Weekend Recap

We spent all weekend outside.  The weather was perfect.  We thoroughly enjoyed our 3-day weekend.  The end.

But really, it was a great weekend.  W was super cranky on Friday and that carried into Saturday a bit.  A and I wondered if he was going through a growth spurt because he was just in a bad mood and defiant.  On the bright side, he did really great at t-ball.  We’re still debating signing him up for the summer session.  After that, we dropped the boys off at my mom’s house so that I could go to my Global Entry interview at O’Hare airport.  I basically begged A to drive me because I couldn’t imagine trying to find parking and it’s crazy expensive.  So thankful it worked out.  The “interview” was super fast – just fingerprints, a photo, and a couple questions.  I ended up finishing before my interview was even scheduled (so nice that I was early and they didn’t make me wait).  Since I was finished so fast, A and I decided to take advantage of our extra time.  We stopped at a local Mexican restaurant and sat outside eating chips and queso dip.  I even ordered a margarita.  Bliss.  We picked up the boys (who had been outside the entire time) and headed home, where we played outside even more.  So much fresh air for those two!  They couldn’t get enough.

Sunday, W had tennis.  He’s just not into it and I’m so happy we only have one session left.  To be honest, I’m not really a fan of the class either so I can’t blame him.  After tennis, we met my mom at Starbucks for our usual bagels and juice.  S ended up falling asleep so it was just the three of us this time.  From there, it was grocery shopping and then we played outside for most of the day.  I made dinner.  I’ve been missing my Sunday cooking routine and it was great to get back into it.  We finished the day with dinner on the deck.

Monday consisted of a trip to the park and more time outside.  A grilled brats and hamburgers (because that’s what you do on Memorial Day) and we ate outside again.  The boys played with their water table – we’ve had it for 3 years and it’s still a hit!  We also played t-ball in the back yard and went for a walk.  All in all, a really great weekend!

Each day, there was a chance of rain, but it remained sunny and beautiful.  This resulted in sweaty, messy boys who needed a bath every day, grass stained feet, and popsicle stained shirts.  I loved it!  Annnd of course, W told me last night that he’s getting a cold.  I’m praying it’s allergies because I just can’t handle any more sickness.

Friday Thoughts

I love this time of year - the weather is warming up, A and W are almost done with school, traffic gets better, and I always consider Memorial Day weekend the start to summer!

Speaking of summer, we have lots planned and I'm a little nervous.  Like if I get too excited, our plans will somehow dissolve.  Cautiously optimistic....

S sings all the time and I love it.  Lately, he's been singing 'Tomorrow' from Annie and it might be the cutest thing I've ever heard.

Work is still a bit depressing.  The atmosphere has definitely changed and no one is particularly happy.  Time will tell.  I'm not sure what to think.  Just thankful that my old/new boss is great.

We're not entirely sure what our current tenants are doing.  We thought they were moving out of our townhouse and then they mentioned their plan to buy a house may not work out.  I decided to list the house on Zillow because I was afraid that the current renters would decide late that they were moving out and we'd be left scrambling to find new tenants.  They're supposed to give us 60 days notice prior to the contract expiring, and we're past that point.  Anyway, it's been listed for 5 days and I already have 7 inquiries requesting a walk through.  It's a bit overwhelming.  I even increased the rent in an attempt to weed out some people and I still get an email every day.  Wow.

Weekend Recap

A and I were both discussing how we’re in desperate need of a low key weekend – especially after this past weekend.  With that said, I really enjoyed spending so much time with my little family and the busy schedule was a welcome distraction to my work situation.

Saturday began with S’s last preschool class.  A offered to take S, but I really wanted to go.  I hardly get any one on one time with my littlest man and I’ve really loved these classes with him.  He’s just such a joy – almost always in a good mood, talks a lot, sings songs, thoroughly enjoys each little area of the classroom.  I’m so proud of him.  We’ve had lots of fun at these classes together and I’ll definitely miss them.

