not necessarily in this order

thoughts from the week that was First, thank you all for the kind thoughts on my last post. It’s a challenge to see my family bounce back so easily from COVID while I’m still having issues (see below), but I for sure have a better sense now of what’s  baby steps towards feeling better  vs.  pushing it too hard, too soon, too fast  and am just taking each day slowly.  School vacation week was a blur of working when I could and keeping Lil Momma happily distracted. A few highlights: — Hamilton  was such a lovely experience! LM was incredibly excited and soaked up every single second. She sobbed her eyes out during  It’s Quiet Uptown  and left saying “ I finally understand standing ovations! I want to ovation all the way home!” -My guy and I got each other 3 months of subscription boxes for Christmas. He’s really enjoyed his snack boxes from Austria and now Brazil and I, surprising us both, am  loving cookie of the month deliveries ! Last month,...

the ups and downs of a week high . Well, kind of a preview of a high. I’m taking my girl to see the musical  Hamilton  in Boston on Sunday night to kick off February vacation. She has been asking to see it for years and was so excited to receive tickets for Christmas. I still have reservations about certain parts, but I’m hoping the more grownup songs go right over her head… She’s been singing her favorite tracks nonstop and already has her “fit” ready to go - and is taking over mine as well haha! Her excitement is real and such a joy.  moderate low . I felt so much better on Sunday and Monday that I attempted a Peloton hike on my of-a-certain-age treadmill (Bessie) to celebrate being “back in the game”, which was a huge mistake. I woke up Tuesday back in the COVID game with congestion and exhaustion; it lasted through Thursday ( my voice kept disappearing mid-presentation, oof ). Definitely a lesson learned and I’m going to ease back in with some walks and mobility work ...

aka it’s time to get back into the game It’s a strange thing to have an injury where you feel like a different person before and after, but that’s kind of where I’m at. ( as a note, this isn’t about weight or body composition, just about movement and exercise! ) To recap my relationship with exercise: Age 0-33  = non-existent. I was the kid who got signed out of gym for the majority of school by begging her doctor for a note, stood in the softball field writing poems in her head, and  considered being a non-exerciser a personality trait  (“ I don’t exercise, I see movies and read books and do plays and write poems - diametrically opposed activities! ” Growing up in the ‘80s and 90s was a different time, haha sigh…) Age 33-43  = I went through a big life moment when I quit my side gig teaching college courses at night and  randomly joined a 3x a week women’s boot camp class at a Muy Thai gym . It literally changed my life and made me feel like so much more of a c...

Lil Momma wins again Lil Momma does a lot of activities;  she’s better when she’s busy . One of those are voice lessons that she takes those at the school where she does musical theater classes.  Each year, there’s a voice recital. I’m all about her picking her songs (with her teacher!!) and driving this experience; however, after 3 months of listening to Taylor Swift’s  15  sung by an 8 year old over and over and over, I had a moment.  I asked that Taylor Swift be removed from the voice lesson list  and that she sing at least 1 showtune (we take these to work on her musical theater skills!). This led to a disaster of a recital last spring where she sang a lovely version of the opening song from Tangled and  then hate sang Kacey Musgrave’s  Rainbow  at me . Luckily, this year her teacher has her focused only on showtunes and I’m out of the song picking mix.  I thought everything was ok… Cut to me taking LM to piano lessons this week. ...

 5 small things bringing me joy this Friday! Love notes from Lil Momma . My guy and I aren't the biggest Valentine's Day people (actually, years ago he asked me to choose between Valentine's and our anniversary as the day to celebrate us and I chose our anniversary since it was more personally meaningful*), but my girl loves, loves, LOVES love and telling people she cares. Each February, I do that Pinterest-inspired thing of sticking heart notes on her bedroom door each night with reasons that we love her**. Today, I walked into my office and found these on the door. OH MY HEART! She made my day. Tea and toast . I had taken yesterday off to hopefully navigate the worst of this virus and, for lunch, LM and my guy brought me up sourdough toast with butter and cinnamon sugar*** done by LM and a cup of my current favorite tea at just the perfect temperature to sip. It was the perfect meal moment and made me feel oh so much better. Virtual school assignments . This one isn't...

Reviews from Quarantine  This is a bit of a week as my little family has been taken down with COVID. Lil’ Momma was first over the weekend and I can feel it starting. Luckily, LM has a mild case and we can work from home, so cabin fever may be what sinks us (a privilege for sure).  So, live from quarantine, here’s a look at what I read in January, stolen from my Goodreads since my brain is a little tired. It’s a shorter list than normal with the lack of sleep during this bumpy month for my girl, but definitely some winners! Cloud Cuckoo Land  by Anthony Doerr ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I avoided reading it until 4 days before it was due (the storyline jumps, the size, the pressure), but I shouldn’t have. This is everything I love in a book; I missed characters when I wasn’t with them and loved how alive and wild it was. Life is convoluted and this is all over the place in all the best ways.  The Janus Stone  by Elly Griffiths  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I missed Ruth in this one - but, that a...

This week was one of  those weeks:  a sad kid, a cut on my foot, work projects snowballing… …but, after spending some well deserved time in a pit, I’m ready to climb out with a quick list of wins and smiles: I couldn’t walk, but I barre-d I had this whole plan for lunch workouts this week because after-school activities and homework and night routine keep bumping exercise from my list. Monday night, I tripped in our bedroom and cut my foot. It’s fine, I’m fine - but it’s enough to shut down most non-essential movement. Not being able to walk or ride or put pressure on it (I can barely get a shoe on) shut my brain down for a bit, but I made a random turn into  Barre workouts  on the Peloton app. It was no pressure on my foot, a great lower body workout, and checked something off my list - all wins! I read two books at the same time  I’m a reading monogamist. It goes against my love of tangents and rambles, but I’ve always just read one book straight through befor...