Well, based on
the title of the post alone, y’all can probably see that we had a FULL week – and
a wonderful one at that. As you’re reading
this, we just reached the halfway point of summer break a couple of days ago. Say it isn’t so!! These last five weeks have flown by, and I’m
not anywhere close to ready to say goodbye just yet.
Let’s recap all
the goodness that week five gave us…
Monday, June 23
Monday morning, I was up at 8 AM, I had breakfast, and then I worked on
getting caught up on a bunch of stuff since we’d had a busy weekend. I organized all of the pictures I’d
transferred from my phone to my computer on Sunday since I hadn’t had the
chance to organize them prior to that. I
started my blog post for Wednesday. And
I filled out my “new patient” paperwork for the massage portion of my upper
cervical chiropractic care. More on that
later!
While I did that, the kids did their laundry because we’d had no time to
do it over the weekend.
Once all of the boring stuff was out of the way, we all got prepped and
ready for our pool day, we had an early lunch, and we met my friend, Khristina,
and her son Noah at a neighborhood pool that they joined for the summer. (My parents’ neighborhood pool didn’t open
AGAIN this summer – lame – so we have nowhere to swim other than public pools,
so it was nice to be able to be Khristina’s guest for the day.)
My friend, Jeannine, dropped her two boys off too, and we were sad she
had to go back to work, but were so happy that the boys were able to come hang
with us for the day.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and we stayed at the pool for several
hours. We had the whole place to
ourselves for the first couple of hours, and then another family came down, and
then another. Khristina and I sat in the
pool and chatted the whole time while we watched the kids play. They played nonstop – Marco Polo, racing
games across the pool, and for the last 30 minutes, doing tons of different
jumps off the diving board.
Watching kids in a pool doesn’t give me anxiety in the least because I’m
an excellent swimmer and I know I could save anyone easily if they were to go
under. But watching kids jump off the
diving board over and over and over again for 30 minutes started to wear
me down because I was so worried about somebody slipping and falling or hitting
their head or something. EEK.
Thankfully, all was well, and we had a wonderful time!
Around 3, we decided to pack it up for the day. The kids and I headed home, I got showered,
and they had some screen time. I had dinner
with my girls at 6, so I walked out the door right when Brian walked in from
work, and I headed to the local Mexican restaurant that my girlfriends and I
frequented every Wednesday night for years for our weekly margarita
nights before we had kids.
All seven of us were able to make it, which is rare, since we’re all
going in different directions with our jobs, travel, and kiddos and their after-school
activities. We should have documented it
with a picture, but I have been the worst about taking pictures this year, so I
didn’t even think about it until one person had already left.
When I got home, I decided to try to go for a walk on my own while the
kids showered. My upper cervical
chiropractor told me that walking is great for the vestibular system so that
it’s something I can do as much as I want.
It was HOT so that didn’t help, and I was really dizzy, and my eyes felt
very unfocused the whole time (all of the things I’ve been suffering with for
years from this vestibular nastiness that’s been going on), but I made it, and
I walked almost two miles without falling over!
Woo hoo!!
When I got home, we started Lego Masters, but we stopped it early
because Brian had to be up for work extra early and he didn’t want to stay up
terribly late. So, the kids had a decent
bedtime probably for the first time all summer.
Haha. Brian and I watched the end
of the episode of Gracepoint that we’d started the night before, and
then we headed to bed early.
Tuesday, June 24
Tuesday morning, I was up at 7:30, I showered and got ready, had
breakfast, and unloaded the dishwasher.
The kids were already awake by the time I was done getting ready and
they were just hanging out.
I worked in my office for about 45 minutes, and then I drove the kids to
Momma and Daddy’s house so Momma could watch them while Daddy drove me to
another Upper Cervical Chiropractor appointment. Brian had something important at work that he
couldn’t miss, so I was grateful my dad was available to take me. It really does take a village (to raise a
child, and apparently, an adult! Haha),
and I’m surely grateful for mine!
Since the doctor is literally moving my two top bones back in place
gradually (atlas and axis), and they affect the entire rest of the body, there
is some muscle work that’s involved with this process as well. I have had some raging muscle pain in my
middle back and even near my low back since the adjustments started, so the
doctor has an in-house masseuse who works closely with him to reset all of the
muscles involved as well.
