to work around those as well.  The days never go exactly as planned, but we both like having a plan in place anyway.

After that was done, we all had lunch together, and then the kids played inside while I got showered and ready for the day.  I worked on some blog stuff in the afternoon and got the towels folded, and the kids played video games for a while.  Brian’s tennis match got canceled due to the weather, and then we spent the evening hanging out at home. 

I warmed some leftover white chicken chili that my mom had put in our freezer a few weeks prior, and the kids ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  Afterward, they got showered and ready for bed, and I read for a bit while they did that.

We all watched some more of A Series of Unfortunate Events before they went to bed, and then B and I finished the episode of The Girl Before that we’d started the night before and ended the night with American Idol.  And that was our week!  

Happy Tuesday, y’all!