As soon as class was over, we headed home to pick up A and W so that we could head to W’s t-ball class.  Once again, he did great!  He fully participated the entire time and dare I say, had the best hit of the group.  I’m still shocked.  I figured he wouldn’t like t-ball at all and would take to tennis.  Nope.  At this point in time, he’s enjoying t-ball much more.  I did ask if he wanted me to sign him up for the next session or if he wanted a break, to which he responded, “Hmm.  I think I’ll relax for a bit.”  Lol.  So no plans to play on the actual t-ball team at this point in time.

As soon as that was over, we grabbed lunch and I headed off to a pedicure.  I just love the peace and quiet for an hour… and pretty toes too.  We finished the day by heading to mass at our usual church.  The boys just do much better there and a man came over to compliment us on their behavior, which was so very kind.

Sunday started off with tennis.  W did alright, but he’s just not very engaged.  And it’s still mostly drills – he has yet to hit an actual forehand or backhand and I think he’s a little bored and intimidated by the older kids.  After that, it was off to Starbucks where my mom was waiting for us with Mary Anne, the sweetest lady from church.  I just love her and I’m so glad she joined us for coffee and juice.  The boys were great and asked Mary Anne all about her garbage cans, air conditioner, and the make of her car… their current obsessions.

Then it was off to the preschool carnival where the boys enjoyed a bouncy house, games, and little petting zoo.  They had a blast!  

After we were there for about an hour and a half, A and I dropped the boys off at my mom’s house and headed back to work at the carnival.  We served pizza, hotdogs, and popcorn to earn our volunteer hours.  It was fun working together – reminded me of our theme park days.  Ha.  Before we were married, I had the mindset that I could never work with my spouse.  A and I have worked together twice.  Granted, we had different jobs, but it was at the same company and we saw each other throughout the day.  I can honestly say that I have really loved working with him.

Anyway, we headed back to my mom’s house, ordered Chinese food for dinner, and called it a day.  Always thankful for family time and grateful that everyone is feeling better for the time being.  Hopefully it lasts.

Friday Thoughts

A only has a couple weeks left of school and I am so so so looking forward to less hectic mornings.  Lately, the boys have wanted to take showers/baths in the morning.  While I’m happy that they enjoy bathing, it really adds a lot of time to our morning routine.  We’re almost always late for school, I have to remind W to eat breakfast fast, I’m scrambling to finish getting ready and get my things packed up.  It’s just crazy.  A will have to get W to “summer camp” so I’m curious to hear what he’ll think of mornings – lucky for him, he doesn’t have to work after school drop off.  On a related note, I’m dreading next school year when I’ll be dropping off BOTH boys. :P

We found out this week that our tenants will be moving out of our rental property.  I’m absolutely dreading having to clean up the townhouse and find new renters.  Uggh.  We’re considering replacing carpeting and appliances… I don’t even want to think about the cost.  We have a super busy summer and I was really hoping the current tenants would stay another year… no such luck.

I hate asking for donations so when it came time to raise money for Great Strides and sell tickets for a raffle at the boys’ school, I posted on FB.  It seemed like the easiest, non-confrontational way to let people know that we were participating in these fundraisers.  My colleagues don’t know that A has CF – it’s a long story, but the short version is we’re both private people.  A gave me his blessing to share his diagnosis recently, but I’m not ready.  As a result I hid the Great Strides FB post from my colleagues.  Anyway, I was so amazed by the support we received from our colleagues for both fundraisers.  A’s colleagues supported our walk team and several of my colleagues bought raffle tickets.  Our families also generously supported both campaigns.  On the contrary, I was surprised (and disappointed) by the lack of support from friends.  Only one friend contributed to the raffle.  She’s a friend I’ve only met in person once, but feel connected to and I’m very thankful for our friendship.  I’m trying not to read too much into it or be upset, but I will say I’m even more grateful for our colleagues – many of whom have become our friends through the years.

