Daylight Savings and Spring!

Daylight Savings Time is March 14 this year. 

The First Day of Spring is March 20.

HAHA!

Those of you who live in Western NY know that Spring is NOT in March.

Well, it might be the actual, scientific time that Spring has sprung, but it definitely does NOT feel like Spring in March. 

Since forever, we have always (ALWAYS) gotten one or two big snowstorms in March.

I will always say that it is not Spring until March has had its one or two snowstorms. 

Back in 1991, we had what we call "The Ice Storm of 1991."

It hit late on a Sunday afternoon of March 3, 1991. Over 200,000 residents of our county lost power and it didn't come on for some people for up to 14 days. 

I think my family was without power for 3-4 days if my memory serves me correctly. 

I remember waking up and seeing that every single thing outside was covered in a layer of ice. It was gorgeous. 

But, the weight of the ice caused so many trees and limbs to fall. 

On to houses.

On to power lines.

It was pretty devastating. 

ANYWAY.

What I can't believe is that March 1st is on Monday. 

Like, in a couple of days.

WTF? That went fast!

Wasn't March just last month?

Daylight Savings is the "Spring Forward" kind, so it'll stay lighter out later in the evening.

Gone are the days of it getting dark at 4:30pm.

It's nice that it's 5:30 and just starting to get dark out.

So now that we turn our clocks forward, it'll be just one more step closer. 

Another thing I've noticed in the last week?

An increase in the number of flies and ladybugs I'm finding in the house.

Every year around Spring time all the bugs come out. Or rather, in.

Ladybugs are EVERYWHERE as the weather warms.

I've found a few here and there.

Same with the flies - just a couple in the bathroom (assuming they make their way in from the attic or something).

But with that - it means warmer weather is coming! 

Just need to hang on like 4 more weeks. 

Do you wanna know what else is making me excited? 

This was the week we got a bit of a taste of the warmer weather to come.

That's straight BALMY in our area.

Guaranteed people will be out wearing shorts.

And no, it's not going to stay in the upper 40's but it just means Spring is on its way.

So yeah, I know. But look! 40's and upper 30's???

Do you see the breaks of SUN? 

Sun and 39 degrees will feel legit like summer. LOL.

And one more thing since I'm at it.

The Spring Baking Championship is back on the Food Network channel!!!

I watched the premiere (or half-watched while I was doing other things) but this is ALSO a sign!

If watching people bake beautiful, pastel-colored, Spring-themed cakes and pastries doesn't make you feel like Spring, I don't know what will!

Balmy Weather

If you live anywhere near me, you'll know that we're known for some crazy weather.

Dead of winter and in the teens one week.

And then the next?

54 degrees and sunny.

In February.

Let me just say, we ALL needed it.

I've had a rough couple of weeks - work has been stressful and LIFE has been stressful. 

What's new?

Anyway.

I had several meetings scheduled for today.

I hide in my upstairs office and crank throughout the day while Steve and the girls do school and other activities, depending on the day and what we have going on.

So I got a little excited when the one meeting I had scheduled for the afternoon was postponed!

Fuck yeah. 

I took that opportunity to take my lunch hour (around 1:30) to go for a quick walk with the family. 

It was gorgeous out.

And SO FUCKING BRIGHT.

Literally could not open my eyes.

Cardigan off, T-shirt on! The girls ended up taking off all their snow gear because they were sweating. lol

"Watch us jump, mom!"

Crazy kids jumping off the deck into the snow

When you've got a friend by your side...

It was an incredible way to break up my workday.

The sun was good for my soul. 

Working Out - 36 Weeks Into My Fitness Journey

HELL YEAH. 

Incredible, I tell ya. 

Let's take a walk down memory lane and go back to when it all started. 

My 4-week update.

My 8-week update.

My 16-week update.

My 20-week update.

My 24-week update.

My 28-week update.

My 32-week update.

