5 on Friday
Hi friends! Goodness it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to put any thoughts on paper here! The summer completely messed up my writing rhythm that I had going back in the spring and I realized having the kids home full time pretty much gives me no time for anything I do while they’re in school. Which isn’t surprising of course, but every summer it catches me off guard. I have struggled this fall getting into a good routine while the boys are in school, more than any other school year, and I’m still not entirely sure why that is. I don’t feel like I’ve used my time well, yet I’m not sure what I’ve been doing or what I ought to be doing differently…it’s felt like a disjointed season for some reason. But I guess some seasons are like that, especially coming off the two years we’ve had. I thought I’d try and ease back into writing again (something I truly do love and have missed) by doing a simple 5 on Friday post this week, sharing five things I’ve been thinking about/enjoying this fall.
ONE
I don’t know if anyone else caught the documentary on Amazon Prime that was all over the place a bit ago, but LuLa Rich was fascinating, heartbreaking, and confirmed once again my skepticism and hesitancy to have much to do with MLM companies. I had friends hurt badly by the company LuLaRoe and seeing their responses to this documentary makes me believe the reporting that was done and the stories shared were entirely accurate. This was a company that really did hurt thousands of their direct saleswomen and it was awful to watch. Yet the way it was done, the people they chose to tell their stories and seeing how everything unfolded was fascinating and so well done. Chuck got sucked in too and we both binged it together in about 2 nights. If you haven’t watched it, I’d highly recommend it.
The other show Chuck and I have both gotten super sucked into is The Morning Show on Apple TV. Goodness we both love this newsroom drama, he may even be more into it than I am! Ted Lasso season 2 is up next for us (I know, we’re slow, I go to bed really early so we don’t get a ton of TV time!)
TWO
It’s been a season for me where my reading life has come to a screeching halt. I tend to average about 6 books a month and I’ve finished two since September 9th. That’s a huge red flag in my life that something is off—some people notice they get out of the exercise habit or are eating more junk food when something feels off, I can always track how I’m doing by my reading list which I know might sound strange. I think a few things are to blame that I’m still reflecting on, but I am starting to slowly climb out of my reading rut and and finally making some headway in books again which feels SO good. I actually sat and read for over an hour last Saturday afternoon which I haven’t done in ages and I literally said “this makes me feel like ME again!” And that’s a good feeling.
I think one reason my reading life came to such a halt is that a little book club I’m a part of chose a book (umm I admit I actually suggested it—I had heard it was good!) that was NOT good. We read I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawton that had been on my TBR list for a long time. I knew it was historical fiction about the life of Anastasia Romanov and a woman who claimed to be the missing princess Anastasia. This book was TOUGH to read. Out of the 3 of us in the group, only one finished and the other two of us just gave up halfway through and googled spoilers. And none of us liked it. So instead of reading this miserable story, I spent way more time scrolling Instagram this past month than I want to admit and I think it’s partly because that was the book I was “supposed” to be reading but I never wanted to pick it up. So that one was a bust. I’m also joining another book group of friends who are meeting next week to talk about Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Guys, this might be the strangest book I’ve ever read. It’s kept me turning pages but it’s weird, creepy, and not in my genre of books I love at all. But I finished it (I had to google spoilers when it started getting really bizarre to see where this was going, I hate creepy stuff!). I think it will spark some good conversation next week but I can’t say I’d recommend this one!
One of the things that works well to drag me out of a reading rut is to have a stack of books I’m excited to dive into, it helps with momentum to know what the next book is going to be that I’ll pick up. Amazon was having a buy 2 get 1 free sale and I bought a couple of new releases that have insanely long hold times at the library and I’m reading book 7 of Harry Potter with Aidan. Hopefully I’ll have more recommendations in the book world soon, but man this fall has been a bust when it’s come to good books! (But I am super excited for some in this stack so hopefully that will help!)
THREE
We saw Hamilton as a family in early October here in Jacksonville and y’all it was incredible. I had been waiting for a literal 6 years to see this live and nothing about the experience disappointed at all. I was a little worried that having seen a filmed version of the production would change the live experience but I was amazed at how much better it was in person—so much of Hamilton is the incredible music which is a much fuller experience live, the amazing light work, and the ensemble which is constantly on stage doing such cool things. We all LOVED the canons in person, when the “BOOM” goes off in the orchestra pit Asher got this HUGE smile on his face and whispered to me “That was AWESOME!” and the lighting was phenomenal. When the lights started swirling during “Eye of the Hurricane” and the turntable on the stage was spinning in the opposite direction Asher whispered “HOW DO THEY DO THAT?? It looks like a real hurricane, that is SO cool Mommy!” You get a little of that in the Disney+ version but because the cameras were often zoomed in on the main action you miss what’s happening in the periphery and that’s what ended up being my kids favorite part. It was stunning and absolutely a highlight of the year for all of us. I love that my kids love some of the things I’m into now that they’re older, and sharing it with them was something I’ll never forget. Aidan is now setting his sights on Wicked—he knows how much I love that show as well and he can’t wait for it to come back around because I promised to take him whenever it does. Maybe a trip to New York needs to be in our near future…
FOUR
I’ve spent quite a bit of time lately thinking about how we take care of ourselves. Self-care is all the rage right now and is quite the trendy topic. The gals at the podcast Sorta Awesome did a show a long time ago about the difference between self care and self comfort, and they explored the idea that often in our society we are peddled these luxury items, spa days, bubble baths and glasses of wine as self care, when in reality, while those things are great, they’re actually self comfort. There isn’t anything wrong with a bubble bath now and then, but we tell new moms or exhausted care givers that if they’ll just drink this glass or wine or get a manicure they will feel so much better. My experience is that this isn’t always true. Sometimes they need to go to bed earlier.
