{WHW}: Infections and Aggression

Quite the title, eh? That's what's hap-"pinning" this Wednesday in my area...

Ella's preschool called me yesterday in the late afternoon saying she'd been fussy and upset off and on during the day and woke up crying and grabbing her ears. A telltale sign of an ear infection. So I picked her up and whisked her off to the doctor to discover that, indeed, double ear infection. We're lucky that this is only her second ear infection in her life, and hopefully the next one is way far off. Just glad to get some antibiotics and have those start to help ease the pain in her poor little ears.

In addition to that, I'm still dealing with an aggressive administratior, for no reason other than to assert power over me. I won't pretend to understand WHY this is a necessity for this person, but I'm making sure to keep records of everything in case I need to go to HR about it.  It's not in my personality to make waves, but I'm not going to sit back and be treated unfairly for no reason.

At the end of the day, this little girl makes each day brighter, despite all of the BS that unhappy people try and put on others. I'll happily show my daughter what it means to stand up for herself and for fairness.

In the meantime, snuggles make even the crummiest of days that much better.

Hoping your week is better than Ella's and mine have started. And for all of my friends in the South, please stay safe with this storm!!

Rainy Weekend/Cold #2

Happy Tuesday friends…

Pardon my absence lately but my school system decided to block all blogs from being accessed, and I used to do my blogging either before school when I got here early, or during my lunch and now I can’t do either. So we will see how this shakes out.

Our weekend was pretty uneventful overall. Lots of rain (hoping you all in the hurricane’s path are doing alright and staying safe!), and cooler temps on Sunday made for lots of time indoors.

On Saturday went to Tysons (the mall), just to get out of the house for a bit and grab dinner. Macys was having an awesome sale, and I ended up snagging this adorable reversible jacket, and these two shirts for Ella for $30. I tried the jacket on her when we got home to see how it fit (huge of course), and when I took it off, she insisted on putting it back on, so I think we have a success hehe!

We got dinner at Bushel and Barrell around 5pm because we have a kid and no eat early like old people (Sarah, I know you can relate to the old people eating time based on your Insta-story this weekend). The food there was SO good--we got the tots with the cheesy cream sauce and two burgers which were super yum!

MG had to go in to work really early Sunday morning, so little miss and I had a morning of snuggles and fun to ourselves. She finds it funny to wear my socks (and insists on me putting them on her, even when they are on my feet), so I snapped a shot of this hilarity:

Ella also decided to perfect her stacking skills on Sunday and by the evening, she had stacked this set of blocks, totally on her own. I’m not as well versed in baby skill development, but I feel like this is pretty good fine motor abilities for a 16 month old!

Ella started coughing and had the tiniest of runny noses Sunday, and woke up Monday morning coughing a lot but in a good mood. So, here we are, cold #2 for the school year and only week 4 of daycare/preschool.

We made chili at home for dinner, and watched football—the perfect rainy Sunday activity.

Hoping your weekend was nice, and dry!

{WHW}: Labor Day'ing

Happy WHW! Thankfully with Monday off, this week is actually going by pretty quickly, unlike last week.

Despite the frustrations around work last week, this one is off to a good start and I'll take it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we had a great weekend away with MG's family, and Ella's started at her new school which I already love a million times more than the daycare center she was at the previous two weeks!

The end of my crap week came with the highlight of getting to finally see Hamilton at the Kennedy Center with MG and my mom, and let me tell you, it was IN-CRED-I-BLE!!!

The Room Where It Happened!!

Unfortunately our drive home we hit some MAJOR torrential rain which actually made it super scary to get home. By the time we made it from the car to the house, we were all soaked.

~We went to bed and got up early in the morning and packed up to head to PA. Ella took a little snooze on the drive up and we got there by noon without hitting any traffic. Praise!

~After a little kerfuffle with plans, we met up with my SILs, and nieces at a shopping center and went to Old Navy. Ella decided to explore the store, and become one of their window models.

~We ended up running into more extended family in the shopping center, and then made plans to meet up at my SIL's house for dinner, pool time, etc. It was really nice because we rarely get a chance to see this part of the family, so the chance meeting and later meet up was a lot of fun.

Ella enjoyed making my SIL's dog her living pillow :)

~After pushing Ella two hours past her bedtime, we made our way home and the next morning dropped Ella off with my SIL's and nieces so that we could go to the outlets and they could get some time with her. More adorable pics were sent:

~After buying quite the haul of clothes (and getting ridiculous deals), we made our way back, had lunch and let Ella nap and then headed out to look at some houses in the area.

