Hi! I’m fine!! Everything is fine!!!
Life was just getting to be… a lot. It ended up feeling wonderful (and necessary) to take a few days “off” from blogging.
I continue to battle sleep issues which, combined with displacing to the guest room while our master bedroom is painted, an ill-timed late-afternoon nap on Sunday, and some pretty epic PMS = one weary woman this week.
All the Things seem to be happening. There were appointments for various people in the family (three appointments in the first two days of the week). There were two evening choir practices for our church’s Live Nativity. There were two soccer practices. There was picking up someone else’s kiddo at an event to help out a friend. There were three days of painting at our house. (While we did nothing to contribute to the actual painting, it took a lot of time to pull everything out of the room, remove closet doors, and then our stuff was everywhere which makes me feel squirrely.)
I am working on an update about our Europe trip. That aspect of life was feeling extra real and extra overwhelming in my tired state. But, we are taking things one little step at a time and progress is being made!
I proactively got some year-end accounting work done for our business, though there is still lots to be done. I know I complain about this every year but the whole corporate taxation thing stresses me out. Again, trying to concentrate on taking little steps forward…
Today Indy is off school so we are headed to Halifax with two of his closest friends to a trampoline park to celebrate his birthday! By the time we get back later this afternoon my parents will be in town!
Time for Happy Things.
INDY
The birthday boy. It’s hard to believe the leadup to his birth was the most emotionally stressful period of my life.
He is so loveable and wise and jolly and I am so glad I get to call him my son.
MY CHOLESTEROL NUMBERS ARE GREAT!
One of the appointments this week was follow-up from my repeat bloodwork after taking cholesterol meds for three months.
The results are exactly what we were hoping for. My other risk factors for heart disease are low, but with familial hypercholesterolemia… there weren’t too many great options outside of meds. A dear friend had a heart attack a few months ago and had high cholesterol that wasn’t being treated with meds, so I’m feeling extra grateful to have made the move and oh-so-thankful the numbers dropped quickly.
A KID IS READING WITH ME
Okay, having one of my kids interested in reading is a rare thing these days. But I got a Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior book for Indy (he’s listened to the entire series on audiobook already) and he has been plunking into a chair and reading. WHILE I READ.
Y’all, this is the stuff dreams are made of.
I remember hearing Gretchen Rubin talk about how her whole family used to sit together and read on Saturday afternoons and there isn’t much that makes me envious but that does.
I totally get and respect the fact no one else feels quite so passionately about reading as I do, but I was giddyāGIDDYāto have a reading parter.
SLEEP STUDY
I don’t have many of the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, but when I shared the atrocious deep sleep scores with my doctor (from my Oura Ring) she wanted to get me tested to rule that out. The sleep study is free and I have it all lined up for a few weeks from now.
FRESH PAINT
Fresh paint works wonders. Our bedroom has been liveable for all these years but it feels glorious to have paint we chose on the walls (and none of the former owner’s MANY nail holes) in the walls. The less fun side is the fact we then have to put all the things back but I know it will all be worth it.
Before shots:
Stay tuned for lots more after shots when the dust settles…
OTHER BONUS THINGS
- Belle got her first high school report card and it was superb. Phew. It feels good to have her start off strong.
- I thought I had run out of coffee and then I discovered a brand new tub of it (purchased months ago on sale).
- Twinkle lights. All the heart eyes for the tree. I am so very glad we got this set up. Despite the fact our view now includes everything that needed to be moved out of the master bedroom, it still feels cozy.
- Lasagna soup. Ever since Kelly joined me for a guest post, I’ve had my eye on this recipe and it did not disappoint. SO good. I bought mini lasagne noodles at a bulk store and 10/10 recommend that choice. (I skipped the MSG, used chicken stock instead of beef, and added some salt.)
And that’s a wrap. Happy weekending everyone.
- Lowlight of your week? Highlight?
- Have you ever been to a trampoline park?
Discover more from The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Glad you’re back, and hope that all that stuff ( waves hands in air at life in general and specific) continues to get dealt with.
