Our Week - The One with a Braces Update, Well Checkups, a Girls Dinner, Poker Night, and Momma’s Birthday

I cannot believe another week has come and gone… this one flew by, right along with the weekend.  Where is the time going?  Here’s the recap.

Monday, September 15

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I returned all of the tablecloths that I had washed and folded from Grandparent’s Day to the school office.  I didn’t have anywhere to be until my orthodontist appointment at lunchtime, so I headed home to do laundry and work after that.

I knocked out two loads of laundry and worked on my blog post for Tuesday before having an early lunch with Brian, and then I headed to my appointment.

The appointment started off on a great note – the orthodontist inspected my progress and told me that my bite looks so good that I am officially getting my braces off two appointments from now!  He just wants to tweak one thing for the next eight weeks and then tweak one more thing for another eight weeks (they can’t be done at the same time), and then I’ll get them off.

Once he was done, that’s when things went downhill.  The assistant who did all the actual work on my mouth – removing and replacing the chains and wires and also reapplying a bracket that had fallen off that was being held on by the chain – was SO ROUGH on my mouth.  I have no clue what the deal was, but she kept trying to put in a new wire that was too big, and she pulled and pushed on my teeth so hard that I swear I thought my teeth were going to come out.  My jaw also locked up from the pressure and that scared me to death – if you’ve never had that happen, be grateful.  It’s only happened to me a handful of times in my life, but it is terrifying every single time.

She finally realized the wire wasn’t going to fit, so she grabbed another one that was smaller, and it didn’t fit either.  It hurt so bad I literally had tears coming out of my eyes, so I held up my hand and started waving it around and told her to stop.  She finally got a smaller wire that actually fit and then everything went well from there, but when I was done, all of the crap she had done had shifted my bite so much that my bite was totally different.  I was so upset because it had been normal before the appointment, and I was worried that meant the braces wouldn’t be able to come off in time.  (I have also never had that assistant before, and I will make sure I do not have her ever again because it was awful.)

Unfortunately, literally everyone had left for lunch except for her and one other lady who scheduled appointments, so the orthodontist was no longer there for me to tell him.  When I went to schedule my next appointment, they were booked out further than eight weeks, so they had to push me out to ten weeks, and the ten-week mark happened to be the week that I have to do jury duty.  Bless.  There were no earlier appointments, and she told me the next available appointment after the jury duty week appointment wouldn’t be for two more weeks after jury duty because of the holidays, so that meant I was looking at TWELVE WEEKS instead of eight.  Needless to say, I went ahead and booked the week of jury duty and I’m praying I’ll be released from jury duty before then.  I’m also going to call a lot between now and then to see if anyone cancels so I can get in earlier.    

My mouth hurt so bad, and I was so upset by my bite changing and my appointment being so far out (and not ideal because of jury duty) so I vented to Brian when I got home.  I was so upset.  I had planned to call the orthodontist back in a couple of days for an emergency appointment about my bite, but thankfully, over the next few days, things settled back down and moved back into place.  I think my jaw was just in shock over all of the pushing and pulling so temporarily got off track.  Hopefully I’ll still be on track to get them off in two more visits and hopefully the whole jury duty thing will work out, too.  Whew.

After venting to Brian (and taking some Ibuprofen), I finished my blog post for Tuesday, and then I headed to the library to pick up yet another Freida McFadden book and give my friend, Jeannine, a quick squeeze before grabbing the kids from school.

We headed home after school and while the kids did homework, I did my Bible study per usual.  I also snuck in a few more minutes of reading time because I just cannot quit Freida McFadden.  Why are her books so riveting?!

While I was reading, the power randomly went out for a bit.  They are widening a road near our neighborhood, and they’ve been moving electric poles, so we’re assuming it was from that, but I was relieved that it came back on in time for me to get dinner in the oven.

Jacob had a Teen Advisors event Monday evening, so Brian took him to that while I tidied the kitchen, put away some laundry, watered all of the plants, and popped a pizza in the oven. 

Brian, Olivia, and I ate dinner together and then I got out for a walk.  When I got home, Brian left to pick up Jacob, and then I got showered and in the bed with Olivia to hang with her for a bit.  I read my book, and she watched a how to draw video – she’s trying to learn how to draw people more realistically, so she’s been watching tutorials on how to draw eyes, noses, and lips.  She’s gotten so good, too!

