Around Here: Week 46 2021

 {November 7-13th}

(Josh crossed off his ENTIRE to do list)

(Recording my melasma)

(Baby Philip- so cute!)

{Books I've read so far this year}

Reading... Beautiful Boy on audio (what an incredible, heartbreaking story!), Anne in Manhattan, which is a little saucier than I had imagined (!), and reading a special edition of Town & Country magazine Josh got me about Queen Elizabeth and Philip.  It was so tender to read about their courtship, early marriage and later years. I am fascinated by the royal family (Have you watched The Crown? gah! So good!) and loved all the pictures in there as well. I passed it on to my mom who has a similar fascination. 

Watching... The Big Vape and lots of episodes of Intervention.  I also watched Coded Bias this week and it all has me so disturbed and worried about the future my kids are growing up into.  I watched The Big Vape with my three boys, at the recommendation of my sister, and I thought it was a good watch.  Basically, vaping (or e-cigarettes) are better for you than smoking, but they're not "safe" or without risks.  You end up inhaling some of the metal that gets heated up in order to create the smoke (that's not technical speak, just me relaying in layman's terms what they showed) and that is incredibly unhealthy as well.  It's just less unhealthy than smoking. My kids takeaway was, don't do either. Not even the vaping without nicotine because all that shit is bad for your lungs. 
I've been on an Intervention kick since we watched Beautiful Boy, and I just watch and wonder and wish I could find a way to stop this epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse. I wish we could go back and erase the trauma these people have lived through. If anything, though, it makes me a very conscious parent and very grateful for my life. 
As for Coded Bias, I am not sure I followed all of it, but basically, we have a lot of work to do on our systemic racism and the prejudices (seen and unseen) held against people of color. 

Celebrating... Veteran's Day with a day off together, hosting Josh's family for dinner. It was a really nice time and I was so happy to see his dad whom I haven't seen in a while. There were cousins and siblings and all kinds of people here for tacos and cake, as we celebrated my niece Liesel's seventh birthday.  She was delighted to have a unicorn cake (thanks Walmart, for cute candles. Hah!) and everyone singing happy birthday to her. 

Laughing... when Carly joined the conversation at the dinner table about Veterans we know by asking, "Which tree of the military was Uncle Blake in?" Oh gosh, darling girl. Stay little forever. 
Also, laughing when she wore all pink one day this weekend and then put on a green headband and said "I'm a strawberry!" Haha!

Starting... a lightening serum my sister suggested to help with my melasma.  I noticed this summer that my skin was darkening in some spots and then she saw this on Amazon. I took these as my "before" pictures and I can't wait to see how it goes. 

Suffering... as Logan had a migraine that brought him him from school one day.  He went from a 5 to a 10 fairly quickly (as he usually does) and then threw up, felt better, and took a nap. I feel awful that he has them and guilty that they're from my side of the family. The good news for him is that after middle school, my little brother (mostly) outgrew them. We have an appointment next week with his neurologist to make a plan to tackle these as soon as they start so that hopefully he doesn't have to come home, vomit and sleep to survive them. 

Attending... my weekly Mine To Tell writing, and never (ever) regretting making the time for my writing. 

Working... on my friend Crystal's research for her parenting book. I am getting very excited to read it, and am inspired by all the research to do a better job of certain things with my own kids. (For example, better screen boundaries and purposeful teaching of skills.)

Worrying... over Josh as he has had a rough few weeks. (understatement) He's doing the best he can, working so hard and getting things done, but he just seems to be getting hit from all sides these days and I'm praying constantly that he'll get a break soon. Sigh. Watching your loved ones suffer is so hard!

Fixing... Irish sundaes for dinner and laughing when the twins decided they didn't want to go to their friends' house because they wanted to eat with us instead. I had no idea this was such a beloved meal. It's just baked potatoes covered that we then cover with butter, cheese, bacon, sausage crumbles and sour cream on our plates. Total yum, but certainly nothing fancy!! I also made drumsticks this week which the kids DEVOURED. I love that they love these two meals because they're super cheap!

Wondering... if you can help me with something... What could we say to someone instead of telling them they're lucky? As a stay-at-home mom it's something people say to me a lot, and it feels rude. People also say it for all kinds of reasons to all kinds of people, and I just wonder if it ever feels kind, nice, or understanding. For me, it doesn't. 
Am I blessed to be a stay-at-home mom? 100% yes. But "lucky" implies that I didn't work for it, or was handed this status. I spent five years in the middle of nowhere raising my babies alone with the help of my husband only when he wasn't working or supervising something at the k-12 school he taught at in Alaska.  We have made certain choices, sacrifices and decisions that have led to my being home full time. Have we also be the recipients of copious amounts of help from family and friends (especially our parents?) Yes, absolutely. But it feels diminishing when someone sees my life's work as the result of "luck."

Receiving... our yearly Christmas cards with Shutterfly and loving them so much.  Sending out Christmas cards is a favorite past time of mine and I enjoy it so much every year. 

Vaccinating... our youngest against COVID.  Wyatt has to wait because he hasn't been off his asthma steroids for two weeks, but Carly was able to get hers, and she was a champ.  She didn't feel yucky at all, and was super brave during the shot. So proud of her!

Hitting... 50 books for the year. Half of what I read last year, but I am happy to hit it nonetheless as there was a time this year I wasn't sure I'd hit 30.  Thankfully my reading has taken off a bit in the last two months. 

Decorating... our living room with pictures of our time in Alaska.  They make me so happy and remind me how strong I am. I did that crazy, hard, adventurous thing, and it makes me proud. 

Reorganizing... the hall closet and the laundry room.  I ordered a new shoe rack for the back of the door, which holds a lot of shoes, and has cleaned the closet floor immensely, Then I rearranged our winter stuff into the laundry room.  We used a different kind of shoe rack on the back of that door for our gloves & winter hats.  Then Josh hung 3M hooks all along the laundry room wall for our huge baseball hat collection. I am so pleased with the result. 

Attending... book club this week and sharing a favorite quote from Brene Brown. So good to keep in mind if (like me) you worry about what other people are thinking:

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