1. Ben spending part of the week in Peoria. HOW IS THIS GOING TO WORK, EXACTLY?? We went there yesterday to see his new office and (gulp) apartment and so he could get an ID, keys, etc etc etc. It was fun to set up his space and go grocery shopping for essentials for his fridge. It's always a kick to walk around campus and see Peoria and buy merch at the Bradley bookstore. We ate at a favorite place near campus, and I ordered the same thing I have been eating since I was in high school. BUT. A couple things: THE DRIVE IS ABOUT AN HOUR TOO LONG, and we are all going to miss each other a ton. The good for sure outweighs the bad by a lot-- but it is a new rhythm, and you know I like my routines.
2. FIVE kids home for the summer. I mean, I know this is a thing that happens every year, but 5 kids is a whole lot of kids when they are all home every single day. It is also getting trickier as they get older and busier because we used to do fun themes and activities that everyone looked forward to, but now the 2 oldest boys work at the pool, and Dorothy and Cooper have dance/dive/baseball every day/night, and it's basically a summer in the mom taxi with pool breaks.
3. What I'm going to wear to graduation. Finally! Something on the list that's easily solvable. Other things like this include when the heck will I have time for a pedicure and do I need to color my hair again before the big day. You know, the important things.
4. STORMS now that we are all app-based in terms of our media consumption. It seems like our local CBS station on Paramount+ is the best way to get local weather. (Peacock says you can watch your local station, but when they go to national evening programming, the local weather warnings go away). Anyone else w/o cable solve this problem? Do you have a weather radio you love? Just use your phone? WHAT IS THE STORM PLAN FOR SUMMER 2024?!?!
5. Did I accidentally get mom hair the other day at the salon? There are lots of layers, and she thinned out SO MUCH HAIR from, like, the interior layers.
I think I am going to up my acupuncture to twice a month and see if that helps me relax. I could NOT sleep the other tonight and was just so WORRIED, but I was able to remind myself that I drank a 2 pm coffee (WHAT WAS I THINKING) and do deep breathing to calm down and sort of sleep-- and I think this space between me and my big feelings is 100% credited to acupuncture. It works SO WELL FOR ME for a variety of things from muscle tension to anxiety and? Has restored my stalled menstrual cycle-- take THAT menopause.
Campus is just made for the Gram these days
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Minnie immediately made herself at home at Ben's kitchen island, did an art project with glitter glue, and had a snack. She has never seen a place mat, by the way and called it A CUTE LITTLE CARPET SQUARE THAT IS A CIRCLE FOR MY PLATE
What about you? Anything stressing you out? How do you plan to solve it? Weather watching advice?
Wait wait wait HOW LONG WAS I GONE? Ben is in another...city? What. I think I need to catch up on blog reading WHAT? Um, that would be pretty stressful, I think I would continue the acupuncture indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I would 100% be stressing about hair colour and pedicure too BUT I have to say your hair looks fabulous!
Nothing stressing me currently except the many weeds in my garden that are going to take many hours of work to get out, I guess this is what I get for having a giant garden and going away for three weeks.
For what it's worth, I taught for a few years at a college about 2 hours outside of the city where we live. We were not willing to permanently relocate to this place but I was not willing to pass up that job, my husband was not willing to pass up his, and so we made it work. There were hard parts, for sure, but it became a new rhythm. When I left (for a lot of reasons) that was actually lower on the list than one might think. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteJuggling work in another place and parenting is so tough, but I know you guys will do it fabulously. From my years of experience doing something similar, I would say the transitions are the HARDEST bit. The constant hellos and goodbyes should get easier over time (?) but, for me at least, they don't. Re-entry is particularly hard. We're all on different rhythms and trying to mesh that again is tough, at least for us. That said, John comes home jetlagged and with dirty laundry and I suspect Ben will be pretty settled in each location with an apartment? Thinking of you guys in this BIG LIFE CHANGE and sending my best vibes and love <3
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'm anxious about a lot right now. Mostly unbloggable stuff. Right this second? John is away and we had someone come mow the lawn. He hit our water main and it destroyed his super expensive mower blade so we're going to have to pay for that. I pulled all the blinds so if he comes back to the door I won't answer it because THIS IS MAN TERRITORY and I will wait for my husband to sort it all out. But, yeah, stressful (for me...having had some epically horrific experiences with male contractors before).
What's making me smile? "A CUTE LITTLE CARPET SQUARE THAT IS A CIRCLE FOR MY PLATE." That is the best thing I've read on the internet in a long time!
Our county has an emergency alert app that covers everything from weather to road closures. It has been very helpful since we cut the cable. Maybe that will work for you?
ReplyDeleteI think the issues of Ben being in Peoria and how the summer is going to work, are things that seem daunting in advance, but once they happen, everything becomes clear. Not to downplay any of it- I'm sure the summer will be... hectic. Doubling up on the acupuncture is probably a great idea.
ReplyDeleteWhen is Harry's graduation??? I'm excited for you!
This is Lisa. I would struggle with Ben being away every week as well but you will adjust with time. It’s hard but you can do hard things and it sounds like this was the best decision career wise. If it doesn’t work out then you can always pivot but it is daunting to stare down a big life change for all of you!!
ReplyDeleteWe don’t have cable - we have this flat antennae thing that plugs into our tv so we can get the local channels. We have never had cable since I moved in with Phil in 2016 so we use that antennae thing to watch the news and weather and such. It’s works great!!
Sarah, Bradley has such a special place in your lives and that gives me a good feeling about how things will work out great for your family and how the new rhythms will make sense and feel right for all of you.
ReplyDeleteI feel I wasn't as optimistic in my previous comment on the subject, but that's because of my own experience with a similar setup when A was working in Milwaukee a few days a week. Things are very different when there's just one human child left at home!
You've got this, Sarah and fam!
How do I plan to solve it? I have no idea. I guess make a list, share it with T and get to work...
ReplyDeleteI just talked with a co-worker about what she's going to do with her kids over the summer and now I'm stressed about what all the parents are doing with their kids this summer!!
ReplyDeleteWith anyone else I would think it was COMPLETELY NUTS to have your husband living part time in ANOTHER CITY (how far is the drive exactly?) but I have absolute faith you will handle it well and blog it fabulously. Your hair looks great but I love crazy thick big hair and if you let her thin it less next time I won't be mad. We just went to a SURPRISE master's grad and I wish there had been time for a pedicure and a hair colour but OH WELL.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how far Peoria is from where you are but if Ben has to get an apartment for during the week, it's too far! :) I hope you'll find a rhythm... I am not sure how you're juggling a full time job AND kids by yourself during the week. Color me impressed.
ReplyDeleteAlso, love the haircut!