Okay, I promise I will not write a third post about the Mexico trip decision. 😂 The final decision is Sunday- Sunday and I’m refusing to even think about it anymore (though I don’t think Ivan has actually bought the plane tickets yet, so with my luck, after all this, it will turn out that the flights don’t work out right on those days or something…..).
I haven’t written much about “regular life” lately, so here are some updates:
🔷School is officially underway for Ethan.
He’s over a full week in now. So far, so good! He seems to like his classes and teachers, and apparently he is personally a fan of the slow mornings (1st hour study hall).
He’s been driving himself to school, which is another new milestone this year. Also, so far, so good. I feel surprisingly less panicky about this than I thought I might. I mean, I definitely still track his location/ check that he made it, etc. And it all still makes me a little nervous (he drives busy HIGHWAYS to get there….).
I don’t think I drove the highway alone probably at all in my first year of driving. But, I’m trying to remind myself that he has had a drastically different early-driving experience than I did. I grew up in a very suburban area where I had zero need to ever go on an expressway. Ethan, on the other hand, has been driving on some sort of highway since almost day one with his temps.
The overall verdict about him having his license = THIS IS ACTUALLY PRETTY NICE!!!!!
🔷 Asher got a new job!
The whole Arby’s restaurant thing didn’t really pan out so well this summer. I mean, the work itself was fine. But it does not seem that Arby’s gets, um, that much business. (Apparently enough to stay in business, but it’s pretty slow!)
Therefore, he just consistently kept getting scheduled barely any hours. Like some weeks he’d get scheduled 4 hours in the whole week. Or a shift on Saturday from 11-1. (2 hours? Barely worth the gas to drive him over there!)
But part of our “summer plan” was for the boys to be WORKING (aka to have something productive to do!!). He talked to his manager about it, who said he’d try to get him more hours… but then the following week the shift managers called him off 2 days in a row. (His only 2 days that week….) 😫.
Anyway, just didn’t seem to really be working out. But it did not seem particularly easy to find a new job at only 14! There was a phase when I definitely feel like fewer 14-15 year olds were working, but I think it’s on the rise again. More and more kids seem to want to be making the dollar dollar bills, y’all. 🙂 (I am ALL FOR IT. Ivan and I both feel strongly about the benefits of kids getting this type of work experience!)
He ended up finally getting an interview at McDonald’s (where Ethan works) and got hired a couple weeks ago. Ethan is not entirely thrilled about this…. but it is what it is. 😬 Asher is under strict direction to not be even mildly “annoying” at work. lol.
McDonald’s always seems busy! Asher’s first impression was: “It’s actually a lot more fun than Arby’s! I actually stay busy and have stuff to do instead of just standing around.”
🔷 Evenings were busy this week.
After a little lull in early August (post-swim/ pre-school stuff…), things picked up with a vengeance this week.
This week entailed:
- volleyball tryouts + practice M-F every evening (A)
- soccer tryouts + practice M-F every evening (E)
- a soccer welcome party (last Sunday afternoon- ended up skipping as we went to a gathering at Ivan’s cousin’s house instead)
- Back to School parent night (E’s school- Tuesday; I went)
- VB Parent Meeting (Asher, Wednesday; I went)
- VB team pictures (Thursday)
- Soccer parent meeting (E, Thursday; Ivan went)
- Soccer scrimmage- today/Saturday, Ethan at 10:00
- Asher work Saturday 8-12
- VB “team day”- today/Saturday, Asher 1-3 pm
Phew! It was something “extra” every night this week.
🔷 Not this week, but Ivan and I went to see the movie Twisters.
Just mentioning this because we really liked it! We went a couple weeks ago now, on a Wednesday night at like 7:30 pm, haha. (discount night!) It was action packed but also really good story. I recommend!
🔷 I’ve been walking an hour a day.
I realized this week that I’ve really consistently been walking a full hour every day. This is up a bit from what I was doing during the spring school year.
Charlie seems to really do best (aka doesn’t get over hyper/ naughty) if he gets a decent amount of exercise! (He then is usually quite good during my work day and sleeps a lot and lounges around when I need him quiet, so that’s good.)
