Around Here: Week 35 2022

 {August 28 - September 3rd}

Notice Logan... and his finger... and his smirk.
This is what living with sarcastic, prank-loving teenagers is like. 

Day Two Outfit

Day Three Outfit 

One of Grandma's dahlias- I love this one!

Driving... Wyatt to meet my sister and her boys in Quincy (our halfway point) so he can have a playdate with Ferris and Milo.  Logan and Jack weren't happy with me, they wanted it to be their turn, but I wanted Wyatt to have some cousin fun before school started and the twins have had tons of fun with friends the last few weeks. 
When it was time for us to meet up again, my dad drove Wyatt and it was good to see him.  I love him so much and he's such a good Papa.  He always says yes to whatever the grandsons want him to do, and he's nearly always willing to drive for my sister or I to swap kids.  It's so nice. 

Grateful... for how cozy and beautiful our porch is. I really enjoy the flowers, the chairs and the Costco lights we have up.  It is really inviting. 

Reading... a lot this weekend as I joined a Readathon a fellow Bookstagrammer was hosting. I finished Malibu Rising, which was a three star read for me. It was okay, but I didn't love it like everyone else seemed to.  I also finished Remember by Lisa Genova and am left feeling positive about my memory, but equally heartbroken for how Alzheimer's steals who people are.  Losing all their memory. I also finished The Shell Seekers this week, and just am really missing the characters. And I started Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, which is way over my head but fascinating nonetheless. It was sort of like the audiobook version of looking at the new NASA pictures of space- it made me feel small and meaningless, but in the best way. 

Experiencing... shaky, heart pounding anxiety off and on the entire first half of the week.  Thankfully I have anxiety medicine I can take when I'm struggling.  I think it was a mix of anxiety for school starting and nerves that I wouldn't get everything done that I wanted to get done. Monday I managed to get school supplies for Wyatt and Carly, though, and after that we had Carly's open house where we met her teacher and saw her classroom.  I saw some of my teacher friends, let them know I'd be substitute teaching again this year (call me!) and felt my heart melt when she said hi to her friend from last year and he said hi back. 
Then Tuesday I took the twins to the high school open house where we took a tour of the school (holy crap it's big!) and then spent some time making sure each twin knew where there classes were.  Times like that I wish there were two of me. (I left Josh home with the little two, so it was just me, Logan and Jack.) Thankfully their best friends, identical twins Easton & Channing, were there with both their parents, so they helped take Logan around to find his classes.  These boys met when they were 9 years old and starting third grade. Now they're starting high school, talking about driving and have deeper voices than their dads! 

The twins were off randomly Thursday (it's a sort of delayed start, for each grade to have the chance to be on campus on their own) so we grocery shopped, picked up prescriptions and dropped off important paperwork and payments to the middle school and high school.  

Counseling... on Monday with Dr. Hunter and feeling so grateful for the timing of this visit.  We talked about my anger (I have a lot of that as of late. Mostly about things being unfair) and how the anger and my anxiety could both be released by exercise.  She said she wants me to try and walk on the treadmill for at least twenty minutes, getting my heart rate up to 120 beats per minute.  
I tried the walking on Tuesday, and it kept my anxiety at bay for the entire morning and some of the afternoon.  I will take it. Any respite I can get from that terrified feeling that the world is going to end is welcome here. 

Some other fantastic advice she shared include:
"Bodies don't wear out from overuse, they rust out from underuse." Love this one! It reminds me to keep moving, keep trying.  My body craves it.

"Use bundling. Take something you love to do and pair it with something you need to do." In this case, listening to a book or podcast, or watching a show I love, while working out. 

Journaling... in addition to exercise this week because I need to get these feels OUT! Plus with the kids getting older, there are things they don't want shared on the blog, or Instagram, or Facebook that I want to remember nonetheless.  So into my journal they go. 

Watching... Josh's coworkers little girls on Tuesday.  Violet was so happy to play with Carly, and the twins and I were so happy to love on sweet baby Scarlet. There's nothing like a baby & a toddler though to remind you how hard your early days of parenting were. Hah! The dogs spent the day mostly in their crates because I couldn't keep an eye on them and an eye on the baby & the toddler.  And somehow, I had TWO toddlers when Wyatt was a baby.  How did I do anything? Ever? Haha! 

