I didn’t know if you knew So I’m taking this chance to say That I had the best day with you today
~Taylor Swift
Oliver LOVES kids ❤️
I woke up full of energy, today! After Adam left for work, and I got my kiddos off to school, I got a lot done. I put on a cute summer dress, and took the time to make myself look and feel nice. I got the house all clean, before the littles arrived. I’ve had music playing, while I’ve played with the littles. Everyone’s in a great mood.
It’s been back and forth, between clouds and sun, the last couple days. We got some rain, last night, but it’s very warm and humid. I don’t mind, though. I’m so excited for Summer to get here! Tomorrow is May first. I’ve got things to make some May baskets, with the littles, tomorrow. We’ll add some treats and whatever flowers they find to pick from outside, and hand them out to neighbors. I don’t know if people do that much, these days? I always did it with my babies, when they were little, though.
I’ve gotten most of the things we’ll need, for Mikayla’s graduation party, at the end of May. It’s also just over a month now, until our “girls trip”. Jackie, Mikayla, and I get to spend 4 days lounging on the beach, in Alabama. Adam and Justin have already discussed plans for a trip they want to take with Wyatt, when it’s his turn to graduate high school. They’ll get to go on a “guys trip”, then.
I really have nothing to complain about. No heavy worries, weighing me down. I haven’t caused too much trouble, yet (haha)! It’s just another ordinary day, here. I love it.
-Oh, I’m newly calibrated -Oh, shiny and clean -I’m your recent adaptation -Time to redifine me
Let the word out – I’ve got to get out Whoa, I’m feeling better now Break the news out – I’ve got to get out Whoa, I’m feeling better now
~Collective Soul
Y’all….I never felt as miserable as I did all week, any of the times I’ve had Covid. I tested negative for Covid, but positive for Influenza A. I haven’t been that sick, since early 2010, when I had H1N1 flu. Even today, I’m not back up to 100%, but I’m so much better, I’m celebrating! I left my house, for the first time in over a week. I ran a few errands, and it felt great just being able to get out. This afternoon, I put music on, and worked on cleaning my house up. I scrubbed all the appliances, the counter tops, and the sink. I cleaned all the floors, the bathrooms, and put away and organized all the things that had been left laying out all week.
Our cameras have evidence of my work, today 😆
And my good mood 😁
My sister sent me a scary message, awhile ago. Her husband, her, and Pj were driving on the interstate, in the Midwest, and a tornado popped up right in front of them.
They had to drive through the grass median, and hurry the opposite direction. They made it to somewhere safe, thank God. They were on their way to where our mother lives. I began to allow myself to ponder whether my mother was alright, then. As fast as these thoughts entered my mind, I had to “change the channel inside my head”, because I’m just not going to let myself go to a place inside my mind that provides the possibility for anymore hurt or sadness to creep into my beautiful life.
It’s just so weird how suddenly, and unexpectedly, these thoughts form. I simply refuse to allow any sad or hurtful thoughts to damage the first great day I’ve had in a good while, though.
Adam should be getting off work here soon. I absolutely insist we have a fun evening. I’ve missed everyone. I’ve missed being able to get shit done. Hell, I’ve missed having the ability to SLEEP well! So, it’s gonna be a good night, because I said so.
I haven’t done a damn thing, today. I woke up, around 3:00am. My throat hurt in a way I’ve never experienced, before. It felt as if someone had taken a hot knife, and slit my throat. The burning and pain was absolutely miserable. I got up, took some Tylenol, used a throat spray, and drank a glass of very cold water. The combination allowed me to go back to sleep, for awhile. I slept very fitfully, until I finally just got out of bed, this morning. I’ve gone back and forth between feeling freezing cold, and then suddenly finding myself so hot, my shirt becomes drenched in my sweat. This is awful.
I’ve been laying around, in the basement. Both of the dogs insist on staying right by me. I’m sure they’re aware I don’t feel well.
