Our Week - The One with a Hair Donation, Parent Night at Dance, and Packing for Disney!

Last week felt very long leading up to spring break, so we’re excited to be off this week to have a break from the day-to-day activities.  Here’s how our week went…

Monday, March 23

Monday morning, I got some laundry started, I dropped the kids off at school, I returned all items from the dance Friday night to the school office, and then I stuck around for a Home and School open meeting to welcome new parents who are looking to volunteer. 

When I got home, I worked on my blog post for the next day, and then Brian and I headed to my emergency upper cervical chiropractor appointment that I’d made.  I was glad I ended up going because he said that my atlas was very much out of alignment, and that was evident in my leg check, my spine check, and my neck scan… look how that line in the middle goes right after the chart… the straighter those lines, the better, and that is definitely not a line, my friends.

Since I was so far out of alignment, he had to do a big adjustment (6 taps to my atlas) as well as a couple of adjustments to my SI joints and my middle back.  I could tell that one of my SI joints had gotten a little wonky, and he fixed it right up.

When we got home, we had lunch, and then I worked on my blog post some more.  I started feeling tired as I often do after an adjustment, but I only had a few minutes to lay down.  I set an alarm for ten minutes in case I fell asleep, and then I had to go pick up Olivia from school.  When I got up, I immediately regretted not laying down sooner because I still didn’t feel too great.  I didn’t have issues with the last few adjustments since my body has gotten used to them, but since this one was a bigger adjustment, I guess it affected me more.

When Olivia and I got home, she did homework, and I finished my blog post for Tuesday.  Brian picked up Jacob from school and took him to golf practice shortly after that.

Olivia had been asking to get her hair cut for several weeks, and she decided that she wanted to get it cut before our trip to Disney World so she wouldn’t have to deal with her very long hair on the trip.  She also told me that she wanted to donate her hair.  I had no idea that she even knew that you could do that, so I was excited when she suggested it. 

We headed to the salon for her appointment at 5 PM, and the hair stylist did a great job of positioning the ponytail holder in the perfect spot to chop the whole ponytail.  She ended up chopping off 12 full inches even though only 10 inches is required to donate, and even after she trimmed it and shaped it up, Olivia’s hair still hung just past her shoulders.  I can’t believe how long it was.

Olivia was thrilled with the results, and she has zero regrets… although, she’s not a regretful type of person anyway.  She truly lives in the moment and doesn’t really look back wondering what she would change, and she doesn’t really worry about the future either.  Must be nice!  Haha.

We headed home with her ponytail all bundled up and sealed in a gallon plastic bag, and then Olivia proceeded to text every single person we know to show them her haircut.  Hahahaha.

The boys were already home from golf practice at that point, so I got started on dinner – beef tacos per the kids’ request.  They both love a beef taco – soft shell for Jacob and hard shell for Olivia – so I guess I need to start making them more often.  They prefer beef to the usual chicken tacos that I made.  I prefer chicken since it’s healthier.  Haha.

Once the kitchen was clean, I went on a struggle walk.  I was still feeling bad after my adjustment, and I had zero energy, but I wanted to get out and walk anyway.  I made it about 1.41 miles and then had to stop because my heart was beating out of my chest even though I had slowed my pace.  That does sometimes happen after an adjustment, too, so it’s perfectly normal, but it’s just annoying to keep going through this.

After my walk, I got some of the laundry put away and then I got showered and in my pjs.  I also watered all the indoor plants and then we all sat down to watch some more of the The Dinosaurs documentary.  After the kids went to bed, Brian made Manhattans for us (mostly for me since I was struggling to relax my muscles) and then we watched the newest episode of Paradise.  I am going to be so sad when this season is over and we have to wait for season three to come out.  It is such a fantastic show.

  

Tuesday, March 24

Tuesday morning, Olivia wanted me to use the waver on her hair, so I got ready a little faster than usual to ensure that I had enough time to get it done.  We also had to pick up my nephew for school, so we left the house a few minutes early to swing by and grab him. 

