Blergh, how has it been over a week since I posted?!
Well, I guess I know why- I’ve had quite a lot going on. Let’s catch up a little!
New PCP
Last Wednesday was the day Ivan left for Mexico early in the morning, so I was up early to drive him.
Then I worked, of course, and at 12:30 I had a physical with a new Primary Care Provider. I actually switched to a different healthcare system, too (sort of- they’re affiliated with the old one, but technically it’s different). I’d been with my old doctor for ~10+ years now but I just never really clicked with her. I mean, she was perfectly nice enough, as a person, but she always just seemed to be in SUCH A RUSH. And she talked sooooo fast, which is saying a lot from me, because I talk really fast.
I think she’s a good doctor clinically, but I just kept feeling like especially as I approach perimenopause and may have other potential health needs as I get older, I wanted someone I could really talk to- and more importantly, who would really listen to me. I understand that my old doctor probably WAS in a rush. I get that! Medical clinics are busy. But I mean, you can at least try and fake it a little better that you aren’t?! I’m entitled to my chunk of time on the schedule, too….
Anyway, I ended up switching clinics and also switching to an NP instead of a doctor. So far, I’m thrilled with the move! The new clinic is in a nearby smaller town, but just ~10 minutes down the road. Super close and easy to get to. My old clinic (in Madison) always seemed so busy and hectic everywhere. This new clinic had a delightfully not-full parking lot, it’s a light, airy and newer building, I didn’t have to wait, everyone was incredibly friendly, and most importantly, I really liked this Nurse Practitioner.
I’m glad I finally took the time to deal with the hassle of researching new providers and getting set up at a new place.
I had more work Wednesday afternoon, a dog walk, and then a volleyball game + post-game drinks after that. The day started at ~4:30 am and I didn’t get home from volleyball until around 9 pm. Long day! I’m thankful the boys are old enough to manage themselves, with Ivan out of town!
Thursday was a much needed lower key day. Work was light on meetings- I had that big presentation meeting last Monday, and the other one Friday, but the middle of the week eased up some.
I also spent some time Thursday doing some travel planning, including booking a private sunset sailboat tour for our group of 6 in St. Thomas (next month! It’s really sneaking up all of a sudden). I’m excited about the boat trip.
The weather was mild and I took Charlie for an extra long walk after work.
Thursday night, Ethan had plans, so Asher and I decided to skip cooking and go out to Chipotle, just the two of us. It was nice! After, I relaxed by the fire and watched the Olympics with Charlie, and was in bed and fast asleep by about 10 pm. 🙂
Friday work was busier again, including my presentation meeting from 3 – 4:20 pm. (NOT the most awesome timing on a Friday afternoon, but it is what it is…).
I was relieved when it was over. I got slightly off my workout schedule this week, so I needed to lift Friday. I didn’t want to be rushed at lunch, so I had decided I’d go after work. Normally Ivan and I go out on Fridays, but he was out of town, so, might as well go to the gym!
I had a great workout, even though yes, I initially was like, ugh I don’t wanna go….But I did, and it was good. 🙂
I spent the rest of Friday night sitting by the fire with my laptop and my lap desk and doing a big email purge while watching the Olympics. Got down to inbox zero!
This was the night of the men’s free skate, too, which was quite riveting. I felt SO heartbroken for Ilia Malinin!! Poor kid, I can’t imagine.
Swim Varsity Sectionals!
Saturday was mostly all about swim. Asher had his big Sectionals meet this week. These “Sectionals” meets occur all over the state on the same day, and then the top kids from all the Sectionals meets combined qualify for the high school State meet (this upcoming Saturday).
The day kicked off early with me getting up to see Ethan off to take the ACT exam! I made him breakfast and he had to leave by 7 a.m. to get way across town for an 8 a.m. exam.
Valentine’s Day is not a big deal at our house, but I did have little V-Day gifts waiting for the boys when they woke up:
Just a little something to acknowledge the day. I couldn’t resist those little stuffed animals… they’re so cute! I do realize I have 2 teen boys, but I felt like they’d still like them and would be happy to set those on a shelf in their room, and I was right. 🙂
Then I had to hit the grocery store to buy muffins for the swim team breakfast, plus chips, bottled water, and a veggie tray for the team dinner party (which would be after the meet….). Swim season is great fun, but whew, it’s a lot of… stuff to do and/or buy all the time. 🙃
After the team breakfast, I took Charlie on a long walk, and then drove way across town (ironically, to Verona, where Ethan was taking the ACT exam), for Asher’s meet which started at 1.
He swam great!!! This is the meet they’ve been working toward all season. The boys wear their fancy tech suits, they even shave their arms and legs, and they’re fully tapered.
It was a really exciting meet with lots of fast swims. His 2 relays (the 200 Medley and 200 Free relays) both qualified for State!! Asher anchored the 200 Free relay and was neck and neck with the kid next to him to the wall, where Asher out-touched him by 0.04 seconds. Everyone was screaming. Whew! Too stressful. Ha.
