Our Week - The One with a Girls Dinner, a UGA Basketball Game, and a Death in the Family

Last week was bittersweet.  My uncle passed away, and we also got the news that Brian’s uncle who is suffering from a couple of different medical issues isn’t doing well at all, but we also managed to squeeze in some good times amidst the sadness.  Life is such a roller coaster, y’all.  Here’s the recap.

Monday, January 13

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then headed straight to Starbucks to grab a peppermint mocha treat and then to grab some gas since I had 30 minutes to kill until my meeting at the school.  We had our monthly Home and School Advisory Board meeting at 8:15, and it was productive as we got the next couple of school events mapped out.

After my meeting, I headed home, flipped the laundry, wrapped up in my heated blanket, and worked all day.  It was SO COLD and rainy… and again, we were hovering in the upper 30’s so just barely out of the reach of any kind of wintry precipitation.  Boooo.

At 3, I grabbed the kids from school and then we all headed home, looking forward to having the entire evening free!!  Mondays are always so nice since the kids don’t have any activities.

Brian went out to dinner with a couple of his friends, so the kids and I were on our own for the evening.  Before he left, I did my Bible study and then got out for a walk, because the sun had finally come out.  On the last 1/2 mile of my journey, two huskies trotted right up to me with no owner in sight.  It was a little daunting, but I just kept my same pace, ignored them, and prayed that they were friendly dogs.  They ended up following me all the way home, and it turned out that they belonged to someone in our neighborhood.  We’ve seen their antics on our neighborhood Facebook page as there’s a running joke about how they’re always escaping their back yard, but they live WAY on the other side of the neighborhood, so while I was walking, I didn’t think there could be any way it was them.  Turns out it was, though!  Haha.

The kids were playing outside the whole time I was gone, and Olivia was ECSTATIC when she saw the dogs coming.  Girlfriend loves an animal, no matter what it is, and she has no fear.  She begged me to go to the street and pet them, but I told her no just in case.  Haha.

Side note, I’ve decided to try to refrain from running for now as I’ve found that it is a trigger for my neck tension.  I’m trying really hard to stick to just walking, but it’s so hard to not just want to take off running or jogging.  I know walking is really good for you, but no matter how fast I walk, I just don’t feel satisfied with my workout afterward.  I need to join the gym again so I can start walking on an incline again.  THAT is a good workout.

Brian left right as I got home, and then I got started on dinner – sausage, peppers, and onions tacos, chips, and fruit.  I’d originally planned to make tortellini soup, but after Brian made his plans to go out with friends, I waited to make that later in the week since I knew he was excited about it.

The kids and I all sat down together, and then after dinner, I helped Olivia turn her bedroom upside down looking for a library book that she checked out weeks ago.  We couldn’t find it, but thankfully, Olivia found it later in the week when I made her turn the whole house upside down to find it.  Turns out, it was in her backpack all along.  *forehead smack*

After that, she got in the shower, Jacob played the piano for a bit, and I started cleaning out my closet and put some laundry away from earlier in the day.

While Jacob showered, Olivia and I shopped for Daddy/Daughter dance dresses.  This year is her last Daddy/Daughter dance (all the tears!) so she wants to make it special.  We narrowed it down to four dresses, and then I told her to think about the two or three that she loves the most so we can order them and then send the ones back that don’t work.  We don’t have anywhere great to shop locally for formal dresses for kids her age so we’re hoping to find something online again.

Brian came home as we were finishing up shopping, and then I joined Jacob downstairs at the piano for a few minutes before we got them in the bed.  After bed for them, Brian and I watched some more Silo and then we called it a night.

Tuesday, January 14

Tuesday, I dropped the kids at school, headed home for about 45 minutes to work, and then I had to head back out to visit with my TMJ doctor.  He had temporarily let me go as a patient while I was doing my orthodontics treatment, but I wanted to talk to him about everything that’s been going on with my vertigo/tension/etc. to see if he could shed some light on things.

Just like the other doctors I’ve seen, he told me he hasn’t seen anything this drastic in a patient before, but he did confirm that with my jaw shifting as drastically as it has, there’s a good chance that it could have thrown something off in my neck and vestibular system since they’re all connected.  I had mentioned the upper cervical chiropractor idea to him in case my “atlas” is truly off, and he thought it was a good idea to pursue that.

