not necessarily in this order

 Hello friends! It's been a minute, right? The Mr. and I have been talking about how it was wild enough that we got a puppy last fall when we already felt like we were running on fumes between Lil Momma's extracurricular schedule, working on my aunt's estate, work being oof, injuries... only for me to throw this MLIS class into the mix. It's taken literally almost the entire first quarter of the year for me to feel like I have a modicum of control over my tasks and house and life, but I'm back with a catch up and hopefully back here and in your comment sections on a regular basis, too.  Yes, Maysie, I’m sitting here   For now, some catching up on what I've been catching up on: School I think I had left off saying I felt so much better once I dropped that second class that I was supposed to start mid-March. I also feel so much better because I have a better perspective on what I am trying to get out of this experience. I think I was putting in inordinate amount o...

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 ...

Welcome to performance day 1 of Lil Momma’s Elf Jr . the musical! We’ve had a wild few months; 7 days a week of activities, a messy start to school, tween girl dynamics challenges… it will be so nice to check this show off our list and get Friday nights and Saturday mornings back and find a better family rhythm.  LM’s call time (the time she needs to be at the theater, which is the black box small theater in the building she takes lessons in) is 12pm and she has shows at 2pm and 5pm (and we have to do it all over tomorrow). The Mr and I are seeing both shows today (I’m seeing both tomorrow while he’s only seeing the 2pm - it’s a lot of Elf , yikes), so it’s been a long thinking about what she can eat between shows, what I can eat, can the Mr run home and feed the dog between and still find parking, etc   6:45am: I woke up because my body doesn’t understand sleeping in and read for a bit.  8;15am: LM wakes up so I wake the Mr up to wake Bella up. LM takes a shower while th...

What a week it’s been! Matilda Memories Well, we did more than survive Lil Momma’s long-awaited and bumpier than expected journey to playing her first lead/main character role for her musical theater class recital! The  drama  of the lead up weighed heavily on us both – waiting to leave for the  5pm  show on Saturday felt ENDLESS – but she was able to get her head in the right place and go in with an equal amount of nerves and confidence. Let me tell you, from the moment she said her first line to the moment she screamed her last and ran from the stage, the girl was on FIRE! My parental bias is balanced with an undergraduate focus in theater criticism / reviewing, but I have to say she was one of the best parts of the production. She got a ton of laughs, a few gasps here and there, and made it through the hard song like a boss. I think we all are so relieved that this is over, but I’m so glad it can be reframed as a lesson (or lessons) and a good experience vs. what ...

  What a rollercoaster of a week. It’s sometimes hard to share about Lil Momma’s big life; her privacy is always the priority. However, we went through a weird parenting and social experience that I think I can explore a little without breaking the trust I have with my girl.   Getting a “lead” in her musical theater class’s recital show has been a goal for LM since she started lessons 5 years ago. She’s seen her elementary school classmates who also go to this school excel; lead roles, asked to be on the competition team, etc.; and it’s been a lot of long conversations for us about opportunities and timing and growth and proving herself and, on the other side, how “fair” is a social construct and we don’t control some of these things and how there will be other opportunities to perform there and other places in the future. She has a whole life ahead of her and also has a very fulfilling set of dance classes and competition teams at a different studio, too.   So, when LM g...

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...

The day there was an earthquake and we go see Moana    6:54 : Wake up with a start and then remember I don’t have to rush today. Consider going back to sleep but then LM comes out of her room.   7:05 : After a cuddle with LM, put on some work from home clothes (t-shirt, hoodie, leggings), go to the bathroom, put in my contacts, deodorant, moisturize, and head downstairs.   7:15 : Yay, coffee! Try to pump LM up for the second day of state testing (forgetting she has 3 sets of it this year, so we have to do this 2 more times)   7:45 : Head upstairs to start working; notice that it’s sunny (!!!) and use that as the lead-in to my daily hello to my team.   9:10 : Go downstairs to say hello to Bella and the Mr. Make my smoothie.   9:20 : Back up to keep working on some slides.   10:02 : Go lay dramatically in my bed to mentally prepare for my meetings.   10:XX : The bed starts shaking back and forth. I call down to the Mr. and downstairs is slightl...

  Sometimes, it’s the week after a run of busy weeks that gets you…..   Lil Momma’s Show Recap To   recap the reason for the recap, Lil Momma was fighting a mighty case of the sads after New Year’s. Her musical theater school had an audition-only bonus show that rehearsed on the weekends that LM went back and forth about auditioning for. She finally decided to go for it and got in! (Only 20/60 kids got in and she was 1 of only 3 kids not on the competition team who did….)   Things got pretty hectic in the week or so before the show and with her other extracurriculars, LM had a run of 12 straight days without a break. Between dress and tech rehearsals for this production of  Dear Edwina , her regularly scheduled dance classes 3x a week, and bonus dance for her competition duo, we were doing our best to focus on recovery at home (hydration, fueling, sleep).    What’s Dear Edwina about?”  you may be asking… Well, per  Wikipedia : “ Dear Edwina ...

A quick look at how my February hopes figured out and what I’m hoping to do in March!   February Figures : Working out / intentional movement at least 15 days  =  15/15!!! I had this whole realization that I am a happier person when I move my body, but when I am down (which makes sense right now), I may have to just do the things even when I’m not feeling like it. Which, shockingly (or not really shockingly, haha), made a huge difference during a really wild work month. Average 5K steps per day  =  5 , 002 WOOHOO! I finally made it! I am sure my return to the office a few days a week pushed me over, but I have also been trying to move more through my days.  Average less than 8 hours of phone screen time per day  =  still too much I am trying to give myself grace in that I’ve been navigating a lot of big feelings and bad weather, but hope to make some movement in this space in March with a better approach to my usual doomscrolling moments  Sti...