Current schedule is a full 30 minute walk in the morning before work, and another full 30 minute walk in the ~5:00 hour after work. Sometimes a quick 10 minute lunch time walk around the block, too.
I generally love the activity (for both of us), the fresh air, and the routine. But the time really adds up! I feel like it’s pretty necessary though? At least now while he’s still got a lot of young-dog energy. (And especially if he’s been sleeping all day, and we need to go off somewhere for the evening and leave him alone…. he really needs the activity/stimulation first.) Also, TMI, but he doesn’t really like to, um, go #2 unless he’s out on a walk…
Some pics from a sunset walk w/ Ivan the other night:
🔷This fall looks…. kind of busy.
There is definitely a sort of reprieve with Ethan driving now, plus the sports all just being mostly after school now (I talked about this before- both boys in high school seasons now vs club sports at the moment).
But there are still a lot of games, tournaments, etc., and we’ll have to do some volunteering at them.
Also, I’m going to Nashville for basically a full week at the end of September for a work conference. (Monday morning through late Friday night.)
Barely a week after that, we’ll leave for Mexico for another full week.
There’s some shopping that needs to happen before the Mexico trip. I need a longer/more formal dress, maybe shoes, etc. I badly need a haircut. Fortunately, whatever the boys wear for Homecoming (also need to purchase as I do not think their suits really fit anymore) should be able to double for the quinceanera. But we need to look at all of that (also, shoes…).
In fact, they might need some new fall/winter clothes in general, especially Asher who is starting to grow some finally. Then there’s all the “fall stuff”- yard work, decorating (not necessary, but I do like….), etc.
Anyway, I think things are going to feel pretty full, but I am also excited about all of the things coming up (including watching the boys’ HS sports games!).
🔷 Inspired by SHU sharing about the Unfancy blog yesterday, I took a mirror selfie last night. Ha!
This was my very fancy “going out for nachos on a summer Friday night” look. lol. I added a jean jacket once we arrived due to the a/c.
Unfancy’s capsule wardrobe has me thinking about my clothes again. I have been super lax this summer and have basically been living in the same few pairs of shorts and tees/tanks. (Or exercise clothes.)
Clothes are such a conundrum for me, because while I like the idea of “getting properly dressed in an outfit” every day, I REALLLLLLLY want to be super comfy while I sit at my desk. Also, I like to be wearing something that is conducive to stepping out for a mid-day or post-work walk without having to change (or like, go walking around my neighborhood in a “dressier” outfit, which feels kind of weird/ and also it’s hot out.)
I am so intrigued though by the idea of making a capsule wardrobe and then just literally stashing all the rest of my clothes downstairs for a season. It seems so freeing to only have limited options! (I don’t want to like, get rid of everything, just remove some of it for a while and ONLY have things I really love and that work to pick from.)
I’m also intrigued by one of Unfancy’s posts where she took outfit pics for a whole month and then put them all together to sort of look for trends/ “analyze the data” a bit. Like what is she wearing the most, what does she like the best, what’s her overall fav look, etc? I kind of want to do this! But I also am bad at remembering to take the photos. 😆
Okay, gotta run!
Quote of the Day (from James Clear’s newsletter recently):
“Even if you don’t have all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you don’t want.” – Bob Dylan’s father
*WOW that is a good one.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for Ethan being a safe, responsible driver so far. Praying he keeps it up!!
GRATEFUL KAE 
Fall is going to fly by for you guys, especially with your work trip and Mexico trip! Fall is going to fast for me, too. I have 9 work trips plus a trip to the DC area to visit my sister with Paul over MEA break. Sept and Oct are busiest as I have 3 work trips in Sept and 2 work trips plus that fun trip in October. Paul starts soccer on 9/4 at our community rec program and the boys start swimming lessons on 9/8.
I do kind of have a capsule wardrobe now as a lot of my pre-kids clothes just don’t fit anymore. So I have gotten rid of them. I like having less options to choose from when getting dressed! I wear dresses on my office days usually and then on WFH days I wear comfy bottoms and a dressier top that will look good on zooms.
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Oh I love that quote at the bottom!