The plan that the doctor gave me up front was for four weeks:
3 adjustments the first week
2 adjustments + a 30-minute massage the second week
2 adjustments + a 30-minute massage the third week
1 adjustment + a 60-minute massage the fourth week
The massages are, of course, optional, but strongly recommended, and
after a couple of weeks of adjustments, I TOTALLY understand why. My muscles were SCREAMING by the time I saw
the masseuse on Tuesday… and we’re talking in really weird spots where I’ve
literally never had pain in my life. For
example, the muscle underneath my right shoulder blade started KILLING ME after
the first or second adjustment and it never stopped until the masseuse finally
got to it. It still isn’t totally back
to normal, but the doctor has assured me that all of the pains I’m having are
textbook… totally normal… and they will go away with time as my body adjusts to
its new alignment.
Anywayyyy, the massage was a HUGE treat, and it was, by far, the best
massage I’ve ever had. I mean, I’ve only
had two ever prior to this, but since this was a medical massage, the masseuse
was well-versed in all of my issues, so he knew exactly every single spot to
hit, including my jaw and my scalp.
Y’all. I have never had a jaw
massage before, and it was incredible.
As someone who has suffered from TMJ issues for 20+ years, it was just
amazing. When I walked out of there, I
literally felt like a puddle of Jell-o… in the very best way. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relaxed, and
I was completely pain-free for the first time in ages.
The masseuse also explained what he was doing and why during the whole
massage, which I really appreciated because when it comes to my body, I am one
of those people who wants to know every single thing about what is happening,
why it’s happening, and how I can fix it.
The masseuse pointed out a couple of spots that were SUPER tight and he
explained how said tight muscles were causing other parts of my body to move
improperly. He worked out all of the
tightness, and it was just amazing.
After my massage, I had my adjustment in the other room, and my doctor
told me that my last adjustment had held beautifully, which is exactly what we
want. As a matter of fact, the
adjustments were all holding so well, that there was nothing that he had to do
on Tuesday, which is HUGE progress.
I asked him if that meant that my atlas and axis were officially in the
correct place, and he said, “Yes and no.”
He said from a nerve standpoint, they are in place, because the bones
are no longer obstructing or impinging any of my nerves, which means that my
healing can finally start. However, from
a bone structure point, he said that there is still a tiny bit of shifting to
be done, but he didn’t want to mess with it Tuesday because he wanted the
nerves to have some time to settle since my vestibular system went wild after
my first few adjustments.
Daddy and I headed home after that, and I drove the kids home. The great thing about not needing an
adjustment was that I didn’t have to be a “robot” for the rest of the day, so I
was able to move about freely and not have to worry about keeping my head
straight. That also meant that I could
drive! Woo hoo!
When we got home, we had lunch, I washed all of the swimsuits and towels
from Monday, and I finished my blog post.
I also worked a little bit on organizing all of my data from my doctor
visits. I’m trying to keep a ton of
notes from the visits as well as the symptoms and side effects after the
visits, so I can do an in-depth blog post one day. My hope is that it brings more awareness to
these kinds of issues, and to the type of doctor who I think is finally
fixing me millimeter by millimeter after years of pain and other symptoms.
Jacob worked on summer homework in the afternoon, and Olivia made some
Rainbow Loom animals – she has been on a roll – and then they both played video
games for a bit later in the afternoon. Olivia even made a menu of all of her colors that she can show to people so they can select their colors for whatever she is going to make for them. So dang sweet!
When Brian got home from work, he and I made breakfast for dinner, and we
cleaned the kitchen. While I was making
dinner, I started feeling super unsteady on my feet to the point where I was
having to hold onto stuff to get around again, and I’m sure it was because of
the massage as it had stirred up the muscles and nerves. He had told me I’d probably have some pain or
possibly more vestibular issues after the massage since it's all connected, and
I definitely did.
Once the kitchen was clean, we finished Lego Masters, and I did a
very mild and easy leg and glutes workout while we watched.