When the boys got home, Jacob got showered, and then Brian and I watched an episode of The Leftovers after the kids went to bed. 

 

Tuesday, September 16

Tuesday, the afternoon and evening were going to be bonkers, so I knocked out as much as I could while the kids were at school:

 

-       Started a blog post for Wednesday

-       Visited with my therapist

-       Picked up a prescription from CVS

-       Got gas in my SUV

-       Finished my blog post for Wednesday

-       Caught up on emails

-       Checked in for the kids’ annual well visits online (it is not a quick process because there are so many questions to answer regarding their health and well-being)

-       Did my Bible study

-       Started meal planning for poker night and Momma’s birthday

-       Cleaned the kitchen and put away the dishes

-       Packed everything for the busy afternoon ahead

 

Then it was car line time!  I finally had a chance to relax and read my book there, and then the kids and I headed to their annual well visits at the pediatrician’s office.  Olivia did her homework and got changed for dance while we waited, and then both kids had their checkups.  They both got good reports and we were able to get their flu shots while we were there, too!  Another check off the list!

Brian met me at the pediatrician’s office to grab Olivia and take her to dance, and I drove Jacob home, freshened up quickly, and then I headed downtown to meet my girlfriends at a new Mexican restaurant for dinner. 

There were just four of us this time – Jen, Jessica, Heather, and me – and we had a really great conversation over a delicious dinner.  This was my first time going to the restaurant and it won’t be my last!  The ambiance was awesome, too.  I wish I’d snapped a couple of pictures, but I was just in my happy bubble with my girls and not even thinking about documenting things the whole time we were there.

Just as we were wrapping up, our old school resource officer came up to say hi as he happened to be there having dinner with his wife, and it was so good to see him since it had been a while. 

The girls and I headed out after that, and Jess and I ended up talking outside for another 30 minutes or so, and then we headed our separate ways.

Brian and Jacob had gone to pick up Olivia from dance, and then they all went to Culver’s to eat dinner, so they were still gone when I got home.  I started a stair stepper / functional strength training (lower body only since my arm exercises are still upsetting my neck and shoulders) and they all arrived back at home as I was finishing up.

Both kids got showered, Olivia studied for math, and then Brian and I ended the evening with another episode of The Leftovers before heading to bed.

 

Wednesday, September 17

Wednesday, I had nowhere to be, so I tackled a bunch of stuff while the kids were at school:

 

-       Started and finished my blog post for Friday

-       Started and finished my blog post for Monday

-       Caught up on emails

-       Transferred some money around that needed to be moved

-       Ordered school pictures of the kids

-       Knocked out the last two loads of laundry

 

After school, the kids did homework and I did my Bible study (our usual), and then I read for a bit and put away some laundry.  Brian took Olivia to dance so I could get dinner ready early since he had a tennis match.

When he got home from dropping her, he, Jacob, and I had taco joes, fruit, and chips, and then he cleaned the kitchen and headed to his match while I made a grocery list.

Jacob and I went out for a walk after that, and I was hoping our neighbor, Joe (the one who told me he has cancer a couple of weeks ago), was out in his yard when we got over to his street so we could give him the little care package I had put together for him.  He was, indeed, out there, so I told him we had a little something for him and that we were going to circle back to our house and grab it.

We grabbed the package and delivered it and chatted with him for a bit after that, and he was so grateful.  He got a little choked up when he was talking to us, and he said, “I never cry, but you’re gonna make this old soldier shed a tear.”  Needless to say, he was very grateful, and I told him to reach out if he ever needs anything.  I’ll probably bring him a meal or two after his surgery next month, too.

After Jacob and I did a couple of miles, he headed home, and I went back out for another three quarters of a mile before heading home to shower.  When I got home, I had some texts from my girlfriends, and my friend, Jen, had me reminiscing about our antics in middle school.  I was HOWLING.  She and I did, indeed, join the cross country team in sixth grade just so we could go on the Disney trip (there was a race there), but it turned out that we really loved running and we ended up sticking with it for two more years after that!  Joke's on us!  Haha.