After my appointment, I went home and worked on blog stuff for the rest of the day, but it was hard to get much done because of the extreme tension in my face and neck.  I started wearing my rubber bands last week after my last orthodontist appointment again, and my face and neck feel like they’re going to explode again.  It’s awful.

After school, the kids and I headed home, and I tackled my Bible study, etc. and then Olivia and I headed out for dance.  After I dropped her, I ran to the UPS Store to return a couple of Amazon items, and then I walked next door to the new Mexican restaurant that opened here. 

I had heard a lot about it on Facebook and all of the reviews I’d heard were excellent, so I was excited.  What I wasn’t prepared for was how stunningly beautiful it was in there!!!!  Oh. My. Goodness.  Y’all!  I love a good ambience… it’s just as important as the food to me, so I was thrilled.  There were butterflies, greenery, and twinkle lights on every wall, and there were gorgeous florals and moss and baskets hanging from the ceiling.  There were small lamps on each table – and the tables were all rainbow striped! – and the chairs look like standard restaurant chairs, but leather.  Seriously GORGEOUS. 

I was the first one there, and then everyone else arrived not too far behind me.  All seven of us made it, which is a rarity since so many of us have kids in activities, so that was a bonus.  We all had a round of margs – delicious! – and their house made salsa is the best I’ve had in town. 

I had a taco salad for my entrée, and it was also delicious – and the prices are very reasonable!  We have a couple of other upscale Mexican restaurants in town that also have good food and a great vibe, but their prices are mind-blowing.  The best part about it is that the restaurant is very close to my house, so I had a very short drive home.  Typically, when we go out for girls’ nights, we go somewhere downtown, and that is a very long drive for me, so it was nice to finish up and not have so far to drive.

While at dinner, my friend, Jessica, told me that she has a local friend who is going through the same thing that I’m going through – vertigo, dizziness, etc. – and she told me that her friend had just gotten home from visiting a very specialized chiropractor in Atlanta.  Y’ALL.  I asked her if it was an upper cervical chiropractor and she told me that she thought it was, and that yes, her appointment had been unique and weird which is exactly what all of those other people in that new Facebook group have said. 

In all of my research I’d never even come across or heard of an upper cervical chiropractor until just a few days prior to that, so for TWO people to reach out and tell me about it made me feel like it’s a sign… I’m taking this as a sign that God is pointing me in that direction. 

I asked Jessica to get the chiropractor’s name and ask about the details so she could let me know if it’s the same thing I’m in search of, and sure enough, the next day, she confirmed that her friend had, indeed, visited an upper cervical chiropractor to have her atlas adjusted.  She said that she really liked the guy who did it and that they did extensive testing prior to doing any kind of adjustment to make sure that her atlas was “off.”  So I am going to start pursuing this avenue for sure!

When I got home, Brian and Olivia weren’t yet home from dance, so I went ahead and started dinner for them – mac n cheese and hot dogs since it was so late – and then they all ate when Brian and Olivia arrived at home. 

After that, Olivia got showered and I got her hair dried.  She usually goes to bed with wet hair, but I just can’t bear to let her do that when it’s so cold, so I’ve been drying it most nights lately. 

Once Brian and I got the kids in the bed, we finished season one of Silo, and man, was that last episode a thinker!!

 

Wednesday, January 15

Wednesday morning, I got the kids to school and then I headed to Target to grab a few things we needed.  That morning, we’d seen that there was a high snow chance here the following week (today as you’re reading the post so please keep your fingers crossed for us!), so I grabbed jackets for Jacob and Olivia as well as some rain boots because we realized during our last snow chance (that never came) that neither kid has appropriate outerwear.  Lol.

Target had slim pickings as their spring line is already coming out, but I grabbed what I could find just in case we ended up needing them.  I ended up ordering different stuff online later in the evening as I found better stuff there, and we had it delivered to the house later in the week.

I headed to my annual mammogram and ultrasound after that, and all was well there.  If you’ve been following me for a while, then you may remember that my doctor found a tumor in my right breast in January 2023.  It was terrifying, but thankfully, they biopsied it, and it’s not cancerous (as of now).  I now have to be monitored very closely, and Wednesday, my doctor gave me a good report… he said the tumor hasn’t grown or changed, so we’ll continue to keep an eye on it.  He did, however, linger on a spot on my left breast at this appointment, but he declared that everything was okay, and I’m praying that it truly is nothing and that it won’t end up being something else next year when I have to go back.

