Oh, dear readers, I feel like I have so some much to say and, at the same time, it could be all rambles and fluff. But, if not here, then where?
Physical health. I am sick, yet again. Last week I was walking around with an overall sense of malaise and some body aches. In the mean time, at-home tests kept coming back negative, so I muscled through the week, as per usual. Mind you, T was away so it’s me and the kids (read: everything is on me). T came back from his trip on Thursday, in the afternoon and said he will pick up the kids. I went to get a hair trim, then came back home and just could not get warm! I got into the shower, turned the water temperature up to 95 F, still cold! So get out of the shower and climb under the blankets. A few hours pass, and now I am really hot! I take my temperature, and, sure enough, 103 F! As an adult, I rarely get fevers but this was not fun. After some NyQuil and many cups of tea with lemon and honey, I dosed off.
My intuition tells me that maybe this whole week I had somewhat of a fever but stupidly never measured it. But on Thursday night my body was like “enough” and gave me a 103 fever.
Friday I took off since I was in no shape to teach that day. Turned out, almost all schools in the area had early dismissals due to about 3 inches of snow in New Jersey that fell in the late morning. We kept both kids home that day. My cough subsided somewhat but is still present. I decided that next week I am going to a pulmonologist. I’m done with coughing like a Scottish grandpa with a pipe (nothing against grandpas. Or Scotland. Or pipes).
Self. I continue taking good care of my face. I ran out of my night cream and ordered a different one from Sephora. On a pricey side, but that is my commitment to myself. Also, Lâncome Définicils mascara is my new favorite mascara! Also, naps. I’ve been taking naps on weekends [almost] without guilt. Around noon, R usually goes down for a nap. And I started doing the same. Yes, clean laundry is sitting there, glaring at me, waiting to be folded, and dusting and vacuuming can/should always be done. But. I need to take better care of myself.
Podcasts rec’s: Watch Me Dependency from Kim John Payne, Why Do Moms Get All The Blame? from What Fresh Hell Podcast and Finding Focus from the Hidden Brain podcast.
Q1 is here! Q1 encompasses January, February and runs all the way up to our spring break. So, it’s a long quintile. I find it it helpful to break it up into smaller chunks so that it is clear what we can look forward to. I also usually pinpoint what holidays/celebrations/traditions or opportunities we have for each month. Opportunities are marked with a [?].
Holidays provide good teachable opportunities: via crafts, food or a field trip: Lunar New Year, March 8th, St. Patrick’s day. I keep meaning to take the kids to Asia Society in NYC for their Lunar New Year celebration. Maybe this year?
| January | February | March |
| ☐ New year energy ☐ Kids’ annual physicals ☐ R’s birthday ☐ MLK day ☐ Create 2023 photo book ☐ Global view of the year | ☐ Valentine’s day ☐ T’s birthday ☐ Lunar New Year [?] ☐ President’s day weekend ☐ professional conference NYC ☐ Social hour at work ☐ Annie the musical [?] | ☐ March 8th International Women’s day ☐ annual mammo+breast ultra sound ☐ St. Patrick’s Day ☐ start summative process at work ☐Pinca-licious musical [?] ☐ Almost at spring break! |
I want to note that we like to somehow celebrate a variety of holidays. We don’t go all out but I feel it’s nice to receive a self-made card and some chocolates for Valentine’s Day. Yes, it’s a Hallmark holiday, so what? The kids have fun, I have fun. I usually wear red to work, the kids wear red or pink to school. It’s cute. T and I buy each other candy, watch a movie together.
March 8th is Women’s Day, a socialist holiday that not celebrated here. Among my Russian friends, however, that is an important celebration. I usually buy a few stems of yellow flowers (yellow is a color of solidarity), and the kids give them to their respective teachers, with a card that they wrote. It’s nice.
St. Patrick’s Day. We make corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes, get some soda bread, and some Guinness. Some green food coloring in kids’ milks and some gold chocolate coins. Last year we did not build a leprechaun trap, but this year, we will!
Mom of Children 