Around Here: Week 39 2023

 {September 24-30th}

Every night George sleeps outside the twins' bedroom door. 
He's their Guard Cat.

Twin dogs!

Josh & my counselor are buoying me through this hard time. 

2016   ::   2023

Doing... lots of homework and chores to start the week on Sunday.  I am struggling with my professor this term.  She is impossible to please, nitpicky and tough. Thank goodness for my counselor and Josh who are cheerleading from the sidelines as I limp along. 

Having... a really hard Wednesday. I had counseling which meant lots of crying, talking about how I feel like a failure both in my current class and in my inability to currently bring an income. 

Eating... delicious homemade tortillas that Josh made so I didn't have to. I'm so lucky to have him. 

Researching... how to reduce a fibromyalgia flare (shared below).  Reducing stress is an important one, which is hard. Thankfully some other things that can help include lots of rest, water, journaling and massage. Josh is fantastic about rubbing my feet, which are what hurt the worst, and I am so grateful. 

Smiling... at the sunflowers Josh brought into the house and put in a vase for me, and the school pictures he hung of our kids in the hallway upstairs. Eventually I am hoping to hang even more, including the homeschool pics of the twins from kindergarten to second grade. Right now it starts for them in third grade (which is when Wyatt was in kinder).  It will be fun to have the pics of the kids all lined up at the same ages, to compare their similarities and differences. Thank you babe for always being willing to cross things off my Honey Do list. 

Carrying... a lot of shame around our finances right now.  Things are just so expensive- gas, groceries, utilities, and even our mortgage. The taxes keep creeping up, which increases our costs. And I accidentally let my sub certificate lapse, so I can't even sub to bring in any additional income. So this week, to decrease costs we are eating out of our pantry and freezer.  I pulled out a ham from the pig we had butchered last year and we cooked it in the crockpot. I was so grateful when I recieved my check from my student loan overage for my classes at GCU.  It felt like I could finally breathe when that check arrived. 

Reading... The White Hare, which was a sort of magical, village, fixer upper book, and listening to The Day That Went Missing which is a true story about a man whose brother drown at the beach when they were children, and whom his parents never mentioned again. Ever. It was fascinating and heartbreaking. I am reading The Boxcar Children to Carly, which I've never read before, and we are loving it. And I'm reading This Is Where It Ends with Logan, who is reading it for English. It's been so fun to read the same chapters, one after the other, and discuss the craziness happening in those pages with each other. I am slowly teaching him how to annotate so that he can more easily write his weekly reflections. It's fun to work with him on something that is 100% my jam.

After school... looks like snacks for the boys while I pick Carly up and then phones in the box and homework for all. Carly doesn't have homework, so she usually just plays. This week there were tea parties with American Girls, which melts my heart. 

Ordering... the twins weighted blankets after Logan slept under a friends recently and loved it. They make me feel claustrophobic, but the boys relish the feeling. 

Screaming... when I got a project returned from my class and got a 97%!!! Oh the sweet gratification of getting that grade after so many corrections and such struggle. 

Wondering... if crows are a sign of good luck. I feel like I heard that somewhere once, and then this week at parent pick up for Carly, I saw three of them on the fence, just sitting peacefully. 

Loving... the art I ordered a while back and hung in the stairwell from my friend Ashmae. She does beautiful, magical landscape pieces, fruit and flowers as well. 

Hobbying... by puzzling (I love a good puzzle), and cutting the last of my dahlia blooms. I love cutting flowers and bringing them inside. I also took some, along with some pumpkin muffins to a friend having a rough week.  It made me so happy to shine a little light on a bleak week for her. 

Wyatt's also been hobbying this week, printing things with his 3D printer.  He is making different pieces that turn his crocs into cars. haha!

Battling... to keep the kids at school. I don't want this missing as much this year as last year, but between new-school-year colds, headaches, and migraines, it's been hard! 

Ordering... Christmas cards from Shutterfly and having so much fun with the process. They were running a 50% off coupon which saved me tons of money and I can't wait to get them!

Embracing... fall after going (as always) unwilling into it. I just love summer so much, it's hard to say goodbye. I made pumpkin muffins with mini chocolate chips; walked Carly to school, crunching leaves under our feet; playing fireplace ambience backgrounds on Youtube to make our living room seem extra cozy.  

Cooking... chicken & dumplings for dinner with Carly's help when she asked, "What makes it taste so good? Is it the love?" Be still my very heart. Oh that girl. I adore her sweet mind. 

Feeling... shocked when I came across a picture of myself (with baby Carly) from 2016. I made a side by side comparison (seen above) with a pic from now, and it is shocking how much older I look now. It's been a long seven years. 

Doing... dishes for Wyatt.  I try to do the dishes for each boy at least once a week. (They rotate chores weekly- one on dishes, one on dogs and one on catbox).  A little break for them, a little kindness. They're always so grateful. 

Watching... the most heartbreaking episode of Intervention. I love that show, but sometimes it is also really hard to watch. 

Happy... for Logan who got a brand new bike from my parents which overjoyed him beyond words. I love the passion he has for riding. It reminds me of Josh at his age. 

Determined... to have a better Thursday than Wednesday and making it happen by spending some time petting the dogs, taking in the beauty of fall, running errands to get things crossed off my to-do list, making soup and lighting candles to create that warm, cozy feeling. 

Making... a dinner playlist with songs from Norah Jones, Adele and Chris Stapleton. It makes me so happy to play this collection of peaceful songs in the kitchen as I cook and the kids do homework. 

Wanting... to remember Logan sending me funny videos on Instagram; Jack saying, "Love you" every morning when he gets out of the car; the way Carly kisses my cheek and signs "I love you" at drop off. These moments feel so big, and squeeze my heart in the moment, but I know that with time they could easily melt into the minutae of everyday, so I want to record them here for posperity. 

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