It was hot as blazes Tuesday, so we waited for the sun to go down, and we
went for a family walk at dusk. I was
still feeling very unsteady, so I had to hold Brian’s hand the whole time to
ensure I stayed upright, but I was just glad to be out and about.
After our walk, I took a long, hot shower. I literally had massage oil all over my scalp
and in my hair since the masseuse had massaged my whole head and face, and it
was soooo gross. That was one of the
best showers ever. Haha.
Once I was done, I lay in the bed for about 45 minutes and read while the
kids worked on more Rainbow Loom animals and Pokemon characters, and then we
got them in the bed.
Brian and I finished Gracepoint after they went to bed, and we
enjoyed it. The acting wasn’t great, but
the show kept us entertained and wanting to know how it ended. I enjoyed the ending, too.
Wednesday, June 25
Wednesday morning, I slept in until 8 AM since we were going to be up
late for a concert. I had breakfast,
unloaded the dishwasher, and then I started my blog post for Friday and caught
up on some emails and life stuff.
The kids hung out all morning, watching TV and making Rainbow Loom
animals, and then we all had lunch together.
I got showered after lunch, worked some more on my blog post, and then it
was time to get ready for the concert. I
also took a break to lay down for about five minutes to let my neck rest as
that seems to help while I’m going through all of these adjustments.
Brian had worked from home all day, so he was ready to roll by the time
his mom arrived to watch the kids. We
left plenty early for the concert, but when we turned on the GPS, we realized
that traffic was even more horrendous than usual, and I was stressing that we
were barely going to make it on time.
We ended up having to take a detour pretty early in the trip (which is
unusual at that point), but they were doing some kind of road construction, and
it had added on a good 45 minutes to the trip.
The detour also added time, but it was less than what it would have been
had we stayed in the traffic on the highway.
You just never know what you’re going to run into when traveling in
Atlanta and surrounding areas!
We ended up pulling in the parking lot at 6:45, which was 45 minutes
before show time, but we had to walk all the way to the venue, go through
security, go to the bathroom, grab hot dogs and beers, and I wanted to be done
eating by the time the show started, so that was cutting it a little too close
for me. We also ended up having to park
at the very back corner of the very massive lot, so we knew getting out later
was going to be HIDEOUS. It was not
ideal, but I was just relieved we made it!
The weather had also been looking questionable all day. We’ve been having so many popup storms this
summer, and the meteorologists were calling for potential severe popup storms
in the late afternoon into the early evening, so our eyes were on the sky as
well. Sheesh.
We were, however, able to make it inside, take our bathroom break, grab
our food and beers, and finish eating before the band came out on stage at
7:50! Whew!
They played one of my favorites as the second song, and I screamed out
the lyrics with 12,000 others in the venue.
It’s always the best thing ever, singing and dancing to live music like
that. Seriously my favorite thing in the
whole world. There is nothing that makes
me feel more alive!
After the third song, Dave Matthews started talking about rain, and then
he started talking about lightning, and I was like, “OH NO,” and sure enough,
he announced that lightning had been detected near the venue and that they had
to leave the stage. We started looking
around, wondering where the lightning was because it didn’t even look cloudy,
but within a few minutes of his announcement, a MASSIVE storm blew
through.
The venue turned on the lights and put up signs telling everyone that
they had to exit the lawn to take cover.
Well, the lawn seats 5,000 people and it’s an outdoor venue, so there
was really no place for all of them to go.
Thankfully, we were under the pavilion in seats, so Brian and I were
safe-ish from the lightning and dry from the rain (except for when it started
blowing in sideways for a couple of minutes), but those poor people on the lawn
were soaked.
Many of them were allowed to come under the pavilion, but only to the top
portion… they weren’t allowed down in the orchestra (where we were) or the pit,
so a lot of them were hiding in bathrooms and a ton of people were standing
under the trees to take cover. I was
like NOOOO, not under the trees!! It was
lightning and thundering like crazy and I was so happy that nobody got hurt.
The whole time during the storm, the venue played a bunch of songs about
rain, like November Rain by Guns N Roses.
Lol. And then at the end of the
storm, they played the song “No Rain” by Blind Melon. Somebody’s got jokes. Haha.
