I thought last
week was going to be the week that I finally caught up on life stuff and got
back on track, but then I got sick, and that derailed all of my plans. One of these weeks I’ll be able to report
that I’m finally back on top of things, but this week is not that week yet
again. I feel like I’ve been behind and
scrambling since our Disney trip the first week of April, but it is what it is…
Monday, June
17
Monday morning,
Olivia had her first day of Taylor Swift camp at her music school, so we were
up bright and early and out the door by 8:30.
Two of her friends from school attended camp with her so she was excited
to be reunited with them after a couple of weeks away.
My little
girlfriend was all kinds of prepared with her TS tee, a cute skirt, a million
friendship bracelets, and her signature red lip. ;o)
After I dropped
her off, I headed back home to work on laundry and blog stuff all morning, and
Jacob worked on one of his intricate origami projects he’d recently started.
At noon, I
headed to pick up Olivia, and our friends from school were having trouble
getting their car started, and we ended up driving them home so they didn’t
have to be stuck there.
When we got
home, we had lunch, and then I did some more blog work and laundry until it was
time to take Olivia to a makeup voice lesson since she’d missed one while we
were at the beach.
While she was
in her lesson, I chatted with Steve, one of the other teachers, about guitars
and guitar lessons, and I found out that he grew up visiting the same
guitar-maker here in town that my Daddy was friends with. I grew up going to his shop with my dad, and
I have fond memories of hanging out there tinkering in his shop.
Steve also
updated us on Jacob’s old piano teacher who’d had to have surgery on his
shoulder, and the kids said they wanted to put together a little care package
for him.
When we got
home, I got my Bible study done for the day, and then I got the laundry put
away.
We had chicken
tacos for dinner as they’d been simmering in the slow cooker all day, and then
after dinner, I got out for a run. Oh,
my word, my run ended up being awwwwful.
I felt like I was going to die, and I had the slowest pace I’ve ever
had, I think. Haha. It was miserable. But I got it done.
When I got
home, I got showered and ready for bed, and then we watched an episode of Is
It Cake? with the kids. While we
watched, I started feeling a tickle in my throat that I couldn’t shake, and I
worried that maybe I was coming down with something. I ended up brushing it off, though, as that
happens fairly often with my allergies.
After the kids
went to bed, B and I watched an episode of Shark Tank, and then we
headed to bed early-ish.
Tuesday, June
18
Tuesday morning,
I woke up with immense chest and back pain and a seal bark cough (classic croup
sounding cough). It hurt to breathe, it
hurt to cough, it hurt to sneeze. So, I
knew some funk had settled in my chest overnight and that I probably needed to
get to acute care. I have asthma, so any
time I get upper respiratory illnesses, it’s pertinent that I get to a doctor
for a steroid. That also explained why I
struggled so badly during my run Monday evening… I was coming down with
something and didn’t know it at the time!
Olivia was
crushed because her friend, Aubrey, was supposed to come home with us from camp
that day and sleep over, but we canceled that since I wasn’t sure whether or
not I was contagious.
I dropped
Olivia at camp, swung by Target and Fresh Market with Jacob to grab a couple of
things that we needed (while also avoiding people at all costs so as to not
spread germs). By the time we got back
home, Brian had come home from work to stay home with Jacob so I could run to
acute care. Covid is running rampant
here in town again, so I wasn’t about to take him with me to acute care.
Sure enough,
acute care was packed, and the first question I was asked was if I was
experiencing any respiratory issues.
Once in a room, they triaged and swabbed me, but my test came back
negative for Covid and both flu viruses.
I told the doc about my chest and back pain, but thankfully, she said my
lungs sounded great, and she chalked it up to an upper respiratory infection
AKA a cold or a sinus infection.
She sent me
home with a prescription for a steroid pack, some Zyrtec D, and two cough
medicines. I swung by CVS to drop off
the prescriptions, and then I headed home.
By that time,
Brian had already picked Olivia up from camp, and they were already eating
lunch. I grabbed a quick lunch, too, and
then spent the rest of the day working.
I didn’t feel bad at all other than the chest and back pain, and I just
had that cough, although, it had subsided mostly by then.
Late in the
afternoon, Brian headed to CVS to pick up my prescriptions, and I made dinner –
chicken alfredo with broccoli. I skipped
my workout Tuesday so as to not push myself, and instead, I did some blog work
while the kids got showered and ready for bed.
