The Sunday 7

1. I had a bad week. My depression was out of control. I slept way too much, accomplished way too little, and was a bad mom all week. It's the magical 6-week mark of school being out - like a switch is flipped on my mental health. I've said this in the past too. I can only handle about 6 weeks of life unstructured. I started to panic about the sameness of my days, knowing I have to get up tomorrow and do it all over again: fight with Levi about screen time, do dishes and laundry again, break up fights between Lena and Levi, make dinner that no one will eat again. I'm not ready to go back to school yet, and I'm certainly not ready to be done with summer weather, but I need to fill up my calendar for the next five weeks or something to keep busy.

This was me all week.

2. I also didn't work for two weeks. And I'm coming to realize that working is good for me - just those few hours where I get out of the house three times a week make a big difference - even if it is to go to work. I took the week of Soccer Camp off, and then this last week Once Upon was closed for a remodel. I went in for 3.5 hours on Friday to help re-shelve the books, but that was the extent of it for the past two weeks. I'm actually kind of looking forward to going in tomorrow and getting back in the swing of things!

3. I finished the first two books of Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series. I've read them before, but I don't remember when - it actually might have been in high school (*cough* 20 years ago *cough*). If you want to feel better about the depravity of our current culture, go read these books set in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. Holy cow. The widespread slavery alone was astonishing, and the things those slaves had to endure at the hands of their owners - which was 100% legal and never questioned by society - *shudder*. So so awful. That said, there were parts of the books that were eerily reminiscent of today's American culture. It's a sobering reminder of what lives spent in pursuit of idolatry and pleasure lead to. It was fascinating to read an author's portrayal of what the early church was like, though - especially considering the culture they were immersed in. I recommend the series for adults. I wouldn't want Lucy reading it yet.

4. The kids and I went to a few garage sales this week. Lena loves all the knick knacks and home decor items. Levi's in it for the toys. And I'm always on the hunt for more books. I promised the kids that we could have our own garage sale this summer, but I've been putting off the work of it for weeks. I was supposed to go hard-core this week while I wasn't working, but I was busy being that cat meme ^ and only made it through the living room and kitchen. I still need to tackle the catch all cabinets in the dining room and the basement/playroom that no one ever actually plays in. Not to mention the cleaning I'll have to do in the actual garage to make room for sale items. Oy. I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it.

5. We spent a lot of time at the pool this week in an effort to get out of the house, away from the TV, and doing something semi-active. Levi and I are getting nice and tan. Lucy stays home in her air conditioned bedroom, and Lena just stays white no matter how much sun exposure she gets. Lol.

Pool hair, don't care. (Aka pool hair carefully arranged for a picture, but looking ridiculous otherwise and necessitating a shower because it's full of salt water.)

6. Saturday was Town and Country Days, which is usually one of my favorite days of the summer. We actually had very nice weather - temps in the high 70s instead of the usual 80s or 90s. But it still felt hot and I was sweating buckets by noon. Haha. We went to the parade, but I was stupid and forgot Levi's noise-cancelling headphones, so he spent 75% of the parade cowering in my lap while I held my hands over his ears as tightly as possible. At least we got a cute pic of the kids on the curb before all the incessant fire trucks started blasting their sirens/horns.

Missing Ruby and Casper this year (and Nova was in the parade, so she didn't make the picture), but I was impressed that Lucy actually came!

Afterward, we walked downtown to the free kids' events. There was lots to do, but some of the lines were long and we were all hot and grumpy, so we just did a few things then headed to the pool for the afternoon.

Putting handprints on the snow plow. #thingswedoinmichigan

Nerf gun battle - Nash and Levi were in their glories

Nova even got in on the action!

After the kids swam for around 6 hours straight, I brought them home, then went back to Niki's by myself for ladies' card night.

I didn't take the picture 'til I had already played my 4 non-spades, but if you've ever played Spades, you know what an amazing hand this is! Cards are so much more fun when you can bid 7!

Peaceful pool at nighttime.

7. Pics and memes:

From last week when Justin took the kids fishing.

We had a 10 minute monsoon one day this week (that knocked our power out for two hours). The kids put their Lego characters in boats in the massive puddles left behind. Haha.