I can’t believe that it was just a week ago I was walking around on Halloween! It has been a week of Halloween fun, sickness, work backlogs, AI teaching woes, and more. So, definitely not all favorites, but we’re focusing on the good for Friday Favorites with A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals!
#1 – Halloween Fun, of course!
It just happens to be one of my favorite holidays! This was my first Halloween I spent without my daughter with me, which was a little sad. But she was out having fun with friends, and I was happy for her, and I got to spend the evenings with a big group of kids and parents trick-or-treating, so I’m not complaining! I’m so glad I have friends with younger kids who I can tag along with! Halloween decorations rival Holiday decorations for me! The pumpkins and little black cats – so simple, but fun! The tree and the creative carving people have done! So impressive. My work department’s theme was Tacky Tourist, but one of my students asked if I was a VSCO Girl (anyone have an elementary schooler or tween in 2019 and remember this trend?) and I thought it was hilarious! The hat was not VSCO, but everything else was on point – especially those socks and birks! My friends’ family won the night with their Dolly Parton Look-Alike Contest costumes! So creative. And they are true fans of Dolly, so it was especially cute.
My daughter is newly into X-Files, which I was a HUGE fan of and have rewatched multiple times. So, I was proud she went as Scully!
#2 – October ending!
Don’t get me wrong. I love many things about October, but holy cow it is a lot. So, I’m glad to see a quieter month, with cooler weather, changing leaves, and a week off from work at the end! This month’s phone screen is the vibe I’m looking for.
#3 – Getting well after being sick!
The week started off a little rough. I went to work early on Monday because a colleague called out. I felt fine in the morning, but around Noon, I noticed how cold I was. Our space in the library is sometimes a little dysregulated temperature-wise, so I turned on my space heater and attended an online meeting where I was a mess – I could not find anything I was looking for and couldn’t remember things from the last meeting. Just not my typical self. And I was still freezing. And now I was getting achy. So, I sent a message to my other colleague that I was going to head home early and left. By the time I got home, I was in full exhaustion. I took my temp and it was a little high, but not bad – 99.8. So, I took some Tylenol and laid down thinking I would take a nap for an hour or so and probably feel better. How wrong I was!
By late afternoon, my temp was up to 101 and I was feeling so much worse, still freezing and I went to bed. I wasn’t really able to get myself to get out of bed for more than 5 minutes at a time for the next 24 hours or so! It was bad. Fevers up to 102.5 overnight, head pounding, achy muscles and my back was killing me. I finally broke the fevers and started to feel better late Tuesday afternoon. I worked from home on Wednesday and went back yesterday a little tired, but feeling pretty good. Today is the first day I am finally feeling myself!
#4 A healthy, independent, happy seventeen-year-old child!
If you didn’t know, my daughter had a heart transplant when she was only 5 months old. You can read about it on my Second Heart blog if you’re interested. This year, her Senior year of high school, a lot of people have been asking me how I’m doing, and honestly, I’m not sad at all. I think there were so many days, weeks, months I didn’t know we would get here with her. So, every day and every milestone is a giant gift to me – not something to be sad about, but something to celebrate and appreciate!
So, this weekend, her and her friends are going camping! Alone! My husband isn’t too thrilled about it, but I think its great! They are only going to be about an hour from home at a campground that has cell reception and there will be two vehicles and four girls. She has been a Girl Scout since Kinder, so I told her to follow the Girl Scout rules of buddying up, being prepared, and leaving no trace. I hope they have a fantastic time! I’m proud of her for going and I’m proud of them for taking the initiative.
So, that’s been my week. A chunk of it spent in bed. I missed my monthly Bingo game on Wednesday because I was still feeling a little ick. And now, I’m on my own for the whole weekend because my husband is traveling for work and my daughter is going camping. I’m not sad about it honestly. I still have quite a bit of work to catch up on from the firehose that was October and then being out last week for a vet appointment and then getting sick this week. And I can watch what I want, eat what I want and do or don’t do what I want! All. weekend. long.
#5 Voting in the mid-term election
I dragged myself out of bed to fill out my ballot and sent it with my husband on Tuesday. I love going to the polls and voting in person, so I always wait until Tuesday. It just feels more real and meaningful, and I love how positive and supportive all the poll workers are. I worked a polling place one year, and it was such a great feeling! But it was not that this year. Sadly, I just had to send my ballot to be dropped off.
I am happy I was able to vote, and I’m extremely happy with the mid-term results! I have some definite favorites. As a rhetorician, I love Talarico’s sermon-like speaking style, and as a human, I love that he was a former middle school English teacher! Middle school teachers are truly doing the Lord’s work! 🙂 I also love Iowa’s Rob Sand and his singing of America the Beautiful at his Town Halls. It has a little Girl Scout vibe to me! I think that Adam Hamilton in Kansas seems like an exceptional human being. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician (I also have a soft spot for children’s doctors with my daughter’s health problems), in South Carolina. It feels positive, hopeful, kind, and compassionate. I’ve needed that in my news and politics for a while now.
#6 Therapy dogs for Faculty!
Oh and today is the end of our Faculty Reset Week at work, which I missed most of due to illness. But today is the best day because we have therapy dogs coming to visit at 1 pm!!! I know I have two of my own and it is ridiculous to be excited about petting some other dog, but it really is my favorite! That and baby goat grams!
How was your first week of November? Stay well out there, folks! The bugs are nasty!
