We had the best Thanksgiving week aside from a sick kiddo for the last two days of our break! We had some gloriously lazy days, we watched movies, we finished our puzzle, I was able read almost an entire book, we got to see lots and lots of family, we ate way too much yummy food and indulged in way too many Manhattans, we watched a TON of college football, we slept in every.single.day., we managed to get a lot of stuff done even though it didn’t feel like work, and best of all, this year I felt so on top of things going into the week that I was truly able to rest all week, physically and mentally. Mental rest rarely ever happens when I’m at home… I seem to only get a mental break when traveling for vacation because when I’m at home, there’s always so much stuff that needs to be done.
But last week, there was hardly any blog work hovering over my head, there was no house cleaning that needed to be done (aside from everyday cleaning), there were only a few tasks that needed to be crossed off a to-do list (even though I ended up doing a few extra things because I wanted to), our house shockingly stayed very tidy all week so I didn’t have to spend tons of time picking up things and putting them away, and I didn’t feel frazzled for the first holiday season in forever. I was able to be truly present all week, and it was just the best thing ever.
I’m heading into this week with a full heart, zero anxiety (for now… hahahaha), and I’m just feeling very grateful for such a wonderful week. I’m praying for a repeat of all this for our upcoming Christmas break, minus the sickness, of course. ;o)
Settle in, friends, I can’t wait to share our week with you!
Monday, November 24
Monday morning was the only day that Brian had to work, but he worked from home, so he slept in until seven, and I slept until 8:45. Amen. The kids were already up when I got up, so we all ate breakfast together, and then the kids had some screen time while I put the finishing touches on my blog post for Tuesday. That was the only blog work I had to do all week (until the last day of break) because I had already completed and scheduled all posts to publish automatically for the rest of the week.
Since it was Black Friday week, I thought it would be a good idea to try to sell some things in the private Facebook group that I belong to since I knew people would be shopping. Sure enough, I listed Olivia’s Barbie camper, Barbie car, Barbie clothes and accessories, and my old DSLR camera, and all sold within minutes. I packaged all the items, transferred the money we’d made from Venmo to our checking account, and I put everything on the front porch so everyone could pick everything up. Easy peasy, and we made a couple hundred bucks to put towards our Christmas shopping and Olivia made some money, too!
Mid-morning, I got dinner in the slow cooker, and then I got back to listing more items to sell. Jacob had some old STEM kits that I listed, and then we all had lunch together. We did have laundry to do Monday, so the kids did theirs and I worked on Brian’s and mine, and then I threw on some clothes so I could put gas in my car and grab a few items that we needed from the grocery store. Walmart didn’t have milk for the sixth week in a row, so I had to stop by Publix, too, and then I headed home.
Brian spent the afternoon putting up our outdoor Christmas decorations. The entire inside of the house has been done for a while, so there was nothing for me to do indoors… I usually have to spend a good chunk of Thanksgiving break decorating inside, so it was nice to have all that done and just be able to soak up all the décor all week!
I spent a few minutes catching up on my end of the year blog post. I’d been wanting to do that for a while because I’ve gotten behind on it these last few months, so it was nice to start catching up on that. After a few minutes, I headed outside to put up my portion of the outdoor décor – the front doorway. That only took a few minutes, and then I hung out with the kids outside for a bit. They decided to rake leaves and make a giant leaf pile to play in, and Olivia had waaaay too much fun. My girl loves a leaf pile!
When I was all clean and snuggly, I headed downstairs to boil the noodles and steam the broccoli for the ranch chicken pasta that had been simmering in the slow cooker all day, and I also made some cinnamon muffins to have for the rest of the week. It was so nice to just be able to focus on cooking rather than having to multitask and do all the other stuff that usually needs to be done when I cook on weeknights. Cooking can actually be enjoyable when you have the time to do it. Haha.