After everyone
was ready for bed, we had nothing to watch, so Brian and I ended up showing the
kids some of the old Saturday Night Live skits that we used to love from
the 90’s – the ones that were acceptable for them to watch, of course – and it
was so much fun watching with them and seeing their reactions. Apparently, most of them stand the test of
time, because both of them were cracking up, especially Jacob.
Both kids loved
the “we need more cowbell” skit with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken, and
they’ve both been randomly saying that ever since then. Haha.
After they went
to bed, B and I watched some more Shark Tank, and then we called it a
night. I was worried I wasn’t going to
sleep well, but thanks to all of my meds, I slept like a dead person. Haha.
Wednesday, June 19
Wednesday morning, the chest and back pain were gone, and I just had a
little bit of a lingering cough. I
didn’t feel bad otherwise, although, I felt a little tired.
Brian was off for Juneteenth, so he and Jacob dropped Olivia off at camp,
and then they went to play golf, leaving me to have the house to myself. I wish I could say that I had something fun
planned, but I had a date with my duster, my cleaning rags, and my toilet
scrubber. Our house hadn’t been cleaned
in ages, and it was long overdue.
I got all of the toilets, countertops, and dusting done, but I was spent
after that, so Brian was kind enough to do all of the vacuuming for me later in
the day, and then I mopped behind him.
Brian picked up Olivia from camp while I showered and got ready, and then
they picked up Zaxby’s for a quick lunch before we headed to the movies. The four of us went to see Inside Out 2,
and it was just fantastic. They
introduced new emotions for this movie, the biggest being anxiety, and I don’t
think I’ve ever felt so seen. I had
tears running down my face for the last 20 minutes of the movie because it was
just so dang accurate. It was so
good.
We got home late in the afternoon, finished up the chores, and then I
made stir fry for dinner. I attempted to
get in a stair stepper and an arms workout, but they were halfhearted as I had
a horrible headache and horrible jaw pain all afternoon and evening.
We watched more old SNL clips with the kids and more Shark Tank
before bed, and then I was out like a light yet again.
Thursday, June 20
Thursday morning, Brian headed off to work, and I got showered and ready
to take Olivia to camp. I still felt the
same – just a cough with some mild congestion – so I decided to take another
Covid test just to make sure 100% that I didn’t have it since it’s running
rampant here in our city right now (according to the acute care nurse and
doctor).
The test was negative yet again, so I went about my usual business,
getting Olivia to camp, and then spending the morning with Jacob. He’d been wanting to clean out his closet and
reorganize it, so we did just that. We
also changed out all of his baby hangers for adult hangers since that was long
overdue. We ended up getting rid of a
ton of stuff, and we rearranged some things to make his closet more functional,
so it was a success.
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We still had some time left before we had to pick up Olivia, so he pulled
out his school laptop, and I spent some time with him helping him organize his
school email account. Until now, he’d
just been leaving all of his emails (five years’ worth – OMG) in his inbox, so
I helped him get it organized. I told
him which ones were okay to delete (all emails from schoolyears prior), and I
showed him how to make folders for anything he wanted to keep (random emails
from friends, etc.).
We didn’t get through all 1,500 of them, but he knows what to do now, so
I’m letting him take the reins and get the rest cleaned up. Then I’ll show him how to set up new ones for
the new school year in the fall. Up
until now, email hasn’t been super important at school as all of their
assignments go into their Google Classroom, too, but next year, he’ll be taking
some high school courses and he’ll need to stay on top of his emails as that’s
the primary way that the teachers communicate in high school.
At noon, Jacob and I picked Olivia up from camp, and then we all went
home for lunch. Olivia also checked on her sunflowers, and there were some sprouts!!
The kids spent the
afternoon making things to put in Jacob’s old piano teacher’s care package –
Jacob made an origami dragon and Olivia made bracelets galore. I think everyone we know now has bracelets
made by Olivia. Haha. We put all of that together with an adult coloring
book of guitars along with some markers and colored pencils, and we got it
wrapped to drop off with Mr. Steve at music lessons.
While Olivia was making bracelets, she wanted to teach me, so I finally
took the time to learn how to make bracelets on her loom. They’re pretty complicated at first, but once
you get the hang of it, it’s pretty quick!