I just turned 40, and one of the life lessons I am finally letting myself learn is that I matter. That sounds weird doesn’t it? But what I mean is that as a chronic people pleaser and enneagram 2, I’ve always had the hardest time admitting my own needs, asking for what I need, or simply doing the things I need in a given day to feel healthy. I have spent years feeling guilty for taking naps, asking for time to go take a walk, or spending the money on things that truly help my body feel better. If the past few years and getting older have shown me anything, it’s that a bubble bath doesn’t necessarily make me feel better, but going to bed earlier, moving my body, taking my vitamins, and feeding myself when I’m hungry do. I have chronic back pain from a rotation in my spine, and I’ve lived with it for years. Massages have always helped but I always had the hardest time taking the time to go get one. When my folks asked what I wanted for my birthday I said “more regular massages.” They bought me a year long membership at Massage Envy. Now I go see my new friend Duncan twice a month, and it’s the farthest thing from relaxing I’ve ever experienced, he works the knots in my back, neck and shoulders with the deepest pressure I’ve ever experienced, and it’s painful. But it’s true physical therapy on my muscles and it’s made a huge difference. Also, it’s maybe the best gift I’ve ever been given.
I’ve learned that I function best on a lot of sleep. So as dumb as this sounds, twice a week or so I’ll go to bed with the kids, at 8 and I’ll be asleep for the night by 8:30. I don’t do that every night, a lot of nights I’ll watch a show with Chuck and go to bed at 9:30, but a couple times as week I’ve finally admitted that my body needs those extra hours of sleep to catch up and I am a much happier person when I get them.
I think what I’ve realized is that we have been marketed self-care as something almost sexy—luxurious, cozy, pleasurable treats, and in reality true taking care of ourselves is all the basic unsexy things about being a human. It’s drinking a lot of water, it’s going to bed early, joining a gym even when you hate exercise because you know it helps you feel better. It’s taking that vitamin D and the zinc and nothing is as unsexy as taking vitamins! I wish we could change this narrative in our culture and teach people to start asking themselves “what does my body say it needs right now? How can I take care of her today?” She’s the only body we get, I want to treat her well and yes get her a manicure every once in awhile too just because they’re fun.
FIVE
The other thing truly saving me in this crazy season with two kids each in an after school activity is the freezer cooking I did back at the beginning of October. I took 2 full days and prepped about 40 meals (yes it was a LOT of work) but it’s been a life saver this month as three nights a week we’re getting home about 5:45. Some of the meals I made were simply taking pork tenderloins and pre-marinating them before freezing (this way as the meat thaws, it marinates, saving you a step at dinner time). Some meals were more involved (assembling a lasagna or other pasta dish). Some meals I made partially. For instance we love a soup called Lasagna Soup. It’s not a hard meal to make but requires browning of the meat, chopping of the veggies etc. Enough that it’s not the fastest week night dinner. So I chopped the veggies, browned the sausage with them, drained the sausage and then froze that meat/veggie base. When we wanted lasagna soup the other night I defrosted that and was ready to start the recipe from the midway point, having already done all the initial prep work—it saved easily 30 minutes of the cooking process. Some meals I made were meant to go straight into the instant pot or crock pot from the freezer container. My very favorite resource for all things freezer cooking are the two gals over at Thriving Home blog. They have two cookbooks out I know I’ve shared on here before, From Freezer to Table and From Freezer to Cooker (that second one is ALL meals that are meant to go from the freezer into your instant pot or slow cooker—they teach you how to make every single recipe for both appliances). You can browse their recipe index but some of our favorite freezer recipes that are big wins in our house are: Slow Cooker Chicken and Cheese Taquitos, Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, their list of 7 chicken marinades you can make and freeze your meat in—they’re all good! Last night we cooked up the chicken that had been in the southwest marinade (I just threw it in the crock pot all day) and shredded it for chicken tostadas at dinner time. This slow cooker balsamic shredded beef is phenomenal over mashed potatoes! You can’t go wrong with a slow cooker BBQ pulled pork! This is delicious and makes a ton! My oldest LOVES this cheddar and potato soup and it can be fully cooked and then frozen so double it and eat some tonight and then freeze some for later! And my personal favorite freezer meal for this time of year is their version of homemade tomato soup. You can do this in the crock pot or instant pot and it is SO delicious—all 4 of us will eat this one without complaining!
Happy Friday my friends, and hopefully I’ll be back next week with 5 more things to share!