Brian made Manhattans for us to enjoy with dinner, and we had a nice leisurely dinner all together. We cleaned the kitchen while the kids showered and got ready for bed, and then we all snuggled up in the living room for a movie night.
We popped some popcorn and then settled in to finish the movie Meet Me Next Christmas that we’d started Sunday evening, and then we introduced the kids to Christmas Vacation since they’d never seen it. We figured they were finally old enough now! They both LOVED it, and it was so fun watching them watch it for the first time.
Tuesday, November 25
Brian was off for the rest of the week, so we all slept in Tuesday. Brian and I were up by 8:45 and Olivia was already awake, but Jacob ended up sleeping until almost 10 which is unheard of for him. He’s been going through a growth spurt, so he’s been eating more and sleeping more recently. We measured him the other day and he’s grown a full inch in just the last couple of months.
We all ate breakfast separately, and then I grabbed a cup of hot tea and snuggled up in my office to do some blog reading. A lot of the time, I read through blogs quickly since I have limited time, so it was nice to be able to linger and savor every word. I love reading blogs, and it was nice to be able to take my time on Tuesday.
I had some laundry to finish on Tuesday, so I got that started mid-morning, and then I hung out with Olivia while she painted her nails. Brian blew some leaves out of the yard, and Jacob played the piano for a bit. It never gets old hearing those piano notes drifting through the house.
Late in the morning, I actually wanted to be productive and get a few things done, so I filed some of the kids’ paperwork into their keepsake bins that had been sitting in my office for a while, and I watered all the plants inside the house and outside. I also took some time to deep clean and sanitize my desk, keyboard, and mouse.
Jacob requested grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, so I made those and we all ate together.
After lunch, I went into the playroom and moved a couple of things around since we’d gotten rid of Olivia’s giant Barbie house, and I bagged up the items that she’d cleaned out recently. That barely took any time at all because Olivia had already gone through and tidied the whole playroom the previous week. We have so much extra space in there now that all the Barbie stuff is gone. It was bittersweet getting rid of all her Barbie stuff – I’m sad that she’s growing up, but I have to admit, it’s nice to not have all the clutter. The Barbie clutter was something else… so many tiny pieces everywhere.
Brian spent a while outside getting the last of the decorations up for Christmas, and he set up our new snowman inflatable. We had to get rid of our Santa Clause inflatable because he was on his last leg after years of standing in front of our house. The kids are loving the snowman, though!
We had leftover ranch chicken pasta Tuesday, so there wasn’t much to cook, but I did steam some fresh broccoli. Our kids are so picky about vegetables and broccoli is one of the few that they tolerate, so we eat a lot of broccoli in our house. Haha.
Brian whipped up some Moscow mules for the two of us and then we had another leisurely dinner. We cleaned up the kitchen, and then I settled on the couch to read some more while Brian showered and the kids hung out.
Wednesday, November 26
Wednesday morning, Brian left to get donuts for breakfast and I got up at 8:15. The kids were already up, and we all enjoyed pumpkin spice donuts and cinnamon rolls and all other flavors that he’d picked up.
We headed to Target because Olivia needed a dress for her guitar recital / Christmas Eve Mass, and we found a variety for her to try on. She ended up finding the perfect one, along with the most beautiful cardigan to go over it, and she got an off the shoulder sweater that she had to have. ;o)
We had to grab a few more items while we were there, and we also walked through the toy section because when in Target with kids…
By the end of our shopping trip, I was feeling extremely unsteady and dizzy because – surprise! – my body is still going through withdrawals from the vertigo meds that I tapered off of even though I’m still on a small dose. There is something called protracted acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) which is where someone experiences withdrawal symptoms longer than average. They can last for weeks or even months, and the symptoms can come and go, which explains why I had a week where I felt good and thought I was past it.
The day my hormones changed my withdrawals came back, and although I’m mostly able to function, the unsteadiness has gotten really bad a couple of times. My eye strain is also back a little bit and I’ve had a few more “brain zaps” while trying to fall asleep… that’s how I knew it was withdrawals again and not my actual vertigo dizziness coming back. Because I’ve never had a “brain zap” in my life until I started tapering off my medicine.