The storm passed in about 45 minutes and the band came back out at around
the 50-minute mark of the delay. When
the venue announced the show would go on and that it would play in its
entirety, the crowd went wild, and we were all so grateful that it didn’t have
to be cut short.
And the silver lining – when we arrived, it was in the low-90’s because a
heatwave just happened to hit just in time for concert day – but after the
storm, the temp dropped about 20 degrees, and it felt AH-MAZING for the rest of
the night.
When the band came out, they played the song Fool in the Rain by
Led Zeppelin, and I was sure that they’d changed the setlist just for
that. Sure enough, the original setlist
was posted a bit later, and they did, indeed, bump another song off the setlist
to play that one.
 |
| 2 of our friends made the official Alpharetta selfie in the top left corner |
 |
| The actual setlist, although, they failed to mention the Stairway to Heaven combo |
 |
| The original setlist before they tweaked a couple of things |
 |
| Another look at the setlist and some other stats from it |
 |
| Another view of the setlist and stats |
Overall, my 29th (yes, 29th) time seeing them live was pretty great. They didn’t play a lot of my very favorite
songs, but they sure did play a lot of unique stuff including a new cover I’d
never seen live (Let’s Dance by David Bowie) + two Dave Matthews Band
original songs that I’ve never seen live (Spoon and Dive In). They also ended the show with an All Along
the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix) and STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (Led Zeppelin)
mashup that almost made my head explode.
Stairway to Heaven is one of my favorite songs of ALL TIME, and
I’ve loved it since I was tiny, so hearing that performed live by my favorite
band of all-time completely made the show for me. It was just incredible.
The show ended much later than usual because of the delay, and the walk
back to the car was tough for me because I was super unsteady and dizzy after
all of the stimulation (flashing lights, loud music, and me dancing). Then we were stuck in the parking lot
literally not moving for at least 20 minutes.
After no signs of anything moving at all for what seemed like forever, a
random employee at the venue came over to our area and started telling us to
turn around and drive completely the opposite direction from where we had come
in, which seemed like a biiiig mistake, but it ended up working out beautifully.
Apparently, there was another exit that had already completely cleared,
so once we turned around, we were out of the parking lot within a couple of
minutes and hitting the highway. We had
to drive home in a horrible mess of storms (thank goodness they held off until
the concert was over), and the drive home was awful. I wasn’t even driving, and I thought I was
going to have a panic attack.
Thankfully, we made it home safely, but LATE (1:30 AM), and then my poor
mother-in-law still had to drive home.
Thankfully, the impending storm held off for her and she made it home
safely, too. Whew.
It was all worth it in the end. I
would go to the ends of the earth for my DMB.
;o)
Thursday, June 26
Thursday morning, I slept until nine because I needed a good neck/vestibular
system reset after feeling so lousy when I got home (WORTH IT, THOUGH!), and
shockingly, the kids were still asleep, too.
We all had a late breakfast, and then we had a lazy morning. It was super dreary all day, so I stayed in
my PJs and uploaded stuff from the show to Instagram stories. I finished my blog post for Friday. I got Olivia’s vaccines form squared away
after some back-and-forth from the pediatrician’s office and the school (the
pediatrician’s office had a glitch in their system so a box wasn’t checked
where it was supposed to be).
After lunch, I finally got showered, and then I finished my blog post for
Friday. I felt pretty dizzy late in the
morning, but felt better by the afternoon, which was good because I had to
drive the kids to music lessons.
Mr. Steve had another cancelation, so he was able to take Olivia back at
the same time that Jacob had his lesson, so we were in and out in 30 minutes instead
of an hour! Woo hoo!
Then when we got home, Jacob worked on summer homework while Olivia
practiced guitar, and then Olivia made an octopus out of Rainbow Loom bands to
give to Mr. Steve since he’d requested one.
For dinner, I made meatballs, mashed potatoes, and black-eyed peas for
dinner, and then I got in 2.22 miles afterward.
I was having some vestibular issues on the walk, and I kept veering off to the right like I used to in the beginning when my vertigo first started, but
other than that, I was good.
