the year that keeps on taking

I wrote too soon at the beginning of last week when I wrote that we were all healthy. I started off feeling okay on Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday, I started having a headache and feeling nauseated. This lasted through Friday. You can imagine my frustration at being sick again! I started feeling a bit better by Friday evening and I managed to clean out my work inbox, getting 400+ emails down to around 30 in my inbox.

I woke up Saturday morning finally feeling fully healthy and managed to have an okay weekend. The Super Bowl sure was entertaining, wasn’t it? Well, Sunday evening, it started to snow and snowed all night long. We ended up with around 6 inches, which is A LOT for the Seattle area. This resulted in no school yesterday AND today my DS. So, basically, another 2 days of work I had to miss.

So, here I am, another post basically complaining. I’m thankful that my soon-to-be ex-husband has realized how stressed out I have been from being sick, dealing with all the doctor appointments and now the snow days. He volunteered to pick the kids up for the rest of the week AND keep them all weekend. I figure I have to get a break one of these days, right?!

progress…not perfection

I don’t know how to describe the last couple of weeks, other than difficult. After my last post, DD got better, but I was still pretty sick for the following week. Finally, last week, I started feeling better. However, it was an extremely hectic and stressful week.

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed DD’s left eye was turning inward. So, last week, she had 3 doctor’s appointments…one with her pediatrician and then two others with different pediatric ophthalmologists. The good news is that it doesn’t appear to be too serious. She will need to wear glasses and we will have to patch her good eye for 2 hours a day, and then go back to the doctor in 3-4 months.  Besides all of her doctor’s appointments, DS has been having behavior issues at school, so we also had to have a meeting with his teacher, the principal and the dean of students. On top of all this, I had a 4-hour mediation for a pro bono client that resulted in no settlement…so basically hours of work for free that got us nowhere!

It’s weeks like these that are exhausting to be a working mom. I find it so difficult to stay focused and productive when my week is constantly being interrupted with personal meetings, etc. It continued yesterday, as I had to drive DD to an optical center that was a ways away to get fitted for her glasses. And then this morning, I have a dentist appointment. The good news is that today’s appointment is my last appointment where they will deep clean my teeth. This is a result of not having visited the dentist for 3 years. Yikes!

Anyways, through all this, I’m trying to recognize the slow progress I’m making. Over the weekend, I managed to purge the kids’ old clothes. I also listed a few items for sale on Craigslist. And I just made an appointment for a yearly exam with my gyno (something else that is way overdue). I just get so caught up in the magnitude of things I have to do that I forget that I just need to take that first step.

Now that we are no longer sick and we seem to have DD’s eye situation straightened out, I’m looking forward to a quieter schedule where I will have time to just focus on work. Of course, there’s a few more things hanging over my head. Namely, I need to book myself a vision exam and both kids need to see the dentist, but other than that, we will be all up to date.

On a sidenote, I have been staying up WAY TOO LATE and this is just compounding the problem. I’m making it a point to be in bed no later than 10 pm.

off course

Last weekend I was feeling very good about myself and the start I had made on my resolutions for 2017. While the kids were at their dad’s, I managed to prep lunches for the week, meal plan and grocery shop and then on Sunday, my son and I prepped Sunday’s dinner during my daughter’s nap.

Well, Wednesday of last week, I had to pick DD up early from daycare because she was running a fever, which meant she had to be out Thursday as well. I picked her up Wednesday and then her dad stayed with her Thursday. She seemed to be doing better Friday morning, so I dropped her back off, but then daycare called around 2, saying she had a fever again. She had the awful cold/flu that has been going around, which means lots of coughing.

Fast forward to Monday, when I started coughing. I progressively got worse throughout the week, which meant I didn’t feel like doing anything other than rest, which means I basically missed  a week of work. Even though DS was doing better, she was still periodically waking at night from her cough, gagging and throwing up on occasion.

On Friday, I started having sinus pressure and pain and recognized that my flu/cold most likely had turned into a sinus infection. I went into urgent care (surprisingly, I did not have to wait at all) and got antibiotics.

I decided yesterday to take DD to the doctor because her cough really hasn’t improved. The doctor said he could hear stuff in her lungs and prescribed her antibiotics and a couple different breathing medications.

I am just starting to feel better this morning, but of course, now I feel I am facing a very uphill battle from being sick the past week. I’m reminding myself to take everything one step at a time and I’ve started by creating a list of things to get done today. And hopefully, DD and I are on the road to recovery!

one little word 2017

I’m participating in Ali Edwards’ One Little Word workshop this year. After much consideration, I settled on the word “habit” as my word for this year. Other words I considered were simplicity, peace, and joy. However, when I think about my life and where I seem to fall short, it all comes down to my daily habits. The good thing about habits is that they are a way to break down larger goals into small steps. By doing this, nothing is impossible.

I’ll be documenting my journey in a 6×8 binder and will be creating my pages digitally and will be sharing here, as the year goes on.

If you’re participating in One Little Word, I’d love to hear what your word is!

hello 2017

Time for a new year and new beginning for me. 2016 was probably the toughest year of my life, mainly due to my divorce. However, every day I am getting better and I think I’m really ready to take a step forward this year and accomplish my goals and resolutions. It’s amazing how difficult being in a toxic/stressful marriage can make things. So, here is my very looong list of resolutions/goals for 2017, which I will be checking on throughout the year.

Personal

• Cook more! My goal is to try 52 new recipes – one per week, which I will document here on the blog.
• Konmari my entire house and decrease the amount of things we have.
• Decorate my house. Decorating has never been my forte and for most of my adult life, my walls have remained bare. However, it’s time to really make my home mine!
• Get professional photos with the kids.
• Watch less tv; read more.

Motherhood

• Take two trips with the kids this year – one to somewhere sunny/beachy, the other to somewhere snowy.
• Do more enrichment projects with the kids (think Pinterest). Try to do one per week.
• Explore the outdoors more with the kids – take more day trips.

Financial

• Eat out only once per week for lunch and once for dinner (I spend way too much money on eating out!)
• Save money (this one seems so simple).
• Regularly contribute to my SEP IRA.

Beauty/Fashion

• Wash my face every night (again, I’m so bad about this!)
• Learn how to apply false eyelashes
• Figure out how to properly pull off the Kardashian wavy hair look
• Simplify my wardrobe

Health

• Lose 10 pounds
• Drink more water
• Workout at least 3 days per week
• Floss regularly and brush teeth at night regularly
• Take one vacation without the kids
• Be in bed by 9:30 every night.

Social

• Host people in my house more often
• Actively attend Meetup group events so I meet more people (I’m currently in a really great local single parents group that schedules events all the time). My goal is to attend at least one event per month.
• Go on at least one date? (Yikes!)

Business/Career

• Meet my goals for net income
• Grow my business by networking regularly
• Hire someone at least for part-time help
• Read at least 10 business books.

Okay, longest list ever, right?! What are some of your new year’s resolutions?