Our Week - The One with Meetings, Golf, a Girls Dinner, a Lunch Date, No A/C, and the Georgia vs. Clemson Football Game

Last week was a doozy – SO.BUSY. but it was so nice to have the three-day weekend to recover!

Monday, August 26

Monday morning, I got the kids to school, gassed up the car, and then headed straight back to the school for an all-school Home and School meeting.  That lasted about 45 minutes, which was perfect timing, because I had to be at my doctor’s office at 9 AM to do labs for my upcoming annual physical.

I’d fasted all morning for the labs, so I was starving by the time I got home.  We had one leftover pumpkin donut that was calling my name, and it was worth every single moment that I’d had to wait to eat all morning.  I do not know how people skip meals.  That is not how my body operates.  Haha.

I had about an hour to work after that, so I focused on blog work, and then I headed out for an appointment with my therapist. 

When I got home, B and I ate a quick lunch together, and then I had a few more minutes to work and flip some laundry before heading out to pick up the kids from school. 

Monday was the one night that we didn’t have anywhere to be last week, so we headed straight home and stayed there all evening.

I did my Bible study, we had some leftover Pizza Joes that I’d frozen, and then I got out for a long walk/jog after dinner.  We ended the evening with America’s Got Talent, and then Brian and I started watching American Murder: Laci Peterson on Netflix.

Tuesday, August 27

Tuesday, I shared a day in the life over on Instagram, so if you want to see a more in-depth look at our day, I saved everything to a highlight in my bio.  It was a very busy day, so things were very fast-paced.

First up, I got the kids to school.  I had a meeting at the school at 8:30 to plan for Grandparents Day, so I had some time to kill in between dropping them off and getting back to the school.  I decided to be basic and grab my first pumpkin spice latte of the season as one does, and it was an excellent decision.  After that, I swung some books by the library drop-off box, and then it was time to go back to the school.  I still had a few more minutes to spare, so I used that time to get caught up on my DITL posts on Instagram.

My friend, Becky, and I have been co-chairing Grandparents Day for several years now, and we’re back in action again this year!  While we’re still following the same format, this year, we now have a chef who can provide all of the pastries and coffee which is going to take a lot off of our plates!  The hardest part is always trying to estimate how many donuts and how many boxes of coffee to order for 876 students + grandparents and/or other special guests coming.

Our meeting lasted an hour, and then I rolled immediately into a second meeting, this time for Alumni Relations.  Our school is in the process of migrating all alumni information from a Google doc to a new, interactive software that allows them better access to alumni and their contact info so they can reach out, send mailings, etc.  They need help migrating all of the data over, so I am doing some contract work to help them out with it.  Once the data entry is done, there will be more to this position, like creating a portfolio of information to give to alumni looking to plan high school reunions and such, but for now, I’ll just be doing data entry. 

While they are paying me for this job, I am not considered to be an employee (which is the way I like it – haha) and I’m also able to do this at my leisure at home (also the way I like it).  We are aiming to have all of the data moved and updated by the end of this school year, so I’m hoping that should be plenty of time as I’m working with another lady.  She will be taking all of the classes from the 1960’s – 1989, and I will be taking all of the classes from 1990 to present.

Anyway, we had a two-hour training session on Tuesday to get our company laptops and login info, and to learn how to use the software, and I think I already have a good handle on it.  I’ve already started migrating some of the info!

After my meeting, I swung by the music store just to browse guitar stands really quickly, and then I went to Fresh Market to get chicken.  I talked to my friend, Becky, on the way there to discuss Grandparent’s Day some more and to catch up with her since she hasn’t been able to make our girls dinners in a couple of months.

After Fresh Market, I finally went home, and I had just enough time to eat lunch and knock out a little bit more work + flip a load of laundry and get it laid out on the bed before it was time to leave to pick up the kids.  But first, I had to load up the car with all of Jacob’s golf stuff and Olivia’s dance stuff because we had a busy afternoon.

In the car line, I got caught up on my Day in the Life posting on Instagram and then after the kids got out, we headed to my Mama Cass’s house for a bit to let the kids change into their clothes for their after-school activities.  Golf and dance are near the school, and we live way on the other side of town, so we didn’t have time to go all the way home.  Mama Cass was kind enough to let us crash at her house for 30 minutes instead since she lives right by the school.  And she made sure the kids were all set with snacks and juice.  I got to chat with her for about 30 minutes and it was nice having her all to myself.  I just love her so much.  What a gift to still have her around at age 95.

