Weekly recap: 8/6/2018

Happy Monday! Phew, I'm tired this morning. Hopefully, the coffee will kick in soon, because I've got plenty to do today, and I'm sure you do too. Let's recap the week, shall we?


MONDAY

I started off the day by washing the kitchen floor. Hands and knees, bucket and rag, hard scrubbing-style washing. Not that you could tell when I was done; the floor is seriously old, and the pattern, along with the pits in the vinyl, all point to the fact that it was designed by someone who never, ever had to scrub dirt off a floor. It's kind of terrible, and I'm highly looking forward to the day we replace it with something that doesn't collect filth and then hang onto it with the Jaws of Life.

This floor. Grrrrr.

Do you see the black bits in the lower part of that tile? If I sit there and scrub so hard that my elbow is screaming for about five minutes (not an exaggeration), it kind of comes off. But we've got a ton of those ugly peel-and-stick tiles in our kitchen, and there's no way I could do that to all of them. And I'm not a fan of the design at all- the first thing I said when we walked through our house for the first time with our Realtor was, "Ugh. That floor is...interesting." One day, that flooring will be replaced and I will rejoice!

After I tackled the Ugly Floor of Ugliness, my daughter and I did Reading and Geography Lessons (we went to Brunei that day). I started a load of laundry, then cleaned the living room floor, which is hard wood and, despite the dings in it, is much nicer than the kitchen floor. I read a book from my Goodreads To Read list, then made a pizza for dinner, with tomatoes and basil from our garden. I practiced the piano for a bit and mowed the back half of the lawn after dinner. That evening, I finished the Goodreads book.

TUESDAY

My daughter and I attended a children's music program at our library. She had a great time, and I read a library book and chatted with a very nice mom who was born in Serbia. (I absolutely love meeting people who come from all over. We live in a fantastic town for that, and it makes life here so interesting!) During naptime, I prepared dinner, black bean burgers and potatoes with cheese. The tomatoes and green onions I used in the meal came from our garden- I just love being able to say that!

 YUM.

During the rest of naptime, I started cleaning the laundry room. Over the past year, it's become a dumping ground for a lot of stuff, and it's gotten embarrassingly awful. I have a picture, but I'll show it to you when the entire thing is clean- it's that bad. I'm doing one small section a day, throwing out a a bunch of stuff (the lady who lived here before us passed away, and the house sat empty for a long time. When we moved in, there were still a lot of things in here that she had left behind, some of it usable, some of it not, like old, rolled up plastic tubing, pull-down blinds that don't fit any window in the house, etc. The blinds are old and kind of rotted, so into the trash they go). After I finished my daily section of the laundry room, I cleaned the kitchen and registered my son for school ($$$$$), then comforted myself by relaxing with my library book. When my daughter woke up, we did Reading and Geography lessons (Bulgaria!), and when it was time to pick up my husband, we combined the trip by picking him up in the library parking lot, which is located right behind the train station, because the library had informed me that I had a book in. That evening, I helped my son with his French homework and read some more of my library book. 

WEDNESDAY

Oof. Have you ever had a dream that shook you so terribly that it bled over into your day? That was Wednesday. I had an awful dream that woke me up at 4:45 am. It involved my daughter, and it scared me badly. When she woke up, I scooped her up and didn't want to ever put her down again. The dream, combined with the early wake up, left me exhausted and not feeling like getting much done. We headed out to go grocery shopping (three different stores), then picked up my son from his friend's house, and we all went to my doctor's appointment. I love my doctor; she's a great listener and incredibly friendly. We discussed the new symptoms I'm experiencing with my back, and she agreed that it was time for another MRI to see what's going on in there, so that's on the schedule for this week. I'll also be starting physical therapy at a new place, seeing a spinal specialist, and probably scheduling an appointment with a pain doctor (I hate taking meds. HATE IT. I'm not sure what I'll be doing with the pain doc, other than establishing a relationship, since I can't take anything too hard- there's no way I can care for my very active daughter and drive my son all over and pick up my husband from the train on meds that make me woozy. Ay yi yi). Eesh. Crossing my fingers that something helps here!

After my appointment, we made a quick stop at the Dollar Tree, and I cleaned the kitchen and finished my library book during naptime. I used up some old rice to make vegetable fried rice (this is SUPER tasty and a great way to not waste leftover rice), and we all ate leftovers for dinner (husband was the one who ate the rice and loved it). After dinner, we went for a short walk. I helped my son with his French homework and read a library book in the evening.

UPDATE: No MRI for me this week. Someone who is NOT a doctor and NOT a medical professional isn't really sure if I need this or not, so they're going to think about it. YAY, AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANIES!!! I'm sure my doctor, who spent years of her life in college and medical school and residency and who has many years of experience treating patients doesn't know what those patients need at all, but you, insurance company person, DEFINITELY do. Awesome. I'll just be over here with nerve pain and buzzing in my knee, and pins and needles and cold patches on my foot, safe in the knowledge that someone who has zero medical knowledge whatsoever and who has not examined me, knows better than the medical professionals who have. AWESOME.

Why do we accept this?

THURSDAY

Breakfast!

