News at Home: Birthdays!
So I’m struggling to get this post written because it was our birthday weekend and I got home late the last two nights in a row and I’m tired! For starters, Philip’s boyfriend Zach’s birthday was on Friday and my brother threw him a surprise birthday party. Which meant he needed someone at his place to let people in — and, when Zach’s boyfriend got off work early — to finish the decorating. So I went from work to their apartment and finished decorating, let people in and said “Surprise!” around 8:30 p.m. For me, that’s late. Especially after a long day of work. So I left like 15 minutes later and was home by 9, thank goodness. On my way home, my driver’s side mirror just fell off my car! Not the arm that’s attached to the door, but the mirror part itself. It was crazy! So I now have no driver’s side mirror on the car I bought in December. Great. I found a replacement on Amazon for $10… it arrives Monday, so hopefully it works.
Then Saturday was our birthday get together. Because this is Birthday season for our family. Jesus (Franky’s little brother) had his birthday March 24th. Kiko is March 29th, Franky and Zach are April 6th, Mema is April 12th, Destiny (Franky’s Aunt) is April 14th, and Junior (Franky’s older brother) is April 21st. Since everyone is older now, we decided one big birthday celebration was the way to go. We went over to Tequila’s (Franky’s mom’s) around 1:30 Saturday and didn’t get home until 11 p.m. It was a great time – we did a fire pit, cooked out fajitas, played Cards Against Humanity and Ticket to Ride, talked, danced, and had a really good time. But gah! I just got home from that and I’m a wee-bit exhausted.
And y’all… you realize this means my step-son is now 18?!?!? How the HELL did that happen. I remember meeting him when he was just 4 years old and so shy around me. And then a week later he wouldn’t stop talking my ear off, telling me hours long zombie dream stories 🙂 It’s kind of hard to believe that this much time has passed and I’m definitely anxious about his future. It’s a hard world out there, and he isn’t serious so he hasn’t made any real plans unfortunately. I guess we’ll see where things take him. Graduation is in June and I can already tell that’s going to be really emotional.
Work was okay this week. We had an incident that I really can’t say much about on the off chance someone from school reads my blog – but it involves a serious threat and it was bad enough (and badly enough handled IMO) that I was (and still am) a little scared to come to school. As I told my husband, though, I have no plans to be a hero. I will do what I’m supposed to in order to protect students, but I’m not going to risk my life needlessly. And I keep my coat with keys and phone right by the door so I can be out and in my car (which would fit 20 kindergartners… uncomfortably, but good enough in an life or death situation) within 30 seconds honestly. With 20 scared kindergartners… maybe 1 minute. If they listen. And that’s the trick. When they get scared will they be better listeners or worse? Hopefully better. Usually they are when nervous. It sucks that this is part of my job these days. And it sucks that people are still willing to fight AGAINST common sense gun laws that would save lives.
Otherwise I had a decent week and I’m trying not to dwell on that scary piece.
Blog News
For Blog Ahead, I didn’t quite make my goal of 14 posts, but I did make it to 12, which is really close and I’m really happy with it. If I keep up at this rate, I’m hoping I’ll end April a full month ahead. *fingers crossed*
For Read a Series in a Month I haven’t actually started my series yet, but I have it downloaded and ready to listen to. I just am trying to get through a couple book club books first.
I am really happy with how my morning routine is working out for me — the weekend is kind of a shambles because I sleep in a bit — but weekdays I have been consistently having time to visit blogs AND work on the blog. Feels great and I hope you’re starting to see a bit more of me 🙂
#FitReaders Update
April Goals:
Do Yoga Monday – Friday: Did it!!
Drink 64 oz of water daily: I honestly don’t know. But I think I did. Just having a hard time finding a good way to track.
Track food and hit goals of 37P, 27C, 36F: 3 out of 7 days… not great. But the days I didn’t hit it were not off by much.
Take 40 classes at GRIT (I took 37 last month, with a week off for hurting my back): After today I’ll be at 10 for the week (M-S) and since the gym was closed the first that’s 10/40.
Lose 10 pounds, and only weigh every 4 days (I’ve become scale obsessed): *sigh* well I stayed off the scale for 4 days and it was TORTURE. Even worse, when I did get on it I had gained 0.2 pounds. I realize that’s not much, but when you waited 4 days you want to see a loss. I went all liquids for 1 day and yeah… I stepped on the scale 2 days later. But I didn’t record the weight so I’m not sure, but I think I lost 2 pounds. I think.
Find one NSV (non-scale victory) a week: I’m working towards doing Burpees right now and I managed to do a slow backwards push on the gliders during powerbelle Saturday. That’s like 1/2 of a modified burpee. So I have a ways to go, but I’m also getting stronger!
Last Week on the Blog
- [2 Apr] #2018HW Reading Assignment REPORT CARD ~ 1st Quarter
- [3 Apr] Devil in a Black Suit: A Shelby Nichols Adventure by Colleen Helme ★★★★
- [3 Apr] Task It Tuesday | Blog Ahead! #taskittues
- [4 Apr] Just a Few In Death Reads… I’m an addict y’all!
- [4 Apr] Big Jack by J.D. Robb ★★★½
- [4 Apr] Divided in Death by J.D. Robb ★★★★
- [4 Apr] Visions in Death by J.D. Robb ★★★★★
- [5 Apr] Monthly Book Report ~ March was slow but my best reading month.
- [6 Apr] Friday Finds ~ Just a little something different
- [7 Apr] Berls’s #MyTBRL Voting | April 2018
- [7 Apr] My To-Be Read List ~ Aprils Voting….KU Love #MyTBRL
- [8 Apr] Sunday Post with Berls | Birthdays!
