He has been having pre-teen acne issues so I’ve had him using a SeneGence acne wash and moisturizer, doing masks, and I finally took him to get a facial. He did really well (she had to do a lot of manual blackhead extractions) and even agreed to do another!
I scheduled an appointment as soon as we could that fit our schedule! He says he didn’t feel a thing!
Owen tripped and fell last night and hurt his arm and wrist and it was still hurting today so it was off to the pediatrician. We had it x-rayed and they didn’t see anything so it’s just waiting for it to get better.
They apologized for putting us in a baby room but of course we didn’t care.
Waiting for x-rays he had to sit in a kid seat. I thought the little duck feet were adorable. You can see his “ugh mom” reaction.
Getting old sucks. I woke up this morning with a familiar twinge in my lower back which told me I’d have to be careful or it would go out on me. So I was careful. I squatted at the knees, didn’t bend over, did my stretches. I sat at my desk, walked around Costco with Anna, and then we went on a walk. I felt fine. Then guess what happened midway through my walk? ZING! My back went out. I managed to make it back and drive home but now I’m sacked out on ice on the couch with Maggie. I took whatever drugs Tom gave me and crossed my fingers—we have another appointment today at 4 (not for my back) and I hope I can make it.
So I’m having minor effects from my second vaccine shot…nothing horrible, just a general malaise and feeling run down with a headache that will not go away. I’m trying to hydrate and rest as much as possible with Maggie on the couch. I think a nap is imminent, too.
I got my second shot this morning!
When you get called in for a standby COVID vaccination, you drop what you’re doing and go.
Why yes, this is a petoskey stone mask.
So way back in November 2019 we backed this awesome table on Kickstarter. It is the size of a bench (18″)…but expands up to 118″. Cool, right? We certainly thought so, so after much debate (since it was expensive), we did it. We also figured since this was their second Kickstarter they knew what they were doing. The estimated delivery was supposed to be the following month.
Without going into too much detail, it got pushed back a little at a time for a variety of reasons. And then they stopped communicating. And then they’d come out with more delays. Now, we know stuff happens. You have materials procurement issues, warehouse delays, a factory closure, or any other assortment of shit. But they were ridiculous—plus they weren’t communicating. And then…Covid. Which REALLY messed with things. Everyone was furious. Some managed to get their money back (it was a long and arduous process since by that time we were far beyond a credit card’s chargeback time limit). Some received communication but most didn’t. There was lots of drama.
And then fast forward months and months and people started receiving them…and it wasn’t good. Broken pieces, missing pieces, super soft/unusable table tops…and we got worried. We wondered if we shouldn’t try to get our money back. But we held out because we really wanted it…aaaand I knew how much work and effort it would take to attempt to get our money back.
And then we got the call! I almost didn’t answer it because it looked like a spam call—but I recognized the Canadian call and took it. And scheduled our delivery!! Three days later we had it!
So without further ado, here it is!
So now we have to get rid of the two tables we have—our original butterfly leaf table that we’ve had for probably 8-9 years plus the smaller temporary one we bought for this kitchen after we moved in. Normally that wouldn’t be hard but we need to keep the chairs… So Tom may end up cannibalizing the tables to make other things!
I can’t wait to have our first big dinner at this table!!
Kim Ho Ho Ho’ed everyone today with treats and a #momsquad wine glass for our Secret Santa exchange…
We had a great time but can’t wait to see each other in person again…
Bent over to pick up a snowman head off the floor and smacked my own head right into the corner of the mantle.
THERE ARE NO RULES. Run the dishwasher twice.
RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.
“When I was at one of my lowest (mental) points in life, I couldn’t get out of bed some days. I had no energy or motivation and was barely getting by.
I had therapy once per week, and on this particular week I didn’t have much to ‘bring’ to the session. He asked how my week was and I really had nothing to say.
“What are you struggling with?” he asked.
I gestured around me and said “I dunno man. Life.”
Not satisfied with my answer, he said “No, what exactly are you worried about right now? What feels overwhelming? When you go home after this session, what issue will be staring at you?”
I knew the answer, but it was so ridiculous that I didn’t want to say it.
I wanted to have something more substantial. Something more profound. But I didn’t.
So I told him, “Honestly? The dishes. It’s stupid, I know, but the more I look at them the more I CAN’T do them because I’ll have to scrub them before I put them in the dishwasher, because the dishwasher sucks, and I just can’t stand and scrub the dishes.”
I felt like an idiot even saying it.
What kind of grown-ass woman is undone by a stack of dishes? There are people out there with actual problems, and I’m whining to my therapist about dishes?
But, my therapist nodded in understanding and then said:
“RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.”
I began to tell him that you’re not supposed to, but he stopped me.
“Why the hell aren’t you supposed to? If you don’t want to scrub the dishes and your dishwasher sucks, run it twice. Run it three times, who cares?! Rules do not exist, so stop giving yourself rules.”
It blew my mind in a way that I don’t think I can properly express.
That day, I went home and tossed my smelly dishes haphazardly into the dishwasher and ran it three times.