Happy birthday to Indy – I love that you call him jolly . And he’s a reader too!
– Lowlight: broken dryer for over a week.I had to hang things up to dry, which isn’t easy ( I have no where to do so) and my family generates a lot of laundry. Other low lights include texts that bring news i don’t want, and students who continue on their path to failure despite so many options to improve.
Highlight- dryer fixed – only took 15 minutes. Just finished 6 loads of laundry that will be dry and soft and ready to sort. Also, son’s basketball team went into double overtime and lost but it was a great game. Kids really showed great talent and determination.
Trampoline parks are awesome! The kids love the variety of things to bounce on – its like a video game come to life. And I get to watch, cheer, and not bounce. Winning! I hope Indy and Co. Enjoed it! Congrats to Belle for a great report card- making the transition to high school can prove challenging- great that she’s handling the new classes with grace!
He really is jolly (we say that about him a lot). He’s jolly until…he’s not jolly. But most of the time, jolly is his default <3
Oh no! Laundry woes are the worst, especially with a large family. Glad it got fixed (eventually).
The boys LOVED the trampoline park; it was a fun, easy, wonderful birthday.
That’s the beauty of blogging – you can always take a break for a breather and then come back when the dust has settled.
You definitely had a lot going on… having your personal space renovated is enough to upset anyone’s rhythm. When will it be finished?
Ah, GREAT cholesterol numbers! You made the call, you took the meds, and it paid off. You must feel very relieved!
Good on you for chipping away at the accounting, too! I hate doing admin jobs like that, but once it’s done, you will feel so accomplished!
My highlight: tomorrow we’ll be taking a few student girls on a hike. The big holidays have started in South Africa so now they have time for it.
The painting is done, we’re just finishing up some closet work (we bought some IKEA built-ins), need to re-hang curtains etc. We’re still sleeping in the guest room but at some point this weekend we should be back in our room again?
Enjoy the hike! That sounds fun and I’m jealous of whatever weather you’re likely having. It was sunny here today, but the temperatures are dropping and I’m not feeling ready for winter!
Oh, I thought I had missed posts but I am (kinda) glad that this wasn’t the case and you had just stepped away (rightfully so, with so many things going on… but it sounds like it was productive, too. And yay for the great cholesterol numbers. I love when treatment is working as intended!
Happy happy birthday, Indy! I love all the photos, esp. his baby photo where he’s all swaddled up š
It felt shockingly good and helpful. Sometimes I don’t realize how much time blogging can take until I step back. It was a very full but productive week. And I am SO EXCITED it’s Friday!
He had an incredible birthday. It was simple, low-key (2 friends), and easy.
I hope the deep sleep study reveals the cause of your sleep, not sleeping well is sooooo disturbing at our age.
hooray for modern medicine right?!
lowlight of the week was internal work politics, but I am practicing resilience to deal with it.
The deep sleep situation is frustrating. But it feels good to have my family doctor helping me get to the bottom of it.
Oh yay! So many happy things!!!!! Happy birthday to your big little boy!
New(ish) reader to your blog here, and I have to tell you I absolutely love your Friday posts! As a bit of a pessimist myself, they are a nice reminder to collect and reflect on the positives. I know youāve said this practice has really helped you change your own outlook, and Iāll just say itās helping me as a reader too!
My lowlight AND highlight this week is trying out a new work routine. Iām front loading my hours with four 9 hour days so that I only have to work 4 hours on Friday. I ended up having a 12 hour day yesterday because of a conference so the lowlight was that I was reallllly tired from that, but the highlight is that I get to reap the rewards today with a very short workday!
Happy birthday to Indy! I hope he had a blast celebrating. I love trampoline parks in theory, but I went to one in my mid-twenties and tried to do a backflip, chickened out halfway through, and bruised my collarbone. It was highly unfortunate and made it hard to do push-ups for a long while, so Iām kind of scared of trampolines now.
Phoebe, you put the cherry on top of my day. Seriously. I’m grinning ear-to-ear.