This week has been incredibly stressful and frustrating and I’m ready to move on.  For starters, we’re all still sick.  Well, maybe A is better.  S has a double ear infection and hasn’t been sleeping well.  I’m pretty sure I have a sinus infection and when I called the doctor, he told me to wait it out.  Great.  W is still congested.  I’m sick of being sick.  Heck, I’m sick of someone being sick nearly every day for the past month?  6 weeks?  I don’t even know anymore.  And then my department went through a massive reorganization and my bosses moved into a completely different section/area, but somehow, I stayed behind.  I was essentially in limbo for a few days, not knowing what group I was in and who I was reporting to, but knowing that my job was changing without any regard for my interests or goals.  I’ve witnessed colleagues who I greatly respect being treated incredibly unfairly – especially strong, intelligent women.  I was being considered for a promotion and that went out the window.  My title changed to what it was three years ago so I feel like I was demoted (though I’m assured I was not).  I’ve lost a lot of faith in my company – a company I was once so proud to work for.  The one positive in this abysmal situation – I now report to my original boss.  Someone who’s always had my back and who I do respect.  If things had to happen the way they did, I’m happy to have him as a boss.

Sorry, for such a depressing post on a Friday!  Bring on the weekend!

Mother's Day Weekend

Whew… these weekends… I feel like I need a vacation!

Friday, when I picked up W from school, there was a little project waiting for me.  I adore these mom questionnaires and was so excited to see that W did one at school.  He’d been telling me that he made me a Mother’s Day project and it was so cute to see him excited to give it to me.  He was confused by the questions ending in when and interpreted when as meaning on __ or during __, which made me love it even more. :)

"I love my mom more than anyone else."  Heart melted.

Saturday, we skipped S’s preschool class so that we could participate in Great Strides.  We had a small team this year, but I’m always thankful that we can get together and support finding a cure for CF no matter how big our team is.  The weather was absolutely perfect and our team raised over $700, which was awesome.

Unfortunately, we had to book it out of there as soon as the walk ended so that we could make it to W’s first t-ball practice.  He participated!!  The entire time!!  And he seemed to enjoy it!!  I was so so proud of him and he looked adorable  with his little baseball glove.  We found out that his best friend from school is in the same t-ball class and he had an instructor that he previously had so all that helped.  

From there, we went out to lunch.  We let W choose the place and he picked Tacos El Norte, which was interesting since he does not like tacos or any other Mexican food.  Ha.  We headed home and the boys played for a bit.  I had a headache and I’m still fighting a cold.  Blah.  After relaxing for a bit, I told A that I was going to grab a Frappuccino (yay half price happy hour!).  W heard me and asked if he could come along and get a bagel and juice.  Sure, why not?  And S heard that W was going somewhere and couldn’t possibly miss out so he came too. :)  The three of us enjoyed our drinks and it was a great ending to a busy day.

Since Sunday was Mother’s Day, I decided that I wanted to go to our usual church and be with my family.  That meant that W skipped tennis lessons, which everyone was fine with.  The boys looked beyond adorable in their matching outfits.  S even had a little jacket.  Cuteness overload.  They were great in church and we headed out to brunch afterwards with the entire family – 17 of us!  S was in food heaven!  I love that that boy loves to eat.  Brunch was great, but I was so darn tired after our busy Saturday and the stupid cold that will not die.  I enjoyed it nonetheless and it was so nice having A take the boys potty every 5 minutes. ;)  

W's bow tie, S's jacket... holy cuteness!  (My dress is Stitch Fix and I love it too!)

After brunch, we did our usual grocery shopping.  S ended up falling asleep on the couch and A took W for a long walk while I picked up a few things around the house.  Only S could manage to roll off the couch, land on some pillows, and continue sleeping.  He was out!  The boys gave me gourmet taffy apples and truffles along with a couple more questionnaires that I loved.

"Mommy works hard at keeping her kids good."  YES!!

They think I really love hot dogs??

It was a perfect Mother’s Day weekend!  I’m so incredibly grateful for my boys and my family.