Once they were all delivered, I headed home to tackle my list:

 

-       Washed and dried two more loads of laundry

-       Caught up on my planner

-       Caught up on emails

-       Paid a couple of bills

-       Corrected a couple of blog typos Brian had found on the blog

-       Tidied my office

-       Opened a couple of packages and got them put away

-       Worked on blog post for 4/3 and ended up finishing it

-       Removed my nail polish since it had chipped

-       Put away as much of the laundry as I could before I had to leave for the car line

 

In the middle of all that, I ended up laying down to take a 45-minute nap because I was still feeling awwwwfullll from my adjustment.  Tuesday was rough.  All the symptoms had come back – mild dizziness, mild unsteadiness, major brain fog, MAJOR tension in my neck and at the base of my skull, heaviness in my head, light sensitivity, increased tinnitus, and just pain in general all in my shoulders, neck, upper back, and scalp.  That does happen occasionally when I will have a really bad next day after an adjustment, but it always starts to fade by the end of the day and I usually feel back to normal by bedtime. 

By the end of the day Tuesday I was feeling worse than ever, and it occurred to me that the only other time this happened, my axis (C2) had gotten out of alignment because he had done a big adjustment on my atlas (C1), and since that’s what he’d had to do Monday, I realized that my axis had probably shifted out.  Sigh.

Anyway, I got in the car line to grab the kids and we headed home.  The kids studied and I did my devotional and responded to all my recent blog comments.  I also finished putting away the laundry and I started catching up on my Lent studies since I was behind by one day. 

Olivia had parent night at dance on Tuesday evening, but the parent portion of the night had been canceled at the last minute for her lyrical class because her teacher wasn’t able to be there.  So, I sat out in the car and worked on organizing my List Master app for a bit during her lyrical class, and then I headed inside to sit through her hip hop and musical theatre classes.

They’re currently working on their recital routines, so I got to get a little sneak preview, although, they’re still learning the choreography, so the dances weren’t polished just yet.  Look at that split, though!  That girl is incredibly flexible!

We got home around 7:30 PM and Brian had mini pizzas ready for us to eat for dinner.  He and Jacob had gone to golf practice and then he’d gone to the store to grab the ingredients to make those for us since I didn’t have time to cook.  And we certainly didn’t want to eat dinner at 8:30 or 9.  I was also still feeling terrrrible, so I was grateful to just walk in the door and sit down to eat.

After dinner, I folded and put away the towels, and then I really wanted to walk, but it was already getting dark, so I opted for a stair workout, but that didn’t last long because my body did not love that with all the issues I was having.  I cut it short, put on my pjs, and then watched some more of The Dinosaurs with the rest of the fam, and then Brian and I watched the newest episode of Rooster before going to bed a little earlier.

While I was folding the towels, Olivia came in my room to keep me company, and she settled in our big chair and crocheted.  While she was crocheting, she said, “Ahhhh, it feels so nice going from being a dancer to being a little ole granny crocheting in my granny chair.”  Y’all.  This girl has me laughing constantly.  She is so dang funny and she really does love her granny hobbies.

 

Wednesday, March 25

Wednesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed home to try to get some things done.  I caught up on emails and blog reading, and I also started and got this blog post as up to date as I could.

I had to get the paperwork filled out and get Olivia’s hair packaged and ready to mail.  Lol.  That sounds so weird.

And then, I made another appointment with my upper cervical chiropractor for Friday because I was still feeling bad on Wednesday and I knew something wasn’t right.  Thankfully, he was able to squeeze me in at 11 AM Friday.  Whew.

Then the rest of the afternoon was spent picking out outfits for our Disney trip and packing + finishing a blog post for summer break.

After school, the kids and I all had dentist appointments, but we had a few minutes before we had to be there, so Olivia and I ran by Chick-Fil-A to grab dinner for her for later, and then we had to run back to the school to pick up Jacob since he’d stayed behind for a few minutes.

At the dentist, my hygienist told me that I still had a very thin layer of glue leftover on most of my teeth from my braces.  She said that the orthodontist had gotten most of it off, but the very thin lingering layer was causing everything I’ve been eating and drinking to stick to it, which is why my teeth have looked so stained since I got my braces off.  I’ve never had issues with staining before, so I knew something didn’t seem right!!  I’ve been using whitening strips to brighten up my smile since then, but my hygienist was able to scrape the stains right off as they were just surface stains from the glue.  That was SUCH great news.

I am going to continue using the Crest whitening strips a few more times to brighten my teeth just a bit more, but I’m really happy with how they look after my teeth cleaning.

After our appointments, Olivia ate her Chick-Fil-A in the car, and we dropped her off at dance.  Jacob and I headed home after that, and I got to work putting away the clean dishes, watering the outdoor plants, going through the mail, tidying the whole house, and getting the new electronics holder in place for the kids.  I had to buy a bigger one since Olivia got her iPad, and I’m moving the smaller one to my closet to hold all my small clutches.