I was on standby for Olivia pickup duty since Brian was playing tennis, and sure enough, B didn’t get done in time to grab her. 

I put a brownie in a container and grabbed a fork on the way out the door so she could have a little treat on the way home, and then I headed to grab her.  I was halfway there when Brian called to say he could get her (his tennis match was just down the street from her dance studio), but I just decided to go ahead and pick her up since I had the brownie.  She’s always starving when she gets done dancing for three hours, so I wanted her to be able to eat something.

The sun is setting so early now that I drove all the way there and back in the dark… I rarely ever drive in the dark because it stays light here until after 9 during the summer and Brian always does the late dance pickups during the school year.  I’m not a huge fan of driving in the dark because my astigmatism in my left eye puts starbursts around every single light at night, making for some awkward vision.  It was nice riding with the sunroof open and the windows down without the sun beating down on us, though!  I used to LOVE a night drive and went on them often with friends, and I kind of miss it, other than the fact that I can’t see at night now.  Hahahaha.

When we got home, Olivia showered, and then after the kids went to bed, Brian made Manhattans for the two of us to enjoy while we watched the series finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty.  It was so good, y’all, and NOW WE ARE GETTING A MOVIE, TOO!!!!

 

Thursday, September 18

Thursday was another day where I stayed off social media as much as possible because the news was just plain insane.  The First Amendment is clearly at risk right now, and it is terrifying.  While I disagree with a lot of the rhetoric floating around out there ON BOTH SIDES, I firmly believe that our nation was founded on principles, the main one being the right to free speech.  It’s absolutely mind boggling to see it under attack right now.  Every single day since January 2025 has felt like a day in the Twilight Zone.

Instead of worrying about the things that I cannot change, I got myself wrapped up in the to-dos for the day…

 

-       Finally responded to all of my blog comments… I was way behind

-       Caught up on emails (again) because it’s never ending

-       Started Tuesday’s blog post

-       Caught up on blog reading because I was way behind on that, too

-       Got an Amazon return ready

-       Worked on updating my blog pages (the tabs across the top of my website) to add all old blog posts to those… I caught up on two months

-       Picked up my momma’s birthday gift

-       Went to the library (again) to drop off and pick up books

 

After school, the kids and I went to music lessons, and it was Olivia’s turn to have me in her lesson.  She ended up practicing the theme from Interstellar some more.  She can play it well now, but she doesn’t have the tempo down just yet as she’s still a little slow.  The song itself is just over three minutes, and it took her a little over five minutes to play it the first time during her lesson.  The second time, however, she was able to shave off about 40 seconds, so she’s making progress!  Now she’ll continue to hone the tempo and the strumming (she’s still strumming slightly too hard) and *hopefully* she’ll decide to do the recital.  We shall see!

Jacob’s lesson went well, too – he practiced a couple of pieces from his book and then he started working on a new Minecraft song that he’s been wanting to learn.

When we got home, I got my Bible study done, and then I finished yet another Freida McFadden book (my fourth one in two weeks – LOL), and then I got the kitchen tidied.

Brian and I made breakfast for dinner, and afterward, I went for a walk, I got showered, we watched some more of America’s Got Talent with the kids, and Brian and I watched an episode of The Leftovers before bed.  That is a weird show, y’all, but I can’t stop watching.  Lol.

Friday, September 19

Friday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed over to the shed where all of the seasonal décor and various other things are stored because several of us on the Home and School Advisory Board were scheduled to clean it out.  Usually there are only two or three of us and it takes all morning, but this time, there were four of us and we have a super tall muscly dude on the board now, so we got it done in just over an hour.  Woo hoooo! 

I was seriously so grateful to the guy on the board with us because we had to go through all the artificial Christmas trees, put them together, and decide which ones to keep, and we had about ten in there.  He was picking up the massive, heavy 12-foot Christmas tree boxes like they were nothing and putting the pieces together easily.  I could barely push the boxes because they were so heavy, and I certainly couldn’t reach the top of a 12-foot tree to get it put together, so he was a HUGE help. 

