not necessarily in this order

Long background story short : problems with my right foot I at first assumed was plantar fasciitis because I was a new runner but then thought was a stress fracture after further Googling…   I guess I got what I deserved in trying to self-diagnosis myself. (or, as the Mr. often says, “ Doctor Google isn’t a quack! ”) My lack of knowledge about foot anatomy also played a key role, as well, in both my misunderstanding of what was going on and how I actually made it worse throughout June.   The good news is that  I don’t have plantar fasciitis nor a stress fracture !    The bummer news is that I have this thing called  posterior tibial tendon dysfunction  or  PTTD . My rough understanding is that this is a tendon that connects your calf muscle to the bones on the inside of your foot and supports your inside arch. When you mess it up, it can cause pain on the arch where the tendon connects (hey, that’s me!) and up through your ankle. To be honest, it ...

  Some recent purchases from around my carts!   Milani Color Fetish Lip Stain – 160 Bitten Berry Lil Momma’s newest YouTube obsession is makeup tutorials. She only watches them with me, so I’ve done some deep diving on finding some creators who do natural looks, are tween appropriate for us, and also focus on skincare. The bonus for me is that I’ve been discovering some new products from all my “research”, haha! This lip stain makes such a difference for video calls on my work from home days when I don’t do my “in-office fancy routine”. After brushing my teeth, I put it on, let it sit for a minute, and then wipe it off. With a swipe of a lip moisturizer, I’ve staved off pale lips for the day. Who knew?   AZMED Plantar Fasciitis Night Splits As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, I’ve been having some ridiculous calf problems. First, I hurt my left calf going a bit too fast on a run a couple of weeks ago. I let it rest and did all my stretches and all that only to set off plantar fas...

Maybe I should have called this “Dancing Uphill” as my life is revolving around these weekend dance competitions right now, haha! A few thoughts from lately:   Lil Momma had an amazing first dance comp of the year 2 weekends ago. Her first-ever duo got one of the special judges’ awards for storytelling and they placed in their category, her hip hop dance placed in its category, jazz was adorable, and she had a wonderful time running around with her friends. Bonus, all of her dances were done in ONE HOUR. Of course, we did hang out for SEVEN HOURS to see awards (not to mention driving down the day before and having a parking nightmare from the comp and a college graduation making spots impossible – I had to drop LM off, watch her go in, and then drive to a parking garage and power walk uphill 15 minutes to get back to her), but it was all worth it to see her having a nice little moment.   Last weekend’s comp was a bit oof, to be honest. We stayed overnight at a hotel, which was...

  One  This week has a bit of a slog. A regular amount of busy but it feels like my brain has been moving on .75 speed. I don’t know if this is it, but after being incredibly consistent with my allergy meds for MONTHS after buying a pill organizer, I somehow missed TWO DOSES this week – so, maybe my brain is just full of pollen and histamines?  Two  I’m having such a hard time commenting on some blogs. I get sent into a weird login loop for platforms I didn’t know I had logins for and the like. I created a new email address for me at this blog (notnecessarilyinthisorder (at) (gmail) etc.) to see if I can get around it. So, if you see that in your spam filters, it’s me!!   Three  The first dance competition weekend is upon us! LM dances  on Sunday afternoon  and awards are  at 7:30 pm  (ON A SCHOOL NIGHT?!?!?) and will be doing a Duo for the first time ever. Her performances will be wild; they are all in an hour, so she’ll go from her Duo...

  ENJOYING  / My boss told me to take off  at noon today  because of how busy this week has been, so I’m going to take her up on that and go for a walk in the woods before I pick Lil Momma up from school. Maybe I’ll get my elusive Cool Bloggers Walking Club picture?!?!   EATING  / I had to go to a wake after work on Wednesday that dropped me into rush hour traffic and arriving home  around 7pm . The idea of making food was not appealing at that point – and the Mr. was off picking up LM from Matilda Jr. rehearsal – so, I took advantage of the lack of witnesses and had frozen cookie dough for dinner. It was glorious!     SAVORING  / I’ve been doing this Beginner Runner program and I’m really enjoying that I don’t feel like I’m going to collapse after the workouts. It’s not that I’m not working hard or am not challenged, but in previous attempts over the last 15 years or so, I feel like I’ve pushed too hard to try and keep up and crash...

Sunday funday or Sunday scaries? Here’s how the week ended for us: 7:30 : I hear LM stirring: she loudly whispers that she wants to play for 30 minutes and I go doze.  7:50 : I’m awake and scroll a little while I let the Mr. grab his last 10 minutes of sleep.  8:00  (on the dot!): LM throws herself on my bed and lets me know she’s going to talk the Mr. into donuts.  8:05 : I get out of bed use the bathroom. Glasses, hair in a ponytail, moving at the pace of Sunday.  8:15 : The Mr. gets back with donuts. We sit with our coffee while LM eats hers with a show and a bonus OJ he got her.  8:45 : LM heads up for a show in my bed. I clean up the kitchen and then work on my task list for all my mom’s affairs. (Apparently, I was dragging my feet too much because her financial guy has started giving me homework, oof…) 10:15 : I head upstairs and organize my meds for the week - the only way I can deal with my “did I or did I not take my meds” anxiety… 10:30 : LM and I...

  Another in-office day, with a crash on the couch at the end. 6:24   Wake up thinking I missed my alarm (set for  6:45 ); Lil Momma rolls over and hits me with a stuffed animal; email myself with a random to-do list.   6:45   Wake LM up; head into the bathroom to deodorize, moisturize, and spray down my curls (fingers crossed for day 2 hair!); get dressed (jeans today because fancy tomorrow!).   7:05  Head downstairs for the usual (coffee, smoothie, chat with the Mr.); decide to forgo making lunch because I am my own worst saboteur. The Mr. tells me all about darts last night (they got moved up a level this season and are just getting killed every match, sigh).   7:37   Warm up my car; head upstairs to brush my teeth, put on some eyeshadow, fluff my curls, and remember jewelry.   7:52   Say goodbye and head out to my car. 8:29   Park in the garage; put on some lip-gloss and head in (my pale lips have been a “thing” for me late...