It makes me so happy to hear you enjoy these posts (they’re my favourite ones to write because they bring me a lot of joy personally; doing this exercise weekly has made me far more aware of Happy Things!).
Oof. That is a tricky tradeoff for sure, with having extra long days. But I hope your shorter-than-usual day today felt blissful!
Eeks. Yes, a close friend of ours (in his 50s) dislocated his kneecap at this trampoline park. I happily watched the boys (no injuries, thankfully), but didn’t jump myself!
I hope you enjoyed that SIX MINUTES of deep sleep. Girl. That is brutal. I really hope the sleep study gives you some way forward. That’s not sustainable even with that glorious can of coffee (RAN OUT OF COFFEE OMG).
Happy birthday to Indy! We did a lot of those trampoline parks with the boys for birthdays as well, they loved them.
I’m so happy to hear your cholesterol news! I think I told you R went on a statin, there is a family tendency to high cholesterol, and it really did help. Thank goodness! Gosh, I have had so much bad news lately about people with health issues/ dying, and it makes me value my health even more. We have to take care of ourselves!
A fresh coat of paint feels like getting a whole new house! I mean, after all the furniture, etc, is moved back.
I KNOW. My sleep is dire. A blogger I sometimes read occasionally posts Oura Ring stats and she will have OVER TWO HOURS OF DEEP SLEEP. I feel like I have tried just about everything I can think of (showers before bed, lots of magnesium, cotton jammies for temperature regulation)…and nada. Oh well.
I was shocked how quickly my cholesterol came down! Praise the Lord for modern medicine (I can basically guarantee a number of my loved ones would be dead right now without modern meds and I’m sure my lifespan will be longer now that I’m taking statins).
Having rooms painted would completely throw off my week as well. You just can’t get comfortable when things are moved around like that, AND you had people in the house painting! I’m sure you were very happy to hand over that job, but still… i find it stressful to have people working in the house. But- it sounds like the job is done and you love it! I can’t wait to see more “after” photos.
is that the very latest Diary of a Wimpy kid book? I saw a display of them at Barnes and Noble but I thought the cover was more pink-ish (I guess what I’m getting at is, if that’s not the most recent one, you might have a Christmas gift idea for Indy!) When I saw the books at B&N, i had a pang of nostalgia and wondered if I could still get it for my son, like maybe it would be fun for him to read for old time’s sake. I didn’t end up getting it, but I do have fond memories of that phase.
Happy Birthday to Indy!!! How old is he now?
It’s Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior (which is all about Minecraft). He is OBSESSED!
He turned 11 today. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???? (I’m trying to think how long I’ve been blogging; he wasn’t tiny when I started but he was a lot littler than he is now). The days can be long but the years are short.
Happy birthday Indy! Yay for the good report card – no not Belle’s though that’s good too, I’m talking about your cholesterol numbers. Yay also that your doc is on the case and has you lined up for the sleep study. Have fun in Halifax today!
The highlight of my week has been relaxing at home, the lowlight is that I’ve picked up the cold from hell and cannot stop coughing.
Oh no! It’s officially cold/flu season and it feels like so many people are sick. Booo for winter germs. I hope you’re feeling better soon. You must be so glad you can just “be sick” and not have to slog through illness while working. Woot, woot for retirement.
We had a blast at the trampoline park.
Several highlights: a meaningful correspondence with you, Elisabeth!; some library books Iāve been waiting for; finding and wearing the Almost Perfect Denim skirt (a lifelong pursuit); a big grocery trip now behind me; good attendance at drawing lessons with a sense of having really helped each student; a day of work when I was able to make progress on every project (so much variety in the works right now, so many things depending on other people, trying to not drop any balls, figuring out how to remind people of their parts without looking desperate or being a nag).
Low points: seeing a real pillar in our church develop serious health troubles which are pointing to the end of the road for him (how to let go of someone youāve admired and depended on and loved for over 1/4 century. . . sigh); husband struggling after surgery and not getting any answers as to what is normal and how long the misery will continue.
