Monday, September 14, 2020

Our Week - The One with Quarantine, Week 26 (Labor Day and House Things)

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nother great week is in the books!  I feel like I’ve finally found my motivation again after several months of having almost none, and it feels pretty great.  I’m hoping it lasts.

Monday, September 7 (Day 178 of Quarantine)

Since B is still recovering from his back surgery, we’ve been laying low, so we spent Labor Day at home.  We considered venturing downtown for a bit, but it was hot as blazes and I was on a roll with the house projects, so we ended up staying home.

We had leftover donuts from Sunday for breakfast, and then I curled up with my planner and some hot tea to plan the week ahead.  I’m loving having some things on the calendar again so I can do these planner sessions again… I’ve missed them!


Once that was done, I cleaned out our Keurig, put in a new filter, and descaled it using white vinegar.  I’d never descaled it before, and I made the rookie mistake of leaving the filter in while the vinegar was running through it, so on Tuesday when I made my first cup of coffee, the creamer curdled when I poured it in and the coffee smelled and tasted sour like vinegar.  It was awful… seriously almost made me sick. 

I did some googling, and I realized that I wasn’t supposed to have descaled it with the filter in (face palm), so to fix the problem, I just trashed the filter, ran three reservoirs of plain water through the Keurig, and then put in a new filter.  Good as new!  So FYI, if you decide to descale your Keurig, be sure to take the filter out before you do it.  Haha.

After the Keurig was done, I scrubbed down the kids’ tub/shower.  I HATE scrubbing showers/tubs, so it’s something that I, admittedly, don’t do nearly enough.  The kids’ shower mat and shower curtain liner were both gross, so I threw them out and ordered new ones, and then I scrubbed our shower down while I was on a roll.  That consumed the rest of my morning, so by the time I was done, I got ready for the day and then made some lunch for us. 

The afternoon was spent doing some online shopping… lots of retailers had pretty great Labor Day sales, so I loaded up on Bath and Body Works creams – because they brought my favorite fall scent out of retirement!! – and I placed a Target order for some essentials plus an adorable Halloween dress for Olivia.  :o)

The rest of the day was spent hanging out at the house, cooking dinner, walking around the neighborhood with B and the kids (the kids were excited because we saw a butterfly!), and watching the rest of America’s Got Talent.


Tuesday, September 8 (Day 179 of Quarantine)

Tuesday, I did some grocery shopping after I dropped off the kids, and then I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon working. 

B had his first checkup with his neurologist since his surgery, and his doctor said that everything looks great.  He’s been cleared to do stuff around the house, but he’s still not allowed run, jump, or lift anything over 10 lbs.  His foot drop seems to have improved a little bit, but it’s not totally gone, and he’s also still having some tingling down his leg, which the doctor said is normal since it takes a long time for nerves to heal.

He’ll go back in four more weeks, and if the foot drop and tingling haven’t totally resolved, he’ll have to do physical therapy, but if everything has resolved by then, he’ll be released!

Tuesday evening, Jacob had a baseball game.  My father-in-law and both of my parents were able to make it this time, so it was great to be able to see all of them.  I’m so used to seeing my momma and daddy at least twice a week, so it’s been weird not seeing them at all for weeks on end.  Once the weather cools down, I’m hoping we can start getting together outside pretty often. 

Jacob’s game ended in a loss, 17-11, and our boys definitely made some mistakes.  Jacob got one RBI and scored a run (his other two at-bats resulted in an out at first and a strike-out), and he threw two people out at first, one of which was an amazing play.  So, all in all he made some great plays, but he also had some struggles as well.  The other team had some crazy good hitters, so I was prepared for a beating.




Wednesday, September 9 (Day 180 of Quarantine)

Wednesday morning, we woke up to a temp of 65 degrees and it was glorious.  I dropped the kids at school, and even though I wasn’t feeling motivated to work out, I managed to get in a two-mile walk… I owe it all to the cooler weather!


After my walk, I made a cup of caramel coffee with hazelnut creamer, and I think it’s officially my favorite at-home coffee combination ever!  I’ve struggled to find a good at-home coffee/creamer combination, but I think I’ve finally found one in this combo… this is perfection.  The best part is the k-cups are Great Value brand (Walmart) so they’re uber cheap ($3.92 for 12) and the creamer is the natural version from CoffeeMate so it’s healthy-ish as far as creamers go… it doesn’t contain any of the weird junk that most other creamers have.

I brought my caramel coffee upstairs and turned on Gilmore Girls, and spent the rest of the day working.  It doesn’t get much more fall than caramel coffee in a pumpkin spice mug while watching GG!  I received some happy mail that afternoon, and it just made the day even better!