We got so much stuff cleaned out, and we tossed (or LEE tossed) five of the trees into the dumpster because they were in terrible condition.  Lee also got the shed blown out so there are no more leaves, grass clippings, dust, etc. in there and it’s SO CLEAN.  We took inventory on what we have and what we need, and now we’ll know what to order during the Prime Day sale in October.  We definitely need some new artificial Christmas trees.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on emails and on my planner, working on catching up my blog pages, and trying to get Taylor Swift tickets for her new The Life of a Showgirl movie.  AMC Theatre’s website kept crashing over and over and my wait in the queue was literally over an hour, so eventually I gave up, got showered, had lunch with Brian, and went to pick up the kids.

When we got home, thankfully, I was able to get right on, and the showing we wanted to go to still had tickets, so I was able to get ours, AND we’re going with six others – three of Olivia’s friends and their moms, who are also my friends.  It should be so much fun!

After that, I did my quiet time and then it was time to get dinner ready for poker night since it was our turn to host.  Ranch Chicken Pasta had been in the slow cooker all day, but I had to boil the noodles and toss the salad and get the bread ready. 

Jeannine and James came over with their boys around 5:30 and we started planning out some of our trip.  We’re all going to Universal Studios together for fall break (SO FUN!!) and while we’ve already booked everything, we wanted to get a feel for what everyone is wanting to do the most, what everyone doesn’t really care to do, and the timing of all of it. 

Khristina and Ian showed up with Noah a little after six, and then it was time to eat and play.  Brian made Manhattans for everyone (the second round for him and me) and then we settled in to play poker.  As usual, we all had a great time talking, laughing, listening to aaaallll the 90s music, and of course, playing cards.  We’ve coming up on our three-year anniversary of doing these monthly poker nights and they’re still always one of my favorite nights each month.

The kids got in bed around ten, and then Brian and I watched an episode of The Leftovers before heading to bed.

 

Saturday, September 20

Saturday morning, we slept in, and then Olivia and I made waffles.  The rest of the morning was spent being lazy on the couch watching ESPN College GameDay even though Georgia had a bye week. 

I finally got up a little before noon to get the towels washed, tidy the kitchen, and set up the new organizer that I’d bought to wrangle all the kids’ electronics (I'll share it soon!).  And the kids did their laundry and washed their sheets and bedding, so it wasn’t a totally lazy day.  ;o)

Brian played tennis at one and the kids and I had lunch while he was gone.  I did a little blog work after lunch and got my Bible study done and was just generally lazy for the afternoon. 

We all got showered and ready for church, and then after church, we went to dinner with my parents and Mama Cass at the pub that we frequent. 

The rest of the evening was spent catching up on AGT with the kids (I fell asleep on the couch while we watched – oops) and then Brian and I watched college football after the kids went to bed.

 

Sunday, September 21

Sunday morning was well spent sleeping in, eating cinnamon rolls, planning the week ahead, listening to an online sermon, and doing a Bible study per usual.  I also took some time to look over a few things on my holiday checklist, I folded and put away the towels, I transferred the photos from my phone to my computer for the week, and I even snuck in a few minutes of reading.

Brian mowed even though the grass hardly needed it, and the kids had a lazy morning drawing and hanging out. 

We had lunch at my mother-in-law's and step-father-in-law's house, and they cooked a barbecue spread – BBQ brisket, baked beans, potato salad, scalloped corn, broccoli, jalapeno cheesy bites, and cheddar bay biscuits.  It was delicious. 

We all chatted around the table for a bit, and then we snuck out into their garden before we left because Olivia was hoping to see the cat that has started hanging around their house.  We never found the cat, but we did get to see a bunch of big fuzzy bees and butterflies.  It was a beautiful day, albeit a little hot.

On the way home, we had to swing by Publix to grab a few things we needed, and I went ahead and swung a return over to UPS since it’s right next door. 

When we got home, I had just enough time to organize the pictures I’d transferred from my phone to my computer (and watch a little bit of The Wedding Planner – hehe) before heading downstairs to make Sunday dinner.  My momma’s birthday is tomorrow, so we celebrated her birthday Sunday evening.  Brian grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and we had chips and Brian’s famous guac + watermelon and a delicious chocolate ganache cake.

After dinner, everyone gathered around the table to sing to the birthday girl, and then the rest of the evening was spent chatting and cleaning the kitchen. 

Brian and I ended the weekend with one more episode of The Leftovers, and that was our week!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!