Later, we went with our family to see this new place they'd been raving about (an outdoor garden thingy) before going to an early dinner

Dinner was a slight debacle in that we obviously got an inexperienced waiter, who spilled beer all over my MIL (she was drenched) at the start of the meal, and then it took over an hour for us to get our food despite being the second people in the restaurant for dinner. Nevertheless, the food was really good and they comped us some of the meal.

That night we stayed in with my in-laws and watched a movie, and the next morning we hit the road right after breakfast. 

Weekends like this make it super hard to leave, and definitely make us want to move even more. Just having the extra support for running errands was awesome, not to mention all of the extra impromptu family get togethers that we miss out on.

Hoping your LDW was a great one as well!

Link up with Jessi and I to share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

TBB Asks (Cozy Edition)

I always love the TBB Asks posts, and wanted to participate in the Cozy Edition this month!

1. Slippers: YES or NO?  

    Sometimes. I have slippers that I wear that are super comfy (Target!) but mainly in the winter time.

{via}

2. What is your favorite Blanket?

     These super soft ones that we got from Costco. They're always on our couches and we always curl up with them every night. You've probably seen them many times in the background of photos that I take of Ella.

3. Thin or Thick Pillow?

   Thick! My husband prefers thin--I call it the "no pillow pillow". I used to sleep with two pillows growing up but now I have one of those fancy sleep-specific pillows (based on how you sleep) and it's magical.

4. Favorite Warm Beverage?

    Probably coffee

5. Robe: YES or NO? 

     I have a robe...actually i think I have 2 or 3, but I rarely use them. I used them slightly more when I was on maternity leave and nursing.

6. Favorite Comfort Snack Food(s)?

    Chips and Salsa, white cheddar popcorn, cheese and crackers...I could go on and on

7. Movies or TV Series Binge?

    TV series binges. 9 out of 10 times when we watch a movie on the couch anymore, I fall asleep.

   Currently watching The Sinner (although the binge-ing part is over since we're all caught up), and trying to get caught up on The Affair.

8. Actual PJ’s or Leggings?  

    I could do either honestly. I go to bed in just a t-shirt though.

9. Do you cozy up on the couch or a chair? 

   The couch, 100%

10. Hoodie, T-shirt or Sweater?

   Hoodie for coziness!

TGIF

WHEW! This may have been the longest week I've ever had in a LOOOOOOONG time.

Every day this week has felt like a week in and of itself, so in my head, I've been at it this week for about a month...needless to say I'm ready for the weekend, desperately.

Unfortunately things did not go well with my admin and they are in the process of trying to make my work life uncomfortable because I stood up for myself and requested not to have a morning and afternoon duty because I'm split between schools, and have a lot of other program specific things that I need to take care of during the school day. Not to mention that the duty lasts after contract hours every day.

So, that hasn't been the best start to my year, and basically I've now learned that I should just shut up any time I have a concern about something instead of standing up for what I need because now they are just making life here worse for me, and I still have to do the duty they assigned anyway.

I come home from days and weeks like this and collapse. And then I wake up at 4 something in the morning because I can't shut my brain off. 

I'm tired.

I'm SO thankful for the long weekend this weekend, and a highlight tonight with Hamilton! I've been playing the sound track on my commute to and from work which puts me in such a good mood. I'll tell you all about it next week!!

We're planning to head up to Philly this weekend to see my in-laws since it's been a while. As much as I'm not looking forward to the drive or possible traffic, it'll be nice to put some distance between myself and Virginia after this week.

Today also marks the last day that Ella will be in daycare at the place she's been at the last two weeks. It's been fine for the short term fix that we needed, but I wouldn't select this place as a long term options. For one, it's super expensive ($400/wk) which includes "healthy" meals, but a lot of what I've seen them write on Ella's sheet is very very carb-heavy with not a lot of protein things. And every time I drop her off or pick her up, 90% of the time the little kids are sitting around a table eating saltine or oyster crackers instead of playing. 

I had Ella's back to school night at her preschool last night and I'm hopeful that her experience there will be a lot better, and more personal. It's really hard trusting others to care for your kid, and no one will do it as well as you would, but it's nice when you find something that's pretty close to it. So, we'll see how next week shakes out, but I'll say I'm not sad to be saying good bye to the daycare center.