Once the kids were dressed and done with snacks, we headed to Brian’s office to drop Jacob off.  He had golf, so Brian took him to that while I took Olivia to dance… but first, a quick stop at Walmart to grab a few things that we needed.  This was Olivia’s and my first trip back to Walmart after the great beer case touching incident of summer 2024 (hahahaha), and naturally, she brought that up and trolled them the whole time we were in there.  Hahahaha.  We did NOT buy any alcohol while we were there.  ;o)

On Tuesdays, Olivia has only one dance class that’s 45 minutes.  Usually, I drop her and head home to cook and then B picks her up on his way home from work, but since he was with Jacob at golf, I had to pick her up.  Since the class was only 45 minutes, there was no time to go home (or anywhere else) in between, so I sat in the car and finished my Reel and did my Bible study.

Once she was done, we headed home, and I got the kitchen tidied and started cooking dinner while she worked on homework.  The boys got home around 7, and we had fettucine alfredo with chicken, steamed broccoli, and garlic cheesy bread for dinner.

After dinner, I did a (very late) stair stepper workout, I piled the laundry on the chair in our bedroom, I got ready for bed, I did my gratitude and prayer journals + my devotional, and then we got the kids in the bed.

After that, I watered the indoor plants, I did my meditation, and then Brian and I finished the night with a few minutes of The Laci Peterson documentary.  I tried to read for a few minutes, but after less than ten minutes, I was out cold.

 

Wednesday, August 28

Wednesday, I dropped the kids and then went to my semi-annual checkup at the allergist.  Since my seasonal allergies seem to be ramping up again, he wants me to monitor them this fall and next spring, and if they seem to be worse than in previous years since I finished my allergy shots, then he wants to retest me.  If the tests show that I have bad allergies again, he wants me to do another round of allergy shots.

He said that most people have no issues with allergies for years and years after allergy shots, but a very small percentage of people do end up having issues with them again in 2-4 years.  Well, it’s been four years since I finished mine, and I’ve had quite a bit of trouble this year with allergies.  I always tend to be the medical outlier for any and all situations, so it’s looking like I may end up being another rare case.  Classic Lindsay.  Sigh.

After my appointment, I headed home with the intention of working all day, but I had a crushing headache, and massive head, neck, and shoulder tension all day (plus horrible jaw popping), so that made it really hard to get much done.  I ended up taking a round of Ibuprofen, a round of Tylenol, and another round of Ibuprofen throughout the day and the pain and tension never went away.  I never got a break.  Therefore, I spent a good hour laying on my acupressure mat and resting my eyes (I think I was having a migraine, too, because my eyes felt super sensitive to light all day) before it was time to pick up the kids.

After school, we all had dentist appointments, so the kids ate their snacks on the way over, and then Olivia knocked out her homework in the car since we got there a little early.  All three of us had good checkups, and my dental hygienist went easy on me since I was in so much pain.  We were also able to get the kids scheduled for some baby teeth extractions so they can prepare for their braces early next year.  EEK.

After the dentist, we dropped Olivia at dance, and she ate dinner in the car on the way (yes, I had brought snacks + an entire dinner for her) since she is at dance for three hours on Wednesday night.  Once she had finished her dinner, she headed inside, and then Jacob and I headed home.

Brian was already home when we arrived, so he and I got started on breakfast for dinner, and then the three of us sat down to eat together.

After dinner, all I wanted to do was get some fresh air and move my body after being stuck in the car for hours Tuesday and Wednesday, so I went for a walk/jog.  I had hoped it would alleviate some of my pain and tension but, sadly, it did not.

I got showered when I got home, got some of the laundry put away, and then I did a Bible study.  Brian and Olivia got home just as I was finishing up, and then Olivia got showered.  We got them in the bed at 9:30 (which is later than usual for a school night, but all Wednesdays will look like this until the end of May because of dance), and then B and I watched some more of the Laci Peterson documentary before heading to bed.