And here we are at the end of February, having completed 36 weeks of this journey. 

I'm just so dang proud of myself for sticking with it and literally changing my lifestyle and LOVING IT. 

SNOW. SNOW. SNOW.

I don't remember the last time we got a shit-ton of snow. 

As a kid, it seemed like every winter was a crazy winter with feet and feet of snow.

And then I went to college in a town that's known for Lake Effect Snow.

I remember one weekend we got 7 ft. Literally in one weekend. 

Two and a half days.

Insanity.

Anyway, as we got older, it didn't seem like we were getting as much snow each year?

GLOBAL WARMING, ANYONE?

Well, last week our weather guys predicted a good amount of snowfall.

We were in a "winter weather advisory" and were expecting about a foot of snow.

10" - 12" was expected in our area.

So we went to bed Monday night thinking we'd wake up to some winter wonderland.

Nope. Not really.

I think we got maybe four or five inches? 

Don't get me wrong, we got some snow. 

But it wasn't the WALLOP they said we were getting. 

I pretty much called it and said to Steve "we're not getting shit" lol. I based that on 100% nothing. 

Then, over the weekend. Well. Well.

Mother Nature told me off, didn't she?

I woke up around 6:30 to do my workout Saturday morning and noted that it was snowing pretty hard.

Throughout my entire 45-minute LEG workout, I noticed that it was just...coming down...and not stopping.

After my shower and getting ready.

Still snowing.

It continued to snow pretty hard until about 4pm.

There were a couple of small breaks in there.

We made the best of it and went outside and played!

Getting ready is so much effort! I was sweating at the end.

Bella is not one to like this weather. 

Ava is loving all this snow!

The tunnel Mila built.

The driveway looked kind of deep so I tried plowing it for Steve. It was 1pm. And it was snowing so hard I figured if I didn't at least attempt it, it'd be SO deep by the time Steve got home 8 hours later! 

What's ironic is that even though it looks like that outside, I finally moved all my winter/Christmas decor and put up some Spring stuff. 

LOL. 

Whatever. 

It's Just a Matter Of Time Now.

OH. MY. GOD. YOU. GUYS.

Remember last week when I said Steve started taking his temperature? 

Well, he's still taking his temperature. 

TWO more guys at his work tested positive. 

One guy he worked with for three, consecutive days. Not necessarily in "close contact" (15 minutes, no mask, less than 6ft apart). 

Like I said before - Steve ALWAYS wears his mask when he's there. Unless he's taking a sip of a drink or eating, if he's with people, he's masked up. 

He says he's generally a car's distance away from people, too. 

But I don't believe that for a second. 

I've gone to his work 3 times in the last 2 weeks. (The last two times I sat in my car in the parking lot and he came outside). And dude. People are walking around maskless. There are people who approach my husband and come within 6ft for sure (if they are showing him a part, or need him to look at something that they're pointing at for instance). 

So, he went and got tested the same day we found out that the one guy tested positive. 

Thank GOD Steve's test came back NEGATIVE. 

Phew.

BUT.

BUT! 

He was on the phone with another work buddy and told him the place he went to was open until 10pm. Steve convinced him that he should also get tested. Even if he felt "fine."

This guy lives about 50 minutes away but he did it. 

He made the drive.

AND HIS RESULTS ARE POSITIVE.

WTF.

So now that's two people two days. Three people in the last 2 weeks. 

AHHHHHHH.

I'm not sure what to do!

Steve tested negative, but there's a chance he will test positive. He will go again on Monday.

Should I get tested?

One thing is for sure - we are staying away from my mom, sister and Steve's parents. 

My mom is 74.

My sister is considered "medically fragile."

And Steve's parents are also old and his mom has MS. 

So we are not going to visit with them for 14 days.

But that begs the question. If we're trying to keep them safe, shouldn't we be trying to keep the world safe, too? But we haven't been told that's what we should be doing. 