- [8 Apr] It’s beginning to look a lot like winter….wait! what?~ WIR & SP
Coming Next Week From Me
Sunday
Sunday Post with Berls | Birthdays
Monday
Just a Few… yep.. In Death Reads #Audioreview
Tuesday
Red Queen #Review
Saturday
Berls’s My TBR List April Winner
Yea for birthdays! It was my baby’s birthday Sunday (4/8). She’s 12!!! I can’t believe how fast it’s all going. It was a very busy day with lacrosse and girl scouts, but I made her her favorite foods for dinner (steak, roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli!) and we had cookies for dessert.
I just love you even more that you are ready to put all of your students in your car and get the hell outta Dodge! You take care of yourself. So sorry it was such a bad situation for you.
Great job staying off the scale even though it was tough. Hopefully the liquid day will kickstart the weight loss.
They grow up too fast! I don’t have any idea where the time goes. Happy belated birthday to your daughter 🙂
LOL yeah, well I’m not going to sit around waiting to get shot! I will be smart of course, not going to go running through the school without knowing we can make it to my car safely. But my car is LITERALLY visible from my classroom door. And these kids can run. If only they could be quiet lol!
Hope you’re having a great week 🙂
Yay! I’m happy your morning schedule is still working and that you had some great birthday celebrations. I am sorry to hear about the incident at school though. 🙁 Congrats on your Blog Ahead accomplishments and good luck on Read a Series. I wanted to participate in that one but I’m traveling quite a bit this month – yes, again – so I just don’t have the time to dedicate to it. I’ll do it when y’all host it again though…you’re hosting it again this year, right??
Hope this week is off to a great start…and that you got some rest and are feeling a bit better about things at school.
Miss you and love you!! {{{hugs}}}
Thanks Brandee. The incident at school was scary, but thankfully we had a pretty positive resolution come about this week and I’m feeling safer. As safe as I can, considering our current gun laws, at least.
You’re just such a busy bee these days! Yes, we’ll host it again… I think in August? I love this challenge – I’m binge reading Julie’s Anarchy series 🙂
Big Hugs!! Miss you! XOXOXO
I was so sad last year when I heard other bloggers talking about their elementary age children having to do active shooter drills at school. It absolutely breaks my heart. I’m sorry that you have to add feeling unsafe to all the other stresses you have as a teacher. The gun freaks keep shouting about their rights, but what about our right to feel safe? I am so happy to see individual states banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines, I hope all states will follow suit.
As you know, you can add my son to the April birthday mayhem. Now that I am thinking about it I know a lot of people born in April. They must be summer vacation babies! Ha ha. ☺
Have a wonderful and less stressful week. 💜
Hahaha! There are a LOT of April birthdays – quite a few in my class too. Summer vacation must be a busy time 😛
I know – it’s so frustrating to me that there’s such uproar about 2nd ammendment rights – especially when no one is seriously talking about straight up BANNING guns. We’re saying, hey let’s get some good laws on the books about how easy it is to get them and what kinds of guns are available to the public. I just don’t get why owning a weapon of war is worth more than my life or that of my kids.
Good news is that we did have some positive developments on that front at school and so I’m feeling safer for the moment. 🙂
Hope you’re having a great week!
That sure is a lot of celebrating. Happy Birthday to all! And that’s wild about the mirror. Good old Amazon. They have everything. I needed a new dial for my stove and they had it. A perfect match too.
Can you believe that Amazon started off as just a book retailer? And look at what it’s become! When I need something, it’s the first place I consider. And the mirror fit perfectly 🙂
Hope you’re having a great week!
I’m so sorry to hear about the issue at the school. I’m so scary for teachers and students. Happy birthday to your whole family. LOL Have a great week.
LOL thanks Melanie! Yes, it’s so scary and it just reinforces what I already think about all the time – that my job is not a safe one and yet it’s not given any acknowledgement for being a dangerous job. Just like it’s not given any acknowledgement for the myriad of other things we have to do too. *sigh* I will say, we had some resolution on the issue though, so at least my immediate danger seems to have lessened.
Hope you’re having a great week. Happy Friday 🙂
Happy birthday to everyone! Sounds like a fun week but definitely exhausting. I’ve found that if I have a bunch of really social interactions right in a row if I don’t take a few minutes I end up getting sick or just so worn down I might as well be. Hope you have a great week!
LOL! So many birthdays right? I agree, I need breaks from socializing as well. And I haven’t had one in a bit, been kind of go-go-go lately. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get one. Hope you’re having a good week!
Sorry about the school stuff. That is tough. no one wants to think about and prepare for what you would do in some of these situations. Its just insane to me that we have to have a plan for active shooters.
Hope this week is much better!
It is so insane that this is part of a teacher’s job these days. So scary and I hate it. I love what I do, for the most part – but these bits make it hard. Thankfully some good developments came with the situation this week and I’m feeling a little safer, at the moment at least.
HOpe you’ve had a great week!
Happy Birthday to everyone! 🙂 That is a lot of celebrating!
Sorry about school. Stuff is so scary now, it’s like even places you don’t think anything would happen, now could. I get nervous every day sending my kids to school.
I hope you have a great week, my friend! ox
It is and can you imagine when the kids were younger, they all got their own celebration?!? This is so much better! Thanks – it is scary and I hate that it’s part of my job to think about these things. Some good stuff happened on that front this week though, so yay! hope you’ve been having a good week! W e need a chat!! Miss you {{hugs}}