Three Weeks

This is the third week I've been working from home.  With the kids.  Alone.

Justin is still going into the office because he's essential (bank officer) and he's the busiest he's ever been.  Which is both a blessing and a curse.

It's hard to be productive with young children interrupting you every 30 seconds.  However, we've started to find a routine that works for us.  There is definitely more screen time than I'd like, but what else am I going to do when I'm on a conference call?  The weather hasn't been cooperating for us either.  We are currently under a winter weather advisory and the boys don't like playing outside for long when it's freezing cold.  Walks aren't as frequent either since the wind still feels like ice.

I've also come to realize that Stay at Home moms have it MADE.  If I wasn't working and just able to spend the days with my boys, we would be having the BEST time.  Making all kinds of delicious food, playing fun games, doing the occasional craft, and taking family naps.  I will forever side eye SAHM's who say it's hard.

Perks to working from home?
Oh yeah, there are a few.

1. Staying in comfy clothes all day.  Slippers, joggers, sweaters.  You name it.  Which leads to...

2. Less laundry.  The boys want to stay in pajamas all day too!  They put on clean pajamas after bath and I have half the amount of clothes to wash.

3. Staying on top of chores.  I love being able to swap laundry between emails and empty the dishwasher during lunch.

4. Getting all of this time with my boys.  I've watched their bond deepen and their ability to play together strengthen.  I love that they have this extra time to focus on family.

5. No makeup, all of the skin care, and working on extending my hair training. #pleasedontfacetime

There are a few cons too
1. My house is messier.  Being home all day means the boys are making messes all day.  Which means I need to mop and wipe everything down every night.
It's a happy trade off.

2. We are paying for a school my kids are not going to.
With me working all day, I'm not homeschooling them either.
So that's fun.

3. Missing my workouts.  I'm not the best at working from home and with my gym closed, it's a total first world problem.  However it did wonders for my mental health.  I need some great home Pilates and Yoga videos.  Suggestions?

4. Meals aren't better than before.
Did I mention I'm still working?  I don't have any extra time to plan fancier meals than what's already on rotation.  I'm still meal planning on the weekends because I work right up to when I need to make dinner, and then sit back down at the computer once Justin gets home finish up.


All in all, I'm so glad that we are home and healthy.  We've been home since March 16th (the boys had a half day at preschool and I had a half day at work) and Justin hasn't had contact with the public at work since March 23rd.  We stocked up pretty well on non-perishables the weekend prior to staying home, but I have a Wal-Mart pickup order for tomorrow.  I pray that I can clean everything before it's brought into the house.  I pray you're all healthy too.

Five on Friday - What Interesting TImes

1.

Working from Home

There are some hard feelings here (mismanagement and poor leadership...). 

Our schools were cancelled Sunday evening.  Luckily, our daycare was open Monday due to the last minute announcement and then I was sent home Monday at noon (1. I had a cough and 2. no childcare starting Tuesday).  Our company reluctantly sent a select few Monday to WFH and finally sent all non-essential staff home Tuesday afternoon after saying they weren't.

Even though the Risk Management Department had been asking what our policy was for weeks per the CDC recommendations.....

See.  Hard feelings.

My home office is our dining room table.  I wanted to tuck away into a bedroom or the kitchen nook, but with two young children, I need to be centrally located to referee all day.  Plus they like to sit by me and do "work" aka coloring and tracing.  Makes phone calls fun!

Justin still has to go into the office.  He's not meeting with the public and their lobby is closed, so his risk is low.  However he just doesn't have WFH capabilities at this time.

2.

About that cough

It's a cold.  #biggywigs and I are suffering from runny noses + drainage = cough.

I was proactive and went to CVS two weeks ago to pick up a stock pile of basic items.  Tylenol, Ibuprofen, cold meds, contact solutions, etc.  It's come in handy with the cold that hit right when we moved to social distancing!

Also, major props to CVS and their CarePass program.  I signed for the CarePass a few months ago.  I was sold on the $5 charge to get $10 in store credit each month PLUS 20% off all CVS products.  I already purchase CVS brand everything so it was a no brainer. 

