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Last week was
the first week of school, but thankfully, the kids had no extracurricular
activities, so we were able to ease into things. It was SUCH a great first week back, and I
have a million things to recap, so let’s get right to it!
Monday, August 3
Monday was the first day of school, so we were up at 6 AM (BOOOO) and we
all hit the ground running. Everybody
had their best foot (feet?) forward, and we all tackled the things we needed
done (showering, getting ready, breakfast, unloading the dishwasher, and
reading our devotional together) and we were ready to roll right on time! But first, first day of school pictures on
the front porch!
The traffic was horrendous on the way to school as it always is on the
first day back, so drop-off took quite a bit longer than usual, and then on the
way home, I stopped by Publix near the school to grab a few things we needed
for the week ahead.
The rest of the day was spent tackling my to-do list:
-
Mailing a Poshmark shipment
-
Washing 4 loads of laundry
-
Tackling my email inboxes
-
Confirming Olivia’s dance schedule and adding it all
to my calendar
-
RSVPing for our homecoming alumni social
-
Getting dinner in the slow cooker
-
Giving Olivia’s old Lego stuff to someone who
purchased them online
-
Working on my blog post for the next day
I was so eager to pick the kids up from school, and I was thrilled that
they were both full of energy, chattering nonstop, and happyyyy! They both talked my ear off all the way home
and then some, and they both told me every single detail about every single
thing they’d done in every single class, and I loved every second of it. I’m not excited that they’re back at school,
but I sure do love those rides home every day.
<3
We stopped by Dairy Queen on the way home to pick up first day of school
treats, and we brought a Blizzard home to Brian, too.
When we got home, they continued to talk my ear off for a good 30 minutes
more, and then I told them they could have some screen time since neither of
them had homework.
While they did that, I put the finishing touches on my blog post for the
next day, I watered the indoor and outdoor plants, and I hard boiled a dozen
eggs for the kids to have for breakfast all week. They both love hardboiled eggs, and we love
for them to start the day out with protein to fill their bellies, so I’m going
to start making hardboiled eggs on Sundays when they want them for the week
ahead. I'm considering puchasing this egg cooker but I haven't yet... has anyone ever used one and do you recommend it?
While the eggs were cooking, I got dinner on the table. The slow cooker had done the bulk of the
work, so there wasn’t much for me to do.
On the menu on Monday was barbecue chicken sandwiches, chips, and
fruit. The chicken was so delicious and
so flavorful, and it made enough for me to have leftovers for lunch for two
more days, so I will definitely be making them again! I wish I had the link for the recipe or
remembered who it was from so I could give credit, but all I had was this
screenshot I took and it didn’t capture the handle.
After dinner, we all cleaned up the kitchen, and then I looked over and
signed some of the kids’ class syllabuses that had come home. Jacob’s chemistry syllabus took forever to go
over since there are tons of rules about lab work, so it took a while to go
through it all.
After that was done, I headed out for my evening walk. It felt glorious outside Monday evening
despite the fact that it was sunny. The
temperature was only 82 degrees, and the humidity wasn’t terrible, so it
actually felt somewhat pleasant outside.
I ended up walking 2.48 miles, which is slightly longer than my usual
route, and I probably would have walked longer if I didn’t know that the kids
were expecting me to get home and be ready to watch Friends. Haha.
As I was walking up our street to come back home, I saw that there was a
stunning, very wide rainbow in the sky, and it ended right on top of our
house. It brought me to tears because I
always associate rainbows with God’s love, and they also remind me of my
childhood dog and Maui now, too. I had
been thinking about Maui a LOT on Monday, so it was wild that there was a
rainbow overhead even though it had never rained anywhere near our house.
When I got home, I did a strength workout for my arms and then I
showered. While I was finishing up
getting ready for bed, Olivia Facetimed with Buckley for a bit to chat about
their first days of school, and then we all watched a couple of episodes of Friends
before the kids went to bed. Brian and I
finished season one of Every Year After and then we went to bed.