Anywayyyy, I felt pretty awful by the time we got home, but after I ate lunch, I felt much better. I’d only eaten donuts for breakfast and no protein (which never happens) and I think that blood sugar can affect withdrawals as well, so I think that’s why eating lunch helped a little. Lesson learned.
Since the withdrawals had come back unexpectedly, it made me a bit anxious, so I felt off the rest of the day, but it wasn’t unbearable like it was the week after I first tapered off.
I was able to work on updating some of my blog pages for a while, but then I did decide to lay on the bed for a bit to see if that helped. Thankfully, resting did help a bit, but I just felt “off” the rest of the day. Again, I think hormones were the main contributing factor, though. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can do about that. Sometimes it sucks being a woman. Haha.
Late in the afternoon, I made pineapple casserole because we had our first Thanksgiving get together Wednesday night with Brian’s dad. While it baked, I read my book for an hour, and then it was time to freshen up and head out.
Meanwhile, the kids were taking silly pictures, and they’d made this Jacob Rudolph pictures with Olivia’s red fingernails. Hahahaha.
After we wrapped up there, our fam headed home and I did a stair stepper workout while the kids showered and got ready for bed. We watched the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Preview and the beginning of the Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving Special with the kids, and then we got them into bed.
Thursday, November 27
Thursday morning was Thanksgiving, one of my favorite days of the whole year! We were all up by 8:15 and we had leftover donuts + scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade started at 8:30 and we were all locked in for the next 3.5 hours. I have watched the parade every single year of my life as long as I can remember and this year’s was by far my favorite.
Millennials clearly planned the whole thing as we got to hear music from Busta Rhymes, Lil Jon, Shaggy, Ciara, Jewel, Colbie Caillat, and Gavin DeGraw… it was a 90’s/early 2000s music lover’s dream! And of course, Cynthia Erivo kicked the whole thing off which was a dream. There was also so much diversity and inclusion in the parade this year and Macy’s did a great job of representing our country in such a beautiful way!
During the parade, the kids printed coloring pages to work on while they watched, and I thought it was hilarious because I did that ONE TIME when they were little to add something fun to their day, and here we are with a 14 year old and an 11 year old requesting to print coloring pages to continue the tradition every year. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.
It was freezing Thursday, so I wrapped myself up in Maui’s old electric blanket and I relaxed on the couch aaaallll morning watching the parade and it was just the loveliest time. The only thing missing was Maui, so I was a bit sad about that, but surprisingly I handled it well. We had 15 years with her, and I knew last holiday season that it would be her last, so I soaked up every single second with her which, I think, allowed me to have closure.
After the parade, we watched the dog show as we always do, and we all had a light lunch. I headed out for a freezing cold two-mile walk after lunch because walking outside helps with my withdrawal symptoms, and sure enough, the unsteadiness that had settled in right before lunch again tapered off a bit.
Late in the afternoon, I jumped in the shower and then I headed downstairs to peel eight pounds of potatoes since I was in charge of the mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner this year. While they boiled, I finished getting ready, and then I went back downstairs to add a boatload of butter, milk, salt, and pepper to get them fluffy, moist, and tasty! I learned from the best – my Momma!
Brian and the kids and I also finished the puzzle… just in time to say goodbye to fall and Thanksgiving and HELLO to the Christmas season and a new gold foil Christmas puzzle!
We all ate way too much, drank way too much (Brian made double Manhattans to go for us – haha), and talked a ton. We ended up staying until nearly 9:30, and then we headed home.
Friday, November 28
Friday morning, we all slept in until 8:30 and had leftover donuts for breakfast yet again. We ate so many donuts last week, y’all. Lol. I spent some time in my office after that reading blogs and doing my quiet time, and then I went to get showered and ready because we were heading to Atlanta for the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech game!! Georgia always plays Georgia Tech the Saturday after Thanksgiving which is always the day that we do Thanksgiving with my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law, so we never get to go to that game. We always record and watch it later after we get home.