I'm not going to go out grocery shopping - I will finally have to utilize curbside pickup (we do not get delivery where we live - although with the pandemic, I'm not sure if stores have changed their rules about how far they will deliver). 

Do I send the girls to school? 

So of course I said to Steve that his shop should close. 

That's the only way to ensure that people aren't infected when they open back up. Make sure every employee gets tested and needs to be negative before coming back. 

But here's the problem with that. 

The second they open those doors and allow customers' cars to come in, it doesn't matter anymore.

The technicians have to get INSIDE these vehicles to bring them into the shop to diagnose them and then to work on them to fix them. These customers go INSIDE the service office to talk to the writers and schedulers. It's not exactly something that can be done virtually. 

Sure they are masked (most of them), wearing gloves, etc. But you can't help but sit in the seat and touch the door handle here or there. 

UGH.

These poor guys. 

And it's no one's fault, you know?

If the employee needs to quarantine, they still get paid - so that's AMAZING, right? 

But, say the tech is flat rate and turns double the hours that's being paid to him while he's quarantined. Then you have to think about not making the weekly bonus for turning those hours. So now the tech is down like $2,000. 

Like, that sucks too! 

It feels like a lose-lose situation all the way around and it fucking blows.

And so Steve is currently negative - but it's just a fucking matter of time, isn't it? He's not being told to quarantine so he's going back to work tomorrow! Because if he's not being told to quarantine, it's not like he has 14 days of vacation to burn after NOT WORKING FOR SEVEN WEEKS a few months ago.

Oh my fucking god, people. 

My head is spinning! 

Will Schools Open Full Time?

School districts in our area are doing a hybrid approach to education.

Kids are in school either half the week or every day for half the day - at least that seems to be the norm around our parts. 

Our kids go to school two days a week and are homeschooled the other 3 days. 

And the other two days a different group of kids go. So there's half the regular amount of stupids in the building. 

Wednesdays are fully remote days for all students so that cleaning and sanitizing can take place before the next group rotates in.

There have been talks about schools opening up back full time in the fall.

I am all for it.

The transmission rate is very low in schools. The people who are getting it, aren't in the schools.

Kids are complying and wearing masks. 

All day except for lunch.

I have to give them credit - I haven't had to wear a mask ALL day at all since this all started. 

Teachers are also wearing masks.

I'm all for teachers to be next in line to get the vaccine. 

I'm so ready for the kids to be back in school and for them to experience it the way it's supposed to be.

Even though, I guess it won't be because they'd still have to wear masks and social distance. 

But they'd be in school. Every day.

With their friends.

Getting in-person instruction.

HOWEVER.

That being said, I'm grateful my kids are at the ages they are at. 

Homeschooling isn't nearly as difficult it could be, let's say if my kids were in middle or high school.

Little kids aren't going through weird hormonal, emotional, physical changes like a middle schooler or high schooler is going through. 

I recently caught up with an old friend/colleague and we got to talking about it. His kids are older and man. I don't envy that situation. 

Now, that also begs the question for me - if the kids go back full time, do I start going into the office?

Would I have to start paying for daycare again?

I don't even want to think about the logistics of my new job, which is further away (it's 45 minutes away from my house), plus it starts an hour earlier, yada, yada, yada. 

The newest update we received last week (February 12, I believe) was that many parents were starting to ask when schools would open full time again.

Their response made sense and it went something like this:

In order for schools to open full time, we still have to follow the guidelines of maintaining 6ft of distance and wearing masks.

Since there are so many kids in our district, there just isn't enough physical space to do that. We have to have a hybrid approach because we can fit that many students in the building at once and still maintain the 6 foot distance rule. I get it. 

I don't know what the world will be like come Fall though.

I'm eligible for the vaccine so as soon as I get the all clear to get the vaccine from my doc, I will do so. I'm reading that most eligible folks will be vaccinated by the end of Summer. 

Ugh. 