After my appointment, I headed home to knock out some blog work, and then I picked up the kids from school.  Olivia and I dropped Jacob off at home, grabbed her dance stuff, and then she and I headed to a dermatologist appointment.  She had something that we wanted to get a third opinion on (yes, third – I cannot stress how important it is to advocate for your health and the health of your kids!), and we were SO pleased with the response from the dermatologist… she was able to fix Olivia right up!

After her appointment, she ate her dinner in the car (PB&J, Cheetos, & fruit always when she’s on the go), and I dropped her off for her long, late dance night.

I headed home after that, and once Brian got home, we made breakfast for dinner.  While we were cooking, I received word that my Uncle Bob had passed away.  He is the one who I have mentioned on the blog numerous times over the last few months… he had been suffering from Parkinson’s and Dementia for years, but it had gotten particularly bad around Christmastime, and Jesus finally decided to take him home Wednesday afternoon. 

He was the epitome of a good man – a devout follower of Christ, completely selfless, softspoken but thoughtful, and he loved his family well.  He was an EMT, saving many lives during his own life, and he also volunteered at a local fire department, putting his own life at risk to save others… always a helper.  Always a first responder.  A good human in every sense of the word. 

While he will be missed tremendously, we are so grateful that he’s no longer suffering.  Please keep my Aunt Becky in your prayers as she has lost her husband of 57 years, and please keep my three cousins, their spouses, all of their kids, their grandchildren, and everyone who loved him in your prayers.

After dinner, I got in a mixed cardio workout, but I had to take it easy because I had horrendous head, neck, upper back, and shoulder tension.  Ever since I started wearing the braces rubber bands after my last orthodontist appointment, the tension has come back in full force.  Shockingly, the dizziness and unsteadiness has been very low for the last couple of weeks and I’m not sure why, but I’m very grateful.  I’m praying it doesn’t come back with a vengeance soon because of the increase in tension.  Time will tell!

After my workout, I got my Bible study done even though I was dead tired.  I was SO tired Wednesday for some reason.  When Brian and Olivia got home from dance, she got showered, and then we got both kids in the bed. 

Brian and I watched the UGA basketball game, but I was so exhausted that I called it an night early and Brian followed since Georgia was losing pretty badly.  I was sound asleep by a little after 10 which is way earlier than normal as we typically turn out the lights between 10:30/11.       

Thursday, January 16

Thursday morning, I dropped Olivia at school, and then Jacob and I headed to the orthodontist so he could get bands put in his teeth in preparation for his braces.  Not everyone has to have these, so I wasn’t really sure what exactly it entailed or how long it would take.

We arrived at about 7:55 – 10 minutes before his actual appointment time – and we were out of there by 8:04 – 1 minute before his appointment was even supposed to start.  Haha.  It turns out that he only needed one band, and literally, all the assistant had to do was take some pliers and stick the band between two of his teeth.  It took all of 30 seconds and we were out of there!  He only ended up missing 20 minutes of first period, so that worked out really well! 

That meant that I was home much earlier than expected, and I had the whole day to work on the blog.  It was freezing yet again, so I spent the day wrapped up in my heated blanket, taking many breaks along the way.  Maui has gotten to where she has to go to the bathroom frequently, so we have been taking lots of bathroom breaks.  She has also been having accidents on the floor every day, unfortunately, so I’ve been spending a lot of time cleaning up after her, too.  My sweet girl.  It’s been so tough seeing her decline these last couple of months.  She still seems spunky most of the time, though, and she doesn’t seem to be suffering, so we are grateful for that.

After school, Jacob had a piano lesson, and I sat in with him as I always do.  He worked on the movie score from Interstellar at the urging of Mr. Steve, Olivia’s guitar teacher, because he loves it so much.  And then he worked on a couple of pieces from Minecraft.

Olivia worked some more on Defying Gravity in her guitar lesson, and Mr. Steve wrote out some more of the tab for her, so she now has the chorus.

When we got home, I did my Bible study and then I made sausage, tortellini, and kale soup for dinner.  I also made some buttery garlic bread and gave the kids some fruit to pair with it.  Brian and I indulged in a glass of wine since we still had a bottle open from Sunday, and my neck tension was awful again on Thursday.  A glass of wine sometimes does the trick to relax the muscles when nothing else does, and it did seem to help.