I found out shortly after that CarePass also does free ship to home!  This is so handy for prescriptions and the random odds and ends I find us needing (but just don't have time to get to the store to pick up)

This is not an ad, just an awesome benefit I want to share :)


3.
Winner of oddest purchase

The posture corrector

Things I Bought And Liked posted about this a while ago.
Serendipitously (I saw the writing on the wall, WFH was coming down the pike, fast) I decided to order it late last week.

Now that I'm sitting in a non-ergonomic chair and at a non-ergonomic table, this has been a lifesaver.  No more back pain!  I HIGHLY recommend it!

4.
Joggers

Oh lordy.  I'm so late to this trend.
I thought that they looked so unflattering.  All baggy through the hips and thighs but tight on the ankles?  Ugh.  No thank you.

I recently decided I was tired of putting my pajama pants on when I got home from work and I wanted to find a pair of  sweats instead.  I like leggings, but for working out only.  I don't like wearing them as pants very often.

A very long winded way to say, I finally saw the appeal of joggers as lounge clothes.
THEY ARE SO COMFORTABLE.
I found a pair at TJ Maxx for under $15 and then grabbed this pair from J. Crew Factory at 40% off plus 20% off and free shipping.

5.
Winter finally arrived

Last weekend.  Of course it was the weekend my parents came up for a quick visit.  They were delivering our 1/4 of a cow and the snow delayed their departure back home a day.  YAY!!

Being home with snow and cold temps after months of 50's?  TORTURE.
There is nothing I want to do more than kick the kiddo's outside so I can work, but it's too cold the majority of the day.

I'm stalking the weather channel (because I'm only checking the CDC and WHO once a day for updates) for some hopefully warmer temps.

Five on Friday

Whew.  We survived the week!

I'm out of town training so I'm hoping I can get home quickly.  My parents are in town for the weekend!

1.

It's Cold and Flu Season

Stop panicking and buying hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

Just wash your D@mn Hands!

2.
Master Bathroom Remodel!
We are in the process of deciding what we want.  This is the shower insert that Justin wants

The accent tile is totally customizable, so of course I want lighter colors vs the dark shown.

Something like this.

I have my eye on this style of shower door

This isn't a traditional sliding shower door - only one side can open.

Which I didn't realize would be so dang hard to find.  Boo.

3.

Tortiseshell

It snuck up on me, but I don't hate it!

I had this phone case on my old Iphone 7, but waited until just recently to order it for my XR.

My new apple watch band.  It is SO lightweight and goes with everything.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

I have these blue light glasses in my Amazon shopping cart.  I dropped my current ones and they just don't sit the same on my face now.

4.

Hunt for a new backpack

I have a cheap backpack.  Justin has a North Face one I've borrowed when traveling with kids before.  I have no need for a "diaper backpack".  What I need is an updated 'adult' backpack that can double as a commuter bag.

I'm traveling to Canada in May (fingers crossed international travel is still allowed then) and I also travel frequently for work.  I keep thinking a slick backpack would be more efficient than my travel tote.

Thoughts?  Feedback?

This is what I'm currently looking at:

5.

The touch of gold

Hello 1980's, good to see you again.

hahaha.

Gold is back.....at least in my office!

Just like tortiseshell, it snuck up on me.  Now I have a gold mousepad, gold stapler and tape dispenser, gold file holder, gold mirror, and wall art holder. (all found at Hobby Lobby except the mouse pad).

Birthday Recap

AKA - a post with no photos

For my birthday, I really wanted to have a mini getaway.  My girl friend who got married this past summer had really wanted a spa weekend in Whitefish as a bachlorette party, so I combined her wish with my birthday weekend and viola!

We got out of town for 36 hours with another great couple we adore.

It was the weekend of gaffs and face palms and we had the best time.

The plan was - boys would head up to the ski hill for the day and us girls would spend the day being pampered.

The Reality:

We drove up separately (totally fine) but Justin and I were worried on the drive up.  The wind was HOWLING.  3 hours of vicious wind made us doubt the ski hill would be open.

Highlight - a moose crossed the road in front of us!  Crazy! 

