5 things Friday

Oh it’s Friday, you say? I am so messed up on days of the week what with having Monday off, flying out Tuesday morning and flying back late (for me) last night. What time zone is this even? So this is my scatter-brained 5 things Friday. 

1. SC/NC. I was in Greenville, SC and Charlotte, NC this week for client meetings. Greenville was such a cute city with a great running path along the river. I got in before it got dark so was able to go for a nice walk. 

2. Shadow self. Longtime readers will recall that I lived in Charlotte for a year 10 years ago. It’s always a little weird to come back to Charlotte. That was a really painful year for me (I had just met Phil 2 months before I found out I had to move to keep my job, he lost his dad that year, and I was diagnosed with RA, among other challenges). The city has changed so much so it feels very different as I walked around, but I can’t not think about my shadow self - the Lisa of 2013-2014 who was just so sad and kind of broken - mentally (Phil and I broke up since the relationship was too new to shift to long distance, I was lonely and did not want to live in Charlotte) and physically (I was in so much pain from RA - before my diagnosis I thought maybe I had bone cancer or something!). I wish I could give 2013-2014 Lisa a hug and tell her that it’s all going to work out - she’ll eventually end up back in Minneapolis, married to Phil with 2 beautiful children. 

3. Travels. Well I am NOT holding the boundary well on traveling about once/month seeing as I have 9 work trips scheduled over about 5 months in the first half of the year. And I have even said no to at least 3 additional requests to travel. I don’t know what to do about this. But it’s kind of part of my job and I’m compensated well for the inconvenience of lots of travel. But wow, the mom guilt I feel… and the general level of exhaustion!

4. Husband of the year. Speaking of which, Phil deserves a prize for a) researching activities for Paul and b) signing him up for said activities (tee ball and golf). I did nothing. I feel some guilt but then a good friend reminded me that she has researched and registered her kids for all of their activities for the last 15 years and she is fairly certain her husband has felt no guilt over this… so there’s that. But I am excited to expose Paul to a couple of new things! He will take a break from karate while trying these new sports this spring and will also take a break from swimming over the summer. So his schedule won’t be too packed.

5. Potty training. I mean we don’t have much going on these days so why not try a potty training boot camp this weekend (insert maniacal laugh). Paul potty trained 1 month after turning 3 (after a horrific failed attempt at 2 at the start of the pandemic - because potty training while isolating and freaking out about a pandemic seemed like a GREAT combo… reader, it wasn’t). So in my mind Taco is ready since he is 3 years and 3 months and seems like the kind of kid that needs a full on boot camp. I will report back on how it goes (please, God, let it be successful. We are so over diapers!!). 

How was your week? Is there a younger version of yourself that you wish you could travel back to so you can tell her everything will be ok?