not necessarily in this order

  I think where we left off was that my little family was getting a puppy in the latter half of September?   I’m allergic to everything, so we had to make some concessions in breed. I so want to be the person to walk into a shelter and save a pup, but we had been waiting for a year for a dog that wouldn’t turn me into a sneezy, hivey mess and that just didn’t happen. So, we researched ethical companies and found one that could help us get a 18-week-old    Bernedoodle from Wisconsin to us here in Massachusetts.  LM has been so excited to dive into puppy prep; she also won the name voting with “Maysie”, named after a character from Seussical the Musical . We got Maysie a crate, worked on ways to separate her and our senior population Morkie, Bella, and dove in to house decluttering while waiting for our transport weekend.  We were supposed to get a call on Saturday letting us know she was dropped off with the transporter. LM and I had seen a play the night be...

  Random life updates :  1. More on the puppy when she’s here – expected arrival is the week after next! So much to get ready, but also so much excitement and anticipation.  2. Lil Momma survived her first few days of 7 th  grade but is having trouble with the noise levels of having THIRTY SEVEN other kids in the classrooms. There is a whole other post I could write about public schools and overrides and how we’re failing our kids and our teachers and staff, but that is not for today. Foot/Ankle/Morale Update    I am almost 5 months out from having this foot/ankle surgery. If you had asked me before the surgery, I would have thought I’d be 80% back to my life: Walking in the woods, if not hiking. Strength workouts. Slow jogs on the treadmill. Intervals on the bike. Dragging my family on weekend adventures.    That is not how it has gone down.   I severely underestimated what recovery would look like. My expectations were so far out of reality...

Why would we get a dog right now? Honestly. Everything is wildly chaotic and I live in a constant state of overwhelm. The news this week has been so horrifying and that’s on top of the sad and awful it’s been. Why would we get a dog right now? We just survived the back to back of the Mr. and my 20th dating anniversary and Lil Momma’s 12 birthday. For our anniversary, we saw it was the year of “metal” and pulled the plug on buying new kitchen appliances (much needed), including our first working dishwasher and a fridge with water (with water!! So fancy!!) that arrive tomorrow. We have to take a cabinet down tonight somehow and then find a place for the fridge contents. I’m sourcing ice and coolers. Don’t even ask me about the ballet barre and turning pad we got LM; no clue where those will be stored. Why would we get a dog right now?  School starts next week. Besides the fact that LM is 5 feet tall now and 12 years old, the idea that she’s in 7th grade seems unfathomable. This yea...

 Life is life-ing. It’s all happening all the time. We are a week from Lil Momma’s 12th birthday. We are two weeks from school starting. This weekend is the Mr and my 20th anniversary. I’m so unprepared for all of this. But that is not my story for tonight.  I was taking Bella, our senior Morkie (Maltese/Yorkshire Terrier) out, something that’s only my job when the Mr is at dart night. It was dark, I was tired and sore from a long walking day in office, Bella was over it and just wanted her three treats I owed her once we got back in the house.  As we came up the deck stairs to head in through our sliding glass doors, my hair got caught on the branches of a hanging plant. Easily remedied, right?  NO! IT WASN’T! Why? Because THINGS FLEW OUT of the hanging plant and I felt them on my head. ON MY HEAD. Although I love the memes of how bats look like dancing emo goths, I am deeply afraid of bats getting caught in my hair (because it happened to me once).  I screamed...

  Lil Momma and the Mr. are visiting family down south this week and I’ve been on my own with Bella, our dog. To be clear, they didn’t ditch me!! I’m just not walking fast or far enough for it not to be a drag or a liability on that type of vacation.   To be honest, LM and I were both a little shook - we’ve never been apart this long!! It’s one of those times I’m glad she has a way to text me and we got to talk each night about her adventures (which included dip dyeing the bottom 6 inches of her hair purple - an early birthday present!). In honor of my week here at the house by myself, here are 5 random Friday thoughts about being alone: One : I realized that I’m very rarely alone in a situation where I can just be. I’m alone in my car on my ride to work or driving back from dropping LM off somewhere, but this week was different because I could just exist in this space and be.  Two : Back when the Mr. traveled for work and LM was a baby on steroids who never slept, I alwa...

It’s been a wild July and I feel like I’ve been scattered all over the place. I figured I’d start the week off with some quick updates! Weighted dance Dino and hotel room ice cream!   PT Update I’m in this weird space where I feel like I should be progressing faster, but I’ve also come so, so far. I have to keep reminding myself that I started weight-bearing at the end of May and got out of the boot and back to driving at the start of July – it really hasn’t been that long!   Now that I’m more comfortable walking (and less terrified my ankle/foot will shatter into a million pieces), my PT is all about building strength, balance, and endurance. I’m finding that I can walk for a few minutes in good form and then I start to limp– and, the limp leads to my right hip and lower back hurting. This was exacerbated by going back into the office 2 days a week (which is so much walking) and sitting in awful chairs on the weekends for Lil Momma’s performances. So, I’m also doing a lot of ...