Later that afternoon, I picked up the kids from school and then on the way home, we swung by my parents’ house to grab some leftovers from my momma and daddy’s house.  The kids were excited to see my daddy again and I was excited to have a homecooked meal from my momma! 

Thursday, September 10 (Day 181 of Quarantine)

Thursday morning, it was so hot and humid it was like stepping out into a sauna, so I did a dance workout inside instead of going for a run like I had originally intended. 

For lunch, B and I ate my momma’s leftovers and it was the best treat since we haven’t been able to eat with them for Sunday dinner in over a month. 

Thursday evening, the kids asked to look at Halloween costumes, so we got on the computer and scoured SpiritHalloween.com.  We were all so bummed to see that they wouldn’t be doing brick and mortar stores this season (because – Covid), but we did have a good time looking at everything available online. 

Olivia picked out her costume immediately and never changed her mind once she’d seen the first one.  She mentioned the other day that she wants to be a witch, so this will be totally different for her since she has always chosen to be a specific character (Belle, Anna, Tinkerbell, Vampirina, etc.)

Jacob ended up picking out four different costumes, and he is still torn between two of them (a knight and a ninja).  This will also be totally different for him because he’s always chosen to be a specific character as well (Storm Trooper, Spider Man, Flash, etc.)  At first, he saw the “Scream” face that had blood trickling down its face, and he asked to be that.  I suggested we continue looking and, thankfully, he found other things he liked better.  Haha.  That was the first time he’s ever asked to be something scary.  Our babies are growing up.

While the kids got ready for bed, I ran to Olivia’s dance school to pick up the DVD from her dance recital back in June.  It was, of course, way different this year due to the pandemic, so I was only allowed to be there for Olivia’s two performances, and that was it.  Brian and Jacob and all of the grandparents weren’t allowed to be there at all, so I’m glad to have this copy of the entire show so we can all sit down and watch it in its entirety.

Friday, September 11 (Day 182 of Quarantine)

Friday morning, I spent the morning listening to Elvis Duran and the Morning Show as I always do, but it’s always very poignant on 9/11 because they always discuss the events at length, and they observe a moment of silence and play a couple of songs that always make me cry.

It was a somber morning for me as it always is.  Every tiny detail of that day will forever be seared in my mind.  I remember every detail of my entire day like it was just yesterday and I’m sure I always will. 

While I listened, I started doing some online Christmas shopping.  It’s never too early to start, y’all!  I’m especially concerned with getting mine done early this year, because you just never know what the rest of 2020 has in store for us and I want to be prepared.   #Cringe  Our kids have already started worrying about whether or not Santa will make it this year (because – Covid), and by golly, I will not let 2020 take Christmas from us!  I just won’t!

Friday afternoon, I watched The Wedding Planner while I worked, and it just made me feel so cozy.  It’s one of my favorite movies of all time, and I’ve seen it countless times, but it had probably been years since the last time I watched.  It’s on Netflix now, so I’ll probably be playing it in the background a lot while I work.

Friday afternoon, I picked up the kids from school and we got the great news that our school has now made it five whole weeks without one single positive Covid case… and that includes all students, teachers, and other staff.  It’s an absolute miracle, y’all, and I still can’t believe we’ve made it this far.  I’m praying it continues!

Friday evening, I picked up Five Guys for dinner, and we watched Night at the Museum 2.  Jacob has been talking about the first one ever since we watched it last weekend, and he ended up loving the second one even more than the first. 




And y’all, guess what else is on Netflix as of the beginning of September?!  My Best Friend’s Wedding!!  Netflix is on a roll!  B and I watched that after the kids went to bed, and it just brought back all of the warm and fuzzies.  I’ve seen that one countless times, too, and it’s just one of the best.  Why oh why don’t they make movies like that anymore?!

Saturday, September 12 (Day 183 of Quarantine)

Saturday morning, we had our usual homemade waffles for breakfast, and we watched ESPN College GameDay.  Check out their massive desk so they can all sit six feet apart!  Haha.  



I got in a cardio workout mid-morning, and then I did some house cleaning.  Jacob had baseball practice at 12:30, so we had an early lunch, and then B took him to the ballpark while Olivia and I stayed at home.  While the boys were gone, we cleaned out all of Olivia’s drawers as well as her closet.  She’s grown several inches this year, so a lot of her clothes were way too small.  

After we finished cleaning, we colored together in one of my mandala coloring books, and then she wanted to take some pictures in her Halloween dress.




Saturday afternoon was spent working and watching football, and we picked up pizza for dinner.  How to Train Your Dragon 2 just moved to Netflix, so we watched that with the kids after dinner, and then B and I watched football for the rest of the night.

