Around Here: Week 22 2025

 {May 25th - May 31st, 2025}

{It's a love/hate relationship with my migraine medication}

A look at my home during the second to last week of school.

Sheer chaos.

I have no idea how this baseball ended up in living room.

Jack & his girlfriend Cadence

Logan & his girlfriend Elyssa

Cleaned... house for Jack who couldn't get out of bed Sunday. Eventually I pulled him (literally) out and got him moving. Eventually he cheered up a bit and his friend Lilli came over to dye his hair blonde post haircut. 

Taking... Carly to a couple school parks with her friend.  I lugged along a camp chair for myself to sit and read, and honestly, it was quite lovely.

Grateful... that Josh works so hard in our yard. He spent Sunday weeding and mowing and it's just looking so good!

Laughing... when I walked into my room to find Carly watching TV and eating in my bed. This girl knows how to chillax.

Doing... the dishes and loving how a clean sink makes the whole kitchen feel spotless. 

Happy... for the boys who were able to spend some time in Wenatchee with their cousins. 

Finding... what I thought was a double oven on our neighborhood Facebook page, and sending it to Josh. He and Jack went to pick it up for me, but we were bummed to learn it's not a true double oven. Nonetheless, we're happy to have it because our old one's timer didn't work, and it was on its last leg.

Suffering... lots of migraines this week. One on Memorial Day and another the morning I subbed in first grade. Thank goodness for Sumatriptan. I take it and less than two hours later, the migraine is completely gone with no residual pain. Such a blessing.

Writing... to my new pen pal I received from Lore Pemberton's snail mail program. I can't wait to get a letter back!

Reading... The Summer of Broken Rules, which I bought based on Phoebe's recommendation (@readandwright) and how cute the page edges were. 

Subbing... for a fourth grade classroom that isn't part of Carly's school and I think it was one of the top three worst subbing days I've had. I was so happy when the bell rang at the end of the day.

Struggling... to leave one morning this week when Josh was home, but Carly had her gifted testing. She was so nervous and it was out of our routine for Josh to be the one to take her to school. It left me struggling. Thankfully Josh was able to text me later and let me know that she had done great at drop off. 

Feeling... extra anxious one day and couldn't figure out why until bedtime when I realized that I hadn't taken my gabapentin.

Seeing... a new doctor about my perimenopause and weight loss. She was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful and suggested I try Phentermine to both increase my energy and help with weight loss for the next three months. We have to be careful with it because it can be addictive, but along with counting calories, it should help me drop some pounds and feel better. 

Crying... during my counseling appointment like I have never done in the last five years. I think seeing the doctor about weight loss (I am currently up to 270 pounds) just really triggered some emotions about my fibromyalgia and the unfairness of it all. She was, as always, very validating and said that I have a lot on my plate right now and I'm handling it really well. I am so grateful to have her to talk to and check in with.
We ended the appointment agreeing that I need to be nice to myself around parenting (I'm doing my best and that's more than enough) and that when everything around me is a hurricane of to do lists, children's needs and life life-ing, I simply have to remember that I can stay with myself. There is peace there. 

Crossing... my fingers for my sister on the day of her gallbladder removal surgery. Thankfully she did great and should be on the road to recovery now. 

Hitting... Jazzercise twice this week and just feeling so grateful for that time when I can turn  my phone off and just focus on myself.

Field tripping... this week as Josh went on his class field trip and Carly also went on her class field trip. Carly's class walked to the bowling alley and they had so much fun. I was really happy for her and grateful for her amazing teacher and our awesome PTO that helped pay for it.  Also grateful for Carly's teacher and other staff & friends who sent me pics of my girl throughout the day as I was subbing.

Enjoying... one journal question my first grade teacher friend had for her students to write about when I was subbing in her class. For Thoughtful Thursday their question was: "What is the most important job in the world? Why?"  One of my old student teaching students wrote: "The most important job is teaching because children need to learn." I was dying. So precious. 

Taking... Jack to therapy and discussing the possibility of signing him up for Charlie Health to do an intensive outpatient program that consists of one hour of individual therapy per week and three 3-hour group sessions per week. He is resistant to the idea, but also admitted that it might not be best to let him make the decision. All we know is that his depression is as persistent as ever and suicidal thoughts are never far away.

Consulting... with the sleep doctor to discuss the issues with Jack's sleep and prepare him for an eventual sleep study to see if he's struggling with sleep apnea. His sleep is not restful and he often wakes from nightmares. His counselor is wondering if fixing his sleep issues could help resolve some of his mental health issues. I know I personally see a huge difference in my anxiety if I have slept or not, so I agree that this could be part of the puzzle.

Subbing... for only an hour at Carly's school for a fifth grade class and feeling absolutely terrible when a student got poked in the eyebrow with a pencil by her friend and I somehow didn't see any of it happen. I was helping another student with her research project, facing the two girls who were messing around with the pencil, when it happened. But I was working on the girls' chromebook with her, so I didn't see it happen. Thankfully she's totally fine, but it was pretty terrifying to see her forehead all bloody and not know why!