(I'm kicking myself for not grabbing my phone in time)

Justin and I got to town first and we stopped at the Ski Haus so he could pick up some thinner wool ski socks.  Our friends got a little lost, but after a bit we found each other in the parking lot.  We agreed to find our AirBNB and then make plans.

The Reality:

The power went out.  In ALL OF WHITEFISH.  Justin and I lucked out by leaving Ski Haus right before the power went down.

The wind had picked up and the boys checked the ski hill - lifts were down.  BOO.  So we all decided to head to the Lodge were Amy and I had pampering plans.

Thankfully they had power.  We were able to eat lunch and we tried to replan our day.  Mani/Pedi's were out of the question because of the lack of power.  Jake convinced Justin to get a shave, so we decided to head back downtown until our spa appointment.

We wandered around the shops with no power (so only cash purchases!) when the power came back on.  The boys booked it over to the barber to get their shaves and Amy and I headed to the spa.

Spa was HEAVEN.

Hours later, in the POURING rain, we headed out to meet the boys at the AirBnb.

We freshened up and headed out to dinner - only to realize we never made reservations anywhere!  Face palm.

We tried a new place.   Spoiler alert - it was horrible.   We attempted to find live music but ended up staying at the first bar and just having the best time.

We decided to head back to veg in our jammies and listen to 90s rap.  Lots of delicious chips and dip later, we crashed.

Only for me to be awoken after an hour to the most obnoxious alarm.  Somehow everyone else was sleeping through it.  I contacted the owners (they live above their rental) and 30 minutes later of chaos it was discovered to be their septic tank alarm.

JOY.

No showers in the AM for us.

The owners were amazing and refunded 50% of the stay, but what a cluster!  Haha.

Silver lining - on the drive home Justin and I saw 5 bald eagles and two wolves.

So that was fun.

Nothing went according to plan, but I had such a fun time.  I'm already looking forward to another weekend away in Whitefish :)

5 on Friday - Whoops

I didn't realize it had been so long since I updated!  I have some great memories to recap, so I'll be busy getting everything documented :)

1.
Great Day!

I started my day off great - went for a drive (and drove!!) my friends new Tesla.   The features are amazing and it feels like a spaceship, but I'm in no rush to get rid of my SUV anytime soon :)

I'm ready to kick off the weekend.  #wiggydiggy has a buddy spending the night tonight and I have a To Do list a mile long.  Thankfully half of the list is picking up fun things!  I moved offices (again....I know) and I went all out making it my own space.  I never felt settled in the 4 years in my previous office, so I took last weekend to organize and decorate.  I just need a few finishing touches and my home away from home will be a new oasis for me.

2.
New cami from Target

Many many years ago I worked at The Limited in Lincoln, NE.  I still have some suits and cami from them - the quality is great.  However, after 10 years the cami's are starting to reach end of life.
I threw this cami into my Curb Side pick up order as a last resort.

I AM IN LOVE.  Reminds me 100% of the Limited cami - only a little longer!!!  Pure perfection.  So now I need a few more :)  Especially since I wear cami's almost every day.

3.
Adorable watch band


I can thank April Robson for this recommendation.  I like my skinny silicone watch bands, but wanted something a little chicer - this fits the bill.  And it is SO light weight!

4.
New Couch!

We've talked about updating our Family Room couch off and on for the past year or so.

Then we went to Costco one day and BAM.  This couch was on display.

Two weeks later - it was on sale!

Technically is wasn't on sale - just mis-marked, but we were given the sale price.
So I listed our current couch and sold it that night

This is the only photo I could find!  Ha

Once #biggywigs no longer needs the rocking chair in his room, it'll move out next to the new couch.
(and hopefully the make shift fireplace guard will go away too ;) )

Now I just need to find end tables I like......

5.

This post

Anyone remember this post?

2016!!  That's how long our master bathroom has been missing drywall.

I kept pushing it off because I wanted to get other parts of the house done.  Especially redoing the guest bathroom flooring THREE times and new flooring in the rest of the house.

But enough is enough.  It's been 3 and a half years.

Our handyman came out yesterday to look over the project and discuss everything we wanted done.  We have to order new windows, new shower surround and doors, new light fixtures and a new counter top this month!  YAY!!!