Brian grabbed dinner for the three of us from a local chicken place that we love on his way home from work.  I was supposed to have had a girls night last week, but we had to postpone, so we just decided to pick up something instead.

After the kitchen was clean, Jacob played video games for a bit, and I headed out for a walk.  I ended up stopping and chatting with our neighbor, Joe, and catching up with him for a little bit.  He is officially cancer free and he’s all done with his treatment aside from one last minor surgery that he has to have.  Such great news!! 

I talked to him for so long that I ended up running out of daylight, so I cut my walk a bit short, but you bet I still took some time to do the hopscotch out in front of our neighbor’s sidewalk.  ;o)

When I got home, I did a ten-minute glute and arms workout and then I got showered and ready for bed.  Brian headed to pick up Olivia, and while Jacob showered, I did my Lent study and devotional, and then I stepped outside to watch the sun set. 

Jacob and I sat down together after that, and we looked at speed cubes on Amazon.  He’s maxed out on his, and he wants one that’s even faster than the one he has (yes, there are different levels of cubes), so we looked at those for a bit, and then I sat with him while he had a bowl of ice cream. 

He had some volunteer hours to put into his system, so he did that, and then we looked at his Confirmation paperwork together one last time to make sure everything was done except the one last task that he has to complete when we get back from spring break.

Olivia got out of dance 20 minutes late, so she and Brian got home even later than usual, and while she snacked and showered and snacked again (LOL) and got ready for bed, I hung out with Jacob and watched him solve his Rubik’s cube.  I timed him again, and he ended up beating his last record, shaving off several seconds making his best record 44 seconds now.

The kids got into bed well after 9 PM, leaving B and me with not much time to watch anything before bed, so we turned on One Battle After Another and watched a few more minutes of that before heading upstairs.

 

Thursday, March 26

Thursday morning, I got the kids to school and then I headed home for a couple of hours to get some stuff done – I updated my planner, I worked on some blog housekeeping, I got this post caught up, I painted my toes, I downloaded some new music, and I made a master to-do list of tasks that needed to be completed before we went to Disney World.

I spent some more time packing for our trip and then I had to run a bunch of errands – the orthodontist for my retainer checkup (everything went well and he told me I can start wearing the retainer just at night only… no more daytime wearing!), Target for a few last minute items, UPS to return a few things to Amazon, gas for my car, and the post office to mail Olivia’s hair!

When I got back home, I ate a quick lunch and then I got right back to packing.  I got as much done as I could, so I felt pretty good about that.

I grabbed the kids from school when they were dismissed and then we headed to music lessons.  I sat in with Jacob and watched him do his thing, and then Mr. Steve sent us home with a free music stand because a local high school had just gotten all new ones and they donated a bunch to the kids’ music school.  Olivia has been wanting one, so it was nice to get a nice one for free!

When we got home, the kids had some screen time because they had no homework, and I did my devotional and worked on another blog post.  It’s a lot of work keeping the blog rolling when we go out of town!

I spent some time with each of the kids helping them pick out outfits for Disney and then Brian and I made breakfast for dinner.  After dinner, I packed some more and did my Lent study while Brian went to Walmart to grab some eggs since we were about to run out, and then I got out for a walk when he got back.  I did a quick glute and arms (kind of) workout and then I got showered.

We all watched the iHeart Music Awards when everyone was ready for bed, because I’d heard that Taylor Swift was going to be there, and Olivia and I wanted to sneak a peek of her since she has been keeping a low profile recently.  Sure enough, she was there with Trav, and Olivia and I both squealed when we saw them together.  Taylor ended up winning seven of the nine awards she was nominated for, and of course, you all know I think that was well deserved!  ;o)

The kids went to bed about halfway through and then Brian made Manhattans for us and we watched most of the rest of the awards before going to bed. 

