In the spirit of (trying) to keep my posts shorter, I’m going to do a slightly less thorough April recap. (*everyone cheers*)
The month kicked off with the first ~5 days spent in the Virgin Islands. We returned late Sunday April 5th, then dove into a new workweek. I struggled to get my footing a bit, as I tend to, lol, (and yet I do it to myself over and over… 😅). Ahh, I’m a glutton for punishment, aren’t I.
The rest of the month didn’t have TOO many major “have-to-do’s” and dang- this month actually had quite a lot of fun things, I’m noticing, as I skim over my logs!!
I still feel like I was quite productive and got a lot done, also. (Especially at work. I felt really dialed in. Maybe my time away on vacation paid off.)
It was a good month. A bit hard to believe that we’re in month FIVE of 2026 already though now.
Accomplish List (highlight version):
- went to Asher’s Award Night at school (celebrated his 4.0 GPA!)
- did our taxes 👎
- presented at the Nursing Symposium!
- took Asher to doctor, Charlie to groomer
- some decluttering stuff: cleaned out basement fridge and freezer
- household stuff: cleaned, groceries, weeded front yard, etc.
- Charlie to vet
- scheduled physicals for the family
- big Monarch $$ catch up/ spring bring financial reconcile
- toured UW Madison with Ethan!
- some seasonal closet change-around work
- deep cleaned my van!
- worked on site twice
Happy/Gratitude List (picking and choosing some!):
- a message from an old coworker who learned from a mutual friend about my blog and sent me the sweetest comment saying how much she loved it! Seriously, made my day.
- a warm, spring rain
- reading in sunroom with the patio door open
- nachos
- Ethan’s tennis friends (+ some newer closer friendships for him)
- the black dress I wore to present in
- The Pitt (boo, we finished it…)
- tracking and categorizing my time was weirdly fun!
- the hot tub
- Ethan went to Prom and looked handsome. 💕
- a long email clean out at Panera on a Sunday afternoon while Ethan was working (and occasionally popping out to lobby to chat with me) while I sipped large amounts of unsweetened iced tea. 🙂
- cooking dinner with the window open and the local evening news on the TV
- both boys having good success with their spring sports
- a Target run with Asher
- Charlie’s initially-too-short haircut now looks very cute again. 🙂
Fun Things I Did:
- finished our Virgin Islands Trip!
- went to Ivan’s cousin’s house for a little birthday dinner/ party
- went to a comedy club book launch party for one of our surgeons at work
- went to see “You, Me and Tuscany” movie in theater with Ivan and ate popcorn and gummy worms.
- had an impromptu kind of fancy post-work happy hour at Turn Key Supper Club with Ivan after my presentation
- went to an awesome blogger meet up at Panera in Brookfield with blog reader Kaethe!! so fun!!
- went to a Candlelight Concert (Beatles/ Queen) and out to Nattspil for dinner with Ivan’s cousin + wife (a thank you to them for watching Charlie)
- went to Milwaukee for basically a whole day to watch Ethan’s tennis tournament + out to Cafe Hollander in Mequon for dinner w/ my parents
- toured UW Madison with Ethan and out to State Street Brats for lunch with him
- bought Garth Brooks tickets! (Well, A ticket. 😆)
- went out to a shrimp boil place (new to us) with Ivan’s cousin’s family as a send off for Ivan’s aunt and uncle who had been in town visiting from Mexico. It was DELICIOUS and also insanely messy! ha. We had to wear bibs and disposable gloves to eat our boiled peel and eat shrimp and lobster tail with corn and rice and potatoes… we of course got the super spicy version and it kind of looked like a crime scene! But so, so good.
*WOW I am noticing I sure did a lot of fun things in April!!! Who am I. haha.
Bummers List
- vacation ended??
- Charlie got chunky while we were away 😬
- our taxes outcome!!
- getting extremely behind on my Gmail….
- struggled getting back on the “healthy train” after vacay
- tons of bad storms one week/ multiple tornado warnings + hail damage to Ivan’s rental car… blah.
- I had the worst hangnail for days that really hurt! ha.
- a few unbloggables 🙃
- feeling a little sad/ guilty (?) about not enough time with the boys lately. (Even though it’s not my “fault” and they are legit busy with other things, etc., I feel like I should be somehow making this happen more….? I’m probably overthinking.)
(Okay this is really not abbreviated. 😅😅 But hey, still shorter than these recaps usually are.)
Upcoming in May:
I made a silly long goals list for May…maybe more on that later. It’s kind of embarrassingly long, to be honest….
Will share things on the docket, for now:
- a work luncheon
- Mother’s Day! Next weekend. AND I already bought my mom’s gift, so proud of myself. 😉
- Ethan has several home tennis matches this week and an overnight tournament
- I have a dr. appt.
- Asher has an ortho AND dentist appt.
- Asher has prom! (Junior prom, and he’s a sophomore, but most of his friends are Juniors so he’s going.)
- AP exams for both boys (Ethan had one of his today, AP Bio! 2 more to go; Asher has 3 also) and final exams for Ethan
- more tennis, more golf
- Memorial Day long weekend
- Charlie’s getting a deep teeth cleaning under anesthesia on 5/26…
- summer volleyball (sand league!) starts up sometime this month. Need to check those dates.
- end of season tennis banquet and golf banquet, I think? Not 100% sure of dates!
- spring yard stuff- get out patio furniture, plant some flowers, etc.
How was your April? Drop me an “Accomplish, Happy/Gratitude, Fun Thing and a Bummer” in the comments if you want to play along. 😉
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for SPRING WEATHER.
