5 Things Friday

It's Friday but a weird Friday since Paul has his procedure today to remove his ear tubes - which is basically a very expensive ear cleaning. Send me all the good vibes. Paul has decided he does not want to be "put to sleep" (even though I've explained it's just a brief snooze and will be over before he knows it) so I fear it's going to be a rough morning. The surgery is at our Children's Hospital so surely they are good with, um, patients with strong emotions/feelings. We have to be at the hospital at 6:15am so I'm hoping for a nap later today! Will only has a half day so I kept him home for the day and my mom's watching him this morning. Here's 5 things on my mind today. 

1. I feel like I've found my groove in terms of a workout plan. I run on Saturday and Sunday and do strength training workouts on Mondays and Fridays when I work from home. I was trying different things for my strength training workouts but have settled into the Caroline Girvan Epic Heat program. There are "30 minute" workouts but really they are about 36-37 minutes with explanations at the start and the cool down. I really like them! I find myself dripping with sweat at the end of the workout, especially lower body ones! I see there are some HIIT workouts in the program so I may skip those since I'm getting my cardio from running but we'll see. Since I can only do 2/week, it's going to take me 5-6 months to get through the program but so be it. I just don't have the motivation and energy to get up at like 5 to workout before work and nighttime workouts amp me up so much and make it hard to fall asleep. But 4 workouts/week seems reasonable for a working mom with 2 young kids. I think.  

So. Much. Sweat.

2. I used to be terrible at setting boundaries but that is one thing I worked on when I was in therapy in 2020 - because the pandemic was a CRASH COURSE in setting boundaries and I was not prepared. It is still not easy for me to set boundaries (and not feel guilty about setting those boundaries) but work seems to give me plenty of opportunities to practice. Would you believe I received 3 requests to travel during the first week of September? My new hire starts on Tuesday of that week, we don't really have child care for Paul on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week (my MIL will watch him during the day but we will try to not make those days super long for her since she is 80), and Paul starts Kindergarten on Thursday. People were mostly understanding when I explained that my son starts K that week. That is back-to-school week for most schools in Minnesota but I suppose for much of the country, their kids  have been back in school for weeks so September 7th is just an ordinary Thursday. NOT FOR US! 

3. Elisabeth is often sharing great consignment store finds so it's my turn! I took a bin of clothing to the local consignment store last month and looked around while they decided what to keep. I found a brand new pair of Athleta pants - with the tag still on! Granted they were not nearly as cheap as the things Elisabeth finds but they were a fraction of what I'd pay for them at an Athleta store so I'm calling this a win. They are on the more casual side but they have a cute belted/ruffled waist that sort of elevates them/makes them appropriate for work, I think.

Crappy bathroom selfie!

4. The boys had dentist appointments this week. When I got the reminder call the day before the appointment, the person informed me that our pediatric dentist had suddenly died. SHE WAS ONLY 50 YEARS OLD. She had just gotten remarried in the last couple of years and has twin teens. We only saw her twice a year for the last 3 years but she was such a delightful person to work with and I marveled at the fact that she CHOSE to work as a pediatric dentist. This news really hit me even though we barely know this person. But it's so sad to hear of a person's life being cut so incredibly short. We were the only patients at the practice on Wednesday so I fear it will close. She was the sole proprietor so I imagine it will be a mess to figure out what to do with the practice. 

Paul getting his teeth cleaned. The practice is so cutely set up to distract kids. There is a big tree in the middle of the room with different animals carrying toothbrushes, etc and the walls are all painted with a woodland type of scene.

5. Let's close with something happier. Phil went swimming on Tuesday night at swim club so the boys and I hung out in the backyard. I thought they'd want to play with toys while I swept up acorns - but nope. They were more entertained by helping with that chore! Will in particular LOVES to be given a "job." 

And of course I can't close this post without saying happy birthday to Phil!! I can't imagine a better person to navigate the ups and downs of life. He is definitely the fun/funny one in our relationship and helps me to not take life too seriously. And he handles all the gross stuff involved with fishing - because I am certainly not touching worms or fish! I'm glad he gets some much-deserved time away this weekend with his college friends! We'll belatedly celebrate his birthday on Sunday when he's back!! Taco and Phil share a dislike for pictures so nearly all of my pictures of Phil are candids/photos I've sneakily taken. ;) 

How was your week? Are you good at setting boundaries?