Tuesday, August 4
Tuesday, I was up at 6 AM and I got the kids to school. I had an appointment with my therapist at
9:15 AM, so I decided to run some errands until then. First up, was The UPS Store to return an
Amazon item, and then I went to Target to take back several returns. I still had 30 minutes to kill, so I browsed
the store, which is something that I rarely do.
Target is too dangerous for browsing… I want to buy all the things. Haha.
They are absolutely killing it right now, too – soooo many cute things
in women’s and girl’s apparel, home décor, and beauty. But I was strong and I walked out
empty-handed. *Pats self on back.*
I hadn’t seen my therapist since before the kids got out for summer
break, so it had been a good 11 or 12 weeks, and it was so good to catch up
with her. I feel like after seeing her
for seven years, she’s become somewhat of a friend, and I always enjoy my
visits. She has truly been a blessing to
me through all my anxiety issues these last years and I’m so grateful for
her. That said, I’ve decreased my visits
to just once every couple of months due to our insurance change, but also
because I feel like I’m finally in a good place with my anxiety and I just
don’t need to go as often… soooo grateful for that.
After my appointment, I headed home, I grabbed a cup of coffee, and I got
to work. And yes, I said coffee and not
tea. I decided recently that I wanted to
try to start drinking one cup of coffee every morning for the health benefits
(it’s surprising how many there are!).
However, there’s a kicker – I always drink my coffee with tons of cream
and sugar, but I don’t want to get in the habit of starting the day with a ton
of dairy and sugar, so I wanted to find a coffee that I can enjoy black.
I thought that would never happen, but y’all, I ended up grabbing these creamy hazelnut K-cups, and it is the best
coffee I’ve ever had at home. It’s rich
and delicious and the flavor is out of this world! It’s not as bitter as regular black coffee
and it actually has a sweet and creamy aftertaste. And the scent that it puts off around the
house – heaven. So now, I’m drinking one
cup of black coffee every morning and then a cup of my beloved cinnamon tea
every afternoon. I’m definitely not
giving that up!
Anyhoo, the rest of the day was spent getting a few things done –
finishing my blog posts for Wednesday and Friday, catching up on emails, doing
some blog housekeeping, and then starting to clean out my closet. I had been texting with my friend, Emily, and
she was cleaning hers out, so she totally inspired me!
The kids talked my ears off all the way home again, and they’d both had
excellent second days of school. When we
got home, I did two Bible studies and my devotional, and then I got dinner
ready for Jacob because he wasn’t eating dinner with us since his Teen Advisors
group went to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
While he was eating, I worked on cleaning out my closet a little more and
then Olivia and I dropped Jacob off at the movie theater. We made sure he had his ticket and got all of
his concessions and then Olivia and I took off.
It’s still surreal to me that my first baby is old enough to go to the
movies with friends now without me. This
time next year, he’ll be able to drive himself everywhere and I’m soooo not
ready for that.
When we got home, I got dinner ready for Brian, Olivia, and me. On the menu was turkey and cheese biscuit
sliders. The first days of school are
always a reality check for all of us, so I wanted to keep the recipes quick and
easy for the first couple of days just in case things went off the rails. Haha.
After dinner, we cleaned up the kitchen and then Olivia wanted to go
through my pile of clothes that I was donating to see if she wanted to keep
anything. Again, where oh where has the
time gone and how is my littlest baby almost big enough to share clothes with
meeee?!
She was very excited about several tops (mostly sweatshirts), so she
ended up keeping quite a few things.
It’s going to be awesome being able to hand down my clothes to her,
though.
After she was done with her try-on session, I went out for a walk and
then I did a quick strength workout for my arms. I put some of the laundry away while I cooled
off, and then I showered and got in my pjs.
Brian went out to pick up Jacob, and Olivia and I played a couple of
games of
Sorry! while he was gone.
When the boys got home, Brian joined us for
one last game while Jacob showered, and Jacob told us that the movie was EPIC
and it’s officially the best movie he’s ever seen.
