The Saturday 7

1. I love working at a school, because kids say the darndest things. I can only imagine the stories teachers have, because I'm with students for a much shorter amount of time per week, but still have some excellent blog fodder.

A couple weeks ago, I went down to the second grade classroom to get their library books, and started walking out with my arms full when a girl exclaimed, "Do you work out?!" I'm not sure if she assumed I'm into fitness because of the strength necessary to carry all those books or because of my fit bod, but I took it as a compliment anyway. Never fear, though, before I could let it go to my head, my own child brought me back to reality. I was wearing ankle jeans and my HeyDudes, and Lucy said with a sneer, "You either need longer pants or taller shoes. You have old lady ankles." 🤷 I'm still not sure what constitutes old lady ankles, but I am an old lady, so it tracks. 

A few days later, a little girl was looking at my ID badge and declared, "You don't look like this at all." Lol. She was right. I source outside help to do my hair and makeup for my ID photo, whereas my students see the real me day in and day out. 

One day, I did a Pets theme with my pre-k kids. I went around the room asking each kid if they had a pet and what its name was. Of course, one kid announced he had a dog named Sadie, and the kid next to him said 100% seriously, "That's a good name for a dog." Lol. None of them know my first name, but the aide and I were cracking up.

And finally, my pre-k class got wind that it was my birthday this week, so after they wished me Happy Birthday, I asked them how old they thought I was. Their answers varied from 15-50, so I definitely like some of them more than others now. 😂

2. In case you're wondering . . . I am now officially 39. My birthday itself was fairly lame, but I truly don't expect anything at my advanced age. I worked all day, and Justin had a soccer game in the evening, so I went to my book club as usual. My book club friends got me a chocolate cake, and Justin left this on the table for me since we didn't see each other in person until 9:30 at night. Haha.

He gets me. 😂

Earlier in the week, I was rudely targeted by this random facebook reel:

But this guy ain't the boss of me, and my real boss/husband lets me do what I want. So I spent lots of money on restaurants this week. Lol. I made dinner Monday night, but not again since then. Throughout the week I enjoyed Wendy's, Culver's, Subway, and Chinese. Pizza Hut is on the docket for tomorrow, and I still need to get my free Red Robin birthday burger before October is over. I'm living the good life and only experiencing mild gastrointestinal distress as a result! Winning!

3. A decade ago, when I turned 29, I challenged myself to read 30 books before my 30th birthday. I was in the trenches of mothering littles (and pregnant with Levi), so reading had fallen off my list of priorities. I ended up reading over 70 books that year as I rekindled my love for the written word. So as I approach my next milestone birthday, I'm starting a similar challenge. This time, however, I'm going to make myself read 40 nonfiction books before my 40th birthday. I have TBR lists a mile long of biographies and parenting books and Christian living books, but I very rarely actually read them. Lol. So now that I've made it official by sharing it publicly, I hope I'll be more apt to keep up.

4. I'm actually off to a good start. We're about to finish Is God a Moral Monster in book club (and it totally counts toward my 40 even though I started it months ago - my game, my rules). I've also been working my way through C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity for the first time. It's much more readable than I expected, so I should be able to finish it soon. And just a few hours ago Amazon dropped off my birthday gift to myself - a book I've been wanting to get my hands on for months: The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Ever since reading The Digital Detox earlier this year, I've been so convicted/intrigued by the way that screen time/phones/social media is affecting kids. I've only read the first two chapters of The Anxious Generation so far, but it's already fascinating. And sad. The author posits that this "great rewiring" started in 2010 . . . the year Lucy was born. I have so much regret about the amount of screen time my kids grew up with. But my generation is one of the first group of parents who have really had to navigate this! We didn't realize how damaging it was. It's becoming more and more obvious, now, but I'm afraid a lot of damage has already been done! Stay tuned for more thoughts on that book . . . and the 39 others I need to read over the next 12 months! 

5. I realized something about myself recently that I'm not sure I appreciate . . . When Justin and I were engaged someone encouraged us to take The 5 Love Languages test, and I self-diagnosed my love language as Acts of Service. I do think that was definitely true when my kids were really little and I always felt like I was drowning, but recent events have led me to believe my love language has morphed into . . . Words of Affirmation. How very millennial of me. 🤦 I've always secretly thought that one and "receiving gifts" were the most selfish love languages. But it turns out that I'm pretty dang selfish, and I really like receiving praise. Lol. This new job at school has put me in a position to receive positive feedback. I've gotten a lot of kudos for some of the recent work I've done, and it makes me float on cloud 9. The problem, though (other than an inflated ego), is that I have zero capacity for criticism. Fortunately, I haven't gotten any yet (whether it's because people are being kind or because I haven't done anything critique-worthy yet remains to be seen), but just imagining someone criticizing my work makes me squirm like a salted slug. It's funny because I've been vocal about my 30s being such a transformative decade, wherein I've learned to care less what people think about me. But perhaps that's not totally true. Well, here's hoping it is more accurately realized as I approach 40! Ha!

6. I officially started Christmas shopping this week thanks to Amazon Prime Days and Target Circle Days. I also took my kids to Once Upon for Halloween costumes and spotted some epic steals that I surreptitiously took pictures of and sent to Niki so she could purchase them for me the next day! Now that my birthday is over, it's time to shift into Christmas mode!! The weather has turned the slightest bit cooler lately - I actually turned on the heat on Wednesday - so that helps as well. At the beginning of this year, I had the brilliant idea to start saving every Amazon rewards point we earned so I can spend them on Christmas presents. We use our Amazon Prime card for everything - from groceries to gas to restaurants, and of course on our copious Amazon purchases, so we've racked up quite a few points. As of now, I have over $300 of free money to spend on Christmas presents! I'm so smart. (See? I don't even need words of affirmation - I'm excellent at affirming myself. 😁)

7. Just a few pics and memes this week. Sorry!

Justin's team won the conference championship today!

Levi finished another long chapter book: Tom Sawyer! Again, not a book I ever would've thought he'd enjoy. Haha. I mean, it's the children's Illustrated Classics version, but still! 

Pretty sure it's the mustache . . .