When I got home, we watched some of America’s Got Talent, and then
after the kids got in bed, I showered, and Brian and I watched another episode
of Sirens.
Friday, June 27
Friday morning, I woke up at 7:30 AM, I got ready, I had breakfast, and
unloaded the dishwasher, and then I headed out to run a couple of errands – gas
and groceries at Walmart.
When I got home, I got the groceries put away, and then I caught up on
some of my blog reading because I was so behind.
We (Brian drove and the kids came along for this one) left for yet
another Upper Cervical Chiropractic appointment late in the morning, and we
ended up arriving 20 minutes early as we’d left a little earlier due to some
additional traffic that cleared before we got there. They were able to take me back right away, and
everything went well.
I had several questions to ask, and he patiently answered every single
one of them. I had read on another UCC’s
website that the rule of thumb for healing is about one month for every year
that you’ve been out of alignment. I
asked him if that was true as I wasn’t sure what to believe – I’m obviously
always skeptical of everything I read on the internet – but he told me that,
yes, that is the general rule of thumb.
He went on to say that I’ll feel better much longer before then, and
that a lot of the healing that timeframe gives is healing that goes on in the
background with the nerves.
He also assured me that anything I read from any official UCC website is
going to be accurate as they all pull from the same wealth of information, they
are all trained the same way, and they were all taught the exact same
things. He said that they are the “nerds”
of the chiropractic world, and therefore, all of their methods, their training,
their research, and their findings are regulated and therefore consistent. That was a major relief to hear as I hate being
told conflicting things from different doctors.
It’s nice to know that they are all on the same page with their research
and guidelines and such.
It was also nice to hear that they are the “nerds” of their field… PLEASE
GIVE ME ALL THE NERDS!! I want the nerds
because they are the ones who LOVE what they do, and they LOVE to learn and perfect
their craft, and they are the ones who are the experts in their fields. Yes, please!
I also mentioned to him that I was veering off to the right again when I was
walking and he said it was totally normal since that’s what was happening to me
when my vertigo first started. He said
that it is all part of the retracing process, it is all textbook, and it’s
because my vestibular system is very “off” and trying to recalibrate.
I also asked him if hormones can affect any of this because I have
noticed during certain times in my cycle things are way worse. His answer – MOST DEFINITELY YES. And he said, unfortunately, hormones obviously
fluctuate more for women, so it’s usually much worse for women. This was a relief to hear because for months I
have wondered if my hormones were the root cause, but considering my atlas and
axis were so badly off, I’m sure now that it is the root cause, and the
hormones only exacerbate things.
And finally, I asked him to explain the “wavy lines” graph that they test
for and pull up at every visit. When I get
there, the doctor’s assistant comes in first, and she rolls this little tool up
the back of my neck to get a reading. After
that, she holds it on the right side of my neck right where my jaw meets my ear,
and then she holds it on the left side of my neck right where my jaw meets my
ear. She then transmits the data to the computer,
and it pulls up a graph of lines.
I was told at my first visit that the more wavy the lines (on the left and right), the worse
things can be in the body, but I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, so he explained
it to me. He said that tool they use (a
paraspinal thermograph – I had to Google this because I forgot to ask what it
was called) detects heat differences on the neck. There are warm spots and cold spots. Curves moving away from the spine indicate
warm spots and curves moving towards the spine indicate cold spots, and the warm
spots can be indicative that the nerves are inflamed or irritated.
This means that healthy individuals should have relatively even skin temperatures
on both sides, so any asymmetries can indicate that there is an issue with the nerves/bones. He did also say that just because the
temperatures don’t match on both sides doesn’t necessarily mean that there is an
issue… but he said that it provides a “clue” for the doctor of what may be
going on in there, and when paired with other “clues” (leg length and other physical
findings), it helps the doctor understand what’s going on, especially when all
of the clues all point to the same thing AKA are indicative of a misalignment.
At my first few appointments, my lines were SUPER wavy… it was
extreme. I wish I had taken pictures,
but I didn’t even think to do that. But
at this visit, the lines were much less wavy.
