Around Here: Week 49 2021

 {November 28-December 4th}

Here's a LINK to Book of the Month
if you're interested.  Their books are a great deal!
$14.99/month and only $9.99/book for up to two add-ons.

Officially... being hired by the school district as a sub. Now on to the next steps of turning in transcripts, completing training and getting finger printed. Check, check, check... gotta get to work!

Starting... a practice of (super simple) daily meditation. I found a five minute meditation "song" (it's more of a peaceful soundtrack) that is five minutes long and I just sit in my chair, asking my body how it feels and what it needs at some point each day. I am trying to get in touch with my body, to live in her, and love her, and this practice is helping with that. 

Finishing... and sending out our Christmas cards.  It's always a bit of a marathon to get everyone's new addresses if they moved; print the Christmas letter and stuff and label the envelopes, but I did it. I usually try to have them done by Thanksgiving weekend, but this year was a little later. 
I was especially proud of myself for creating a QR code for Jack's letter that was included with our Christmas letter. He is working to raise money for his Greece/Rome trip that his culinary teacher is in charge of. We signed him up in the fall, and will make monthly payments until summer of 2023 when he goes. The QR code made it easier for friends & families to donate directly to his tour account. 

Experiencing... massive jaw pain from clenching and tension and my TMJ. It was miserable for about two days, but I was able to work on relaxing throughout the day and wearing my bite guard at night and it's better thank goodness! 

Taking... a big, deep breath now that Thanksgiving is over.  Our out of town family has headed back home, the house is clean and we are now ready to gear up for Christmas. Onward. 

Heading... to the dentist and experiencing honestly more pain during a cleaning than I have during a root canal. She used a water pick/torture device to scrape the tartar off my teeth and I thought I was going to pass out.  It sprayed cold water and I am so cold sensitive. It was miserable.  Josh said I should have told her to stop, but it's not in my wheelhouse to tell people no.  Next time, though, I will remember that it's my body and I get to decide how much suffering she can handle. 

Luxuriating... in long, hot baths lately. It's my big self care thing and I am loving it. I only wish I had a deeper tub!

Decorating... the Christmas tree as well as the rest of the house on Sunday and very much forcing our resident teenagers to join us and pretend they were having a good time. This time of year also means that our Elf on the Shelf, Dashy, is back. Thank God for grandma's who want to keep the magic alive (shoutout to Nanny) and send inspirational little things here and there to keep a mom going.

Attending... Mine To Tell this week and feeling both really proud of myself and really inspired to keep working on what I have going. 
I didn't know that this week was going to be a "share your work with a friend" meeting, so I showed up empty handed and had to just pull something from my Alaska story (a work in progress on Google docs) to share with Lauren, whom I was paired up with. Her feedback was so helpful, and I loved hearing a piece of her work, too.

Hosting... my mom and sister for the day Wednesday so we could have a Grown Up Art day.  We took turns taking care of Royal and painting ornaments and canvases we had left from my birthday party mid-November. My mom brought me fleece material she bought us (and picked out with my sister's help) so that over Christmas break we can make our own tie-blankets. I am so excited, as are the kids.

Grateful... Josh was able to take Carly to her second COVID vaccine appointment so I could stay and hang out with my mom and sister.  She was super brave during her shot, but was extra tired and emotional the next day, so I kept her home with me. 

Feeling... pretty consistently overwhelmed by the state of our house and dishes.  Sigh.  It doesn't help that the FEW daily jobs the kids have are not done well, and that leaves me feeling even more like the house is an out of control pigsty.  The twins lost screens and had extra chores for their shitty jobs, and I just dug in to the chores while listening to Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski.  A good audiobook can be so helpful when diving into chores that suck. 
I was asked recently why we make beds.  Or why bedmaking is so important to me. I know that people are pretty divided by this- but we are bed makers. I believe that waking up and making your bed is a good way to start the day solidly, and I really love how the house feels upstairs when everyone's bed are made. Not much of an explanation, but there you go. 

Inspired... to walk to pick up the little kids from school in the afternoons after reading a few pages of "There's No Such Thing As Bad Weather" by Linda McGurk, and watching This Mountain Life.  I have also been inspired by this young girl named Makayla on Instagram who recently suffered a spinal injury and is now paralyzed.  She reminds me to be grateful for my capable body and to use it.  It's twenty minutes there, twenty minutes back and Grady loves it!!! Honestly, once I'm out there, I love it too.  Something about the winter sun just makes me feel alive. 

Celebrating... the start of December with advent calendars for me and the kids from my parents. Two kiddos got Legos, one got Funko Pops, and Carly got LOL doll accessories. They love running downstairs each morning to open their little surprises.  For my birthday, my mom got me an OPI nail polish advent calendar, and it has been equally fun for me to open one each day! 

Editing... my friends' book (about parenting in this day and age) which has me thinking about hard parts of parenting that we tend to avoid, and resolving to do better.  Instead of avoiding the hard talks with my kids and saying yes to everything, instead I am committing to having the hard talks and being a better, more consistent disciplinarian (which means saying no and holding to high standards). 

Getting... emotional about Carly waking up and crawling into our bed to snuggle me. Josh messaged me (see below) and I told him that I cherish those snuggles so much because I can't remember the last time any of the boys climbed in bed with us.  He, as always, said the perfect thing, reminding me that I spent years of mornings snuggling them, too, when they were Carly's age. 

Enjoying... date night with Josh.  Per usual, we put the kids to bed and then made a pizza for us to enjoy. I made the pizza- all meat with sweet piquillo peppers- and it was amazing. We watched The Bourne Identity and headed into the weekend.

Waking... up early Saturday morning with Logan, who didn't feel well.  Once he got up for the day, I snuggled in and fell asleep in his bed, not wanting to disrupt Josh who was sleeping. 
It's still unreal to me that I can sleep in on the weekends. That I don't have to wake up at 6:00am anymore.  It's as awesome as it sounds. 
(If you're in the trenches, please know that you will get here, too, before you know it. I promise!)

Staying... busy all weekend with bills, errands, tidying the house, doing laundry and putting on movie night for the kids.  I even let them have a family sleepover downstairs, which Grady loved, snuggling up in the blankets. He's such a big sweetheart. 
For movie night, we watched Home Alone, our holiday favorite, and it was the first time Carly really paid attention.  She was cracking up as the thieves got caught in all of Kevin's traps.  Her enjoying it so much made the boys enjoy it 10x more as well.  Isn't it funny how that works?

Watching... Logan work so hard to skateboarding and feeling proud of his stick-to-itiveness. He has improved so much since he started and has mastered quite a few tricks. The sound of his skating in the driveway takes me back to my younger days and my little brother skating every chance he got. Tender memories.

Gagging... as I got in my van after the long weekend to take the kids to school and discovered that the twins had left their wet (sweaty, rain-soaked) socks on the floor and the whole van smelled like teenage armpits. It takes a lot to make me gag (kids throwing up in my hand, I'm fine. Pulling out teeth, boogers, ear wax, no problem) but the smell in our van that morning was atrocious. I literally drove the twins to school with the windows rolled down. It was like 30 degrees, and so cold, but we weren't going to make it without fresh air. 

Playing... lots of Uno and learning how to play speed from Josh and Uncle Samuel. The kids love Uno, and it made Josh think that they should learn speed.  The twins love it! It was fun to watch them all battle each other, especially Samuel and Josh. Such fun family memories.
But my favorite part might have been coming down the next morning and finding Carly's stuffed animals "playing" Uno on the kitchen table. Can you even!?

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