I had a lot of fun at the meet, but the meets are SO LOUD and over-stimulating and also it was a little nerve-wracking as the boys all wanted to swim well.
The meet ended by ~4:00, but the day was not over! I drove home, freshened up a little, and then met up with everyone at Asher’s teammate’s house for a family swim party. One of the dads had smoked a bunch of meats and brisket and there was a whole spread of other food and desserts.
It was a great time! All the parents went too, plus the coaches. I ended up lingering with a smaller group at the end and didn’t get home until after 11.
Sunday I woke up dragging. At first I thought it was a headache from the one drink I had at the party (an Old Fashioned)… but then I realized I actually was coming down with the bad cold Ivan had last week. GREAT. My rib still hurts from my last round of a virus, and now here I am coughing and sniffling again. 😫😫
I took it easy most of the morning. Eventually did a little weekly planning/ life organizing, walked Charlie, had some lunch, etc. Asher had to lifeguard in the morning, and Ethan worked from 12-8.
When I felt more alive again, I cleaned the whole main part of the house. Vacuumed, mopped the floors, etc. The weather has been so delightfully mild- like SPRING TIME in FEBRUARY- so I literally opened the windows and screen door and everything felt fresh and ahmaaaaaazing!!! (I also did a massive “dog poop pick up in the yard” now that the snow is gone, which was less amazing, but good to get done. 😆)
At 3 pm Asher and I attended a high school Golf Season informational meeting! Asher and 2 of his friends decided to join the Golf team this year. I sat and listened, cringing just a little as they outlined all the various fees, team polos and jackets to buy, and parent volunteer opportunities! 😵💫 Can you let me get through swim season first….?
Just kidding. The coaches seem great and it looks like a great experience, too. I think Asher will really enjoy it.
I got groceries after the meeting, made dinner, and then decided to just sit in my new recliner and read my book! I had a long list of other things I “could have” done, but nope. I didn’t feel the best and I just desperately wanted to chill.
Charlie managed to squeeze up there on my lap. Hahaha. I sat there and read for 2 full hours! I even had the screen door open, that’s how warm it was outside. It was the best.
College Visit Day!
Monday was a bonus day off for me (a flex day, meaning I didn’t take PTO but will make up the hours this week).
By a little after 9 am we left for Milwaukee for Ethan’s first ever college visits! This was exciting.
We seriously could not have had better luck with the weather, for a February tour day. It was nearly 60 degrees and full sunshine!! Incredible.
Our first stop was UWM (University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee). Here we just did a self-guided tour. (The only official tour that was still available when we booked was 9 am, and that was a bit early for us. It’s about 1.5 hours from our house.)
We picked up the self-guide packet at the Welcome Center and set out. Ethan really enjoyed this self-guided format! He commented on that several times. We just wandered around, went in buildings (the gym, library, etc all let us go in when we told them we were doing a self-guided tour), the Student Union, etc.
It was all very nice! It’s a smaller campus, technically in Milwaukee, but it’s more of a residential feel there. I was particularly impressed by the inside of the buildings we saw. SO many great restaurants, coffee shops, study spaces, etc. within the Student Union, library, residence hall and even the gym lobby. I actually loved the vibe of all of them. (Ethan commented that the Student Union felt like an airport!)
The actual outdoors campus part was just okay to us. Not particularly scenic in any way. Ethan liked it overall, but said he’d really like to go somewhere with a more “urban” feel to it.
After that, we drove to the Marquette University campus (only about 12-15 minutes away). We parked in a ramp, and then went to get some lunch at Qdoba.
Anyway. At Marquette we had an official tour scheduled, at 2 pm. We got checked in, along with a whole conference room full of other people. They showed us a welcome video and we heard from some sort of Student Services guy (a Marquette alum and now employee, who was very enthusiastic and shared his story). Then we got split up into smaller groups- only us plus 3 other families! This was nice.
Our tour guide was a sweet young girl, a freshman herself, from Arizona. She did a great job and took us all around.
Marquette is a private, Jesuit University and is a nice mid-size without being too small, I think. About ~11,700 students in all (8,000 undergrads and ~3,700 grad students). It’s got a law school and Wisconsin’s only dental school, as well.
Ethan liked that it definitely feels more like you’re right IN a bigger city, versus UWM (which is in the city too, but a different area/ vibe).
Downtown Milwaukee and the Fiserv Forum (the Milwaukee Bucks basketball arena), Lake Michigan/ the beaches, and Milwaukee’s historic Third Ward are all just a few minutes away.
He went into this tour day assuming that UW-Madison would definitely remain his first choice, but after this tour, he was suddenly unsure! 😉 He really is hung up on this “urban vibe” thing, and also noted that he literally drives through the UW-Madison campus on his way to high school many days. Maybe he’s ready for a new environment?? He liked the feel at Marquette A LOT!!