He said that this, along with the other “clues” he found, are all
pointing to the fact that my nerves are finally starting to calm down a bit in
my neck. He pulled up all of my past
scans and you can literally see how the lines have become less wavy over
time. SO COOL.
And I know that’s a TON of information, but again, I am logging all of
this for myself so I can reference it going forward.
Anywayyyy, after that, it was time for adjustments. He did a couple of taps on my spine in my
middle back, a couple of taps on my right SI joint, and three taps behind my
right ear with the handheld instrument to adjust my atlas. This time he moved slightly over to a
different place behind my ear and he tapped in the crevice where my ear meets
my head.
He said all of my adjustments are holding perfectly, so this was just a
tiny tweak to put the atlas closer to where it needs to be for my bone
structure, and at this point, it is still away from the nerves, so my body is
officially in healing mode. GREAT news.
On the way home, we stopped at Chick-Fil-A and ate in the car, and then when
we got home, the kids tidied the house and deep cleaned their bathroom since they
had friends coming over. When we got home, I had to snap a picture of the guest bathroom downstairs AKA Maui's old bedroom, because she's officially been gone for four months, and we are still unintentionally leaving the light on for her. <3
Olivia also decided she wanted to vacuum her bedroom (WHAT?!) so she hauled the vacuum upstairs and did exactly that. My mind is still blown.
They played video games for a bit after that, and I started my blog post
for Monday, and then I ate a light dinner on my own because my friend,
Jeannine, was coming to pick me up for a girls date night.
Olivia’s friend Maren was dropped off, and Jacob’s friend, WJ, was
dropped off a little after 5, and then Jeannine came over to pick me up and
discuss plans for our trip to Universal.
Our families are going together for fall break this year and we are SO excited,
so we had to finalize the plans for hotel and park days so we could get everything
booked.
Brian had pizza delivered for the four kids, and then I left him high and
dry for a night out with Jeannine.
Hahahaha. But seriously, he
was fine being left with all of the kids, and we thought it would be nice for the
kids to have something to do while I was out.
Jeannine drove us to a local museum for a premiere for a pilot
episode of a new series filmed here in town.
Jeannine’s boys were extras in the show, and our old friend, Equisha is
one of the stars!
When we arrived, we hung out in the lobby for a bit, then we went to find
seats in the Imax theater. It was sold
out, so we wanted to get good seats. I was
feeling a little unsteady after my adjustment, so I didn’t want to be stuck at
the bottom of the theater having to crane my neck the whole time. We managed to get middle row seats near the
back, so it was perfect.
What we didn’t realize was that the show didn’t start right away, so we
ended up sitting in the theater waiting and chatting for an hour (LOL), but we
had the best time laughing (until we cried at one point), and it was just the
best having one on one time with one of my oldest friends.
Neither of us had ever been to a TV pilot premiere, so we had no clue
what to expect, but once it started, a comedian came out and did some standup
comedy first. It was brief, though, and
then the show started. Jeannine’s boys
both made it in the show (SO exciting to see them on the big screen!!!!) and our
friend, Equisha, was SO fantastic in her role.
After the show was over (about 30 minutes), they did a Q&A with the
creator and the actors and actresses, and then we headed out of the theater to find
Equisha. I have mentioned my movie
theater job on the blog several times (and even did an in-depth post here... but I didn't post pictures of many of my friends from those days as I'm not sure if they'd want the photos out there. Lol. I have SO many more I could post!), and
it was just my favorite job EVER. When
Jeannine and I were 16, we decided that we were going to get a job together, and
the day we walked into the movie theater in our Catholic school girl uniforms (plaid
skirts, knee socks, and all!), the manager of the theater hired us on the
spot. Jeannine started September 9, 1998,
and I started September 10, 1998, and Equisha was the one working that night
when I started.
She trained me and we all became fast friends. We went on break together, she introduced me
to Jagged Edge (one of my all-time favorite R&B groups to this day), and
the rest is history. We have kept in
touch over the years via social media, and I have seen her out around town a
few times since our movie theater days, but it was so great to hug her neck and
chat with her for a bit Friday. I can’t
wait to see what she has in store for acting.
