I haven’t written in awhile, so I thought I’d use this bit of free time I’ve found to write a little update on life. And to just ramble a little.
It’s been a hard week. I feel like I’ve been walking in a fog, barely managing to function, let alone accomplish anything of importance. On Monday, Caden woke up with a cold. Fortunately, he was only bad for about a day. And he lets me wipe his nose, so it doesn’t feel like such a terrible thing. Shepard, on the other hand… He got his cold in full force Tuesday and it has yet to let up. I feel so bad for him because he’s clearly miserable, but there’s very little to be done about it. Neither of the kids are old enough for cold medicine yet, so they just have to suck it up and push through. On Thursday I was pretty desperate and bought just about every non-medicated healing agent I could find at Target to try and give him a little comfort. Saline spray, Vicks for babies, and honey flavored suckers for his cough. It helps a little, but not much. If he would just let us wipe his nose everything would be easier. But he fights with everything in him, screaming and crying, making the snotty stream that much worse. He’s not awake yet, but I really hope he’s cleared up by today.
My allergies have also been terrible this week. I’m not sure what I’m allergic to because I just started being affected by them last year. I think after living in Minnesota for four years, after coming back to Wisconsin something here must be different. And it’s annoying. Greg pointed out to me that I used to make fun of people with allergies because they really can’t be as bad as they make it out to be. Um…yeah, they are. So I’m sorry if I ever was unsympathetic to the allergy attacked people in my past. It’s pretty awful. For me the worst part is my itchy, burning eyes. I just want to tear them out. Sleeping has been hard too, I’m so stuffed up. Last year the allergies lasted about a month, so hopefully I only have a few weeks left. I don’t know how people with year long allergies manage. It’s really knocked me off my feet.
Overall, this has just been a very scattered and dysfunctional week. I couldn’t for the life of me come up with a daily meal plan, so every day I was scrambling to put food on the table. I was overwhelmed by making a grocery and coupon list, which is usually one of the most fun I things I do (hey, finding great deals IS fun!). Last week I started doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred and felt super motivated to start taking control of my life through exercise. But I was so tired this week I wasn’t even able to get through one full video. Anyway. I’m ready to move on. Hopefully this next week will be a lot better.
The highlight of my week was my date night with Greg. Once a week the boys go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a few hours and Greg and I have a “date night.” It usually consists of me making a meal that we love, but the boys wouldn’t eat and then Greg and I either watch a tv show together or go our separate ways and enjoy some personal time that’s so rare. The boys usually come up and I regret that Greg and I didn’t try harder to actually spend time together. Those times are rare too and we should really make the most of them. This week we did a lot better, though. We shared farmer’s market ravioli (which is amazing) and then went on a five mile bike ride through town. Biking is definitely my favorite form of exercise and I love that I’m finally able to make it a habit this year. After a few miles we stopped at a quiet park by the river and just sat and talked for awhile. In high school and college we spent a lot of time sitting and talking by water, and it was great to find a place where we can have those times again. Finally, we stopped at a restaurant on the way home to buy a bag of our favorite chips (they were out of hot salsa) to go. It was a perfect night!
And now for the holiday weekend! I’m starting it with one of these gorgeous chocolate chip muffins I made last night. Muffins are one baked item that continues to elude me, so I was shocked at how perfect these looked. They’re yummy too. In a little bit I’m heading to the farmer’s market with my mother-in-law. It’ll be a great way to get out of the house for awhile. I need it! Then tomorrow we’re spending the day at Greg’s grandparents’ lake house. And Monday is mine and Greg’s six year anniversary, so we’re having a date day. It should be a fantastic weekend!