I have to say, I was doubtful when I saw that
they were doing yet another comic book movie and yet another version of Spider-Man,
but everyone is saying that it’s the best movie ever.
The kids got in bed after that, and then Brian and I watched a few
trailers for some new shows to try to decide what to watch next, but it was
late, so we didn’t end up starting anything.
Wednesday, August 5
Wednesday morning, my hair guy was coming to do my highlights, so I slept
in until 6:30 AM, threw on some clothes, and then got the kids to school… no
point in showering since I was going to have to do it again later in the
morning.
While I waited for Jamey to come, I caught up on emails, I started my
blog post for Monday, and I brainstormed for the new series that I started yesterday.
I’m soooo excited about it!
Jamey came at 10:30 AM to do my hair, and then I got showered and ready
after he left. I had just enough time to
eat lunch and work some more on my blog post for Monday before it was time to
be in the car line.
And y’all, I’m hoping I’m not jinxing anything, but the car line this
year has been amazingggg. Our kids
always have after school activities, so it’s important for me to be towards the
front of the line most days. In the
past, I’ve always had to get to the school around 2:05 or 2:10 PM to be towards
the front, which means that I have to sit there for almost an hour before they
get out (which also means that I’m in the car for an hour and a half round
trip), but this year hardly any other parents are getting there early.
Wednesday, I rolled up at 2:30 PM and I was still second in line, so I’m
hoping that going forward I can just get there around 2:30 or 2:35 PM, which
means that I’ll get 30 minutes of my life back every day!
The kids and I went home after school was over and I worked on my blog
post for Monday some more before getting dinner ready. I had to use my Ted Lasso mug since the show is BACK!
I decided to try a new recipe Wednesday – cheesy bacon ranch chicken with broccoli (and I also
made rice to go with it) – and it turned out soooo good. I absolutely LOVED it. Brian liked it but he didn’t love it as much
as I did, and the kids weren’t too impressed, but they don’t get excited about
food very often unless it’s burgers or mac n cheese. Haha.
And if you’re a bacon fan and you love it crisp like we do, cooking it
in the microwave on one of these is a complete
gamechanger! You get perfect,
evenly-cooked, crisp bacon in just three minutes.
We cleaned the kitchen after dinner and then I had to order a gym uniform
for Jacob (that we weren’t aware he had to have – whoops!). Then, I corrected a blog typo that Brian had
found in a previous post.
A quick summer storm blew through while we were doing all that, but it
died down enough for me to get out and walk.
The clouds were still swirling, and it was pretty dark and breezy and
much cooler, so it was a pleasant walk other than the fact that my neck and
shoulders had been killing me all day (because I’m pretty sure my atlas is out
of alignment again).
I was only able to make it for 1.5 miles, and I just couldn’t do it
anymore with the neck and shoulder pain, so I headed back home and showered.
The kids had already showered while I was gone, so I showered, and then
we all watched Friends. While we
watched, Brian rubbed my neck and shoulders, and it made a world of
difference. Thank goodness I have a good
man who pampers me whenever I need it!
After the kids got in bed, I did my vibration plate/meditation/neck pillow combo, and then Brian and I watched the
first episode of the new season of Ted Lasso before going to bed. And y’all, it was soooo good. Gah, I have missed him and his eternal
optimism!! I’ve been seeing memes all
over social media saying that Ted Lasso is Bluey for adults and I couldn’t
agree more!
Also, random, but look at this post that showed up in my Timehop. She was soooo sweet.
Thursday, August 6
Thursday was the most productive day for me, y’all. I totally KILLED IT Thursday. I got the kids to school and then I literally
did all the things. Haha.