Oh and by the way, there are some cuuuute red carpet step and repeat
pictures of us somewhere, but the photographer never posted them, so I have no
clue how to get them. Two thumbs
down. I had asked the photographer if he’d
take one with my phone and he told me no (LOL) because everyone else would want
him to do the same, so we ended up taking one off to the side with my phone afterwards,
and I’m glad we did, otherwise I wouldn't have a picture for this post!
After that, Jeannine and I left, and we talked about the show all the way
home and then ended up reminiscing about the good ol’ days in high school and
the movie theater. I realized that even
though I see my girlfriends (especially Jeannine) a lot these days, we always
meet up wherever we go, and we never ride together anymore, so it was such a
treat to be able to ride together for old time’s sake. Back in high school, we literally rode
together every single place that we went, (we were ALWAYS together) and I miss
that soooo much. There’s nothing like
girl bonding time in the car!
When I got home, it was after 10 PM already. Jacob and WJ were playing video games, and Olivia
and Maren were making Rainbow Loom bracelets.
I got in my PJs, and Brian made Manhattans for both of us. We were just settling in to watch Sirens when
the girls came down to chat with us. Both
of them talked our ears off about anything and everything, and I loved every single
second. I hope Olivia and her friends
always come to talk to me like they do now.
The girls finally headed upstairs to hang out, so Brian and I watched
some of an episode of Sirens, but it was getting late, so we didn’t finish
it. We ended up going to bed at midnight
after making sure all the kiddos were squared away.
Saturday, June 28
Saturday morning, I was up at 8:15. The girls had just gotten up and they
were hungry, so they made blueberry muffins (I assisted with the oven) and
Brian made scrambled eggs for them per their request. The four of us sat down and ate breakfast
together as the boys were still sleeping.
I had just finished cleaning the kitchen when the boys woke (around
10). They weren’t quite ready for
breakfast, so I got some work done in my office for about 30 minutes and then
made homemade waffles for them per their request.
After that, I got all the sheets in the house washed + the bedding the
guests had used. The girls played until
Maren’s mom came to pick her up at noon, and then Brian and Jacob took WJ home
shortly thereafter.
While the boys were gone, Olivia showered and got her room back in order,
and then Jacob came home and showered.
We had a light lunch, I finished my blog post for Monday, and then I showered
and got ready for church. On the way, we
dropped and picked up library books, and then went to Mass. Mass was PACKED because it was Father Will’s
last Mass with us. It was almost as
packed as Christmas Eve and Easter Mass.
Just crazy.
After Mass we all said our goodbyes.
He has been at our church for three years, and he’s leaving to be a Navy
Chaplain. We are going to miss him… his
children’s Masses during school were always my favorite. They had a reception for him after church,
but the kids were super tired after their sleepovers (and staying up crazy
late), so we wished him well, and didn’t stay for the reception. He changed into his dress blues for the occasion,
and he looked so official and so handsome!
After church, we swung by our favorite Mexican restaurant to eat a very
quick dinner. My whole entire extended
family was at the beach, so it was just the four of us, and we were heading
home by 7:30… maybe the earliest ever.
Haha.
We started a game of Scrabble but didn’t have time to finish because the
kids were so tired. We ended up sending
them to bed early since they’d gotten no sleep, and then Brian and I finished
the episode of Sirens we’d started the night before and then watched
another one. We also checked on the sunflowers when we got home, and wow, we have some BIG ones this year!
Sunday, June 29
Sunday morning, we slept in until 8:45, we had cinnamon rolls, I got my
planner ready for the week and month ahead, I watched my sermon, and then I caught
up on some more blog reading.
Late in the morning, we all got into our swimsuits, packed the pool bag,
packed some lunches, and then we headed to F.D.R. State Park to swim at Liberty
Bell Pool. We had tried to go last
summer, but their website days/hours were wrong, and they were closed when we
got there, so the kids have been dying to do this since last summer.
We met Khristina and Jeannine and their families there, and we had a
couple of hours to swim. Liberty Bell
pool was built during The Great Depression by FDR as part of his New Deal, and
it was opened to the public in 1941. The
pool is spring water fed, and it is MASSIVE.