Adam’s also taking good care of me, today. He’s made sure everybody got something to eat, did a load of laundry, and he and the kids pitched in to make sure the house was all cleaned up. This is definitely not how I intended to spend this Sunday. I so hope that tomorrow is better. I can’t take another “sick day”, tomorrow. I have to get my kids up and off to school, and I’ll have the littles. I just have to feel better.
I’m going to get to bed early, tonight. My body always requires rest, when I’m sick. If I don’t allow myself to lay around, and sleep when I need to, it takes so much longer before I finally feel better. This is no fun, at all. ☹️
I suppose I should begin by saying, I’m fine. Everybody’s good. Having said that, we did not make it to Knoxville, on Wednesday. Mikayla had driven over to her high school, “real quick”, Wednesday morning. As I was making my breakfast shake, I got a phone call. It was Mikayla , informing me her car had just died, right at a very popular stoplight. First, I called Adam, and informed him of our situation. Then, I decided to drive over, and see what I could do to help. On my way to where she was, I could see her stranded car…and then, bam, I got into a minor accident. I have never, in my whole life, been in any kind of accident. Until, then. And, it was all my own fault. I was distracted, searching for my stranded daughter, and I didn’t even see it coming. I was able to tell Mikayla what happened, and make my way back home. Then, I had to make a second phone call, to Adam. I never thought he’d be mad at me, but I was expecting some frustration. Surprisingly, he was nothing but understanding and kind. There wasn’t one ounce of upset radiating out of his responses. Justin and Jackie met Mikayla, just as Adam was able to get there. They determined the issue was a very minor one, and fixed it within minutes. After that, everyone made their way back to our house, to examine the damage to my car. Fortunately, it too was very minor. Unfortunately, it was too late to make it to our appointment in Knoxville, to tour the college campus. That had to be cancelled, and rescheduled.
After Adam and Justin left, to get back to work, Jackie and I made mimosas. We still had champagne and orange juice leftover from Easter, and the circumstance just seemed appropriate. As we talked, in my kitchen, Jackie told me that Adam had mentioned he’d had a real bad feeling about our trip. He wasn’t upset at all, that it hadn’t worked out. For whatever reason, he’d been uneasy, so our misfortune didn’t bother him so much. That made me reconsider our morning. Maybe, just maybe, there really was a reason for all of our inconvenience. It could’ve been a blessing in disguise.
Later, that evening, the littles were dropped off. Well, 2 of them. The baby, Emma, was having surgery. She had her trachea removed, on Thursday! I kept the other 2 littles, while she was in the hospital.
We had a water balloon fight, and played outside. Everyone had a great time. And then…we had yet another accident. As I was picking up the baby chair, the tray slid out of position, and the chair fell onto Caroline. It hit her right beside her eye. I felt so incredibly awful. I was struggling not to cry, myself.
I got her an ice pack, gave her some Motrin, and snuggled her. After about an hour, she was back to playing. Kids are just so resilient and tough!
This morning, the littles watched TV with Adam. The baby was discharged from the hospital, and the littles got picked up. I had this afternoon to myself, and it was wonderful!
This evening, Adam grilled pork chops for us. We all sat around the table and teased and laughed about funny family stories. It was great. Now, I’m downstairs watching a movie with my dogs. Adam’s upstairs, watching the kids play on the Nintendo switch. I’m already just about ready for bed. It’s been a very loooong week.
Baby, I love doin’ life with you You’re everything I wanna wake up to Give you all of my heart, the moon, and the stars ‘Til my time here on Earth is through ‘Cause I just love, baby, I love doin’ life with you
~Kelsey Hart
It looked awful stormy out, this morning, but it never rained. The clouds passed by us, and the sunshine came out. It’s been hot today!
Ignore my very dirty screen, here. Mikayla has had my car for what feels like forever! I need to get it cleaned.
After the littles left, I ran over to the Publix grocery store, near us. Wyatt was home sick to his stomach, so I picked up some Gatorade and Sprite, for him.