The unknown is killing me. 

Dog People

Since I was a little kid, I've always wanted a dog. 

It was a hard "no" from my parents.

We have allergies.

My sister has severe asthma (and is considered "medically fragile")

But when I turned 8 years old, they allowed the family to get a little white poodle. 

No shedding.

Small.

He lived for almost 18 years and was my Snerbs.

I knew that when I was older and more able, I wanted dogs. 

We had Shelby and Hudson as DINKS and they were our world.

We always knew we were dog people and we strongly believe in kids growing up with pets. 

It teaches them empathy.

It teaches them responsibility. To a certain extent.

It teaches them to care for someone other than themselves.

So we're dog people and will likely always have dogs in our life. 

Don't get me wrong. I vacuum 3 times a day - at least. 

I'm constantly sweeping floors and trying to keep the dog hair and dander from being like EVERYWHERE. 

But it's still worth it. Our house is full.

Full of love.

Full of noise.

Full of kids and dogs running and playing.

And still full of fucking dog hair. 

Happy Valentine's Day

I've never been one to "celebrate" Valentine's Day. 

I don't believe in using this day to appreciate and show love to your loved ones.

Do that shit every day, people.

I don't go all out and get my kids special Valentine's Day outfits. 

Steve and I don't celebrate, really. Sometimes he gets me flowers. Sometimes he doesn't. 

I do pick up a small item for the girls - maybe $10 or less. I'm not all grumpy over here. I just don't see the purpose of going big on this one. 

They each have classroom parties and got to fill out their Valentine's cards while they were in school.

They each came home with some goodies and I think they had fun at their parties.

For Steve this year I got us a breakfast pizza from ALDI and the girls are each getting a new mug with a couple of fuzzy eye masks and socks, also from ALDI. 

Miss Ava Mae. I can't with her little face. 

Mug, fuzzy slippers and Mila's favorite - a sleep mask! Looking really old these days, my baby.

Listen, friends. This cute mug, with fuzzy slippers and sleep mask wrapped all cute was $4.99 at ALDI. Seriously! ALL of it, together was less than $5. If this was at Target? Easily double that. And don't get me wrong, I love Target. But man, ALDI has some serious deals. 

This breakfast pizza is also from ALDI and was amazing. I usually like these random specials they carry. Sometimes it's not the best, but more often than not, they are delicious. 

We enjoyed a lazy Sunday.

The girls don't have school this week due to it being President's Week, so they are gonna have a pretty chill week.

Since we don't have childcare anymore and Steve and I are still working, we are utilizing my mom for half the week. What's even nicer is that we'll be dropping them off Wednesday and staying for dinner, and then leaving them there until Friday.

Steve works Thursday - Saturday and since I have to work Thursday/Friday, it just made sense. I mean, I'm sure I could make it work, but if I have the backup, why not? 

Plus, since we are staying away for 10 days because of Steve's exposure to COVID. 

ANYWAY.

Low as per usual in our house for this holiday. Tell your loved ones you love them daily. 

Multiple times a day. 

Gaming?

My girls have never really gotten into gaming.

Neither Steve nor myself are really into it, so it's not like it's a huge surprise. 

My kids love all things screens and TVs and all that jazz, so I guess I figured they'd like video games as well.

They've played our Wii a handful of times and they appear to enjoy it. 

Ava is still too little and her coordination isn't quite there so she gets frustrated easily and quickly if she loses. 

Mila does pretty well considering she doesn't have much practice. She really loves it, but it's easy to love something when you win all the time (and ergo, Ava is pissed a lot).

So they came to me the other day and asked to play a video game I had never heard of. Steve mentioned that it was a game our nieces play. It's called "Among Us" - I looked into it a bit and it seemed innocent enough. Honestly, if my nieces are playing and my SIL is cool with it, I'd likely be cool with it too. I may do a little investigating to see if there's anything to be concerned about. 

Anyway.