Much as I didn’t want to work out, I made myself do a short one anyway.  I have had to stop using weights as it’s a huge trigger for my neck tension, so I did a functional strength training workout instead.  I focused more on legs and glutes though because even functional strength training for my arms/shoulders/back has started triggering the tension.  Guess I’m just going to have to have some weak arms for a while until I get this figured out.  Haha.

After the kids were done showering, we watched an episode of Time bandits, and Olivia and I also ordered Daddy / Daughter dance dresses and looked at some shirts that she wants to wear for her birthday party.  After the kids went to bed, Brian and I started season two of Silo.  It did, indeed, answer some questions after a crazy season one finale.

 

Friday, January 17

Friday, I dropped the kids at school and then headed straight home because I had a million things to do before we left for Athens.  First up, was some blog work, and then I had to pack myself, Jacob, and Olivia since we were leaving right after school.  I also had to get my Bible study/quiet time/meditation done before I picked them up from school and I had to swing by the library to grab Jacob’s AR book that was on hold because it was the last day to pick it up.  I was pretty much a whirlwind all day, but I got it all done.  And B was so kind to run out and put gas in my car, too, so I didn’t have to do it.  :o)

After school, we headed straight home, the kids got changed, they doublechecked to make sure I’d packed everything for them sufficiently, and then we hit the road.  Naturally, the traffic in Atlanta was a hot mess, so the drive ended up taking 45 minutes longer than it should have.

My cousin who lives in Athens met us for dinner when we got into town, and we met him at Amici, a cute place with good food, cold beer, and a nice vibe.  We’d hoped his girlfriend, Cat, would be able to make it, but she was out of town, so we were sad we didn’t get to see her.  But it was SO NICE to be able to catch up with Wil and spend some quality time with him.  He works for the UGA football team, so he has crazy hours, and he always misses out on family holiday stuff because of the crazy football schedule, so we usually only get to see him briefly at our tailgates a few times a year and that’s it. 

We hung out there at the restaurant for a couple of hours with him, and then we headed to our Airbnb that was only a couple of miles away.  The Airbnb was over someone’s detached garage, and it was newly listed, so it was fresh, clean, and newly renovated and it was the cutest space!  They had some great artwork on the walls of local places around Athens, and they had the cutest Creature Comforts print on the wall – our favorite craft beer that’s brewed in Athens.  Oh, and the bathroom was heavenly.  So good. 

The kids’ favorite part was the centerpiece on the table… it was a floral arrangement, but it was made of Lego.  ;o)  Such a perfect touch for our fam.  Olivia saw the guest book on the way in, and she loved the place so much that she wanted to be the one to write in it, so we let her, and y’all, look at what she wrote… the sweetest!

Since we got in so late, we hung out for a while, and then we all headed to bed because it had been a long day.  Brian and I took the bed, Olivia took the foldout couch, and Jacob wanted to sleep in his sleeping bag on the floor even though there was plenty of room on the couch bed.  He loves sleeping in a sleeping bag!  And he doesn’t like sharing a bed with Olivia.  Lol.

 

Saturday, January 18

Saturday morning, we were up by 8, and neither B nor I had slept well because the bed had a memory foam mattress that was much softer than what we were used to, and it made for a tough time getting comfortable.  That was the only downside to the place in our opinion.  But everyone is different when it comes to sleeping preferences, so most people probably would have done just fine with it.

We all four took turns getting showered and ready, and then we loaded up the car and headed in search of breakfast.  There were two places that my cousin had recommended, so we headed to one of them (Mama’s Boy) first, but they had an hour-long wait, and we didn’t have that kind of time.  We headed to their second location since it wasn’t far away, but their parking lot was literally full – not a single place to park anywhere – so we left and went to The Flying Biscuit.  We have one of those at home, and we love it.  They only had a 15-minute wait (that turned out to be only, like two minutes) so it worked out beautifully. 

We all had a huge spread of food… I got the waffle with bananas, blueberries, and strawberries + eggs, grits, sausage, and a biscuit, and I gave my sausage to the kids and my biscuit to Olivia since I really just wanted the eggs, grits, and mostly the wafflllleeee.  It was soooo yummy.