-
Washed one load of laundry
-
Got a Poshmark shipment ready and in the mailbox
-
Finished my blog post for Monday
-
Got a couple of new graphics done for the blog
-
Got a couple of things organized in my planner
-
Did some blog housekeeping
-
Tweaked my editorial calendar for the coming months
-
Put all the laundry away
-
Deep cleaned the countertops
-
Downloaded some new music
-
Dusted the whole house
-
Opened some packages that had come in and put the
stuff away
-
Started my blog post for Tuesday
-
Finished cleaning out my closet
-
Got rid of 46 items + 2 pairs of shoes + my old
GIANT antiquated suitcase that I haven’t used since, probably, 2007
-
Organized some blog post ideas
-
Typed up a recipe for my recipe book
-
Cleaned out part of my List Master app
-
Cleaned off my computer desktop
-
Tidied my office
-
Started restyling the shelves in our guest bathroom
There was a pause to pick up the kids from school and hang out with them
for a bit at home, and then I was right back at it:
-
Cut and filed my nails
-
Did a Bible study and devotional for the day
-
Finished restyling bathroom shelves
-
Cleaned out hand towels in the guest bathroom and
got them reorganized
-
Finallyyyy found places to display my FIL’s old
childhood novels that he passed on to us years ago and I had never taken the
time to put them anywhere
-
Cleaned out Olivia’s sweater basket and relocated it
to the floor of the coat closet instead of right by the back door (I was tired
of tripping over sweaters that were spilling out – haha)
-
Relocated our beach bag and a few other items
-
Deep cleaned all the toilets
-
Restocked toilet paper and tissues in all bathrooms
WHEW. Y’all, all the things!! It felt so good to have so much energy and
feel so productive! I even got rid of my GIANT, antiquated suitcase that I used in the early 2000s every time B and I would travel.
And I just love our
guest bathroom now. When Brian first
hung those shelves, probably, 15 years ago, I just threw some things up there
that we had on hand to decorate them temporarily until I could spend more time
getting them just right, and then 15 years went by and I never did. Haha.
Here was the before (even though the frame of Maui was recently added):
And here’s an in-progress photo (I added some bamboo containers for flossers and q-tips). I also moved Maui over to another spot. I love having her picture framed in here now because
this was her bedroom for her whole life.
Her crate was in there and that’s where she spent most of her time when
we weren’t home even though she had free reign over the whole house. Oh, and y'all, the toilet paper holder?! Soooo pretty!
Jacob put in all his service hours for the first semester and he’s
already met his goal + half of his goal for the second semester. So we don’t have to worry about that much
this school year.
Brian got home from an Aldi and Sam’s run after that, and I helped him
put all the stuff away. Then, we made
breakfast for dinner… our usual Thursday night dinner.
After that, I lay down to rest for 15 minutes because my neck and
shoulders were all fired up again after doing all the things. I put some new shower hooks on the kids shower curtain (because they’re designed to glide
smoothly over the curtain rod unlike our old ones that the kids struggled with)
and then I did a stair stepper workout and my
meditation/vibration plate/neck pillow combo while the kids showered and got
ready for bed.
We all watched two episodes of Friends before the kids went to
bed, and then Brian and I started the new Will Ferrell show called The Hawk. The first episode was somewhat funny, but it’s
definitely not his best work.
Friday, August 7
Friday morning, I snoozed one extra time and then I got ready and got the
kids to school. When I got home, I made
a cup of coffee and got a load of laundry done + washed all the bathmats in our
primary bathroom.
I caught up on emails and then got this post completely caught up, and
then I painted my toenails before vacuuming most of the house and mopping all
the hard floors, testing out these new floor cleaning pods.
Brian and I went to run an errand late in the morning, and then we got
home amidst a massive downpour. After
lunch, I put away all the laundry and got all the clean rugs back down in the
bathrooms and then I got a load of towels in the wash before doing some blog
housekeeping and blog reading.
It was time to hit up the car line after that, and when we got home, I
finished vacuuming upstairs after the kids got all their stuff off the floor. They both grabbed snacks and settled in for
some video game time. I could tell they
were both drained from the week even though they were both happy and had great
starts to the new school year.
