Currently...

I don’t know what to say today.

So I’ve started a couple posts with this sentence and then haven’t gotten past that because man, things are busy these days.

So let’s start things back in motion with a try at a “currently” post, shall we? Yes, let’s do that.

Loving

I’ve been walking twice a day with coworkers and it’s been so good to get away from my desk. Mental health is underrated.

Reading

In the last week (okay, maybe four days) I’ve read the Winner’s Curse trilogy (fantastic), The Raven King (is there a word for better than fantastic?) and The Rose Garden (which was lovely but paled next to the others and I’m glad I read it first).

My plan is to read The Raven King again before it has to go back to the library.

Watching

You thought I was going to say baseball, right?

Well yes, but also hockey. Go Bolts!

Listening to

Right this very second I’m listening to Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits on Prime Music.

Good stuff.

This morning I finished listening to The Wrath and the Dawn by audio (I read the print earlier this month) and it was delight to the eyes and the ears. I have The Rose and the Dagger downloaded to start this afternoon on my drive home from work.

Thinking about

I finally got an orthopedic appointment for Spencer scheduled for tomorrow so I had to go through all the intake forms for him and I’ve been thinking about that. I’m not going to the appointment and it’s hard for me to let it go. My husband is perfectly capable.

Anticipating

I go to Kansas to see Dawn in SIX DAYS. And see the Rays play the Royals and spend quality time not working.

I went to find photo number 1 but then couldn't not use photo number 2 also. Sigh. Love that girl.

Wishing

 It was the weekend already.

Making Me Happy

No-buy continues, Mother’s day and more baseball

I’ve done pretty good on my no-buy lately, although I have to admit that I haven’t been keeping track as well as I should.

5/8 I thought about flowers for my mom but they were unrealistic since she drives a scooter so I didn’t end up getting anything until early Sunday morning when I took myself to Walgreens and got chocolates etc for her and my sister. $35. Doing this earlier in the week probably would have been cheaper.

I know that C spent a bit of money getting foodstuff for hanging out at his parents’ house for Mother’s Day but I’m choosing to ignore those expenses as reasonable and necessary. Food=good.

Other than making sure I had wine and beer in the house when I went grocery shopping, I haven’t bought anything else. I've THOUGHT about buying things, and one night I even dreamt I bought a bunch of things on Amazon but I have not done so.

So. Mother’s Day! I have been fraught with anxiety and thinking about Mother’s Day took me over the edge on Friday and I went home to lay down for three hours and eat cheap macaroni and cheese. I made some decisions though, and on Sunday I carried them out. I made overnight French toast and left explicit instruction on baking so that I could sleep in. I am incapable of sleeping in and rose at 6:53a, but I tried and they tried which is all that mattered. 

I got several hours with my family, and then the boys and I packed up and headed to the hospital with my mom to spend some time with new baby and my sister. That again ended up being a lot of nonsense, but I did get to see new baby and my sister for 10 minutes and the boys were uncommonly good at the hospital. At exactly when I said we needed to leave, we headed home, dropped off my mom and spent the rest of the day at my inlaws’ house eating fried chicken and Cubans and eight million chips and veggies soaked in ranch. It was a good time.

(side note because I just reread my last post: C took the boys shopping for me for MD and I said “I want bath stuff and/or chocolate” and got my bath bombs. I went for direct. Score!)

My anxiety came back with a rush around 5pm, but since we had taken two cars to my inlaws’ house I packed myself home for a quiet moment and a bath before everyone else came home. We might need to do that every time we go anywhere; it was so freeing to say “whelp, this was lovely but I’ve had enough and ciao!” without waiting for everyone else to be ready to go.

Monday we found out that S made the AllStar team and that is exciting! But wow, expensive. (I’m not really surprised but there was a slight bit of sticker shock still) We had wanted him to find out when they called his name at closing ceremonies but then practice started this week and he had to be told. However, he went through practice and didn’t understand that he was on the Allstars, he just thought they were letting him practice with them so that was a little amusing.

AllStars puts a slight crimp in our vacation plans as regionals is the same weekend we planned to leave, but we’ll end up spending the weekend at a hotel in the city of the tournament and then leaving direct from there Sunday night. Now that we have specifics on when practice and games are, we’ll be able to actually plan vacation and other things that come up. I love actually being able to plan. 

House buying, no-buy May and Whole 30-ish too.

We’ve been talking about buying a new house here for the past several months and have started driving neighborhoods and crunching numbers. We’ve been deciding what really matters to us (me: 4+ bedrooms, pool or community pool, fireplace, sidewalks. Him: good deal, office, space, no major immediate updating needed).

So for years we’ve lived far within our means, which means that we can dine out when we want and order from Amazon when we want and generally not worry and even still save money. It’s been lovely, but now we need to get real. I decided to do a no-buy this month because honestly, it’s out of hand. I need to just say no to Amazon. Make a meal plan and stick to it. Not run to Target and accidentally spend … well, you know what we all spend at Target on an unplanned run.

It helped that Stephany blogged that she was going to do one, so here I am. Admittedly, it hasn’t gone perfectly so far, but I can at least say that I thought about every dollar spent and how to change that for the rest of the month.

5/1: we had plans with the baseball team to go to Culver’s, so that was $25. This was already a planned expense because we’re going to do the kid stuff. It is what it is.

Also, midday a friend messaged me to ask if I wanted to go to a musical with her. I didn’t have to pay for the ticket, but I did buy myself two glasses of wine. $16.

5/2: I stopped at Starbucks for coffee and breakfast, but I have money in my account so I’m not sure yet if this counts. But anyhow, $11. My sister had her baby, which was unexpected, and I picked my mom up and took her down to the hospital. Coffees and waters at the cafeteria $6

5/3: I forgot to pack myself a lunch for work, and with the insanity of some professional stuff, I did not take a lunch and ate from the vending machine. Cheetos and Dr. Pepper: $2.

Today I brought my breakfast and lunch and my water bottle so hopefully even though I left my La Croix at home I’ll be good.

I did my grocery shopping for the week and only forgot one thing, so I’m going to make myself a very specific list to get in and out without buying up the store. I’m trying to decide if I want to buy bath bombs or make comments tonight about needing them and see if they show up for Mother’s Day.

So obviously also, my expectation to try to do Whole 30 has not worked out well either. I’ve been a bit more purposeful in my carb-loading that’s a lie. I haven’t made pasta or rice with dinner. That’s the only truth. I want to try. That’s a truth. Once the rum cake my MIL got me in the Caribbean is gone, I’ll see what I can do. Tomorrow is another day. Truth.