Sunday, September 13 (Day 184 of Quarantine)

Sunday morning, we had cinnamon rolls while we watched church, and then I spent some time with my planner to plan the week ahead while Jacob and Olivia worked on homework.  Jacob now has Google classroom assignments once a week, and we try to get them done during the weekend so we don’t have to fool with it during the week when everything is chaotic. 




Sunday afternoon I finally worked on (and finished) a project in my office, and I’m dyyyying to share it with y’all!!  I’ve had this on my master to-do list for years, and I’ve had the supplies for probably close to a year, but I just didn’t know how and where exactly to start, so I kept putting it off. 

Sunday I finally bit the bullet and just started, and I ended up getting the entire thing done.  I’m just waiting on one small thing to arrive this week in the mail, and it’ll be complete!  The whole project took about two hours, and it was a bit of a pain, but it was oh so worth it, and I’ll be sharing it sometime really soon!  Be sure to keep checking back here and on my Instagram stories!  In the meantime, here’s a little hint for what I’ve been up to…



Sunday evening was another Charcuterie Sunday, and then we went for a walk around the neighborhood together.  It’s been so awful hot and humid this past week that we’ve been staying indoors most of the time.  We do have some crazy low temperatures on tap for the 10-day forecast (highs in the low-to-mid-seventies and lows in the upper-fifties), and I’m so ready!  Mid-September is typically the pinnacle of our high temps and high humidity, so it’ll be interesting to see if this unicorn of a weather forecast actually comes to fruition.  I’m skeptical.





Happy Monday, y’all!

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19 comments:

  1. We have a Ninja coffee maker and I always have to run like three pots of water through it after I've cleaned it with vinegar. I can't wait to see what you have been up too!

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  2. I’ve started some online Christmas shopping too. Olivia does look so cute in that dress and so glad B is healing nicely. I made that coffee pot cleaning mistake once...never again, lol.

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  3. They really don't make movies like The Wedding Planner and My Best Friend's Wedding anymore - I wish they would! I cleaned my Keurig this weekend, and actually kept the old filter in while I descaled. I didn't realize you were supposed to remove it all together. Whoops! Hopefully it still did it's thing. You have me thinking I need to start Christmas shopping too - it's never too early!

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  4. I'm so happy for you that school is going great with no positive cases. I feel like our schools are similar, so I take hope in that!

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  5. Even now there are popular items on backorder and delivery delays - it's good to get a head start on Christmas.

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  6. So glad B is healing well! Sounds like a productive week!! I can't wait to see what you have been working on!

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  7. I feel like I should start Gilmore Girls again. I have been running out of things to watch and I LOVE that show. I need to get a head start on Christmas. We went to the mall this last weekend and I wanted to grab a few things for the girls but they were with us. Yay for baseball being back. I LOVE that Halloween dress that Olivia is wearing. I bought it for my girls too!

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  8. Can't wait to see your office project! I have been so jealous when I look at the Atlanta weather forecast for Grace. Temps in the 70s sound wonderful. Hope you have a great week!

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  9. The Wedding Planner is so soothing! The Type "A" part of my soul loves her planning and preparedness kits, lol.

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    1. Yes, girl, me too! I think that's why I liked it so much from the beginning... because her character and I are so much alike! Haha.

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  10. Now you've got me curious-- I'm going to have to Google how to clean a Keurig. We have one but we only use it a handful of times a year when we have parties for the boys' birthdays or holidays. I've decided that 95% of my shopping list this Christmas is going to be gift cards so I really should and could easily start on that now.

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    1. I watched a YouTube video, but I swear, they never mentioned removing the filter. Good luck!

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  11. There are at least 2 Spirit Halloween stores in my city (likely more, I just know of these 2) that are open! I read on their instagram page that the news about them not doing stores was not true. They just may not have as many. Just FYI! :)

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    1. Thank you soooo much for telling me this! After I read your comment, I googled it, and sure enough, Spirit Halloween was right here in our city just like it always is! Thank you so much!!!!

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  12. I have never de-scaled our Keurig and REALLY really need to! Glad to hear we need to take the filter out first!

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  13. I need to descale my Keurig and I never knew you had to take out the filter. I have done it like three times without doing that, yuck! I am so glad school is still going without a case of Covid, that is awesome. Can't wait to see the office project!

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  14. Physically going to all the Halloween stores, is something we look forward to every year. Thankfully cases are nearly non existant where I live in Ontario Canada, so we will be able to go browse a bit. Thank you for hosting and I hope you continue to enjoy your week :)

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    1. I'm so glad you guys are doing so well with Covid up there! I wish I could say the same down here. Thankfully, cases are on a steady decline in our city now. Whew!

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