Thursday, August 29

Thursday, I had nowhere to be during the day, so I had hoped to knock out a bunch of blog work, but again, my headache, and neck, shoulder, and head tension was BRUTAL, so I spent the day alternating between work and laying on my acupressure mat because, again, pain killers did not even take the edge off.

I grabbed the kids from school at 3, and then we headed straight to music lessons.  Jacob had his piano lesson, and while he was in his lesson, Olivia worked on homework.  One of her besties, Aubrey, has started taking lessons at the same time as Olivia, so they always arrive about halfway through Jacob’s lesson now, so Olivia dips out to hang with her.  Haha. 

Aubrey’s mom is one of my friends and we are room-momming together for fifth grade this year.  We have an upcoming event that we were needing to nail down the details for, so I stepped out of Jacob’s lesson and hammered out the plan with Maegan while Jacob finished up his lesson.

By the time we had finished with that, Jacob was nearing the end of his lesson, so I rounded up all of our stuff from Mr. Jarrett’s room, and then moved it all over to Mr. Steve’s room for Olivia’s guitar lesson. 

Brian arrived to grab Jacob just as he was finishing up, and they grabbed his clubs from my car and left for golf practice while I stayed with Olivia.

Olivia learned how to strum properly on Thursday.  She had already learned four of the main chords, so Mr. Steve worked with her on strumming each of the chords to get the proper up and down motion.  The four chords she learned are the only four you need to know to play Fearless by Taylor Swift (and thousands of other songs), so Olivia now has all of the tools she needs to play the whole song.  She just has to learn to piece it all together with some (a lot of) practice.  

After her guitar lesson, we headed to my parents’ house because they were kind enough to keep her at the last minute so I could go to dinner with my girlfriends.  Our girl’s dinner had been on the calendar for nearly a month, and then we found out at the last-minute that Jacob would be starting golf practice on Thursdays, so Brian couldn’t stay with Olivia as originally planned.  I’m very grateful for our village!

After I dropped Olivia, I headed downtown to meet the girls at a local restaurant that has been around for years (probably at least a decade??) that I had never been to.  How I’ve never been, I have no idea, but it was worth the wait.  There were so many menu options that sounded amazing, and it was really hard for me to narrow it down.  I ultimately decided on a Strawberry Basil Mule and their burger topped with pimiento cheese, bacon, and pepper jam with fries.  It was all SO delicious.  I did have a little bit of food envy over the steak tips, though.  I was torn between the burger and the steak tips, and the steak tips were excellent as well… I snuck a little bite from one of my friends.

Two of my friends couldn’t make it, so our group was a little smaller at just five, but we still had a lovely time as usual.  It was so random, too, because they had pineapple casserole as a side, and I've never seen any place have that before.  I've been making that recipe for 20 years as I got it from Brian's mom when we started dating.  It sounds like such a strange combination of ingredients, but it is SO GOOD.  I make it every Thanksgiving and Christmas.  You can see the recipe here!

When I got home, Brian and the kids were just finishing up with dinner (Chick-Fil-A takeout), and the kids were just getting ready to get showered and ready for bed.  While they did that, I got in a strength workout, and then we got the kids in the bed.

Brian and I finished up the Laci Peterson documentary, and then we headed to bed. 

 

Friday, August 30

Friday, I dropped the kids at school and then I spent the whole day working.  I met my old co-worker and friend, Donnie, at Chicken Salad Chick for lunch, and it was nice catching up with him since I hadn’t seen him in a couple of months.  I don’t do many lunch dates during the summer while the kids are home, so when they go back to school, I schedule all the lunch dates!

After lunch, I had a few extra minutes before I had to pick up the kids from school, so I swung by the library to pick up a book for myself, and then I headed to the local music store so I could get Olivia a guitar stand.  She’s more inclined to pick it up and play when it’s sitting out rather than in a case and stored in a room we don’t frequent.

After school, the kids and I headed home, I finished up some work, and then I did my Bible study.  I also showed Olivia how to flip her ponytail like we used to do in the 90's.  ;o)

Right as I was finishing up, I realized that it felt really hot upstairs, so I checked the thermostat and, sure enough, it was 78 degrees.  We keep it on 75 upstairs during the summer.  Uh oh.  I went to the nearest vent and felt that it was blowing warm-ish/room-temp-ish air rather than cold, so I knew there was a big problem.  I headed downstairs to check the thermostat there, and sure enough, the temperature was climbing downstairs, too.  Ugh. 