Breakfast on Thursday was an English muffin, spread with a Norwegian cheese called Snøfrisk. It's delicious and if you ever get a chance to try it, you neeeeeeeeeeeeed to! The tomatoes came from- say it with me- our garden! 

Today was a special day. My husband had taken the day off of work because we were going to spend the day with two exchange students from France. They were staying with my son's friends, but both parents had to work that day, and the parents had asked if we would be willing to chaperone for the day, since we both speak French. We leaped at the chance and picked them up at 9 am. We took them to a local wildlife rehabilitation center/forest preserve (where I was magically able to remember the French word for 'flying squirrel', but I had to look up the word for 'crane'). They seemed to enjoy it, and afterwards, we went to Aldi to grab some food. We had pizza for lunch and then went to a (very) small local zoo.

These things freak me out.

So do these things.

These things are okay, though.

After the zoo, we came home to relax a little (I finished sewing up my first mitten, and then started knitting the second), then I took all the teenagers to the mall. I was *really* nervous; my French is far from perfect, and I wasn't entirely sure of the level of their English, they'd been quiet all day. But it ended up working really well. I threw away my inhibitions and spoke French with them and we had no problems. They were really nice kids, and this was a fun trip!

When we returned home, my husband grilled things, and my sister-in-law, her son, and my mother-in-law came over, and we had a barbecue. My son's friends' parents came over later on and joined the party, and we had a bonfire and made s'mores- the exchange students had a great time, and I continued speaking French with them until they left. It was a really fun- and seriously exhausting!- day. :)

FRIDAY

Friday is yard sale day, so my daughter and I headed out. We haven't had any luck the past few weeks, but today, we hit the jackpot. 

WOOHOO!!!

All of the above, plus a pair of Skechers sandals, cost me a whopping $4.50!!! The most important pic is the middle one; I needed a winter jacket for my daughter and hadn't found one yet this year. I was starting to get nervous, as yard sales are going to be winding down soon, but not only did I find this year's jacket (a North Face! One that the previous owner just GAVE me!!!), I found next year's- for a quarter!!! I absolutely could NOT get over that, and it made my day. I'm still jazzed about it!

While out yard saling, we came across this house, with its gorgeously painted door: 

I think I actually swooned when I first saw this.

You'll have to click on the pic to make it bigger, but this picture absolutely does not do justice to how cheerful and gorgeous this front door is. There are flowers painted along the top and sides, the accessories match, it's just so inviting! Made me wonder how I could spruce up my door...

During naptime, I organized more of the laundry room and tossed a bunch of things (along with adding a few things to the thrift store pile, thankfully). I cleaned the kitchen, and when my daughter woke up, we did Reading and Geography lessons (Burkina Faso today). We headed to the library and turned in our completed summer reading sheets, hurray! At home, we harvested tomatoes, and I helped my son with his French homework.

Check out this summer gorgeousness!

And meet our baby pumpkin!!! Isn't it sweet???

This is a *small* portion of our tomato plants. All from Dollar Store seeds!!!

SATURDAY

After my daughter's gymnastics class, I took my son to a library in a different town to hunt down his book for summer reading. While we were there, I picked up three books from my Goodreads To Read list, and then I dropped him off at a friend's house. I cleaned another part of the laundry room (at this point, I'm about halfway done), and when my daughter woke up, we did Reading and Geography lessons (we traveled virtually to Burundi). We visited Culver's to redeem the coupon for ice cream that she earned from the library's summer reading program, and I picked my son up right before her bedtime. That evening, I finished a book from my To Read list and watched an episode of Orange Is the New Black with my husband.

SUNDAY

Happy birthday to me! 

Thanks, Mom!

My husband surprised me by having my mom come up to hang out with the kids so that we could go out together. This is rare, so it was a VERY nice surprise! We went to a local Indian restaurant, which is one of my favorite restaurants EVER, I love Indian food.

I could eat this for every meal for the rest of my life. NOM NOM NOM

We hit up a local used book sale, and I picked up a French novel (which aren't hugely easy to come by, so I collect them as I come across them) and a few books for the kids. My husband, who is still eyeball-deep in fixing our bathroom and who has a list of projects a million miles long, grabbed a ton of How To Fix Your Home Yourself books. Super cheap and absolutely worth it.

Afterwards, even though it was in the 90's, we headed to a local forest preserve and did another of my favorite things: kayaking!

I'm on a boat.

There's just something so relaxing about being on the water like this. I could absolutely do this every day of my life. I did end up with a little bit of middle-area back pain (which is an odd place for me), but fortunately it seems to be okay today. Worth it, anyway. :)

That evening, I took a walk with my kids to the two Little Free Libraries near us. They're a bit of a haul away, so my daughter sat in the stroller while my son pushed her. It was a really sweet time, just walking and talking with my children. :)

The lake near our house (not where we kayaked!).

My son, pushing my daughter. <3

In the evening, I watched two episodes of Orange Is the New Black with my husband, and then passed out into a deep, exhausted sleep. What a lovely birthday this was!

Phew! What a week. I didn't get quite as much done as I would've liked, but I'm still grateful I was able to accomplish everything I did. Here's to another trip around the sun, and another great week to come! How did you do this week?