I can’t do any of the fancy ones like she does, but I can do the basic
ones now.
After I spent some time with the kids, I got some blog work done while
they played video games, and then we headed to music lessons. While the kids did their lessons, I sat in
the lobby and read my book because I didn’t want to risk giving germs to anyone
in that small piano room that Jacob practices in.
When we got home, I worked on blog stuff for a bit longer, and then I
made eggs, sausage, and homemade waffles for dinner for the kids and me. Brian had gone out to dinner with some
friends, so it was just the three of us.
After dinner, I got in a mixed cardio workout – halfhearted once again
from lack of energy from my dumb cold – and then I finished my blog post for
Friday while the kids showered and got ready for bed. I also squeezed in my Bible study. I just can’t seem to get ahead on anything
right now, so everything has been last-minute and it’s driving me crazy.
When Brian got home, we watched a few random Pixar shorts with the kids,
and then B and I started the new season of Trying on Apple TV.
Friday, June 21
Friday morning, I was up at 7:15, I got ready, and then Jacob and I took
Olivia to camp. We met my friend,
Khristina, and her son, Noah, downtown at a new donut shop afterward. The donut shop is in an indoor market, so we
ended up hanging out there for a long time, eventually moving to Khristina’s
house to hang out until we had to pick up Olivia from camp.
Friday was Olivia’s grand finale at camp, and all of the girls had
prepared a dance to Look What You Made Me Do. You can tell that Olivia is one of the
dancers in the group because she nailed the whole routine. All of her dance classes require her to learn
routines quickly, so she picked it up fast!
After they were done dancing, they sang 22 and it was the cutest
thing! She enjoyed this camp so much…
she didn’t want it to be over!
After their performances, we headed home and had lunch, and then I
worked, chatted on the phone with a friend, and got in a Bible study while the kids played. Khristina had given me a sewing kit for Olivia, and she ended up sewing the entire thing that afternoon. No experience with sewing, but she picked it right up!
In the evening, we
headed out to my friend, Jeannine’s, house for poker night. We had dinner and played cards all night, and
as always, it was a super fun evening.
We’ve been doing these monthly poker nights with them since December 2022,
and we enjoy them so very much!
By the time we got home, it was late, so we got the kids in bed, and then
B and I started the new season of The Morning Show. We’re behind on that since we don’t normally
have Apple TV. We always wait until
several of the shows we watch have released new seasons and then we buy it for
a month or two until we’re caught up, and then we cancel again. Haha.
Saturday, June 22
Saturday morning, I made waffles for breakfast, and then we spent the
entire day and night at home. I wanted
to go to church as we normally do, but Saturday was the worst day for my
coughing and I literally coughed all.day.long.
There was no way I could sit in church coughing like that, so we decided
to skip. Such a bummer.
Instead, I did some blog work and laundry in the morning, and then I did
a half-hearted cardio workout. The
coughing has been sapping all of my energy, so it’s been hard to work out. And y’all know I love my workouts, so I’ve
been so sad to not be able to do them.
After lunch, I decided to lay out in the sun and read my book, but that
was short-lived because it was 97 degrees, and I thought my body was going to
burst into flame. Haha. The weather has been AWFUL these last few
weeks. SO hot and dry.
I headed inside to shower after that, and then I spent the afternoon
working and doing my Bible study. The
kids played indoors all day. They’ve
been spending way too much time inside this summer because it’s just too hot to
do anything outside when you don’t have a pool.
And my parents’ neighborhood pool still isn’t open. Boooo.
In the early evening, Brian picked up Five Guys for dinner, and then we
watched Napoleon Dynamite with the kids.
Now that they’re getting older, we’re introducing them to some of the
movies from our childhood/teenage/young adult years, and it’s so much fun getting to watch
those with them. I personally never
loved Napoleon Dynamite even though there are parts that make me laugh,
but the kids thought it was hilarious.
After the movie, the kids went to bed, and B and I watched another
episode of Trying before heading to bed.
Sunday, June 23
Sunday morning, we were up bright and early to go to Atlanta to meet my
parents and my brother, sister-in-law, their kiddos, and my SIL's family at The Georgia
Aquarium. Our drive was easy and quick
since it was early on a Sunday morning, and we arrived at the aquarium around
9:30, just 30 minutes after they opened.