Naturally, the air decided to go out at 5 o’clock on a Friday on a holiday weekend.  Buh.

Brian was on the way to pick up dinner for us when I discovered the problem, so I immediately got on the phone with the company who installed our HVAC system when we built the house.  They were closed for the day, but they did have an option to call an emergency line.  It connected me to some guy’s cell phone, but he didn’t answer, and instead, I left a message.  (And I’ll have y’all know, that as of right now when I’m typing this – Monday, so THREE DAYS LATER – I still haven’t heard back from him.)

Anyway, 15 minutes went by with no return call so I started to get nervous as the temperature in the house was still rising.  Y’all, it was almost 100 degrees on Friday with predicted highs near 100 for the rest of the weekend so I knew that we had to find somebody to come fix it, and fast.  Otherwise, we would freaking ROAST all weekend.  You just cannot go without air conditioning here in the south. 

So, I did what any person would do, and I texted my two most trusted advisors for these kinds of things (my Uncle Greg and my Uncle Billy) as they work in fields where they have to deal with companies like this, and I asked them who they recommended for an emergency on a holiday weekend.

Within minutes, both of them had responded with the same local company as their answer.  My Uncle Greg had sent me their information and told me if I didn’t hear back from them in 15 minutes to let him know and that he would call the owner himself.  Then my Uncle Billy called and told me that his girlfriend was already on the phone with the owner’s wife (she is really close with his family) and she was giving all of my information to her.  They told me that someone would call me within 15 minutes, and sure enough, my phone rang, like, two minutes after I hung up with my uncle.  It truly pays to know people these days, y’all.

The guy asked me what exactly the A/C was doing, and after I gave him the details he said, “I can be there in 15 minutes.”  I was like, YES, PLEASE!  He told me the after-hours price per hour, and I almost fainted, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do in these desperate 100-degree times.

He ended up arriving in less than 15 minutes, just as we were finishing up dinner (barbecue from our favorite local place that B had picked up), and he went back-and-forth from the unit in our house to the unit outside.  Within 55 minutes (God bless him for keeping it to just one hour) he had figured out the problem – a broken sensor. 

He was able to bypass the system and get it working for us for the weekend, and he’ll be coming back over today to do the permanent fix. 

He was a SUPER nice guy, and we found out that we have some friends in common as his son plays soccer with a few of the boys in Olivia’s class.  As he was handing over the invoice, he told us he had knocked $10 off the price because we were Georgia fans.  Hahahaha.  We assumed that meant he, too, was a Georgia fan, but he was actually an Alabama fan… he just told us that us Bama and Georgia fans have to stick together to band against Auburn.  Hahahaha.  It was, of course, all in good fun – Georgia, Bama, and AU fans all love to talk smack about each other, especially during college football season – and if you live in our town then you know!  I know I have a ton of AU fans who read the blog (some are my best friends), and you know I love you all!  College football season, smack-talk and all, is just the best here in Georgia!

After he left, the house started cooling back down immediately and it was such a relief.  I got in my PJs and bundled up on the couch (the way I like it!) and we all got partially caught up on America’s Got Talent.  We were waaaay behind.  I ended up falling asleep on the couch as I always do on Friday nights during the school year (the exhaustion is real, y’all!) and then I got up to get the kids in the bed.

After they went to bed, B and I started a new show on Netflix, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and we’re loving it so far!

Saturday, August 31

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to head to Atlanta for the Aflac kickoff game – Georgia vs. Clemson at Mercedes Benz Stadium!  We LOVE when we get to be in the kickoff game so we can actually attend.  When kickoff games are in Athens, it’s hot as freaking blazes, so we swore off all September games (with the exception of night games against good opponents) years ago. 