Since the game was a special one on Friday and it was at Mercedes Benz Stadium instead of Georgia Tech’s field, we thought it would be a fun one to go to. Plus, it was a 3:30 game which meant we could drive up and drive home in the same day and not have to stay overnight, which is always nice.
We ate a light lunch at home and then we took off right after lunch. We were worried about traffic being bad since it was the day after Thanksgiving, but shockingly, we had no issues getting to Atlanta with zero delays. And if you have ever been to Atlanta you know that is quite a feat, even on a regular day!
We walked around the stadium to scout out food options for dinner later, and then we purchased snacks for the kids and me to have in the meantime. The game ended up being a close one, but thankfully, Georgia led the entire time, and we ended up winning. Georgia Tech is pretty good this year, and they haven’t beaten us in quite some time, so I was a bit worried they might get us this year. Thankfully, they didn’t and we finished our regular season 9-1! Now we go to the SEC Championship game this weekend! Woo hoo! Although, we have to play Bama AGAIN, and we all know how that goes 99% of the time we play them. Sigh. Lol.
She and I went in search of dinner for her thinking that maybe she just needed some real food since she’d eaten a good bit of sugar, and I also gave her my puffy jacket to put behind her back. She was a happy camper for the rest of the game after that, although, she didn’t seem quite as bubbly as she usually is.
We got home around nine – no traffic on the way home either! – and the kids got straight into bed. Brian and I had been watching the Texas vs. Texas A&M game all the way home, so we finished that game and then went to bed.
Saturday, November 29
Saturday morning, we all slept in and when I went in Olivia’s room, she looked at me with teary eyes and said she didn’t feel good at all. I took her temperature, and sure enough, her fever was nearly 102 degrees. Poor girl. We gave her some medicine to try to take the fever down, but she felt awful, which was so sad because our elf, Cheek, had set up our North Pole breakfast along with ornaments for all of us and Christmas pajamas for the kids.
He always comes the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so Olivia had been talking about it all week and she was so sad to be feeling bad that she burst into tears because she didn’t even feel well enough to push through and eat breakfast. I promised her that I would take all the treats and set them up again next Saturday so we can have a redo, and she immediately went to curl up on the floor with a pillow and a blanket where she remained for much of the next three days other than to get up occasionally and sleep in her bed at night.
I hate seeing her so sad like that, though. The same thing happened on Christmas Day last year… she woke up feeling awful, she got upset because she felt bad on her favorite day of the year, and she immediately lay down on the floor because she was too weak to do anything. Bless her. And I didn’t get many pictures of the breakfast either – none of the kids :o( - since Olivia was feeling so bad.
The rest of the morning was spent snuggling on the couch watching ESPN College GameDay and drinking hot tea, and then later in the morning, I got up to make pineapple casserole for Thanksgiving lunch with Brian’s mom and step-dad. Unfortunately, since Olivia was sick, she and I had to miss, and I was so sad to miss seeing all of them, especially since Brian’s step-sis and her family were in town.
We missed so much last year during the holidays due to sickness (Usher concert, Straight No Chaser concert, Christmas with my extended family, and lots of school events), so I learned to roll with it after that… although I am still devastated that we missed Usher since he rarely tours.
Brian and Jacob went, though, so I made the dish that we were going to bring, and then they ended up bringing a nice big plate of all the goodies I missed home for me so I could eat it for dinner.
While Brian and Jacob were gone, Olivia’s fever meds kicked in and she was feeling good enough to get up for a bit, so she and I painted our nails together and then played a billion games of Mantis. It’s a card game by the same creators of Exploding Kittens and it’s so much fun! Super easy to learn and each game is very quick, so you don’t get stuck playing forever.