Friday Thoughts

Tomorrow we participate in the Great Strides walk.  Hoping for great weather!  We have a very small team, but we have a lot of heart! :)

One of the things I love most about my family is their loyalty.  I feel like we'll always look out for each other and always support one another.  I was explaining to my mom that an extended family member had unfriended me on Facebook awhile ago and it didn't really bother me.  She gasped and asked why.  I told her I wasn't really sure, that maybe it had to do with my political views.  She was absolutely shocked that anyone would have the audacity to unfriend me.  So funny.  And I'm sure people unfriend me quite often. ;)

A weighed himself at home and his weight was 5lbs different than at clinic.  We also weighed both boys and their weight was exactly the same as it was at the pediatrician on separate occasions.  We suspect that the scale at clinic was off and although A's weight is down, it's not the 9lbs we initially thought.  Good news!

I purchased these shoes after they received rave reviews.  I felt like I was a little too old to be wearing them or not quite cool enough.  They took me out of my comfort zone, but by the end of the day, I was loving them.  Still not completely confident if white jeans either. :)

Since we're on the topic of fashion, I have a recommendation.  I know there are a billion fashion blogs and this isn't one of them.  BUT.  This dress.  Typically, I'm not an Old Navy fan - I think a lot of their clothes are meant for teens or young ladies and they aren't always the highest quality.  BUT every now and then, I'll find something I love.  I originally ordered this dress in a medium, large, and large tall.  And after trying them on, realized I should've ordered a medium tall.  I am NOT tall.  But I am a mom who likes dresses to fall at her knees and the regular size was just a tad short for my comfort zone.  Anyway, this dress is SO comfortable, you can add a belt to add structure, add a jean jacket, whatever.  So versatile. And less than $20 with the code THANKYOU.  Check it out.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend.  Our weather is supposed to be beautiful and I always feel especially blessed on Mother's Day.  Love my boys.

Happy Friday and Happy Mother's Day to all moms. :)

CF Clinic

Wanted to pop in and provide a really quick update on A’s appointment yesterday.  I know he was really concerned going into the appointment and even thinking about a hospital admission.  To be clear, he didn’t think he needed to be admitted.  He wasn’t feeling bad, but he knew the previous virus he caught, was a bad one and he could feel it affecting his lungs.  Antibiotics helped immensely and he was relatively back to normal when he started feeling another cold coming on over the weekend.  I know that it’s so dejecting to catch a cold right before clinic and A was worried his doctors might overreact before giving him a chance to fight the virus.  With all that said, there was good news and bad news from the appointment.  Bad news first:  A’s weight was significantly down.  The lowest it’s been in years.  Down 9lbs from his highest weight ever last appointment.  I was really surprised.  I guess seeing him every day, I didn’t realize he had lost so much weight over the course of three months.  CFers know that decreased weight often results in a decrease in lung function so that was very concerning.  Now the good news: A’s lung function was only slightly down.  His doctor even said it was within the range of error of the spirometer equipment so wouldn’t even be considered down.  Huge relief.  A is to continue weighing himself and increase his caloric intake and if he doesn’t see an increase in the next few weeks, he’s supposed to call his doctors.  Otherwise, he won’t have to go back for another 3 months.  I have to give A major props because for the past month, he’s been doubling his vest time and also going for long walks.  I really believe that these activities kept his lung function up and if he can continue these and increase his caloric intake, I think his lung function will improve more.  We’re also going to try yoga, which makes me laugh just typing that, but apparently yoga is especially helpful for CFers.

Unfortunately, the appointment was with the doctor neither of us is very fond of.  Just when I was thinking she wasn’t super annoying this time around, she made the following comment (I’m paraphrasing…): “The flu can be extremely detrimental to people with CF because of the bacteria in their lungs and many times they can’t recover.  So good luck.”  WTF?!?  I’m not sure why we were talking about the flu.  A hasn’t been tested for it or shown signs of having the flu.  And good luck?!?  Was she trying to make a joke?  I have no idea, but what kind of doctor gives a “good luck!” as their only advice?!?

Weekend Recap

This weekend seems like one giant blur.  And this was supposed to be our low key weekend.  Yikes.