Brian was able to get two tickets from the school since we are season ticket holders, but the kids wanted to come, so he ended up selling ours and purchasing four on StubHub… in the Clemson section.  Haha.  The things we do for these kids!  Thankfully, there seemed to be just as many Georgia fans in the Clemson section, so it wasn’t too bad.  ;o)

On the drive up, we watched ESPN College GameDay, and then when we arrived, we stopped to chat with my cousin Greg and his wife, Carole, and then we met my Aunt Joy, Uncle Greg, Shelby, and Drew at the Georgia World Congress Center as its right next door to the Benz.  It was a thousand degrees outside, so it was way too hot to be out participating in all of the activities outside.  We hung out with them for a bit, and then we headed into the stadium around 11 AM to make sure we got situated before the pre-game activities.

On the way in, Olivia’s glasses case set off the metal detector, and something of mine did, too, so they pulled both of us aside.  They had her remove her glasses case and then got us to both walk back through, and then I set it off again.  They made me take everything out of my purse that was metal (I didn’t have anything metal in there, but I took my phone and phone charger out just in case) and then they made me go back through, and I set it off again.  For the love.  I ended up having to walk back through once or twice more until they finally cleared me.  I have been through a million metal detectors for events, and I have never had that happen, so we still aren’t sure what kept setting it off… I’m thinking it may have been the buttons on my jean jacket that I was carrying though.  It’s always freezing in the Benz, so I always bring a jacket now.  I learned my lesson after the Ed Sheeran concert last year!

While I am SO grateful that they are so careful about security, they could probably improve their process as it was a bit disorganized.  I had one person telling me I was clear, one person telling me to go through again, and one person telling me, “Oh, it’s probably just your watch,” + different people suggesting pulling different things out and putting certain things down all at the same time so it got very confusing for a few minutes there. 

Once we were in, we grabbed food for B and the kids (I wasn’t hungry yet as I’d just had a snack in the car) and then we grabbed beers for B and me.  I eventually went down to grab a burger for myself, and then we spent the next few hours watching our Dawgs whoop Clemson.  Our old, beloved coach, Mark Richt, said the opening prayer which I LOVED.  They don’t usually do an opening prayer for the whole stadium like that, and I wish they would do that from now on.  It was the icing on the cake that Mark Richt was the one who said it, and it made me tear up! 

The game started off slow, and we were worried for a while since it was 0-0 for so long, but once our boys found their groove, it was on, and we ended up winning 34-3.  A great start to the season!

After the game, we miraculously got out of the parking garage quickly, and we were home by 5:15 which was FANTASTIC… so much earlier than originally anticipated.  That meant I had time to unpack the car, put everything away, tidy the house, put away the dishes, water the plants, wash the towels, and get in an arms workout… all before dinner!

B headed out to pick up pizza for dinner.  We wanted our favorite local place, but they weren’t answering their phone, so we tried another another place (a small chain) and they weren’t answering their phone either.  Brian finally just went to the second place only to find that they had a sign on the door saying they were closed for the day (WHAT?), so he ended up calling a third place – another local favorite that we frequent after church – and they finally answered.  So, dinnertime ended up being late since he’d had to drive all over creation to get it.  But – it gave me time to do my Bible study, and I finished the Old Testament on Saturday!!!!  Such a HUGE accomplishment, y’all!

After dinner, we watched college football all night until bed.  I HEART THIS TIME OF YEAR SO MUCH.

 

Sunday, September 1

Sunday morning, we slept in, I made homemade waffles, and then I did all of my Sunday things – I prepped my planner for the week ahead, I watched my sermon, and I did yoga. 

We went to my MIL and step-FIL’s for lunch, and we stayed over there all afternoon.  They’d made a delicious spread including two new recipes and a new dessert – Boston Cream Pie! – and it was all amazing. 

By the time we got home, it was nearing 4 o’clock, so I settled in to work for the rest of the afternoon after neglecting it all weekend, and I started the New Testament!  Jesus in the Bible, finally! 

My mom didn’t cook Sunday, so around 6:30, we all made a hodgepodge of randomness for dinner, and then I took Maui for a quick walk.  We didn’t make it very far, and it started raining, so we had to turn around.  Right as we got home, it stopped (naturally – haha) but I went ahead and got in my PJs instead of going back out.  We all sat down to finish AGT, and shortly after that, it started raining hard which was MUCH needed.  We’ve barely had any rain for the last 6-8 weeks, and the temps have been insane, so we were ready for it.

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched another episode of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder followed by some more college football, and that was our week!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!