After that, I joined her downstairs and we watched college football together until the boys came home. When they got settled back in, I took off for a walk, and then I got showered for the day.
After dinner, we watched the Alabama vs. Auburn game, and I did some Christmas shopping on my phone while we watched. Olivia was exhausted and wanted to go to bed at 7:30, so I gave her some more fever reducer and tucked her in. Jacob stayed up with Brian and me and watched the game until halftime, and then he went to bed, too.
Sunday, November 30
Olivia came in our room around 2:30 AM Sunday morning saying that she felt awful, and her fever was 103.8. Ugh. I hate when the kids get high fevers like that because it scares me to death. I gave her some Ibuprofen and Brian filled her water bottle so she could get some fluids. I tucked her back into bed after that, scrubbed my hands, and then went back to sleep.
Two hours later, she came back in our bedroom, and I panicked because I was thinking that her fever had gotten higher, but she had a bad nose bleed that woke her up. We helped her get that under control, and I took her temperature while she was up. Thankfully, the medicine had taken it down to 98.6 so that made me feel much better.
I got her tucked back in, and then I got back in bed, but I lay awake for a while, not able to go back to sleep. The rest of the morning I slept fitfully, and then I think I finally got a couple of decent hours just before I woke up for good.
Olivia came in our room just before 9 AM again because she wasn’t feeling well, and I’m glad she came in, because after being up some of the night, I might have slept on through until really late. Sure enough, her fever was back up to 101.9, so we gave her some more meds, and then we all got up.
We all ate breakfast separately because Olivia wasn’t hungry, Brian didn’t eat, and Jacob only had something small because he and Brian went to a birthday brunch for our nephew at 11 AM. Olivia and I had to miss that, too, but I had a lot to get caught up on Sunday, so I didn’t mind staying home with her.
I got her settled in with a big water bottle, her blanket, and pillow, and then I headed to my office to work. I watched my weekly sermon while I got my planner ready for December and for the week ahead, I placed a Target order for some items that I’d been waiting to go on sale, and I downloaded some new music that I’d been wanting.
When Brian and Jacob got home, we gave the kids their Advent calendars and both of them were ecstatic! That was the first real smile we got out of Olivia since she’d started feeling bad. We bought the Sephora Advent calendar for her weeks ago, and a few days ago she told me that she really wanted a beauty Advent calendar, so I was thrilled to hear her say that.
When she got hers, she was shocked that not only was it a beauty Advent calendar, but it was a SEPHORA beauty Advent calendar, and that just made her day.
Jacob was thrilled with his Pokemon Advent calendar, too. Pokemon cards are one of his favorite things these days… he might even love them more than Lego now?!
After that, I got out into the chilly, rainy weather, and I walked as long as I could before the rain got too hard. I had a snack and worked more on my blog post for Tuesday, and then it was time to get ready for church.
After church, we stopped by the local pizza place right across from church and picked up the order that Brian had placed for dinner, and we brought that home. And boy, was it good to have something totally different to eat after all the traditional Thanksgiving foods!
Brian made Moscow Mules for us, and we were able to get Olivia to finally eat her leftover Thanksgiving meal that she’d missed from Nana and Poppie’s.
Brian had tested her again while we were gone, and she was still negative for flu and Covid, so we’re assuming she just had a bad cold. Tis the season, I suppose.
After dinner, Brian cleaned the kitchen while I made a meal plan and a grocery list for the next two weeks, and then I finished my blog post for Tuesday, got ready for bed, prepped for Monday, and did my quiet time while the kids showered.
Olivia was still running a fever at bedtime, so we gave her some medicine, and she wanted to go to bed early again. Jacob sat up with Brian and me for a bit next to the fire, and the three of us chatted for a while, and then he went to bed around nine.
Brian and I ended our week off with more Stranger Things, and I worked on our Christmas cards while he watched!
And that was our (mostly) wonderful Thanksgiving break!!
Happy Wednesday, y’all!
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