Its bottom and sides are made of stones giving it such a unique look. So crazy that people have been swimming there
for 84 years, y’all! If you’re ever
anywhere in the area, it definitely makes for a great day trip!
Unfortunately, about an hour and a half into our visit, the lifeguard
blew the whistle saying everyone had to get out because lightning was detected
in the area. We hadn’t seen it or heard thunder,
and it was still sunny where we were, but with a quick look at the radar, we
saw that there was a large storm off to our north.
We all hung out on the grass for a while to watch the radar to see if the
storm would go around or dissipate before it got to us, but unfortunately, it
started looking worse as it was approaching, so we all packed up and said
goodbye a little earlier than we’d wanted to.
We made the drive home, I showered, I got the pool clothes in the washing
machine, and then I worked on my blog post for Wednesday. I also got all of my photos transferred over
from the week, and the kids had some screen time.
Since my parents were out of town, Brian picked up barbecue from our
local place for dinner, we made Moscow Mules, and then I headed out for a walk and then checked on Olivia's sunflowers.
Right as I headed out, it was pitch black to the west, so I knew another
storm was coming. I decided to jog as
far as I could, but I stayed close to home, so I could book it inside when I needed
to. Sure enough, the lightning started, so
I headed inside. I didn’t get to go as
far as I wanted to go, but on the bright side, I felt totally normal, and I wasn’t
veering off to the right anymore!!!!
The kids and I all got showered, we watched the rest of America’s Got
Talent, we started Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and then
Brian and I watched another episode of Sirens before heading to bed.
And y'all, for the first time in nearly TWO YEARS, I felt totally 100% normal all day Sunday – no dizziness, no unsteadiness, no vertigo, no brain fog, no tension, no pain, no headaches, no migraines, no light sensitivity – nothing. And for that, I'm so very very grateful!!!!
And that was our week!
And now for some current things…
Currently
Reading
In June, I read 5 books! I read If
Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay, and I thought it was a little slow –
3 stars. After that, I read Is She
Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens and I LOVED it – 5 stars. Next, was This Time Next Year by
Sophie Cousens, and while I thought this one had great potential plot-wise, it
fell a little flat for me. That said, I still
gave it 4 stars. I also read The Five
Year Lie by Sarina Bowen, and it was loooong and very slow in the middle –
3 stars. Finally, I read Parents
Weekend by Alex Finlay, and it was another one that was a little slow. There were so many characters and not enough character
development, so it was hard to keep everyone straight, and honestly, I just
started skimming to see what happened at the end, and there weren’t any great
twists or anything – 3 stars. And that
was generous. I think I am done with Alex
Finlay. Apparently, his writing style is
just not for me. Haha.
I’m also still reading my devotional for 2025 – Everyday Gospel by
Paul David Tripp. And, of course, I’m
still working my way through the Bible for the second time around, along with
my new study… The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz. I haven’t been able to do as many days as I wanted
to, though, due to these adjustments that I’ve been doing. My Bible is too heavy to hold straight out to
read like a book, and it’s way too heavy to read laying down, and I’m not allowed
to keep my head bent over to read it, so on days where I get adjusted (and days
following), I haven’t been able to read it.
Currently
Watching
With B: In June, Brian and I started and finished The Better Sister
(SO good), we started and stopped the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers
(because it was slow and we have too much on our watch list right now, so we’ll
probably come back to it when we have nothing else to watch), we started and
finished Gracepoint (pretty good!), and we started and finished Sirens
(I LOVED it).
With the Kids: In June, we finished Geek Girl, and we continued to
watch Lego Masters. We also
started watching the new season of America’s Got Talent, and we watched The
Wild Robot, the new live action Snow White, Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone, and we started Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Alone: I’m still listening to music 99% of the time but still watching The
Wedding Planner every Sunday afternoon that I work in my office. :o)
Currently
Listening To
Right now, I’ve been listening to some of my favorite play lists. I’ve been listening to a ton of DMB and a lot
of Taylor Swift, some Zach Paradis and Abe Parker, some 90’s R&B, and I
also just downloaded Teddy Swims complete edition of his newest album. I need to get to listening to that a lot more,
so I’ll know the new songs for our concert in August!
Happy Wednesday, y’all!