I felt like I had conquered a dragon.
The next day, I took a shower lying down.
A few days later, I folded my laundry and put it wherever the fuck they fit.
There were no longer arbitrary rules I had to follow, and it gave me the freedom to make accomplishments again.
Now that I’m in a healthier place, I rinse off my dishes and put them in the dishwasher properly. I shower standing up. I sort my laundry.
But, at a time when living was a struggle instead of a blessing, I learned an incredibly important lesson:
THERE ARE NO RULES.
RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE!!!”
Author unknown
Check. This. Out. Look at my skin over two years.
This is using the skincare every. single. day. I didn’t use everything every single day but I did use the cleanser, daytime moisturizer, and evening moisturizer for sure. (I know the lighting is a little different but even so you can see how much it’s changed.)
I am just gobsmacked.
I know two years is a long time but you have to start with Day 1 at some time, so why not now?
My skin feels totally pampered after steaming, masking, showering, then layering on all the daily goodness (plus Nangai) and rolling (using my Jade roller from the SeneGence stress free gift set).
Happy Sunday, all!
This was the closest Britt and I got just for a quick pic!
Back at the house we sat outside across the deck and I was too lazy to actually remove the chair cover and it kept falling down so we joked it was our way to keep distanced.
This seems like it would be super cool, right? Your face on a mask? I mean, look at how awesome the sample looks?!
And then look at what we got—still good right?
Totally ridiculous funhouse mirror faces. I mean seriously? Tom and I could barely stop laughing long enough to take the photo.
We showed Katie and she even laughed like WHAT THE HELL?!
Needless to say I contacted them and complained and they said sorry, the prints are fine. So I’m done shopping with that company.
Yep, I have to work at the table and babysit this kiddo since she’s not been in class as much as she should be. It’s a good thing I can pretty much work from anywhere.
She said she just wanted to touch base because Katie hasn’t been showing up for class and when she is there she’s often not paying attention. WAIT, WHAT?
She said they can see how long kids are logged into class each day and it should be between four and four and a half hours. And she’s been getting 1-3. Most days are 2 or less. UM EXCUSE ME WHAAAAAT???!!
I mean we know she spends too much time farting around and we are constantly telling her to get back to class, but I’m here with her all day and she appears to be in class. Except apparently not. Her teacher said that she often doesn’t pay attention in class—half an hour in she gets called on and doesn’t even have her book open. So what is she doing???
Of course I’m home but I’m working and doing stuff so don’t pay close attention to her (just like I don’t with Owen) and yes we’ve had some internet issues but not hours worth. Or weeks worth. So it looks like for the near future she will be sitting right next to me at the table and I will be working on my laptop again so I can keep her on track. Just what I want to have to do, right?
The worst part of all this is that she’s waaaaaay behind on school work. She doesn’t do it in class when she’s supposed to OR in her asynchronous time in the afternoon (when she literally has a list of assignments from her teacher) so we’re trying to get her caught up. And that’s a complete joy as I’m sure you can imagine.
We have told her that we know this year is weird. And it sucks. And it’s hard. But none of that is an excuse to skip schoolwork.
Heaven help us.
I wanted you to know that Owen is struggling to attend math class. Lately, he has been coming to class, turning his camera off and not responding when I check on him. For example, his icon is in my class right now but he is not responding to me when I am trying to help him. Anything you can do to encourage him to stay with the class would be appreciated.
UGH.
That was from 9:19am when I was putting on my shoes right behind him. And saw it on the screen. But couldn’t see if his camera was on or what he was listening to with headphones on.
So needless to say we had a HUGE discussion with him about it. Especially after his poor grades last marking period (two As, two Bs, a C, and a D). He hasn’t been doing his homework, he hasn’t been asking for help, and apparently he hasn’t been active in class.
I don’t want them in school because that’s just not safe but this remote learning sucks 100%.
Do you know how some days masks don’t really bother you that much at all while you’re shopping? Today is not that day. I feel suffocated. But I still wear it.
We weren’t sure what trick or treating was going to look like because we knew a lot of people wouldn’t be participating but we told the kids we’d walk around the neighborhood to check it out.
There were a lot of creative solutions to managing candy delivery. Most were just on tables in some way, but we saw a bunch of chutes, some spread in the grass, and one on a truck bed (below).
I think Halloween may be forever changed
after Covid Style 2020 Halloween. The general consensus among moms I talked to was that we kinda liked it more than usual Halloween! I loved not ringing doorbells or wondering who was/wasn’t participating (the city had delivered red and green signs for people to put up to show if they were participating or not and a lot of people used them so that was nice) but most people were outside watching anyway. There were no huge groups of kids. All kids we saw were being really respectful and gingerly taking a piece of candy or a bag or whatever. And we loved how creative a lot of the houses were!
The weather was also gorgeous! We started with our winter coats but they got unzipped pretty quick.