I sat down with a cup of hot tea to finish catching up on blog reading,
and then I started my blog post for Wednesday to try and get ahead a bit. Then, I did two Bible studies + my devotional
for the day, I wrapped my daddy’s birthday gift, I listed the last couple of
clothing items on Poshmark, I watered the outdoor plants, I folded and put away
the towels I’d washed earlier in the day, and I created a new graphic for my
Instagram stories that I hope to start using soon. This top and these joggers were perfect for cleaning the house all
day, but still so cute for running errands!
Brian headed out to pick up pizza from our favorite local place (plus
Dominos for the kids since it’s next door to the other place and they weirdly
prefer it – haha), so I went downstairs to get the house all cozy for the
evening. I dropped some cinnamon bark
and pumpkin spice oils in the diffuser, I turned on some jazz, and I mixed up a
Moscow Mule to enjoy while I got our command center area ready for the school
year. There wasn’t much to do there
since we’d already cleaned off the shelves that store their backpacks, shoes,
and other bags, but I did clean out the folders on the bulletin board to free
them up for new paperwork that comes in from this school year. And I also found some artwork from last
school year for Olivia that I’d forgotten to file away.
By the time I was done with that, Brian was home with the pizza, so we
all ate dinner together. And just for
the fun of it, I put out some fall napkins and pulled out the fall glasses. And if you're starting to get in the mood for fall and you want some fall inspiration, I keep mine stored here! So many cute ideas!
It was one of those rare evenings where I felt massively on top of things
rather than drowning in things to do.
The house was clean and tidy from top to bottom, I was a good bit ahead
on the blog, my daily to-do list was done for the day, my rolling to-do list
was the shortest it’s been in ages, both email inboxes were completely caught
up, I had not a single notification bubble on my phone, and I even had fresh
highlights in my hair. Every now and
then, all the stars align and I actually feel “caught up,” and when it does, I
always make sure to soak that feeling up, because I know it won’t happen again
for a really long time. Hahahaha.
After dinner, we cleaned the kitchen and then I went out for a walk just
for pleasure, not for a workout. I
usually walk vigorously and jog for parts of it when I’m working out (and I’m
always sweating buckets when I get home), but this time, I just went for a
leisurely stroll simply because a storm was coming and it was dark and cool and
breezy. I hadn’t intended to go for a
walk at all, but I couldn’t resist getting out there while the temperature was
pleasant.
I stayed really close to home because I knew the storm would be rolling
in soon, and I listened to The Swiftie and the Scholar podcast while I
watched the storm roll in. After about
ten minutes, it started to rain, so I popped inside the house to stay dry. The rain was brief since only the edge of the
front had barely scraped by our area, so I was able to go back out and walk a
few more minutes after that, and I was rewarded with another beautiful rainbow…
the second one this week! Pre-storm
walks are the best walks, and post-storm rainbows are the icing on the cake!
After my walk, I got into pjs. It
was so nice not to have to take another shower!
Haha. During the summer months,
I’m always taking two showers a day since I sweat so much on my evening walks,
but this time, it was so nice out that I didn’t sweat at all! By the time I was in pjs and had my face
washed, the kids were done showering, so we popped some popcorn and settled in
for a few minutes of America’s Got Talent (we haven’t given it up, but
everyone would always rather watch Friends) and three more episodes of Friends.
We’re on season 4, episode 19, The One with All the Haste, and in
that episode, Joey’s next-door neighbor wakes up every morning singing,
“Morning’s heeeere!!” and I thought Jacob was going to laugh himself right off
the couch. He could not stop laughing
and he later told me right before bed that Friends is the best show ever
and that it’s so funny all the time, but that was the funniest thing he’s ever
seen on the show. He couldn’t stop
laughing when he was talking about it and he had me laughing the whole time we
were talking about it, too. I just love
sharing my favorite show with them.
Right before the kids got into bed, I did my vibration
plate/meditation/neck pillow, and then Brian and I made toasted marshmallow old fashioneds and watched the newest episode of Silo before bed.
