What a week! - Part 1

 Amidst the scent of freshly waxed floors and freshly sharpened pencils and the echoes of excited chatter, Day 1 of the new school year began, a blank slate filled with infinite possibilities.  Monday's chatter wasn't excited students.  It was the staff as we started the 2023-2024 school year with a whole district breakfast and meetings. It was a smooth start to the week with all the necessary things to get everyone on the same page about expectations for the school year.  After being at the high school for the first couple of hours, I went back to Winskill where our staff meeting began in the library.  My principal always leads with a strong vision.  His beginning of the year meeting was no different from others: high standards were set, sucesses were celebrated, and inspiration for the year ahead was created.  The morning was over quickly and I had just enough time to run home and get a few miles in before the afternoon work time.  Like with any first day, I came home from school at 3:30 exhausted but excited for what would come.  Quick clothing change and Roger and I went to Dubuque to watch Kate play soccer.  After the game it was a not so healthy dinner of Sonic---my first time!  Fried foods at 10 pm don't make early wake up calls for running easy.

Tuesday began in a similar way to Monday:  up and at school by 7:30.  Reading team and writing team meetings.  Breakfast while at school (thank you, Community First Bank, for providing it!).  There was a district lunch being provided at Memorial Park but I ran home to switch some laundry and get a few things done while I had the chance.  I returned to school for the afternoon and was able to get some things finished but I knew there was so much more to do.  I left at 3:30 but was able to convince Roger to walk back to Winskill Tuesday evening to complete just a couple of tasks with me.  We left Winskill by 6:45 and picked up Subway for dinner on our walk home.  As I was winding down for the evening I heard Will come in from practice.  It wasn't his normal entrance.  I could hear him bringing in some things.  He walked into our bedroom and I saw the giant, plastic wrapped, ice encased knee.  "I'm okay," he said.  I'm at a point in my life where I think when people say that, it means they really are NOT okay... just my opinion.  Apparently he had felt something during practice and gone off to the sideline for a little while.  The trainer had looked at him and worked with him to get the ice around his knee and his coach had sent home a cooler filled with ice to continue to 15 minutes every hour of icing. 

Made it to the mid week point and got outside for my morning miles! I knew that I needed to run because I COULD.  I have no reason not to be getting out for miles.  I am physically ABLE.  My 17 year old son can barely walk and I CAN RUN.  That was the push I needed to get out the door.

  It felt wonderful!  I knew I needed the day to start off this way because it was the day of the Back to School Bash which meant a little bit longer of a day filled with lots of EXCITEMENT.  I'd get to meet all my new families!  This was also the day of the active shooter drill at the high school.  Will was participating in the event.  I was walking to a 9:15 meeting when my cell phone started ringing.  I answered my phone to hear, "This is Brittany from Grant Regional.  I have WIll here.  Can you present yourself at the registration desk?"  My first thought was that something had happened with his knee and that he was at the emergency room.  

        "Yes.  I'll be there," I replied.  Then I realized that Will might have been at the active shooter drill.  "Is there about the drill at the high school?" 

          "This is Brittany from Grant Regional.  Can you present yourself at the registration desk?"   

         With that answer it felt confirmed that it was just part of the drill but I quickly grabbed my car keys and ran out to my car, drove quickly to the hospital, and entered the emergency room doors.  In those 2 minutes, I had to have been feeling and processing every possible emotion.  The biggest one being - What if Will's not okay?

          Once I saw him and hugged him, I drove him back to finish the drill, and I returned to Winskill to continue my preparations for the Back to School Bash.  Hours went quickly but I was ready when families began arriving at 4:30.  During the conversations at the school event I had the opportunity to talk with the school athletic trainer.  She recommended making an appointment with a doctor for Will's knee.  I was going to take him to acute care on Thursday but she thought trying to get him in with Orthopedics was a better idea.  That call went on my to do list for Thursday morning.  I finished the Back to School Bash and headed home to enjoy dinner and an early bedtime.  

I have so much more to tell about the week.  Part 2 coming soon.

May Day

 I absolutely love the possibilities of NEW!   New month - awesome.  New Week - love it!  New day--sweet opportunites.  New shoes---even better 😜   But seriously.  There is something amazing about NEW and all that it represents.  

This month I am working on focusing on some new habits that will hopefully bring me closer to my goals, but before I move on to the new, I'd love to reflect on what's been happening in the last month.

April is a big birthday month at our house.  Both Kate and Will celebrated during April.  I cannot believe that I have been a mom for 17 years.  That seems so unreal to me especially since I really do often still feel 30.  

April brought about Kate's first college visit.  She loved everything about Marian University.  April brought about the beginning of spring sports:  soccer and track.  

April was a good reading month for me.  I finished Bravey, Outliers, and You're Not Enough.  I'm excited for my list of to be read titles for May.  

I made it to my step goal 23 days out of 30.  While I wish I had met the 80%, I am okay with what it was.

I have some big goals in terms of money and running/health this month.   I'm determined to stick to the budget this month.  It means I need to avoid buying anything new that isn't necessary.  Like I said at the beginning of  this post, I LOVE new....it's going to be hard not to buy new things but I know that I don't need things. I'm going to take this one week at a time.  I'll try and check in about it each week.  We are taking a Financial Peach course. Have you ever taken one?  Are you familiar with Dave Ramsey?  I'd love to hear from you about this if you have experience.

My health/ running goals are pretty typical.  I want to meet my step goal at least 80% of the days.  I'd like to run 25 miles or more each week.  I'm going to drink water daily (that's really hard for me....I rarely drink water).  I have about 6 weeks until Made to Move.  I'm working toward a 54 miinutes 10K.

I hope to help my kids feel strong and confident in their final month of this school year.  I think this is so hard.  This week I watched frustration and sadness show in both my kids.  Things in this world are telling them they aren't enough....other kids, coaches, teachers.  It sucks to watch them experience disappointment.  I know I can't keep them from it, but I hope I can teach them how to overcome it!

Today's the first day of the new month and I got out there for 5 miles to kick things off.  The weather is beautiful.  

What goals do you have for May?

Book Review: Mystery of the Golden Temple

I remember reading The Babysitter's Club books and Swiss Valley Twins books when I was in 3rd and 4th grade.  What I loved about those books were two things that I loved about this book:  they were part of a series so I could read more and the friendships that the characters had were what I thought was typical.

In this wonderful chapter book Jess and her family travel to Thailand.  The problems begin as soon as the family lands and tries to get a taxi ride to their home away from home in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The things that Jess notices about Thailand are wonderful details that any reader will enjoy.  It creates a high interest story that is filled with facts for those that have a thirst for knowledge about the world.  Facts about Thailand are throughout the book along with a few details about Jess' hometown of Boston, MA. 

Written in short chapters with a plot centered around the mystery of the bad luck and missing amulet, this is a fantastic book for 2nd through 5th grade readers.

This was a sweet and bright book that includes a mysterious plot and a tale of friendship that should be shared with all young readers.