We were out for about an hour and then as we were almost home we saw some neighbors around a fire pit in their driveway so we headed over to say hi—they are the guys Tom has played poker with but we haven’t really met the wives so we thought it was a good time to hang out. So we had a few drinks and visited while we sent the kids on without us to hit more of the neighborhood. (It’s so wonderful they can be out on their own! They came back and checked in with us a few times but pretty much were on their own for two hours!)
Then we left there to go to a nighttime outdoor candy hunt at our friend’s house—which had been planned in case trick or treating was a big fail. We literally just threw candy in the back yard and let them hunt with headlamps and flashlights while we had mulled cider and s’mores and visited around the fire.
Trick, or Treat? I’m seriously asking
Every day we reacquaint ourselves with our family’s ever-shifting needs. Every day we find ourselves at a place where we have to decide who we’re going to ignore, which way we’re going to triumph and which way we’re going to fail, what risks we’re willing to take for ourselves, for our kids, for grandparents who want to visit, for strangers who sell us yogurt, knowing that the best way to love our community is to isolate ourselves from it, and the best way to love our children is to let them connect, and the best way to get through this is badly and at great cost, making a fucking mess of it every day as we spin the wheel toward a harbor on the horizon between two untethered buoys that keep lurching in the swell.
Here’s my new toy—a facial steamer! I’ve wanted one for awhile now and it went on sale during Prime Day!
I’ve never done that before it was definitely a learning experience. That little machine packs a lot of punch. It was really hot and I had to keep moving my face farther and farther away. They said not to be closer than 25cm but in my mind I was thinking millimeters so yeah…I was too close. And I had sweat dripping down my face after just a minute. And it is no joke when they warn you that the heated washcloth will be burning hot.
It felt really good and my skin felt glowy. I recommend it!
He was kinda worried about having surgery but he handled it like a champ. Tom went with him and said he had all the ladies laughing afterward. We had gotten him excited about counting down from 10 once they started the sleepy drugs…but he didn’t even get to 10. He said they told him they were putting it in and then he was waking up!
So we’ve been noticing some questionable behavior from Owen lately—blowing up more than usual, getting agitated more easily, etc. We thought maybe his meds needed adjusting or maybe just something else was going on. He takes his pills on his own and we’ve been asking him if he’s still taking them and he always says yes. We knew he needed to get a new counselor so after some of the major blowups I finally worked through that and got an appointment set up…
And then. After like a week of seemingly daily issues (that result in us talking to him for an hour at a time and us going out of our minds with his attitude) we discovered he has not been taking his pills for a long time. We found all the pill bottles and they were FULL. (We get auto delivery so he should have had one almost empty bottle. We have two full 90-day bottles.) Ugh.
Needless to say that explained everything.
So we talked about that. And he said he just thought he might not need them anymore because things had been going well. So we could then tell him that things had been going well (better) because of the pills. So now we are taking them together at the same time every morning.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you… I’ve started taking an anti-anxiety med, too. I’ve just been overly stressed with the new house, remote learning, work, Covid, etc… Plus moreso I was just sooooo tired of yelling at the kids all. the. time. for everything that I thought maybe I needed something to take me down a notch. It’s been two weeks and I think it’s helping—so we’ll see. I don’t anticipate it being long-term but for right now I think it’s a good thing. Plus I think it helps Owen to see that even if you think someone has it all together you never know what’s going on behind the scenes. And if Mom does it, he can, too.
His orthodontist recommended getting two teeth pulled so after a few delays here we are. He was nervous but handled it like a champ. This was about 15 minutes in while he was numb before they actually started—he just wanted to come out and say hi.
Unfortunately, one of the teeth gave her some problems and she couldn’t remove it so she referred us to an oral surgeon. She seems to think maybe the roots of the baby tooth are wrapped around the adult tooth. Yikes.
Owen was not thrilled with that prospect so we’re trying to talk up how cool it is to be knocked out and we think he’s okay now. Thankfully we are getting in next week so he doesn’t have much time to think about it.
The required sixth grade physicals were still required even though they aren’t technically at school…so off we went. It was really almost eerie walking through an empty hospital. Especially since the parking garage was as full as usual—where was everyone?!
Owen also had to get three shots which he wasn’t thrilled about but at least he just sucks it up and does it without issue.
Well today started out okay with me waking up before my alarm and I got to have some nice leisurely quiet time before the kids got up.
And they showered without much drama and they ate breakfast without much drama and we took school pictures without much drama… And then the shitshow started.
Owen had some technical difficulties dealing with an external monitor and Bluetooth headphones and Google meets and when I asked him if these were the same headphones that he used last year he said yes but they didn’t work for Google meets then either.
YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE TOLD US THAT AT SOME POINT BEFORE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?! (What I was screaming in my head—not what I said to him.) But he was completely losing it and this was him just four minutes in to Remote Learning. /cry/ Even though I wanted them home to be safe…THIS. JUST. SUCKS.
But things have gotten a little better since 9:04 AM when it was the worst and I think we might make it through this day without me needing to drink a gallon of margaritas.
I went outside to enjoy the weather in my egg chair…and Owen came out on a break and he seemed much better.