That place was right there in the same parking lot with a Trader Joe’s (how convenient!) so we made a stop there to grab some wine and scones (priorities – LOL) before heading to Stegeman Coliseum to watch Georgia play Auburn in basketball.  I’m not a fan of basketball, but we always have a great time watching it live at the school, so it was a fun afternoon.  Auburn was ranked #1 and Georgia was ranked #23 (first time we’ve been ranked in years!) so it was completely sold out and SUPER crunk in there.  We’re big rivals, too, so that made it even more fun. 

The game started out rough for us and AU pulled way ahead, but we ended up closing the gap and coming almost all the way back.  The game was close for the remainder, but then AU pulled ahead several points with less than 30 seconds to go, so we decided to leave early to beat the traffic as we were literally on the roof of the parking garage (despite the fact that we’d gotten there an hour and a half before the game started).  Getting out of a parking garage after an event is always a nightmare, especially, the further up you are, so we knew we would be in for it if we waited until the end.

Kirby Smart alert!

Well, we watched the rest of the game on Brian’s phone and to our surprise, Georgia came all the way back and had a chance to tie it up in the last second, but we ended up losing by two points.  We don’t usually leave sporting events early unless we know for certain that we won’t be able to come back and win it, so we were shocked Georgia had almost come back to tie it up.  Haha.  Not too shabby only losing by two points to the #1 team when you’re not a basketball school!  Haha.

We got out of the parking garage easily, and then we hit the road for home.  We’d made a quick stop by Stripling’s General Store (IYKYK) on the way up the night before so I could use the bathroom, and the kids had seen something there that they wanted to buy with their own money.  We were in a hurry on the way up since we were meeting my cousin, so we told them we’d stop back by on our way out.  It’s our go-to stopping point on the way into town because they have clean bathrooms, tons of Georgia stuff, cute little holiday knick knacks, hot food you can grab and go, beer for your tailgate, gas, and pretty much anything else you could need. 

The kids grabbed what they wanted (these cute plush red and black state of Georgia guys with moveable arms), and then we hit the road for home.  Thankfully, Atlanta traffic wasn’t too bad on the way, and we made it home by 6:30-ish.

Brian unloaded the car and then left immediately to pick Maui up from his mom’s house and grab food for dinner, and while he was gone, I unpacked everything, started a load of laundry, washed some dishes, and did a bunch of other stuff around the house so I wouldn’t have to worry about it on Sunday.

B got back with Maui and our dinner around 7:30 and we all ate barbecue from our favorite local place.  After that, we all snuggled on the couch by the fire and Brian and the kids watched some random shorts on Disney+ while I promptly fell asleep for an hour.  I was so tired after not sleeping the night before!

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched an episode of Silo from season two and then we headed to bed.  

Saturday was also the day that TikTok went down and everyone (except me) was in a panic.  While I'm on TikTok, I never use it, so I couldn't have cared less.  And, of course, it was right back up the next day, so it didn't even matter anyway.  I did crack up when I saw this meme, though.  Haha.

Sunday, January 19

Sunday morning, B picked up donuts for breakfast and then I did my usual things – yoga (that I forgot to take a picture of), sermon, planning the week ahead, etc. and then Brian came and hung the last two shelves in my office that had delivered earlier in the week.  It looks so much better having them all the way up the wall and I can’t wait to style them!

Sunday was freezing and dreary, so the kids played with slime, and then after lunch we started cleaning out the playroom.  OMG it was awwwwfullll.  I worked on it for an hour with the kids and then had to stop for my own sanity.  Lol. 

I got showered after that and then worked in my office for a couple of hours, did my Bible study, and then we headed to my parents’ for Sunday dinner.  It was my Uncle Billy’s birthday, and he had requested vegetable lasagna (a longtime favorite of our family’s since I was tiny), salad, garlic cheese bread, and a brown sugar pound cake… mmmm mmmm good!! 

Since the kids were off Monday, we headed home and started a new show – The Healing Powers of Dude – and then after the kids went to bed, Brian and I watched some more of Silo.  It is so good, y’all!

We also got news this week that Brian’s uncle, who is suffering from lung cancer and a (recently) broken leg, has had some major setbacks in the hospital and he’s not doing well at all.  We would love it if you would keep him and Brian’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

And again, thank you to all of you who prayed for my uncle for so long.  I’m always grateful for those of you who stick by us through our ups and downs.  <3