I really like reading about your kids jobs. It’s so cool that they are both working, although I can imagine they’re not that excited to be working together. I worked at baby gap when I was 14 I think? It’s great that Asher is enjoying a busier workplace too.
Well done on the hour a day walking too. And I’m glad you found a resolution to your travel conundrum!
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Yeah, Hannah definitely is out for at least an hour every day and then when she’s in the house, she’s asleep or close to it. She’s older, of course, but still can be an energetic beast if she’s not properly exercised. It’s honestly a huge chunk of my non-working hours!
I honestly just have like six or seven summer dresses and I just wear those on a loop. *shrug* It’s actually a bit challenging when I need to wear pants because they are uncomfortable and the worst!
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I definitely prioritize comfort over look but not to the extend that looks messy. It would be interesting to take a week of outfits, maybe I’ll give it a try. but I’m also pretty bad at taking pics.
congrats for Asher getting a new job! that’s awesome! will he continue to work during school period? I can’t think of free time for Sofia to work, I wonder how you fit in.
going to movie twice this week? wooo! impressive! I can’t go out after dinner, energy is down to 10%, an afternoon movie date sounds lovely but we haven’t done any in recent memory, at least 2 years. We are good doing massage dates, once a week on Fridays. Loving it.
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That’s a great quote!
Glad you made a decision about the Mexico trip. It should be a really fun time for all of you! I definitely think my first idea, which is that the boys shouldn’t miss too much school, was wrong. They’ll be absolutely fine.
You guys are BUSY. I only have one kid at home now, and she only does one activity- band. It’s pretty easy to keep track of, and not too many evening activities.
It’s interesting that you mentioned “only two more times” holding the first day sign. I feel a weird shift this year- the beginning of freshman year, high school just seemed to stretch ahead of us forever. Now that we’ve started sophomore year, I’ve become hyper aware that this time is finite. Why is that??? We still have 3/4 of high school left, yet I’m also thinking thoughts like, only two more “first” football games of the year, etc. SIGH.
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Our old dog was like Charlie – she only wanted to do #2 on a walk. Doggo prefers to take care of business in our yard. I feel like an hour a day is accurate for leash time. Our old dog loved to walk, but Doggo tends to stick to circling the house and just walking up and down the same area of our street – it’s a little monotonous, but great for podcast listening and fresh air is fresh air so I can’t complain. I’m hoping that she will grow into loving walks, since that’s one of my favorite things. It took a while for us to figure out that her idea of exercise is playing, so thank goodness for doggy day care group play to get the wiggles out.
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My 14 year old has her first job right now – working at the mini donut stand at the state fair!! She did try to apply for a few longer term jobs but it didn’t work out – I know places can only hire so many 14-15 year olds! This has been awesome though – the fair is 12 days, she’s working 11 of them for 8 hours and at $14/hr that’s a really decent chunk of change for her!
I am still 1.5 years from this but yeah I can’t wait until she gets her license……….
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Congrats on Asher’s new job. I am not surprised Ethan isn’t thrilled to be working with his brother, but oh well, that’s where the work is 😉 I am sure they’ll be fine.
Good for you for getting an hour of walking every day with Charlie! That is great (low-key) cardio!! And you get beautiful sunset/sunrise views, too. Win-win.
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Your comment form keeps eating my comments! It’s probably me, or my phone, but grrrr. Anyway, it’s funny that Charlie will only #2 on the walk because Jelly used to refuse to do that and so we would have to let her out in the yard and then pick up after her. I kept telling K that she should avoid letting her in the yard and take her for more walks but then you risk her pooping in the house! I think that it’s great that both of you are getting outside so much! Thanks goodness for puppies!
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Your comment form keeps eating my comments! It’s probably me, or my phone, but grrrr. Anyway, it’s funny that Charlie will only #2 on the walk because Jelly used to refuse to do that and so we would have to let her out in the yard and then pick up after her. I kept telling K that she should avoid letting her in the yard and take her for more walks but then you risk her pooping in the house! I think that it’s great that both of you are getting outside so much! Thanks goodness for puppies!
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Ahhh sorry! I just checked and yep, for some reason several got flagged as spam. I need to remember to check that spam folder!!
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