We’ve been there several times, but we hadn’t been in several years, and
there were a few new exhibits/changes made since the last time we were
there. They have a new shark exhibit
that we’d never seen that is really awesome.
Although, it was a little unsettling watching all of those sharks swim
around after just being at the beach… especially since those shark attacks
happened while we were there.
We also watched the dolphin show, which we’d never done before. Olivia purposely sat in the “splash zone”
with the hope that she’d get wet, and then she was disappointed when she
didn’t. Haha.
We had lunch there, looked at a couple more exhibits, and then we hit the
road. Naturally, while we were in
Atlanta, we had to make a Trader Joe’s stop, but their parking lot was a HUGE
cluster on a Sunday afternoon, so I ended up driving around the parking lot
while B went in (because we literally couldn’t get a parking spot).
We finally found a spot, and the kids and I joined him inside. He was just waiting on our two cases of
wine. We buy it by the case because they
have the best tasting wine that’s only $4 per bottle. We load up while we’re there and then it
lasts us several months to a year depending on how much we get.
I also had to get some of their vanilla scones (SO GOOD) and Olivia
wanted some of their dark chocolate mints.
Once we were done there, we hit the road for home. There was a bit of traffic on 85 as there
always is, but we made good time despite the traffic.
When we arrived home, I intended to work for an hour or so before dinner,
but my phone and computer weren’t playing well together yet again (and this one
was a BAD one), so I spent the whole hour troubleshooting and trying to figure
out how to get the pictures from my phone to my computer with no luck. I’d installed a codec on my laptop the week
before because it was supposed to help with the ongoing video issue I’ve been
having, but instead, the codec wreaked havoc on the whole iPhone to PC
connection and all of the pictures were coming off with the Apple file
extensions that no other programs recognize.
Sigh. I didn’t discover that
until Monday morning, though, after hours and hours of troubleshooting, so
there was lots of wasted time on the issue yet again.
Brian picked up pizza for dinner, and then while the kids showered, I
worked on the phone/computer issue some more.
Then, we got them in bed early, and I read while Brian watched House
of the Dragon.
And now for a few current things…
Currently Reading
I’ve been a reading machine this month thanks to our beach trip! I finished Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not
Dating by Christina Lauren (4 stars), I read First Lie Wins by
Ashley Elston (4 stars), I read The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth (4
stars), I read The Arrangement by Robyn Harding (so creepy as it’s about
sugar babies and sugar daddies, but totally 5 stars), and I read Darling
Girls by Sally Hepworth (4 stars).
I’m now making my way through Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter and
I’m loving it, too, even though it’s a bit disturbing. It takes place in Athens on the UGA campus as
well as Atlanta and Auburn University, so it’s wild to read as those are our
stomping grounds!
I’m also still paused on Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will
Change Your Life by Craig Groechel.
It’s great, but I’ve been craving fiction since it’s summertime!
I’m also still reading New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional
by Paul David Tripp as my daily devotional.
And I’m still working my way through The Bible and The Bible Recap…
I’m on Day 213 as I type this (Tuesday), and I managed to stay 36 days
ahead. I was 38 days ahead last month,
but there were a couple of days this month that I couldn’t make time to do my
study.
Currently Watching
With B: This month, we’re watching
SNL and Shark Tank every now and then when we don’t have a lot of
time and we just want to watch a few minutes of TV. For streaming, we just started season two of The
Chosen, and we just started the newest season of Trying and the
newest season of The Morning Show.
With the Kids: We finished season
three of Is It Cake? and we also started the new season of America’s
Got Talent. They love that show!
Alone: I rarely watch anything
alone, but when I do, it’s still The Wedding Planner on repeat as it’s
the DVD that’s currently in my little TV/DVD combo that sits on my desk. Yes, I still have a DVD player and, yes, I
still have all of the DVDs from when I was a teenager. Haha.
Currently Listening To
I’d like to be able to tell you that I wasn’t still primarily listening
to Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department album, but if I did, I would
be a liar. Haha. Yep, all 31 songs on that album are still on
repeat while I work. I also downloaded
Gracie Abrams’s album and it’s pretty good.
And I’m still obsessing over Abe Parker.
He just released a new song called Masquerade that I’m
loving. And I’ve been listening to
Brandon Lake a bit, too.
Happy Wednesday, y’all!