We got them hooked up so they could play alongside their cousins!

I don't mind if they are playing video games like this. I can't recall the name, but it appeared that they had to make their way out of a room somehow.

Hand-eye coordination skillz people!

FaceTiming and playing with cousins! When they live across the country, we make do with what we can! 

My SIL and her family usually visit a couple times a year. 

Obviously with fucking COVID that stopped the entire world, so we haven't seen them since Christmas 2019. So sad. 

But, thank goodness for technology! Now that the girls are getting more into it, we will make sure they can play with their cousins more frequently. 

Outdoor Chores In Winter

It's been a MINUTE since I've posted anything "farm" related.

My blog is slowly turning into a "lifestyle/fitness" blog? 

I dunno.

Winter months can be brutal when you're taking care of animals who live outside.

Each year we have to prep for the winter months.

It's not something I was accustomed to doing prior to living out here.

Our chicken coop is not heated - there's a risk of fire with keeping a lamp out there - basically, the inside of their actual chicken coop is dry and warm. That's how they can make it through winter. If we put a heat lamp in there, if it fell or whatever, it could easily start a fire and the coop is far away enough from the house we likely wouldn't notice it right away.

Plus, the chickens have down feathers and are able to stay warm 

We DID put in a heat lamp for a few days either last year or the year before due to FRIGID temps. Wind chills at NEGATIVE 25. 

So yeah, we opted to put a lamp in there during those few days - but kept a really good eye on it.

But, our regular chores still need to get done, even if it's freezing outside.

Food scraps need to be taken out to them, the few eggs they are laying need to be gathered. 

We have a heated water system out there for them, it's a metal waterer that sits on a metal pan that is warmed (we run a cord from the coop to our basement). So it keeps the water just warm enough not to freeze.

They are going through more food because of the cold. They spend energy trying to stay warm. 

So I have to make sure their food is full and water is good about every 3 days. Again, not the worst in the world, but when it's freezing or raining, lugging water back and forth isn't the most fun.

I also have to carry 50lb bags of feed from the house to the coop. It's probably a couple hundred feet. 

When there's two feet of snow on the ground? Not that easy! 

Have to bundle up this time of year

I'm glad I have my tall Muck Boots

Steve made a path with the plow from our garage to the coop.

It's kind of a far walk.

Getting closer...

Here's the short cut from our fenced-in area and sliding doors. I asked Steve to plow this path for me so I can make the shorter trek. 

Heavy ass water needs to be carried all the way to the coop.

Through 2 feet of snow.

That wasn't all that fun. It wasn't bad by any means.

But it was cold. And I was a sweaty mess.

I didn't get pics of the successful journey - I had splashed water on my pants and my gloves were wet. I wanted to get inside, washed up and in new clothes ASAP. Ugh.

Another thing I didn't capture is that after I carried the water bucket over, I then had to come back and grab the 50lb bag of chicken feed, threw that son-of-a-bitch over my shoulder, and hoofed it back to the coop, in two feet of snow. 

At least it's done. I'll need to check on them again in about 2-3 days. 

And I only got two eggs. 

WTF. 

Steve's Taking His Temperature Every Day

It's no secret that Steve has not stopped working during the entire pandemic. 

Well, except for that one time he had back surgery.

Anyway.

He's considered "essential" since you know, he keeps trucks and other vehicles on the roads safely. 

People need their cars.

Organizations and businesses need their vehicles.

Hours were shortened during the "worst" of it (April/May) although we've seen worse numbers and they've been operating under normal work hours for months now.

Masks are required for anyone going into the shop.

We were super strict in the beginning.

Steve changed his clothes outside and then ran to the shower before he'd hug any of us.

But then as things went on, we relaxed. 

We kept up with mask-wearing of course, we're not stupid.

We wash our hands all the time.

I sanitize everything.

I rarely take the girls grocery shopping with me.

