Alabama + Graffiti

Friday – you’re finally here!  And I’m fresh off winning a $100 VISA gift card at work AND new color from my favorite hair girl, Hannah.  Today wasn’t looking up, and then it was.  Funny how that can happen. These are a few of my favorite things from this week:

// This sports bra from Amazon.  I’ve seen so many Peloton instructors wearing the one sided sports bras, and they are so cute and so sexy, so I wanted to try it out.  I was really worried about falling out of it during a ride, but it was surprisingly supportive, and super cute.

// Unos Tacos in the Pizitz food hall is amazing.  Their street tacos are so good, and if you get a plate of nachos, they are enormous.  Their queso is good, their guac is good, their quesadilla is delicious.  You just can’t go wrong.

// I am obsessed with this dress.  I have nowhere to go in it, and I’m not sure I can pull it off, but it’s on sale for $40 right now, and I keep coming back to it.

// These hair clips are from a cute little local shop here in Birmingham.  I have bought a few pairs of earrings from her – they are great quality and everything of hers is adorable.

// Nerds candy corn.  Can you believe it?  These are so good – they are just like giant nerds, and who doesn’t love Nerds?  They are so good.  Get them. (I also bought normal candy corn, because I’m not a monster.)

We’re heading into our super busy weekend starting right after school today with birthday party number one.  Please send wine.  Or pizza.  Or both.  Have a great one y’all!

 

Back for some more realistic life stuff on a Thursday…

// Last weekend, I started to feel really bad.  My lower back started to kill me, and I had a pain in my chest when I breathed in really deep.  And there was some weird pain right under my ribs.  My first thought went straight to blood clots.  I’ve had them before – they started with extreme lower back pain and a super high heart rate, which I had.  If you don’t know much about blood clots  – they’re pretty terrifying.  I have a filter to stop them from going into my lungs/heart whatever, but those things can fail.  So at any given moment one of those suckers could dislodge and like – just kill me.  I saw an X-ray once when I was in the hospital with this many moons ago about how many blood clots the filter had caught.  Anyway,  I started googling every single symptom I had (never a good idea), and the possibilities were endless: failing kidneys, liver damage, gall stones, ruptured spleen, stomach ulcers, lung cancer.  All fun things to worry about right?  I headed to the doctor, explained symptoms, did my background on the blood clots, did Covid test.  He did a sonogram – could find nothing physically wrong with me.  He said it could be a small ulcer, but nothing ruptured, no blood clots in my lungs, no Covid.  All in all – he basically told me to slow down.  That sometimes stress can manifest itself physically, and if we don’t stop ourselves, our bodies will do it for us.  Interesting, right?  I have been taking it easy this week – I have only worked out once.  I have limited my usage of caffeine, have enjoyed a lot of soup, and have just let myself relax after work, whether that be reading or watching a show with Sheff.  I started to feel better almost immediately.  I guess that’s why they’re doctors, and I’m not.  All that to say – take it easy.  Slow down.  You are in competition with no one.

// This week was driver appreciation week.  It’s one of my favorite weeks – I love to spoil my guys that work really hard.  I have a really great board of drivers, so I wanted to do something special.  I bought these black tumblers and commissioned a friend to put their names on it.  She came up with the “Thanks for going the extra mile” and “Driver Appreciation Week 2021” on the back of the cups, and they turned out so wonderful.  I went up to Hanceville to get to meet some of the drivers, and it was a really nice day.  I got way behind in my work, but it was worth it.  There’s a huge driver shortage now, so be extra thankful for these guys.  They are doing a ton of work.

// It’s September 16th, and I don’t have  a single Halloween thing out right now.  I need to get on that ASAP.  I like to have them up and out for as long as I can, because I enjoy them so much.

// I really love the prepackaged Panera soups.  Those things have been my lunch savior all week.  The chicken enchilada and broccoli cheese are at the top of my list.

//I’ve got a hair appointment today.  I love my hair girl, and she always does an amazing job.  I love sitting in her chair.  Plus, I don’t have to wash my hair for like the next three days, so holla for that.

Hooray to the weekend and the start of the NFL season!  It was also a beautiful weekend weather wise, so that was to be celebrated as well.

Friday was our normal takeout and movie night – Sheff decided he wanted cheese dip, so we forewent the normal pizza and got us some Mexican food.  We ended the night playing video games.

On Saturday morning, we got up and headed to the trail for a good three mile walk.  Sheff scooted around, so we had all gotten in our exercise for the day.  We then went to get chick-fil-a of course, as is Auburn gameday tradition, and went home.  I went shopping with my sister for a bit before coming home and watching Auburn clobber Alabama State 62-0.  We then just chilled around the house – my sister was coming over to watch Sheff for the night so B and I could get a date night in.  We hit up an Isbell concert, and while it was really cool to see him, both B and I were pretty disappointed that he didn’t play too many of his old songs.  We didn’t really know much of what he played, so we ditched a little early.

Before the show, we had gone downtown to check out ArtWalk.  They had a ton of local art vendors – we picked out some that we loved, and we can’t wait to get them hung in the house.  Also, so we didn’t spend a million dollars on not great food at the venue, we hit up Shu Shop downtown.  We got crab claws, pork gyoza, octopus hushpuppies and shared a bowl of ramen.  It was all so delicious – and I was so glad that we made that decision.

Sunday was reserved for couch sitting and watching all the NFL. B made Rotel and good ole Wisconsin brats to snack on during the game.  I was really excited to watch the Packers – and that dwindled.  Badly.  They lost to the Saints 38-3 – and it makes me wonder if Rodgers would have spent the offseason training with his team instead of bitching about management if it would have gone any better.  Luckily none of the other teams in the NFC North fared any better, so maybe there’s still a shot.