At the end of the day, the most important things are your family, friends and a place to lay your head. I saw this on Lynn's instagram the other night at a time I probably needed to see it the most. I just wish everyone was able to look at life and jobs with this ideal in mind

I live for this girl:

Anyway, sorry for the heavy-ness of this post. Just the space I'm in right now and working on moving towards happier, more carefree, roll-off-my-back kinda times.

Hoping your week didn't feel like a month, and that you get to enjoy the long weekend ahead!

{WHW}: A New Year

Happy hump day, lovies!

Today marks the second official day of school for students in my county, and it's already started off with a bang for me! (more on that below)

Let's get caught up...

Family:

My in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last week. They're away on a trip to Maine, so in addition to our celebrations down the shore a few weeks ago, MG and I sent them a bottle of wine and dessert of their choosing at their anniversary dinner since we couldn't be with them. 50 years is quite the accomplishment!

At our house, we're adjusting to me being back at work as best as we can. I've got two crock pot meals going this week (Salsa chicken yesterday and meatballs today) to ease up on the demand for cooking etc now that kids are back at school making the days longer.

my "helper" :)

Within 3 days of daycare last week, Ella came home with a runny nose and it's been running ever since. MG caught her cold and I stayed unscathed (thank you saline nasal spray and Zicam!) which is a change from last year when I'd get any and every germ she had.
Also, how is she going to be 16 months tomorrow?? Where is the time going???

Our oldest niece is off to college and loving college life it seems. Crazy to think she's off on her own now, but so glad that she's adjusting so well!

Work:

I'm basically going cross eyed after attempting to create my schedule, and looking at 7 grades worth of teacher schedules, plus specials/lunch schedules in order to determine when I can pull kids. It's crazy! I'm also trying to advocate for myself with my administrators who gave me bus duty before and after school when I'm split between two schools, and currently not even getting the mandated amount of planning time in my schedule as it is. I'm sure they're looking at it as though I'm not being a team player, but in reality, I'm just trying to stick up for myself in order to get my job done, and done well. Which to be honest, gives me knots in my stomach because I'm not a wave maker--I'm a rule follower and a do-what-you're-told-er. But I've learned over the years that if I don't say something, no one will, and better to stick up for myself than to just shoulder another burden and stress myself out even more. Even if it means them looking over my shoulder and making me prove to them how busy I am.

Blah.

Fun:

I am literally counting down the days, minutes, seconds until we see Hamilton this Friday! I seriously can't wait and it will definitely be a bright spot at the end of a really long week.

MG and I finally made it to bartaco this weekend! We saw that it had opened near us many months ago and after seeing Amanda rave about it (and all of her snaps there on the weekends), it made me want to try it even more. The weather was gorgeous and we got a table outside, with no wait, and enjoyed so many of their tacos--including a secret one with lobster!--their guac, and the churros with chocolate sauce. Ella's face says it all with how we enjoyed it, chocolate face and all!

Afterwards we spent some time on the lawn, soaking up the gorgeous weather.

Sunday Ella took a 2+ hour nap (praise!!!) so we missed a friend's birthday party, but instead we took a walk along the water in Old Town with E-bear and took a path that was "less traveled" and discovered this historical land mark for where the original state lines were for DC and Virginia. 

someone was excited!

Adult Stuff:

I can't remember if I mentioned it here previously, but our neighbors had told us about the cleaning company they used for their house, and we had been talking about maybe getting a cleaning service anyway. So we used them the other week, and then they came again on Monday. Can I tell you how nice it is to walk into your house at the end of a work day and have beds changed with fresh sheets, a nice clean scent and everything glistening??? Amazing! Best money we've spent, and now we have that much more time together on the weekends because it's not spent cleaning toilets, etc.

Tomorrow we go in for our consultation with our fertility doctor and I'm nervous. I'm anxious and...scared isn't the right word, but maybe timid? Trying to keep my mind and my heart open, while also keeping the stress and fears at bay for now. Send us some positive vibes if you have a sec!

On that note, I'm gonna depart! Make sure you link up with Jessi and I and share what's hap-"pinning" with you!!

There's Nothing Better...

....than climbing into bed with fresh sheets

....having your kid walk over and wrap their arms around your neck

....a cold drink on a hot day (white wine? Beer? All of the above?)

....seeing karma in action

.....a note in the mail or a surprise package

....no humidity

.....reading a book on the beach/deck/outside on a nice day

....putting your feet up after a long day

....getting amazing news from your friends

.....seeing someone you care about smile

....cuddling a sleeping baby

....holding the hand of someone you love

.....seeing someone after a long absence

.....getting an unexpected raise

What else would you add to this list?