Absolutely... beyond exhausted. Between all the sub jobs I've had and the absolute chaos that is the end of the school year, I feel like a zombie walking around. Unfortunately we still have a solid week left before summer, and I have more sub jobs ahead of me, so I channeled my student teaching lessons and regrouped for subbing (1. Make sure to introduce myself at the beginning, including telling the students our schedule for the day; behaviors I love to see; and what they could possibly earn throughout the day if they behave and listen. 2. Practice positive behavior interventions- pointing out students I see doing the right thing, not students I see who are off task 3. Randomly reinforce good behavior with skittles.) I also delegated some things to my kids and husband who are fully capable of helping. This included having Jack drop Carly off at gymnastics so I could just meet them there instead of rushing around like a mad woman trying to pick Carly up and get her there on time.

Seeing... improvement. Both in the classroom I had subbed in earlier on that was rough (hooray for seeing the good and rewarding the students who are on task!) and in Carly's gymnastic skills. This week she was trying to do a cartwheel on beam and while she can't do it 100% , I can see a huge improvement in her ability. Way to go, girl! (I was grateful to be watching her succeed at trying something since the guy next to me at the gym was listening to an excessively preachy sermon on the highest volume and it was making me so uncomfortable. Ever heard of head phones!?!)

Sending... Carly to the land with Josh on Saturday to spend some time with her dad, brothers and grandma and to give myself a minute to catch up on life. It was a day well spent and I started the weekend feeling so much better about everything.

Shocked... that Maggie burnt her whiskers smelling a candle I had burning. You would think she would know that fire is dangerous... but I guess there's a reason they say, "Curiosity killed the cat." Poor thing! 

Journaling... about life and each of these kids we're raising, and just feeling overwhelmed by different things for each one of them. It's a lot to carry on my shoulders, and writing about it all in my journal feels like setting it down. 

Grateful... that Josh was so supportive of my parenting this week.  His words of affirmation mean everything to me and I feel like the longer I parent the less confident I get, so having him back me up means the world.

Loving... teenage boys, even if they do age me prematurely. Logan and his friend Ainsley wanted to take the kayaks and go to Deep Lake. I've never been to Deep Lake (which is about an hour from us) and was so scared, but I also love when they want to do wholesome things like kayak together, so I said yes as long as they swore they would wear life jackets and stay together. 

Capturing... an even cooler picture than I intended when leaving a sub job this week. I left the classroom and saw a crow in the courtyard, but as I tried to snap a photo, he took off. I threw my purse back in my pocket to turn in my sub folder in the building and forgot to even check the photo until hours later. Turns out the picture I captured was way better than the one I had wanted to take, and I am so impressed with it!

Feeling... my heart expand in my chest when the neighbor kids come over and play baseball with Wyatt in the yard. Sure they argue at times and it's loud and mildly stressful when a ball hits the cars, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Opening... a text with pics from Logan's girlfriend of the two of them at her friends' Quinceanera. I love that she knows I will appreciate these photos. 

Staying... up with Jack all night when he got a migraine that wouldn't quit and then was suffering insomnia. As a mom of teens, there are a lot of things I struggle with, but going to bed before my kids has got to be top 3. It just feels so wrong to go to bed before them. Especially if they're not feeling well.  So I stayed up with him, rubbing his back and trying to help him feel better.

Finding... out what Carly's school (which is currently shut down due to electrical issues) is going to do next school year while they address and fix the electrical problems. It's been weighing heavy on my mind not knowing what the plan was, so knowing, while difficult, is a relief. I'm not entirely thrilled with the plan for fourth grade next year, but if I'm being honest, the only solution that would delight me is if they were all back together in their original building. Which isn't possible. So barring that, the plan for next year is pretty good. We will have our k-5 classes + special ed class split among three schools in our district, all of which are pretty darn close to our house. So I really can't complain much. Although I do miss having Carly with me when I sub. But I'm really lucky because she has a neighbor friend whose mom doesn't mind giving Carly rides in the morning, and her brothers pick her up after school on those days. So all in all, I'm pretty lucky. It's much worse for teachers who are having to move for their second or third time. 

Struggling... in how to navigate the teenage relationships of my children. I love their girlfriends, so it's hard on my heart when they are arguing or take a break. I don't know how to do this yet! 

Worrying... about my mom who was diagnosed with diverticulitis this week and is in so much incredible pain. I am grateful for a diagnosis and something curable, but I feel terrible she's hurting so bad.

Learning... that Jack plans to move to Alaska after graduation to attend truck driving school which his friends' dad offered to finance if he works for his company after graduation. This was honestly the first time I've really concretely thought about the boys growing up and moving away, and I had to really fight the instinct to tell him not to go. Hah! I know that kids grow up and move away (I did!)... but I was not prepared for the way my heart would lurch just imagining it!  It will never not be weird that a mother's job is to do her job so well that she's never needed in the same way ever again. 

***

***