Tomorrow, Jackie and I are taking Mikayla to Knoxville, to tour the college she’ll be attending, this Fall. I won’t have the littles. We’re planning to leave out by 8:00am, so that we have plenty of time to get there, get some lunch somewhere, and find parking. I have a nervous/excited feeling, around this trip. I’m so proud of Mikayla. I’m elated, for her. I’m also, selfishly, a little sad. I’m going to miss the hell out of her. The other day, she called ME her best friend. That made my day! ❤️
Our neighbors just had a new baby boy, yesterday. Tonight, I’m fixing some ziti, for supper. I’m going to make an extra big casserole dish of it, and bring it over to them. I’m also making a bunch of garlic bread, to go with.
I have had more time. Instead of arriving at 5:00am, the littles come around 9:15. That leaves me plenty of time to spend with my kids, while they get ready for school. Once they leave, I still have a couple hours to do stuff around the house. I can make my bed, get myself dressed. I can eat something. I did two loads of laundry, this morning, before they got here. My energy and my mood have been significantly better. I won’t have the littles, over Summer. Which, I’m glad about, if I’m honest. I’m looking forward to hanging out with my kids, and Jackie. We’ve already lined up several fun things to do, over Summer! Adam’s been teasing me that I’m going to be able to find time for trouble, again! I just didn’t even have the time or energy to get into any trouble with him, for a long while. Adam had been asking me to stop saying yes to everybody, all the time. He cares about the littles, too, but he hasn’t been fond of how exhausted and drained I’ve been. He’s so sweet, because he wants me to take time for myself. He says he misses my crafts, and all the shenanigans. Well, I do believe all of that stuff, and more, is right around the corner.
I had the littles, today. They got here around 9:15, this morning. We played and had fun. We ate lunch, and then I laid them down for naps. I had to wake the girls up, when it was time to be picked up. Everybody was real good for me, today!
The 2 older ones were playing with a new toy tool set I got them. They decided to make some “home repairs” ❤️
It’s sooo hot outside, today! I washed all our bedding and towels, and hung them out to dry. Our deck was burning my bare feet, when I went out to grab everything that had dried. I’d hoped to take Oliver for a walk, after the littles left, but I was afraid the pavement would be too hot for his paws. So, I found something for him, and ordered it!
I guess we’ll find out if he’ll wear them!?
On a completely different topic, I put one of our cameras inside Adam and my closet. I did this, because I’ve had a child keep getting into it and stealing things from the extra snack box I store in there. Every week, I refill our kids’ snack boxes. I put 10 things inside, and that just has to last them one week. So, there’s even some extras. I knew it was Wyatt, sneaking things from my stash, but he wouldn’t admit to it. I busted him, last weekend. Anyhow, this camera also caught Adam, as he was getting dressed for work. My GOSH, my husband is sexy as hell!
😍
It seriously makes me wet, just looking at that! He and Justin have been consistently working out for over a year, now. They’re looking great!
I’m fixing meatball subs, for supper tonight. It’s easy to make, and my family love them. I need to go vacuum the carpets, and finish folding some laundry. It’s been a good, productive day.
We were just talking about all the memories we’ve already made, in the few years we’ve lived in our new house. I remember, when we first moved in, being so excited to make memories here, and for this to feel like home. It wasn’t easy to leave our old home. It was the only one Mj ever knew. It wasn’t a conscious thing, and I couldn’t guess when it actually happened, but this most certainly does feel like home, now. Our kids are doing amazing. I’ve got my favorite people close by. We’re consistently adding new memories to our home. It’s such a happy place to be in. I’m genuinely happy to call this our home.