Saturday started off with school for S.  A took him this time and I hear it went great.  He texted me that one of the mom’s was really annoying.  YES!  And that is why we are perfect for each other.  Ha.  I find her super annoying too, but I can’t pinpoint what it is exactly that bothers me. J  While A and S were at school, W and I went to visit my aunt.  W and S are selling raffle tickets for school and she wanted to buy some.  It was great to catch up with her and W had to go see her air conditioner – because who doesn’t check out air conditioners when they visit family?  From there, we stopped at my mom’s house.  My mom is currently in Florida so W and I went to visit her cat.  A and S ended up meeting us there.  We had a quick lunch and the boys played with some of the toys kept at grandma’s house.  S was super confused about why we were there if grandma wasn’t.  I think Meiko cat was happy to see us for the first 10 minutes and then got tired of the boys constantly following him.  We headed home and A cut the grass while the boys played outside.  I cleaned the kitchen, living room, and play room (only to have them be a mess a short time later… why do I bother?).  After that, it was off to haircuts for the boys.  They did awesome.  S started crying at first, but the lady cutting his hair was so sweet with him.  And then it was off to church, where the boys were pretty awful.  In their defense, it was a very busy day, but my gosh, I’m ready to get back to Sunday morning mass.  These Saturday masses at our new church have definitely been challenging and the boys have always been really good during mass in the past.  Not used to this.

Sunday morning, W had tennis.  I think he did a little better than last time… maybe?  At least he remembered most of what he learned so that’s something.  He did look adorable with his tennis racquet.  We actually had a different coach – the son of the previous coach and I liked him better.  S and A even stopped by to see W in action.  

From there, it was off to Starbucks and grocery shopping.  We got home and unpacked the groceries and then headed out for an hour long walk with the whole family, including Addie.  Once we got home, I gathered some items for the church rummage sale, made my famous mac and cheese, the boys barely ate (so dejecting), baths and showers for all, and we called it a day.  So so busy.

Unfortunately, W has a cold.  S drank from W’s water bottle so it’s only a matter of time.  Now, my throat is scratchy.  I am so ready to be done with sickness.  Seems like someone in the family has been fighting something for the past couple months.

A has CF clinic tomorrow so please send good vibes his way! :)

And finally, because it's been on my mind all day, every day (so much so that I couldn't come up with a coherent post on Friday), I'd be remiss to mention the passing of the health care bill last week.  I am appalled, disgusted, horrified, saddened, dejected... there aren't enough adjectives to describe how exactly I feel.  When the bill initially didn't make it through the house, I breathed a big sigh of relief.  And yet, here were are again.  And there are exactly 0 women working on revising that bill.  WTF.  If you haven't already, I urge you to please, please call your senators.  I did and I hate talking on the phone.  Like I even make A order pizza because that's how much I loathe the phone.  But I did it.  And I nearly cried during that short discussion with whomever answers the phones in Washington.  It was actually easier than I imagined.  And then I cried when I hung up.  I also emailed my representative who voted in favor of the bill because I was too angry and emotional to call.  I explained the problems I had with the bill (loophole for pre-existing conditions) and let him know that he would not receive my vote in 2018.  I'm also considering campaigning for his opponent.  This bill has the potential to devastate millions of families.  CALL YOUR SENATORS!

When adulting stinks...

This week hasn’t been my favorite.  I told a coworker on Wednesday that it felt like it should be Friday.  He responded that it felt like it should be next Wednesday already.  Ha!

