The Saturday 7

This is going to be a quick one, and less polished than you're used to. Lol. 

1. My family has been sick for weeks - Justin and the girls had/have coughs and congestion, then Levi got it (along with a random fever, as is his norm), but I've stayed remarkably healthy - largely thanks to my tried and true Dr Pepper regimen. Alas, the Dr Pepper finally failed me and I woke up with a miserable cold on Wednesday morning. Thus far, I've avoided the cough (🤞🤞🤞), and the worst part has been my plugged ears. It is such an annoying/disorienting feeling! Listen, I'm already legitimately hard of hearing (#callmekatie), adding in this block that feels like having ear plugs stuffed in my ears all the time is not enjoyable! I've tried all the tricks I can think of - jumping on one foot, hanging upside down, chewing gum, etc. Nothing helps. It comes and goes at it pleases. Grr. I really need to avoid the cough and subsequent bronchial inflammation I usually get because our good insurance is expiring in 8 days and I won't be able to go to the Dr. anymore. #plightofthemiddleclass

2. I also hurt my back walking up the stairs this week. Just walking. Not carrying anything. Not bending or twisting weirdly. Just going up the stairs like I do hundreds of times a day. It hasn't been unbearable, but it's not super comfy either. It gets better when I'm able to rest, but as soon as I have to work at Once Upon it starts flaring up again. Getting old is for the birds. 

3. The way I usually decide what to blog about each Saturday is by going back through the pictures I took that week. I realized recently that I hardly ever take pictures anymore. I have tons of random screenshots, but very few photographs. Maybe it's just the March Monotony. I've been vocal in the past about my distaste for February, but I'm starting to think March is worse. March is supposed to be the start of spring. So when it inevitably remains cold and snowy, the depression sets in. Especially because we were teased with those few unseasonably warm days a few weeks ago. The kids actually had a snow day yesterday because we got hammered with another snow system. And the forecast for the foreseeable future is the same dreary 40s and rain. Ugh. Michigan. I probably say this every year at this time, but if I could take my entire family, the couple of friends I actually see, and my church with me, I'd move somewhere warmer in a heartbeat. 

4. Here's some good news: I made a decent meal this week! I try new recipes all the time, but something always fails in my execution of them because nothing is ever good. But this time, I made chicken alfredo pizza with a homemade crust and it was delicious! The crust was way easier than the last one I tried (years ago), and I even took shortcuts like using store-bought alfredo sauce, and bacon bits instead of real bacon, and it was still good! 

Of course when I made Levi try it he said, "I'm not going to like it. Everything you make tastes the same and it's all gross." He choked down one bite, but puked up the second. Why do I even try??

5. We're currently in the two weeks of the year that I pretend to care about sports. I love filling out a March Madness bracket every year, and have gotten Lena hooked on it too. Unfortunately, her team (Auburn) fell in the first round, but she still loves seeing how her bracket is doing. She actually has every one right in the Midwest region so far. 

My team (Villanova) didn't make it to the championship for the second year in a row, so I had to settle for Gonzaga. They're doing pretty well so far. We'll see if they'll secure me the victory.

6. More good news: I finally read a four star book to pull me out of my book slump. I'm on the hunt for something really intense to engage my fifth grade boys in library, so I got a bunch of books out of the library that I would never ordinarily read. Tonight's pick was All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team. I read all 200+ pages in one sitting, so it was definitely engaging. It was incredible to read about how many people were involved. Experts in cave diving, geology, hydrology, and rock climbing flew in from all over the world. The local Thai people set up elaborate supply centers to feed and clothe the rescuers. Thai Navy Seals and the U.S. Air Force got involved. They tried three different methods to retrieve these kids trapped miles beneath the earth: drilling through the mountain, finding an alternate cave entrance, and cave diving through miles of incredibly dangerous tunnels. Meanwhile the kids spent 18 days in almost complete darkness. For the first 13ish days they had nothing to eat. But none of them had any severe injuries, none of them went crazy, and ultimately all of them were rescued. It was a really good read, but I think it's a bit too technical for a read-aloud. And probably too long. I only have 8 more Mondays with my 5th graders!

7. Pics and memes

I got to snuggle sweet Baby Brodie for a long time on Sunday!

Levi is finally gaining fluency in reading and moving on to slightly longer/more difficult books.

Packing meals to send to Haiti!

Guilty.

Levi!

4. Make a huge mess.

My fifth grade boys are the absolute worst with this! I have them once a week for 45 minutes and have to say it multiple times. I can't imagine how often their poor teacher has to get after them!

I feel this in my soul.