Six in the mornin’, hands are shakin’ Half ready, half scared to death Hand me the world, wrapped in a pink blanket The world falls asleep on my chest
I’m so in love even though we just met Got no clue what I should do next
We’ll get it wrong, we’ll get it right Whole lotta tears we both have to cry You’ll learn to run, I’ll learn to let go Years’ll go fast, nights’ll go slow Lord knows the best thing that I’ll ever do Will be growin’ up raisin’ you
You’ll crawl ’til you run and you’ll run ’til you drive And your drivin’ will drive us both crazy Wherever you go and whatever you do Just know you’ll never not be my baby
~Gabby Barrett
Adam and I went to bed around 10:30pm, last night. We were both awake by 6:30am, but we laid in bed for another hour. It felt so good just to stay in our bed and snuggle, as we listened to the birds singing through our window. The chill of the Spring morning air felt amazing, too. We got up, made our obligatory cups of coffee, and lazily enjoyed the chance to spend a quiet morning slowly waking up. Later, we got dressed, and ready for the trip we’d planned with Justin and Jackie, to Costco. Mikayla, her boyfriend, Wyatt, and Mj were all making a big breakfast, in the kitchen, when we left. We stocked up on the usual items we like to get at Costco, and found a few other things, too. After we had all checked out, everyone was starving. Justin suggested a restaurant, where they served authentic Mexican food. It’s a very unassuming place, but we were not disappointed!
When we got back home, all the kids were in our driveway, helping Mikayla to clean her car. They vacuumed, shampooed, and scrubbed that car inside and out. It looks great! A little while later, Mj came running down the stairs, to find me in the kitchen. She told me, “Mama…I think I started my period.” We’ve had plenty of conversations about the changes her body would go through, so she was very aware this would one day happen. I hugged her tightly, and reminded her how incredible our bodies are, and that this is one of the ways she’s growing up. She started to cry, and complained that it isn’t fair, and she doesn’t want to do this every month! I was reminded of an episode of Roseanne, where her daughter, Darlene had started her period. Darlene was not excited about it, either. She had asked her mom (Roseanne) to name ONE good thing about having periods. Roseanne tells Darlene that she can name three, and gives the names of all her children. So, I told Mj that story, and then she smiled and seemed a little bit more at ease. It’s really emotional, for me, too! My baby is growing up! I’ve watched as her body has seemed to suddenly be morphing into a much more feminine, womanly shape. It’s happening so damn fast, these days.
Tonight, we’re all just hanging around the house. The kids are all upstairs. Adam’s watching TV, in the living room. I came down, to the basement, to sit out on our back patio. It’s perfectly pleasant, outside, this evening. I’m thinking about running myself a bubble bath, so I can shave my legs, and make my skin soft and smelling great. Adam and I didn’t have sex, last night. Both of us were exhausted. I’m feeling very horny, tonight.
Tonight it’s bottoms up (up) Throw it on down Rock this quiet little country town and get up Drop a tailgate on your truck Find a keg and fill ya cup up Kick it on back Pretty little mama looking at ya like that…
We haven’t gone out and done fun things like this, in way too long! We do have a lot of things coming up, and last night definitely reminded me how much I love to go make memories like these. I’m so glad we did that!
The concert went much later than expected. It was about 11:30pm, when we finally got out of there. The boys picked us up. We’re not planning to do much of anything, this evening. I know the guys have to be exhausted. Saturday, we’re all making a Costco trip. We’ve also been doing some “Sunday Fundays”. It looks like we’re going to have another beautiful weekend, so I think we’re going to barbecue and hang out for another Sunday Funday.
I’m going to go start making the lasagne for tonight’s supper, and enjoy a quiet Friday night at home.
It’s been raining nearly non stop here, the last few days! It’s been making it hard to find much motivation at all. Today, Jackie and I hung out. Mikayla’s car had to have a whole new transmission put in it, and that was finally finished. So, we went to the shop it was at. I ended up just paying the shop, and brought her keys home with me. That place is down in a holler. There’s only a very rutted up dirt (currently mud) road to get down to it. I decided not to attempt driving her car up that road, and Adam and Justin are going to go get it tonight, instead. While the boys are doing that, Jackie and I made some very last minute plans. We’re going to a concert! I’m super excited!!
Chronicles in Submission 