Work has been crazy, the boys have been crazy, and Tuesday when I got home from work, A asked me if I wanted the bad news or the worse news.  Really?  The bad news was he had spotted ants in the boys’ rooms.  Not all that surprising with all the rain we’ve had and all the crumbs the boys leave behind.  We were due for a visit from the exterminator anyway.  The worse news was that we seemed to have a minor flood in the basement and it appeared that water was coming from our hot water heater.  Uggh.  Luckily, the previous owners had surrounded the area near the hot water heater with carpet squares and they had soaked up much of the water.  It was easy enough to throw them away.  After picking up all the carpet squares, filling several garbage bags, and using up nearly all of our towels to clean up the mess, we began to look online for a new water heater – at 7pm.  We found one from Home Depot, only about 15 minutes from our house.  A called customer service to find out the cost for delivery and installation.  $700+ dollars.  So more than the water heater itself.  Crap.  I decided to call my cousin.  He’s super handy and installed our air conditioner last summer.  He told me he typically charged $250.  Sold!  SO grateful for his help.  He said he’d postpone another job so that he could help us the next day and asked if I could pick up the new hot water heater.  Somehow, that giant box just fit in my SUV – it definitely wouldn’t have fit in my previous car.  And by 5pm last night, we had hot water again.  Phew.  I know it could’ve been much worse.  So thankful my mom was downstairs and noticed the leak and thankful none of the carpet squares had gotten moldy.

I KNOW that repairs and replacing appliances are part of home ownership, but that doesn’t mean they don’t suck!  This is our third appliance in a year to die and I can’t help thinking about all the fun things (vacation, shoes, clothes…) $4000+ dollars could have been spent on.  Boo!!

Weekend Recap

Work has been a bit crazy so I'm just getting around to posting.

Finally a weekend in which no one was sick!!  Halleluiah!

I had a conference scheduled with W’s teacher on Friday and wasn’t really looking forward to it.  I know I’m sensitive, but it just seems like his teacher focuses on all the things he needs to work on versus what he does well.  In the past, we’ve been told that W is clumsy, needs to work on his small muscle strength i.e. using scissors, writing, holding a pencil correctly, and that he’s very reserved.  I would go into the conference without concern and leave feeling like a bit of a failure.  This conference, however,  was the complete opposite – nothing but compliments for W.  He is nice to the other children, he follows the rules, he uses scissors well, he contributes to discussions, he’s smart and has a large vocabulary, he is interacting with classmates more, he writes his name and draws pictures, he counts well, etc.  I nearly cried at the conference.  I’m so so proud of him.  We celebrated by going out for pizza and let W choose the place.  Such a great day!

This is basically every outing - the boys both want to sit on me and A eats in peace.  And no idea what W is looking at?

I took S to school Saturday morning and we had a great time as usual.  I discovered that S is a fan of string cheese. J  From there, S and I went to lunch with a sweet friend and W and A had a little outing of their own.  My friend brought along her 5 month old who was a complete angel.  He sat contentedly the entire time without a peep.  So cute!  S was great too.  My dear friend is battling skin cancer, but it was caught early on and she’s doing well.  She is incredibly resilient and amazing!  A took W to pick out his very first baseball glove and bat.  They also went to lunch and played at the mall play place.  A fun day for all!  We finished the day by heading to church.  Mass at the new church is much longer than we’re used to and it’s right at dinner time.  Definitely challenging.  I’m missing our other church.  At one point, the homily was going on and on and on.  W turned to me and said, “WHAT is God talking about?!?”  all serious and annoyed.  Bahaha! 

Sunday, W was supposed to have tennis, but it was cancelled at the last possible minute (which was super annoying since it had been raining all night and should have been called off much sooner).  We headed to Starbucks and met my mom there.  W had repeatedly been asking to visit her house.  I asked her if she’d mind if we stopped over and thankfully, she didn’t.  We decided we’d stop by after grocery shopping.  Grocery shopping was a disturbing experience.  As we were leaving, I heard lots of commotion.  A starting yelling out numbers and repeating them over and over.  I was so confused as to what was happening.  Turns out a man had pushed down an elderly lady and stolen her purse.  A saw the license plate on his car and repeated the numbers until he could write them down.  He’s my hero. ;)  I’m really hoping the police catch the scum bag.  From there, we headed to my mom’s house where the boys asked her 53,960,483 questions, looked for Meiko anytime he wasn’t in plain site, and requested to play with various toys.  We ordered Chinese food and had a relatively low key afternoon.

Despite the rain and cold, we managed to have a good weekend!  Just happy that no one was really sick!