The Saturday 7

1. Mrs. Miller had a little setback with her knee, so I ended up working 4 days this week. I was able to finish up all the projects I wanted to do in the library and by Thursday I had time to just sit and read some new books that need to be pre-screened. It's good for my depression to stay busy. I needed it this week. The weather is really getting to me. 

Every Monday I tell myself, "This will be the last really cold recess duty. It'll be nicer next week." #lies

2. I just read that for the month of March we only had 29% of possible sunshine. I might need to invest in a sun lamp. It's like the last month of pregnancy - you know it can't last forever and the end is in sight, but it feels like it will never be over. 

So far, April has not lived up to my expectations . . .

3. Despite my grand intentions of having monthly date night, we never made it happen in March - mostly because of the babysitter situation. Our babysitters are a little burned out after watching Levi so much while I worked for the past 6 weeks. And while I entertained the idea of actually hiring someone outside of our family to watch the kids, I know Lena and Levi couldn't handle that. Lena has been doing so well at school lately. You'd never know she was having panic attacks about it early this year. But her clinginess to me when she's not at school has gotten out of control. Today I went to a thrift store that is literally a block away from our house. This was our first free Saturday in ages, so I took my time looking at every little thing, trying on clothes, leisurely perusing the books, and avoiding this onslaught of texts from Lena:

When I got home an hour later her face was completely blotchy and Levi said, "She cried the whole time you were gone." Justin was home with her! It's not like she was scared of being home without an adult. And it's not like I was driving far away and she was worried about me getting in an accident. She just wants me to be home at all times. If ever I put on jeans, she immediately starts to panic and ask where I'm going. When I went downstairs to fold laundry today she came bursting in my room and said, "I thought you left!" Where does she get these abandonment issues?? It's exhausting.

4. I got a head start on one of my classes for my final semester this week. My math class opened early so we can start working ahead. Good news. I think this math class is going to be much more up my alley. The first assignment was the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. I know it will get harder, but looking ahead, it's stuff like calculating interest rates, understanding fractions and decimals, and "solving for x." Hopefully I can handle it, and if not, hopefully Lucy can help me. 😁

5. I've been having issues with my phone's camera. I paid a lot more than I usually do on phones for this piece of junk and I have not felt like it's worth the money. We got our car insurance reimbursement yesterday and I really want to spend it on a Google Pixel. I loved that phone, but it's not compatible with Visible phone service. We've really liked Visible, though, so I'm torn. We definitely have better service than we did with Republic, and you can't beat unlimited everything for $25 a month! Anyone know of a comparable phone plan that would work with the Pixel? 

6. I have a new favorite show to binge: Bargain Block on Discovery Plus. 2 guys buy abandoned houses in Detroit (usually for like $1000), then fix them up to resell. They try to do as many houses on one street/block as they can to revitalize dying neighborhoods. But the best part, is that they usually sell them for less than $100,000. They're trying to provide affordable housing for first time homebuyers. So they don't do super high end finishes like all the other HGTV shows. I love to see what they can do with a normal-sized budget! It's amazing what they can create with paint and scrap wood. Of course they make it look so easy that I'm convinced I can do it too. Realistically, I know that isn't true. Lol. But I did buy some fabric today to attempt to recover a cushion with. Justin assured me he has a staple gun I can use. How hard can it be? 😂

7. A couple more pictures that will prove how bad my stupid camera is . . .

Lena and her friends getting ready to pack meals for our school's fundraiser

Puzzling this snowy day away