Sending... all my kids off to their first day of school Wednesday.  It was a big day.  The twins started their first year of high school.  Freshmen.  I still remember their first day of preschool! After I dropped them off I drove Wyatt to the middle school.  He's in sixth grade.  I still remember when he cried every day at drop off during kindergarten.  And finally, it was Carly's turn. Her first day of first grade. I still remember when she took her first steps. And now she's skipping across the sidewalk to get into the building with her giant backpack over her shoulders. 
Before drop off this morning Jack sat with Wyatt's schedule flipped over on the kitchen table, sketching the layout of the middle school for him, assuring Wyatt he could do it. 
I only cried dropping Wyatt off.  I think it was easier to drop the twins off because they have each other. And Carly is going back to the same school she was at last year, where people know her and she has friends.  But leaving Wyatt by himself, at a new school, where he's not sure how to get around, felt like a heavy task. 

Bribing... Carly to not cry in the mornings with a tiny stapler I found for $2 at Walmart.  She has to make it all week to earn her reward.  We have a fun playlist we listen to on the way to school, and we have a silly hug & kiss goodbye routine.  So far, it's working!!

Feeling... tears in my eyes when the school nurse not only heard my concerns about the wildfire smoke and Wyatt's asthma, but went so far as to call the counseling center when the PE teacher confirmed that Wyatt's PE class will indeed be spending everyday outside well into November.  She managed to get his spring class swapped with his fall PE class so he can participate in PE in the spring when it's not wildfire season. What a blessing!

Cutting... off the ankle bracelet that I have worn everyday since Carly started kindergarten a year ago.  It was my way of feeling connected to her even though she was gone everyday, and now that I've become accustomed to her being at school along with the boys, I no longer need it.

Weighing... in at the two week mark with 11 pounds lost.  I started at 265lbs and am down to 254lbs. The weight loss is, obviously thrilling, but what's most exciting for me is how doable it is, and also how much better I feel.  My fibromyalgia is hardly noticeable and I'm far less sore every morning when I wake up. 

Laughing... in delight at Carly who packed herself a chip clip in her lunchbox because she never finishes her bag of chips and she wanted it to stay fresh. Gosh I love her with my whole being. I also delighted in her first day self portrait.  How she felt "nervous" and how the outfit matched her exact first day outfit, down to the hair clip, and how she got that "nervous mouth" exactly right. 

Getting... a call from Wyatt's pulmonologist about the results of his most recent labs and feeling grateful that everything was normal.  The only one that was even a little off was his vitamin D. So we will get him a supplement and he should be good to go. 

Amazed... at Josh's hard work, talent and follow through.  This weekend he and his brother finished his parents' kitchen in their new house.  Since his dad's stroke they have wrapped up the plumbing, the electrical, had walls & texture done, put insulation in the walls and attic, laid flooring and now finished the kitchen.  Bathrooms and some odds & ends and it will be inhabitable.  So unbelievable. Those two guys could do anything, I tell you. 

Loving... how the twins are enjoying food, cooking and baking.  They were both in culinary in middle school, and are in culinary again now that they're freshmen.  They love to play with flavors, seasoning and herbs.  And they really love hot sauce. Most recently, they bought fresh cilantro to go on our tacos and the nachos they make with the leftovers. They remind me that cooking can be fun. Whenever I make something new and they like it, it feels like such a win! Haha!

Waking... up Friday to let the dogs out and hearing running water. Turns out Logan jumped in the pool after a bike ride Thursday and turned on the hose.  He thought he turned it off completely, but didn't.  On and on it ran, all night long, and by Friday morning the pool was running over on the corners. Thankfully the pool didn't burst, and with the filter I was able to let some water out over the course of the day. Disaster averted. 

Donating... a lot of the books I downsized from my shelves to our local secondhand book store.  It felt exciting when I saw the stack I donated shared on their Facebook page.  With books in mind, someone recently shared this Abraham Lincoln quote with me, and I love it:
"Get books, sit down anywhere, and go to reading for yourself." 

Sharing... dahlia pictures back and forth with  my grandma.  Her dahlias are the reason I started growing dahlias and I love to see what her flowers are looking like. Likewise, she loves to see how mine are growing. 

***

I have found this to be so true of my healthier living experience. 

A great reminder of the unseen work I do. 
It's a lot. And it's important. 

My sister made this meme after the twins were upset that I was taking
Wyatt to hang with my mom (Nanny) and their cousins. 
I laughed way too hard.  
She gets it.