Category Archives: Zach

5 Things Friday

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  1. The weather is always or maybe just the Spring weather is crazy. For the first time that I can remember, I caved and turn the air on for a couple of weeks in April. The temps were in the 80s and the house was miserable. Much to my surprise last Sunday, it was cooler outside than inside so I turned the air back off. I am watching the temperature like a hawk.  It appears we have switched two weeks in April for two weeks in May. I will likely be turning the air back on again this Thursday. Middle of May is usual for the air.  Uggh but at least I saved some money.
  2. The weather also effects how the garden is growing. I did not think there was a chance of getting a Spring harvest due to how quickly it turned and stayed warm.  But with the cooler temperatures for the past couple of weeks, We managed a decent harvest of radishes and the broccoli plants out front are huge. I am doubtful we will get a broccoli head but I am willing to give it another couple of weeks before pulling and feeding them to the chickens.
  3. When the kids were younger, before a Disney trip we would start walking a mile a day as a family. This was usually at least 2 or 3 months before going so that no one would complain about walking. Last year, we did this with Braxton as he was too big for a stroller.  Matt and I have started walking because we don’t want to be so sore and tired from our short trip.  We don’t even have a month but my goal is to get 10 miles in as prep.  So far we have managed 2 but at least it is consistent and something to prepare for.
  4. Summer count down is on, Lily is finished with college and the graduation ceremony is this weekend.  Kendall is finished with her Spring semester which means she has finished an entire year of community college. Kendall and Zach have 4 weeks of school left and I have 5 weeks left!
  5. Zach has switched from baseball to football and this past week was our slowest week until Summer. He and Kendall both have meetings and Life Guard training for the next couple of weekends as well.

5 Things Friday AKA What I did for Spring Break.

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1.We, Lily and I planned a short but packed Disney trip for the end of May, approximately 2 weeks ago.  It is something I am convinced we all need and will enjoy. So, in anticipation of the trip, I am going to save as much money as possible between then and now.  I would love to have $1000 but that is going to be a stretch.  The catch to the saving is that it has to come from extra money, not money that I am budgeting. I have worked out the budget for May already, so this is truly going to be a challenge. One caveat is that money left over from the grocery budget can be counted as savings. In addition, I am also going to say no Amazon buying unless absolutely needed.  I will try and deduct this amount from any savings we get.

2. This is week has been both the kids and I week of Spring Break. I have really really tried to get alot of things caught up and prepared ahead for the next month as well. Which hopefully will help with the goal above. Braxton has been with us for at least half of four out of 5 days this week. He is actually enjoying screen free time!

3. One of the areas I have focused on this week is outside both for gardening and landscaping. I have spent $300ish on additional plants, soil and mulch. This includes paying Zach for lots of hot work applying mulch and helping getting the yard looking it’s best.  I have been able to purchase 2 hydrangeas for $14.00 each on clearance, along with several other “clearance” plants that have helped to completely fill by Greenstalk vertical planters. I found angel trumpet trees on Facebook marketplace. Zach helped me repurpose by painting several older planters with a fresh coat of paint which I think turned out great!

I will give a better garden update on Sunday, but we have not lost any plants from transplanting, and we have a watermelon growing!  I am so pleased. Several hours and bags of dirt went to finishing up the planting space. My goal is to finish all the Spring planting today!  I really only have one area to plant now that the dirt is filled.

4.. The other area that I have worked on this week is cleaning and organizing parts of the house. One was the living room, where we found a 5-gallon bucket of water sealant. Zach used this outside as well. I also moved all the plants outside for the fresh air and sunshine.  The living room is so open now it is amazing!  I also spent time filling and organizing the canning closet. I added 28 jars of beef stock and 8 cans of white beans.

5. I also planned to work on getting our food together for the next 4 to 8 weeks (until Summer break). I actually made multiple trips to Costco and Food lion. I also attempted to use up items in our freezers.  I am proud to say other than 1 lunch at McDonald’s for $10.69 We have eaten at home all week. This is huge! I have made multiple batches of sour dough and frozen some.

Overall this was a great productive week!

5 Things Friday

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  1. This blog is to help me recall all things. Unfortunately, I did not need to recall how 2024 started. I spent the afternoon of January 1, 2024, sitting on a beach. The water was too cold, but the view was worth the chill.  I also was very sick with an eye infection and sinus infection.  My goal and prayer were that 2025 did not start out the same way.  Well, here is how things went this week. Coming home from Disney on Sunday January 5th, Matt had a cold that started on Tuesday and was not getting better, in fact he was getting worse and starting to cough a lot.  Zach had a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday morning to get a sport’s physical so that he could swim in a meet on Wednesday.  Lily was convinced she had a sinus infection but was not sick enough for a doctor’s visit.  We were also no sure how much exhaustion played into her being sick as well. Kendall was still limping from a sprain that happened the first of December, but she was able to walk, and I thought it was appearing less swollen.  I knew that this week would involve some doctor’s appointments but not that many.
  2. Matt took Kendall to the pediatrician on Monday afternoon where she was given a referral for an orthopedic visit. We decide this was easier that juggling multiple appointments on Tuesday.  I came home on Monday and was exhausted, and not feeling well at all. I ended up in bed around 6:30 and actually woke up a bit better on Tuesday.  Zach did have his scheduled sport’s physical on Tuesday.  The surprise of the day was Matt got progressively worse on Tuesday afternoon and ended up at Urgent Care. All testing and swabs were negative however because of his significantly increased blood pressure led to a prescription for high blood pressure that has been the biggest blessing of the week.
  3. Wednesday morning Kendall had an orthopedic appointment where the diagnosis was either a sprain or a tear.  This led to a referral for an MRI to get a final diagnosis.  I had forgotten that Matt had an appointment to have 2 areas of potential skin cancer removed.  He ended up taking off the day and was in bed from noon on.  Lily and I drove to Greensboro to watch a swim meet. Kendall spent the day on crutches.
  4. Thursday morning- Matt now has a stomach bug so I ended up driving Kendall to her MRI which ended up a good thing as I was able to view the results by lunchtime. It was a sprain, and she needed to keep stretching and working it out.
  5. Friday- the second official snow day of the year. Everyone ended up having a remote day as the weather was unpredictable and ended up starting around 1pm and by 2 the road was covered.  Lily is significantly worse and ended up at Urgent Care as well. She has a sinus infection. Both Zach and Kendall feel like crap but based on Matt’s early diagnosis we decided to treat with symptom relief medication.  Honestly it was a blessing as everyone did what they needed to do but was also able to sleep most of the crud off. Matt and I both ended up working full days but were able to keep an eye on the kids and make sure everyone eat and took medicine.

The good news is that by Saturday, everyone is feeling human and hopefully this sickness is gone for good!