 

Friday, March 27

Friday morning, I snoozed an extra time and then hit the ground running.  After I got the kids to school, I tackled as many tasks as I could before my Daddy came to pick me up for my emergency upper cervical chiropractor appointment:

 

-       Transferred pictures from phone to computer in preparation for Disney (I always take a ton of pics on our trips, so I wanted a clean slate)

-       Caught up emails

-       Painted nails

-       Caught up on blog reading while they dried

-       Responded to all recent blog comments

-       Organized all photos I had transferred into their respective folders

-       Edited photos for this post

-       Edited photos for my post on 4/6

 

Daddy arrived around 9:45 AM and we hit the road.  I’m so over having to ask people to drive me for these adjustments, but they still make me so woozy right after that I don’t really have a choice.  I was especially thankful on Friday that my Daddy had driven me because I was under strict instructions not to turn my head for at least 24 hours after my adjustment, and there’s no way to drive like that.

When we arrived, I told my doctor that I thought that my axis was out this time instead of my atlas based on the symptoms I was having, and he was amazed when my prediction turned out to be right.  He told me he was going to give me an honorary upper cervical chiropractor degree.  Haha.  We think that my axis got bumped out of alignment at my visit Monday since he’d had to do such a major adjustment on my atlas.

He said that my neck scan showed that something major was going on because it had changed drastically from the one earlier in the week.  Remember how the line down the middle veered off to the right so hard that it ran off the chart?  Well, on Friday, it veered off so hard that it ran off the chart… but in the opposite direction. 

He checked my atlas first, and sure enough, it was beautifully, perfectly in place just the way it was supposed to be.  Then, I lay down on my stomach, and he checked my legs and spine, and he could tell immediately that my axis (C2) was, indeed, out of alignment.  He did one firm tap to the back left side of my neck and then he did a recheck to make sure it was successful. 

Since the atlas can sometimes get bumped out of alignment with an axis adjustment, he told me to lay flat on my back on the table with the lights out and rest for five minutes so he could recheck my atlas to make sure it had stayed in place.  He left me in the room for a bit to check on another patient, and then he came back to recheck my atlas, and thankfully, it had stayed in alignment! 

By the time we got home, I was super woozy, exhausted, and very dizzy and unsteady.  The axis adjustments are always a million times worse than the atlas adjustments, so I was dreading the rest of the day and praying that all the symptoms would be gone by Saturday.

Brian and I ate lunch together and then I went to lay down.  I told Brian there was no way I’d be able to pick up the kids from school, so thankfully, he was able to do it, and I took a nap.  When I first lay down, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep and then the next thing I knew, my alarm was going off an hour and a half later.  Sheesh.

I felt a tiny bit better when I woke up because I was no longer exhausted, but the wooziness and dizziness and unsteadiness was awful.  My head also felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and I was super sensitive to light and sound.  Thankfully, I had gotten as prepped for our trip on Thursday as I could, but I still had so much to do, so it was very unfortunate timing having to have a major adjustment right before we had to leave for a trip.

The show must go on, though, so I tackled two small loads of laundry, I finished this blog post, I helped the kids finish packing, and I did all the other tasks on my list to prep for the trip… very carefully, slowly, and deliberately, of course.

Brian picked up pizza for dinner and then we watched some more of The Dinosaurs before the kids got in bed.  Then, Brian and I finished the evening with One Battle After Another before getting to bed a lil’ earlier than usual for a Friday because we had to wake up Saturday to go to DISNEY WORLD! 

Saturday was day one of our trip, so I’ll save that for the vacation recaps.  Hope y’all are having a wonderful week!

And now for some current things…

Currently Reading

In March, I read 2 books – The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez (5 stars) and The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (5 stars)… two totally different books, but both were excellent! 

I’m also still reading my new devotional for the year – Called by Name: 365 Daily Devotions for Catholic Women by Kelly M. Wahlquist and I’m still reading my Bible along with The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz. 

Currently Watching

With B: In March, Brian and I continued the new seasons of Shrinking, Paradise, and Saturday Night Live.  We also started DTF St. Louis which I’m not a fan of at all, we started Rooster (which is delightful), and we watched the movies Sinners, Materialists, and One Battle After Another.

With the Kids: In March, we watched Jurassic Park 3 and Zootopia 2.  We also started the documentary The Dinosaurs with Morgan Freeman narrating.  Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune are also often on in the background in the evening after dinner.

Alone: Just the occasional viewing of The Wedding Planner on Sunday afternoons while I work.

 

Currently Listening To

Still a bunch of Taylor Swift, but I’m also mixing in some other random music that I recently downloaded – Olivia Dean, Zara Larsson, and the song Damn I Love Miami by Pitbull and Lil Jon.  Reminds me of the early 2000s club music!

Happy Wednesday, y’all!