Saturday, August 8
I think I speak for everyone when I say that we were all grateful to be
able to sleep in on Saturday. The first
week of school always saps everyone of energy, but we woke up feeling refreshed
and recharged. I was up at 8:30 AM and
Olivia was already up. Then, I went in
Jacob’s room to wake him per his request, and I woke him up by singing,
“Morning’s heeeere!” Hahahaha. We both cracked up.
I went downstairs to make waffles for breakfast, and Olivia ended up
making them for me instead. While she
made the batter, I unloaded the dishwasher, and then I put the batter on the
waffle iron since she still doesn’t want to use it since it’s so hot.
We all ate breakfast, and then I got a Poshmark shipment ready for
something that had sold overnight. Then,
I made my coffee and headed to my office to work on this blog post and finish
Wednesday’s blog post while the kids did their laundry and played video games
for a bit.
Then, I opened a couple of packages that had arrived and it was time to
get ready for the day.
On the way out the door, I threw a load of towels in the wash, and then
we headed to have lunch with Brian’s whole family for my father-in-law’s
birthday (a few days early). On the way to the restaurant,
we Facetimed with my dad since it was his actual birthday.
After lunch, we picked up a Dairy Queen Blizzard cake Brian had ordered
for him, and then we went over to my FIL’s house to hang out. He had bought a new game for all the cousins and him to play together, and they had so much
fun! The rest of us had fun watching
them because some of the things they had to do were so ridiculous.
When we got home, I threw the towels in the dryer and then I paid a bill
and started (and almost finished) my blog post for Friday.
We went to Mass at 5:30 PM and then we went out to our favorite barbecue
place with my dad for his birthday.
When we got home, we watched four episodes of Friends and I did a
strength workout while I watched. We’re
nearing the end of season four and it’s getting soooo good and I’m SO excited
for the kids to see what happens next!
Seasons 4-6 are my favorite seasons!
I did my meditation/vibration place/neck pillow combo while the kids got
ready for bed, and then Brian and I made old fashioneds before settling in to
watch some more of The Hawk. It’s
so dumb we ended up quitting it in episode two and we ended up starting a
Nicole Kidman show called Scarpetta.
Sunday, August 9
Sunday morning, I slept in until 8:30 AM, I made cinnamon rolls, and we
had breakfast, and then afterward, I did my usual Sunday admin things – getting
my planner ready for the week ahead, catching up on both email inboxes,
transferring and organizing photos from my phone to my computer, etc.
Then, late in the morning, I went out for a walk. It was cloudy and not too hot, but the
humidity was through the roof, so even though I wasn’t uncomfortably hot on my
walk, I was drenched with sweat when I got back home. Thankfully, it was time to get straight in
the shower and get ready for the day.
We had lunch with my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law and the rest of
the fam, and then we headed home to have some lazy time before Sunday
dinner. I listed some books to sell for
my SIL, I did a Bible study and my devotional for the day, I worked some more
on this post, and then I made our meal plan and grocery list for the next two
weeks.
We celebrated my Daddy’s birthday at their house Sunday evening, and my
Momma made her fettucine alfredo bake that is to die for… she threw that one in
her rotation sometime in the last few years and it’s one of my all-time
favorite meals she makes. SO delicious. We had a couple of sides with it, and then we
had chocolate cake for dessert per my Dad’s request. We gave him his gifts and sang to him, and then
I cleaned up the kitchen so he wouldn’t have to.
When we got home, we had just enough time to watch a couple more episodes
of Friends, and it was time for The One with Ross’s Wedding, Parts 1 and
2. Those episodes are just PEAK television
y’all. Why oh why do they not make shows
like that anymore. That show is still
just as relevant and hilarious as it was 30 years ago. We were all rolling with laughter.
After the kids went to bed, Brian and I watched a little more of
Scarpetta and then we went to bed.
Happy Tuesday, y’all!