(*We’ll see, though. UW-Madison’s campus and college culture is hard to beat, IMO. (Am I biased as a UW-Madison alum? Maybe….It really is amazing, though.) We haven’t done an official tour at UW-Madison yet either, but hope to soon.)
He also really wants to maybe check out Loyola University in Chicago which is supposed to have a beautiful campus and I’ve heard only good things from people we know, BUT we noticed that their male/ female ratio is 30% male/ 70% female! Not sure if that would impact his experience or the overall vibe there, or not. Hmm. I guess we’ll see!
What other great “city” or “urban” campuses are out there?! (Ideally not super far from WI….but maybe?) It’s tough too because he doesn’t really know what he wants to study yet!!…………
When we wrapped up our tour, we met up with my parents on our way home (they only live about 25 minutes from Marquette University, which would be another perk if Ethan goes there). They drove to meet us near the interstate for a snack/chat break so we could tell them about the tours, and then Ethan and I headed the ~1 hour home.
I picked Ivan up at the airport at 10:50 p.m. Monday night (yawn), Tuesday was a long work day, Wednesday was too, I had volleyball last night (SUCH a fun game last night!!) and we went out for drinks after. I have slept terribly the last 2 nights so I’m kind of hanging on a thread right now, but oh well. This upcoming weekend is yet another big swim weekend- high school State on Saturday, and then Asher is jumping back to his club team on Sunday for their Regionals meet.
Side note- I have totally been enjoying the Olympics this go-round!! I’ve watched a ton, every day, basically. It’s so fun. I can’t wait to watch the Women’s free skate tonight!! Go Alyssa Liu!
Okay, now you’re all caught up on my life. 😅😅 Time for me to stop typing now and go live my life so I have more to blog about later. 😜
Question of the Day: Where did you go to college/ university?? Tell me what you liked or didn’t about it!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for the beautiful, warm weather Ethan and I had for the college visits on Monday. It likely would have been a very different experience in 15 degree snow…
GRATEFUL KAE 
I don’t envy you the college tours! It seems like your son has a good sense of what would suit him , at least in atmosphere. If your son has AP credits, that will allow him more flexibility if he goes to college with an undecided major. Most schools are fine- it’s what the student puts into it that determines success. ( I’ve done the college thing seven times now with kids. I’m so over it and want my current senior to just get a job or go to junior college for a few years.)
I went to a small liberal arts college that was only 30 min from NYC. It was a little forested oasis in suburban/ crowded NJ. Suited me well. Most of the students would take the bus or train into the city regularly; I hated the one trip I took. The funny thing is, my oldest son lived in Chicago and now NYC and loves it. My husband and I are such small town people!
I hope your cold passes quickly!
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They are a little farther from you but maybe University of Minnesota or Washington University in St Louis would be good-size universities with urban vibes and fun campus cultures that are still driving distance from Madison. I think Macalester in St Paul, MN is also in an urban environment although it’s a small liberal arts college and it sounds like maybe Ethan doesn’t want anything in that size range (it would be significantly smaller than Marquette). Another one to look at in Chicago if you go there for Loyola could be DePaul. I went to a conference at Loyola Law School once and I absolutely loved the urban location. Although I think if I remember correctly the university has multiple campuses and the one where the law school is might not be where the undergrads are? Chicago would be such a fabulous place to go to college!
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I see someone beat me to it but there are tons of colleges in Mpls/St. Paul if he’s not into the SUPER HUGE U of MN campus. That one is definitely urban though 😛
Macalaster is in a cute neighborhood, but tiny (and also very hard to get into), University of St. Thomas is kind of Marquette-esque? Mid-sized and with lots of sports. Augsburg is right next to UMN campus, and smaller. Hamline University is in St. Paul as well but more of a residential neighborhood.
Are you venturing further east at all? I think there are tons of great colleges in Ohio – University of Cincinnati is RIGHT in the city and a very beautiful campus. Obviously there’s OSU, right in Columbus. Cleveland has a few colleges too but I don’t know those as well. I think there’s probably way more but those are what I can think of off the top of my head!
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Ahhh the urban vibe. My son also wants to attend an urban school and we spent all last year going to every reasonably dense city up and down the east coast. No recs in the midwest though. We only visited schools in Chicago.
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As a first generation college student, I made all my choices based on cost and ended up attending three different schools before graduating (first a community college, then transferred to a small liberal arts school in a rural area, and then finally landing at a small suburban college that allowed me to live off campus cheaply and find full-time work that worked with my class schedule). My children will have all the options and hopefully get the full campus experience that I did not have.
I really wanted to comment because I also find swim meets to be very overwhelming and draining. I didn’t grow up swimming but my kids are very into swim year-round and I’ve taken many volunteer roles on deck during the meets including becoming a certified official. I wear Loop Engage ear plugs (purchased on Amazon) and they are a must have. I can still talk and hear everything going on around me, but it dulls the roar and protects my hearing. Most of all, I feel calmer and I don’t get ringing in my ears. Swim meets are incredibly loud. I highly recommend you look into for future seasons.
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