We only visit with our "quarantine circle" which includes my mom and sister and Steve's parents. 

And then today we got a call from Steve's work.

A guy he'd been working with (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) tested positive.

Ok.

I wouldn't be super concerned, except for the fact that I brought the girls to the shop to visit on Saturday. 

Because it was so dead there. 

FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Obviously now I regret it.

We weren't around him for more than 5-10 minutes...maybe. We were there in totality for about an hour. He came around our area a couple of times. 

We wore masks the entire time.

BUT.

I'm all freaked out and not sure what we should do.

Steve says there's nothing to do because the Health Department would call us if we need to be contacted for contact tracing. We haven't been contacted yet.

We are going to stay away from our elderly parents for 10 days just to be safe.

But do I have to contact school? I haven't been told one way or another. 

I don't want to panic. But hello! 3 out of the 4 of us have some form of asthma/allergies and really can't afford to have any sort of respiratory issues. And my SISTER? Who is MEDICALLY FRAGILE?

Nope, nope, nope.

What I Miss

A friend posted something recently on Facebook asking friends what they missed the most since everything with the Pandemic happened.

That got me thinking.

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the things we're missing out on. I'm not sure why. 

We have been distracted by a few major, life-changing events. 

Regardless it got me thinking.

And Steve said it to me just the other day when we were driving.

"I miss going out to dinner and a movie"

YEP. 

ME TOO, BUDDY. ME TOO.

We realized that as soon as my mom moved home (and ergo had a free babysitter), everything in the world (seriously) shut down.

So while the girls spend quite a bit of time with my mom, it's not like me and Steve have anywhere to go.

Here's a short list of things I'm missing, now that we're approaching the 1 year mark of when Life Stopped Being Normal. 

1. Going out to restaurants
2. Going to the movies
3. Going out shopping without fear or anxiety of touching things and/or catching things
4. Taking my kids out in a care-free kind of way without being a freak about hand sanitizer and masks
5. Being around my friends and all of our kids playing together (the last time was Halloween, right before numbers sky-rocketed and we hunkered down, even from our friends in our 'bubble')
6. TRAVELING - MISSING OUT ON OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TRIP. FOR FUCK'S SAKE. THIS BROKE MY HEART. However, I do realize this is "first world problems" so don't bash me for being super disappointed. It still sucks. We lost all our money on it. 
7. Kids being in school full time and having the "experience" for my Kindergartner. 

Those are just a FEW things of life "before" and we're just not really sure when life will be normal again. Or what that new normal will be like. 

All I know - as soon as we're able and eligible, we are getting our vaccines. 

Can I Be Done With This Week, Please?

Have you ever felt like you're just failing at life?

You know, those days, weeks, months, YEARS when things just don't seem to be going well? 

I'm having one of those weeks.

Every single day is getting worse than the day before.

Don't panic. 

Everyone is fine.

But man.

I'm having a fucking week.

I just feel like I'm not working at 100% of my capacity.

I had a couple of moments during work this week that were forehead-slapping, WTF moments.

Like, CAN I DO MY JOB, PLEASE?

I just couldn't get a grasp on my to-do list.

I accidentally threw my team under the bus - and feel terrible about it. 

Ugh. 

I'd normally just be like "GET ME THROUGH THIS WEEK" but I have a pretty big meeting on MONDAY that I'm DREADING.

So yeah.

Until Monday's meeting is over, my buttcheeks are going to stay clenched. 

I know, it's all a part of the job. Things happen. It will be ok.

It wasn't anything too major - it could've been worse.

But WAH. 

And then I just felt like the kids were home with snow days, so no real school to do...Steve was maxin' and relaxin' since they didn't have real instruction and so yeah and I'm upstairs in my office wallowing in my own pity because I can't get my shit together.

It definitely didn't help that as I was in the middle of drafting a rather important email, Ava comes bursting through my office door and announces that she's hungry. 

