Failing and Flailing on Sunday.

1. This past week wasn't as insane as last week but here we are. The weather was an issue this week, even if the schedule was not. High winds, snow, trazodone for the dog. You get it. And now:

2. One good thing: I received my professional certificate from the state of Missouri. I've held teaching licenses in various states and age ranges over the years and every state has different rules and regulations. This is the first time I've been somewhere long enough to apply for the "career" license. This means I'll never ever (ever) have to worry about having an outdated license again. A huge relief. Did you know you can't renew in a state where you're not actively employed? This has caused me a lot of scrambling over the years. I couldn't renew my other licenses unless I went back to those states. Luckily, Missouri is the state where I hold the most qualifications because of how my college degree translated into their system. Pennsylvania gives K-8 degrees and then I'm certified in middle school for ELA and Social Studies.

3. Dress update:

I got one final dress in the mail last weekend and it was too big. I mean, it was definitely the most comfortable of the 3 I tried on but it was too loose on the top and, though Scott offered to sew it, he liked the red dress better. Again, I really need to get my colors done, but I think red is one of them. 

4. My order from Old Navy came in (seriously haven't ordered from them in a year). The shorts are the most comfortable thing I've ever put on my body. I got a medium. The swimsuit bottoms are good, and I'm going to size up in the top I think. The kids' suits will probably be fine. I'm putting them into their Easter baskets. 

5. The Iditarod started this week and our story in our reading text is actually about the Iditarod so I, with a dozen plus snow days affecting the schedule this winter, could not have planned that any better. So we've been watching the race updates in class. 

See the log cabin? 

I build a "model" of the "little house" on the prairie to go along with our novel study. 

6. Some TV things: We're watching Reacher and Pitt, still. Both very good. I may need to catch up on The White Lotus tonight but it's boring me. I don't feel the need to watch the Love is Blind weddings but I do want to watch the reunion. Like with The Bachelor, I prefer just an overview and some recap podcasts. We started American Rust on Amazon and I like it a lot. It was from 2021 but is on Prime. 

7. I did post February books this past week but I'm not in the mood to read right now. 

8. I'm in birthday party prep mode for Sutton. I experimented with some cupcakes last night. I like this recipe. I can never get the frosting quite right though. I hate making frosting. 

9. Other than that, I'm just scrambling to get my report cards done today and spring is sneaking up on us this week with highs in the 70s so I might need to dig out sandals. I had this grand plan of "posting on the grid every day in March". That lasted 3 days. All I could think to take a picture of each day was the puppy and 31 days of Mav is too many days of Mav. 

Chewing on a caribou antler from Alaska that he found in the yard. Jett half-buried that in the yard years ago, 100%. Tomorrow is Jett's birthday :/ ...3/10 is also Scott's dad's birthday. 

Friday things. 2/28

 All it took was 48 hours back into the routine for me to feel like I'm flailing and failing. Granted, we had something after school every single day this week which made it harder than usual to get back into the routine.

That's what I should call these posts: Flailing and Failing Fridays. The gist is, though: they have to be written over the weekend because there's no way I'm getting them posted on Friday.

1. I ordered two pairs of jeans from American Eagle. They are two different styles and the first arrived quickly. The second...it's been 3 weeks. I don't want to exchange the first pair for a different size if the second fits better and I decide to keep the second pair instead. So I'm in package-on-the-dresser-just-waiting limbo.

This is what I've got. I like them a lot but might exchange them for a 4 because I'm not sure how baggy they're supposed to be. If I weren't so lazy, I'd take actual pictures in front of a mirror. 

2. Speaking buying things and sending them back, I'm on the hunt for a dress again. It's that time of year for my one formal event.

This is the first one I tried. It fit and I could make it work but it was very heavy with sequins and the slit was very high. I think it'd be too much if I spend most of the evening sitting (which we do). 

This one is much better and I'll probably go with it if I don't like the third I ordered. It also has a high slit but it has a bunch of flowy material in front of it. I don't know my colors (I'd love to get them professionally done) but this shade of red always makes me look tan. 

3.  Also, did you see the spending boycott? Don't get me started on how ridiculous this is. All the folks who exclusively used Target drive-up because it's "safer" during Covid or still do grub-hub and Walmart grocery delivery because they're lazy and post affiliate links to their blogs ...well, they all decided to boycott spending money on February 28th. So, my goal was to spend as much money as possible. In the end, it'd been a long week (see: failing and flailing) so all I did was spend $35 paying the state of Missouri to renew my teaching license and then I went to Old Navy to buy our swimsuits for the year (to go into Easter baskets). I got some shorts too, just because I figured I'd go all out on February 28th, The Day of the 24 Hour Spending Boycott. 

Check out this graphic before you buy your kids' suits this year. I could not find a rashguard in a safe color for Wells. 

4. Lastly, before you spend 24 hours virtue signaling about not spending any money, lest we forget that 2/28 was pay day since it's a Friday and the people who the liberal, liberal, left leftists are trying to "help" get paid on that day..people who live paycheck to paycheck or who count on benefits to kick in so they can go to the grocery store, get gas, pay bills, rent/mortgages are due the 1st, whatever. Those people are supposed to do without because white liberal women who live in the suburbs and spend $$$ at Target, Amazon, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc on 2/27 and 3/1 are telling them it's a bad idea to go to Walmart on 2/28.  The hypocrisy is INSANE. As someone who lives in rural America and spends my days on the ground with real people, the people in the suburbs have lost the plot.