Bonus pic: the shrimp boil! From Mad Seafood Boiler, right off State St. in Madison.
GRATEFUL KAE 
What a great April you had! I will play!
Accomplish: My daughter and I went to our Girl Scout Council annual meeting to serve as delegates. It was a great experience. I always feel so good about our future after sitting in a room with all those smart girls and women.
Happy/Gratitude: I got to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge and hang out in Crissy Park with my Girl Scout troop and stay the weekend at a Girl Scout camp in the Bay Area. Very fun!
Fun Thing: Golden Gate Bridge!
Bummer: We had to put our cat down (just over a year old) because she got hit by a car. 😦 Very sad. My sleep has really gotten hit or miss again. I thought I had figured out the solution with some Magnesium and Vitamin D, but even with that, I have many nights of less than 6 hours and some of less than 5. 😦 Menopause should be called Sleepopause.
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Oh my GOSH I am so sorry about your cat!!! 😭😭 That is so horrible!!
I am glad you at least had some really fun moments in the month to offset that very sad one. (And the sleep, argh!! That sounds so frustrating… 5 hours of sleep is definitely not enough!)
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This was so fun to read. What an epic month. I feel like when you do these monthly recaps it really brings into focus how intentional you are about creating great memories with people you love. You put care and effort into so many things and it shows and pays off! Gold stars, Kae ❤
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what a great month! Except for taxes, of course. Congratulations to your son for his 4.0- that’s quite an achievement with all those AP classes and sports!
accomplishment: my gentle nagging got my senior son through his major English project. He hates school but needs this class to graduate. Me dragging him along until he gets motivated ( or gets tired of me reminding him) gets it done.
Happy/fun – big sister came to visit to see my son in his play. His part was small but so funny. We rarely get to share this kind of performance with family, as they’re all far away. So happy!
Bummer- our taxes didn’t go through because one of the ssn for a dependent had already been used?!? We had to go through a tedious process of identification before they’d let us file. ( irs says it’s usually because someone else out there mistyped a ssn.) Next year we will do taxes before April 14th so this kind of snafu won’t send me into a panic.
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You had a great month, Kae! And lots to look forward to in May. It’s garden season around here so that is my accomplishment/ happy thing/ gratitude. My bummer for April was that I had such bad perimenopause symptoms for weeks, which really sapped my energy. But! I’m on HRT now and it’s only been a couple of days and I am sleeping better and feeling like myself again.
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Lots of highlight for you! I loved reading them. You packed a lot of good times in!
My list:
Accomplished/Fun stuff:
Took an EXTREMELY painful defensive 6 hour online defensive driving class to knock $$ off of our auto insurance for the next 3 years. You can take these even if you don’t have a history of accidents/tickets. I finished it, but it wasn’t fun!
Wrapped up an incredible trip to Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Bali (most of the trip was a cruise).
Saw the Phantom of the Opera outdoors on the Sydney waterfront with a view of the Opera House
Celebrated son’s birthday
Daughter came home from the west coast to visit for a week
Did my annual primary care well visit
Husband had hip replacement surgery
Met up with 3 different friends for lunch (I’m semi-retired, which allows for this).
Went on 3 different walks/hikes in a local park, Philadelphia and Princeton. The latter 2 were with a local outdoor club that I joined a year and a half ago-and they were my first 2 events (hanging head in shame). People in the outdoor club were incredibly welcoming and nice!
Went to a local Mah Jongg meetup-I am learning to play (it apparently is popular right now)
Bummers
Husband has been in the ER twice post-hip surgery-once for a vasovagal incident caused by dehydration/not drinking enough (April) and a sudden spike in post-op pain (early May-fortunately, ultrasound and x-rays show that new hip is in place-going to surgeon today to try to resolve)
Came home from our trip to learn that a friend from a mom’s group that I am in passed away suddenly and tragically in early April due to a biking accident.
Lots of cold weather after we got home-this allowed me to put off the annoying task of switching out winter clothes for spring/summer, but it was a jolt after being in the Australian summer last month.
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The look back for the whole month is fun. Like younger started the month on a Spring break trip but that feels like a long time ago now not just a month.
Accomplishment was getting my taxes and my mom’s done. Since I’m an accountant this is a small favor I do for her. Happy things – both of my kids participated in the school talent show and enjoyed. Plus I got to meet my niece’s new baby.
Bummer was getting a cold mid month and not feeling great for a week.
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Aww, the talent show! What did they do for their talents? Sorry you got sick- that season is supposed to be over now!! And that is a HUGE favor to do someone’s taxes! So nice of you to help with that for your mom. 💕
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Accomplish: Found new internist doctor and scheduled appointment for Aug (my old doctor who I loved went to Concierge model)
Gratitude: Visited MIL for Easter with extended family – my parents have passed so I appreciate having her in my life
Fun: Mom’s weekend in Madison! And ran a 10k at my college Alma Mater and got a personal best time.
Bummer: Taxes were not fun
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Congrats on your 10k!!! That’s awesome! Boooo on taxes, I feel your pain. And finding a new doctor is great. I did that recently too!!
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You really did a lot of fun things in April! The highlight of our month was having my son and his fiancee visit. Then we also had two band concerts and prom. April is much busier than May for us. Everything is winding down, except of course my daughter has exams- and then school will be done! One more year for our “rising seniors.”
I totally know what you mean about spending time with the kids- soon they’ll be off to college, this is our time to cherish with them, but sometimes we barely see them! I guess it’s a good transitional phase for us, getting ready for them to move out on their own (sob!)
That Panera iced tea is good, isn’t it!!!?
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