Where's dad? Oh, outside on the ATV clearing our driveway and come to find out later, our neighbor's (they were attempting to shovel it).

So he was outside longer than I expected.

I told her to wait a few minutes until he got back inside to make lunch but it took him a while. 

Poor girl waited for almost 45 minutes before I decided to make her lunch.

That didn't help my resentment nor my feeling of not having my shit together. 

Then I felt worse about myself because I was resentful about making my kid lunch (I thoroughly expect Steve to handle all things kids/dogs/house when he's home and I'm working). And then I felt guilty about it because I NEED TO MAKE MY KID FOOD. LIKE LITERALLY MY ONLY REAL JOB IN THE WORLD IS TO KEEP HER AND HER SISTER ALIVE.

MOTHER OF THE YEAR. 

Next week will be better, right? 

Right. 

Time Is Fleeting

We all know time is fleeting.

And even more so when you become parents and you start to watch this tiny human grow up....so quickly right before your eyes. 

What's funny though...is that it feels like even a few short years ago winter felt like it lasted 2,597 months. It would just draggggg on and on and on...

And here I am today, February 3 (HOLY SHIT HOW IS IT FEBRUARY ALREADY) and I'm amazed that it's literally February.

What happened to all of 2020? 

I know, it was a fucked up year. 

But still. 

How did I lose an entire year of my life?

Ok, so I didn't lose the year. I actually used it to get into the best shape of my life. 

But dang. Time flies doesn't it.

The girls enjoyed the first couple days of February having a snow day. 

I woke up early as usual and noticed I had a missed call and VM (I set my phone to silent during the night because apparently I get spam calls in the middle of the night and since I sleep really heavily, Steve wakes up to it). Anyway. 

It was from the school saying school was closed. For everyone.

Even the remote learners (which includes my kids).

Ok.

I mean, cool. But. Why and how does this affect my kids?

Not sure.

But the kids and Steve sure did enjoy having the day off.

And it snowed, let me tell ya.

The kind of snow we always want to get when Steve's home, but we never get. 

It snowed pretty much all day Monday, Tuesday and today is Wednesday and it was snowing this morning at 6:30. 

Now, according to Punxsutawney Phil we will in fact have 6 more weeks of winter. Which isn't bad at all if you think about it.

If he doesn't see his shadow, apparently that means Spring will come early. I can't imagine Spring coming any earlier than 6 weeks from now!

We usually have a pretty snowy March. 

Anyway. 

There's no signs of Spring this week! 

We are buried. 

February is a short month so before we know it, it'll be March! 

And then my baby turns 9 in April. Sweet Jesus. 

A Day Off

I have taken PTO on my birthday for maybe the past 5 years. 

But then I got laid off from a job and it destroyed a little piece of me inside.

So at my new job, I take very few PTO days just for the heck of it. 

I've used them for doctor's appointments, for the entire family. 

And that's about it.

I mean. Working from home does make it 100% easier.

And my flexible job makes it even better. 

But to take a day to do...nothing?

It's been a while. 

So instead of taking my birthday off - it fell on a Wednesday and that would not be convenient for my team at work - I took the following Friday (Jan. 29) off. 

It was a rest day for me, so I knew I could be super lazy...

Anyway, took the girls to school.

And then I laid on the couch for like the next 4.5 hours.

I finished watching the 3rd Season of Cobra Kai.

I had seen on my FB group AOS that they had these rugs for sale. For a very reasonable price. $80! I knew we needed a rug for our bedroom, but c'mon, we all know they are hundreds of dollars for a nice one. So I grabbed it, knowing it would be a little too small. And I love how it turned out! 

I splurged and picked up a coffee for myself since I knew I'd be sitting in school pick up line for a bit. I got there early, which is fine. I don't mind sitting in the car listening to music and sippin' my drink. 

They day does go by quickly, since I was sitting in the school pick up line around 2:30. 

But, those few hours? 

They are great for some quiet me time.