Awww. Well aren’t you the sweetest.
Finding the perfect ________ (insert blank) in terms of clothes feels like a sprinkle of pixie dust over my life. Yay for all the other highlights as well <3
I'm so sorry your husband is struggling with recovery; it is so frustrating how different roads to recovery can be so very different between different patients. I hope he sees significant improvement soon.
I’m glad you are doing a sleep study. That is a ridiculous amount of deep sleep. Yikes! I hope you figure out what is going on. But yay for the cholesterol meds working! I’m glad there are pharmaceutical options because when you are genetically predisposed to something, meds are essential!
The high of my week was sleeping more hours (which I feel bad saying but my sleep was in such a bad place). I’m chipping away at my sleep deficit one night at a time. The low of my week was continuing to feel off. I’m on less prednisone, but still a good amount and it makes me feel so irritable. It’s really hard to figure out how much of my irritability is from pred and how much is from PTSD… but hopefully I will be off pred my early to mid December.
IT IS RIDICULOUS. But I’m doing the right things and am feeling quite relaxed about the whole issue, just hopeful we make some progress.
I am thrilled your sleep is improving. Yay, yay, yay!
Prednisone keeps popping up in horrible ways for you. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I hope you’re able to be off it again soon and everything will feel a bit closer to an approximation of normal <3
Love the color in the master bedroom! So pretty.
I am SO happy with it. I usually overanalyze every decision, but I literally chose the colour in seconds! (Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore)
Happy birthday, Indy! š
The New Moon wrecked everyone’s week I think. Eesh. My week has been a triple-tumult: Sunday morning ANOTHER HAWK came and almost killed Pepper, so she’s been getting a LOT of extra attention this week but is doing so so good – I am amazed at the resilience of that little chicken! Sunday night I also somehow got a massive scratch on my cornea – but didn’t find out until I gave in and went to the eye doctor. Oops and yikes. I couldn’t read until Wednesday, and it’s just been wild. AND Mr has been under the influence of a cold. So yeah. New Moon week needs to end now …
Meanwhile: LOVE the new paint color!! That’s gorgeous. And I’m jealous of your tree up already – I feel the need to drag one out and throw on some twinkle lights if nothing else š
Here’s to fabulous weekends and better weeks for all! <3
I SAW YOUR BLOG POST. Oh my goodness. The hawk situation is traumatizing for you and your poor chickens.
I have had one horrible cornea scratch (on Christmas Eve when I was a kid), and it was so very painful. Ouch. I am so sorry you’re enduring that. Hope you’re feeling better. And your husband. So many bugs going around right now.
I am loving having the tree up early. It is so cozy <3
Happy Birthday to your son. That baby picture is SO precious! Congrats on lowering your cholesterol, as I know that’s difficult to do. I made lasagna soup last week, but I used zucchini noodles (sliced long ways) instead of pasta. It was very good! My highlight will be this weekend. My son, DIL, and 2 YO granddaughter are coming to stay for 8 days for the holiday. We haven’t seen them since early September and kids sure grow fast at that age. I hope your weekend is full of good things!
Your weekends always sound so wonderful! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the time with family with lots of special memories (and delicious food).
So much to comment on- letās see. Breaks are always a good time to reset. Your sleep issues sound so awful. The move to Europe might be adding to that? Stress? I hope the sleep study gives you answers.
Low of my week: a frustrating situation with Kay (broken record here)
Highlight: Curlyās double OT win
I took reg and friends to a trampoline place for his bday – age 12? In a blizzard. Not my favorite evening. Plus they slept over and it was not restful.
Definitely some underlying stress about the move, but I have had sleep issues for a long time…but I think we’re slowly discovering the biggest issue is the amount of deep sleep (my average length of sleep at night is about 7 hours and 40 minutes/night).
Double OT – epic!