We’ve got a pretty jam-packed week – fall ball practice and games start this week, and Sheff has two birthday parties – one Friday and Saturday, plus the big AU vs. Penn State game.  Gonna be a lot packed in this weekend!!

(linking up with Steph and Jana for SUYB)

The Survivors – Jane Harper // I’ve seen a lot of people saying this wasn’t their favorite Jane Harper – but I don’t think I’ve read too much of this author, so I really enjoyed this one.  I love how it sort of touches on how the dynamics of friend groups can change over the years, and I really liked the little murder mystery thrown in – with the backdrop of a small-town feel.  It got packaged up pretty neatly in the end, which I always enjoy, and didn’t see the end coming.

Local Woman Missing – Mary Kubica // I’ve loved everything I’ve read of Kubica’s and this one is no different.  About 3/4 of the way through the book, you start to figure everything out, and it was definitely not what I was expecting at all.  Definitely a good read if you’re into thriller/mystery type books.

The Last House Guest – Megan Miranda // I haven’t read too many of her books, but if they’re all like this one, I’m definitely going to add them all.  Story takes place in a small coastal town filled with locals and seasonals.  A friendship evolves between a local and a seasonal, and everything begins to spiral as the seasonal girl is killed.  A good little mystery that kept me on my toes.

What’s Mine and Yours –  Naima Coster // I didn’t expect this book to suck me in quite like it did.  It honestly might be my most favorite of the year so far.  The book follows two main families – and goes back and forth between the past and current, and how their lives were so intertwined.  It was just a good good read.

We are the Brennans – Tracey Lange //  I’m really glad the book club picked this one, because otherwise, I probably never would have picked it up.  But I really loved it.  I’m a huge fan of family dysfunction.  I liked how the secrets unfolded one by one, and you didn’t know them all up front.  I loved the family protectiveness, and while I saw where the end was headed, it didn’t take away from the book one bit.  Definitely recommend.

Not A Happy Family – Shari Lapena // Oh a Lapena book – man can they just suck you in.  Took me about 24 hours to read this one.  Pretty much a wealthy couple is murdered, and the book goes through a who-dun-it between their three children that stand to gain a lot of money from them being gone.  Even though you kind of get an idea of who it was, it’s still a really good mystery.

Too Good to be True – Carola Lovering // I loved about three-quarters of this book.  I sort of figured out the “twist” before they announced it, but I was not a fan of the ending.  It just didn’t make sense – or wasn’t realistic?  I don’t know.  But I did enjoy it until the last couple chapters.

Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir // I love Andy Weir.  I love his characters so so much.  I’m not necessarily a scif-fi fan, and I don’t seek out sci-fi books, but this one was really great.  It’s a super science-y book, but Weir writes it in a way where it’s completely understandable.  It was really interesting.  Definitely read if you’re into that kind of thing.

Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman //  It’s no secret that I’m a fan of mythology – but my knowledge only goes so far as Roman and Greek.  I’ve never really delved into Norse before, but I really enjoyed this.  I had heard of some of the names before, but never this much in depth.  Definitely an interesting read.

 

How’s everyone doing out there?  If I’m being honest – things have been stressful and anxiety-inducing, and a little burn out-y.  But here we are – living to live another day.

// We’ve listened to two really great podcasts lately – CounterClock Season 3 about the Pelley Prom Night Murders in Indiana.  It’s a good binge – 20 episodes that are all pretty short. And one we’ve been enjoying for a bit is Anatomy of Murders – most of them are solved so you don’t get that cliff-hanging feeling at the end.

// I’ve stopped working out in the mornings.  As much as I liked just changing into pajamas and hanging out when I got home, I didn’t like being completely worn out by the end of the day.  It’s obviously a personal preference, but I tend to have more energy in the afternoons, so I’m back to my after-work working out.

// We got an email today stating that the kids practiced a Code Red Lockdown at school today.  I can’t tell you how much this breaks my heart.  It absolutely tears me apart thinking about Sheffield and the other kids having to go through this.  The smaller kids call it a “bad guy” drill, and the principal urged us to talk to them about it this afternoon.  I don’t know how I can do it without crying.  I’ll try – I want him to understand why he needs to do that, but it’s not going to be easy.

// Speaking of school, we got the sweetest voicemail from Sheff’s teacher yesterday.  She told us that he was a great kid and that he’s a great leader, and she can always rely on him.  We get his first 9-week report card today, and I’m excited to see how he’s doing.

// Work has been tough lately – it’s been really hard adjusting to being back in the office every day, and to be honest, I hate it.  I drop Sheffield at school around 715 every morning, and then I pick up up at 245 every afternoon.  I miss being comfortable in my own home – and being able to knock out a load of laundry or dishes during a break.  Not to mention, we had someone quit, and I offered to help pick up some of the slack.  But it’s been a lot of the slack, and I’m beyond tired.  And confused most of the time.

// I’ve been trying to give myself a lot of grace lately – I’ve been trying to not force myself to get everything done in an evening, and been trying to turn work off by at least 6pm.  I read something that said to let kids just chill when they get home – they’ve had information shoved at them all day, and are exhausted when they get home from school.  I’ve been trying to come to peace with my body and the image of it in my brain.  I’ll never be happy until I can figure that part out – and my brain will never rest.

// Bennett and I get to see Jason Isbell this weekend – he’s requiring proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test to attend.  I saw he’s been doing this at his concerts- and he gets a lot of shit for being a liberal “country” singer, but I appreciate his efforts to not be a super spreader.

Ready for a full weekend of football and football snacks – hope y’all have had a good week so far!