I am so happy for you about the cholesterol– and also, gold stars to you for sharing that the meds are working.. I have had a lot of shame about needing medications in the past. I just see a lot of weird/wellness-y talk around health things on the internet and I think natural options can be great, but I also think living in an age with modern medicine is really great too.
Ugh- my lowlight is that we’ve been cleaning our carpets and it stirred up terrible dust mite allergies for me! BLEH!
There can be a stigma around medication for all sorts of things; I see medication as a gift! It is a modern miracle to have these things to solve fundamental health issues. I’m glad they’re working and feel confident now was the right time to start them.
Oh noooo! Allergies are the worst and it’s awful to be trying to clean up and then have a bad reaction.
You were missed this week, BUT Iām very glad you were able to take a needed break!!
Happy birthday to Indy! Hope he had a splendid day – was he off school for his actual birthday or was the outing yesterday because school was off? If he was off on his actual birthday, that must have been a really nice coincidence!
Hmmm lowlight: Two of them one of which feels trivial given the second. The smaller one is Iām having a lot of pregnancy related back and hip pain. Iām grateful for a healthy and growing baby but tired of being sore. The more major lowlight was an extended family tragedy. Not my story to tell but very sad.
Highlights: Some really nice but simple every day moments like playing games with the kids in front of the fire. A fun trip to the zoo with the kids and some friends. And! Getting such a thoughtful Christmas card from you! Thank you!
He was off school for the day and it was his actual birthday! It was such a fun surprise and worked out PERFECTLY.
Pregnancy can definitely bring a lot of discomfort. I’m glad baby is doing well, but I hope you get relief from that pain š
Sorry for the painful/hard thing going on in your life. Sending hugs.
So glad my Christmas card arrived! <3
Lasagna soups sounds superb
It was so good. 10/10 going to make it again!
So many things to comment on! Happy birthday to Indy – he really does seem like the most joyful kid, at least from what you share here.
Hooray for great cholesterol numbers – that’s what we want! Medicine that works. I’m really happy for you!
And I will be so curious to know the results of your sleep study. Hopefully you don’t have sleep apnea, but I know it would also be helpful to know WHY your sleep has been so horrid lately. That’s how I felt when I got my sleep apnea diagnosis. “OHHHH, so there’s a reason I feel like such a zombie every day!”
Highlight of my week has been doing week in the life! Lowlight has been my terrible sleep. Ugh.
He really is so…jolly! It’s the right word. (Except when he’s not. He can get so upset sometimes, but it’s rare and mostly he just needs quiet time to recuperate at that point).
I’m so sorry you’ve had bad sleep. It seems to be “in the water” lately š
Battling poor sleep while still trying to parent, work and housekeep in a busy time is not fun. I hope you get some answers from the sleep study. The highlight of my week is probably my trip to the city and ticking off a few items on my todo list. The lowlight is that about an hour into our away day today for the Alpha course I’m helping lead, I got a migraine and had to go home. It has mostly resolved now, but it is frustrating when plans are derailed.
Oh I’m so sorry to hear about the migraine. How frustrating and painful.
Congrats on getting some things ticked off your to-do list!
The highlight of the week was that we finally made a decision and bought a new car! The lowlight was that I forgot to call the insurance people to get the car switched over so it’s sitting in our garage and cannot really be taken out on the road until I can call on Monday. Also, we traded in our beloved Hyundai Elantra and it was so sad. She had been such a good car and never let us down. And we just discarded her. That was not my finest moment. But, now we have a NEW CAR!! I’m proud of us for actually making a decision.
Congrats! That’s huge. I can understand the mixed emotions on saying goodbye to a car you’ve really loved. But hooray. The hardest part (the research/decision making) is behind you. Can’t wait to hear what you chose in the end!!!
So many lovely things to celebrate, Elisabeth. There’s nothing like fresh paint on the walls to improve a girl’s outlook! I love your Christmas tree, Happy Birthday to your son, Congrats on the stellar report card to your daughter, and… I love lasagna soup!
The soup was so good. I’m already looking forward to making it again. It was hearty and even better the second day which is amazing since I LOVE leftovers <3