Hey, y’all! Sorry I missed Links that Think last week, but I was eye-deep in dinner theatre whilst visiting my best friend in LA (Lower Alabama). Ya see, my Time Lottery actually got extended by two more days, so what other choice did I have? Novella and I hit the road early Thursday morning, and maybe I’ll write about our trip soon.

Either way, here are some links that made me think this week:

She’s Not All There I’ve always known I wasn’t the only mom that operated this way, but it’s refreshing to hear someone else articulate this. I feel like I’m always on the go, always planning ahead, and never able to fully be present. In many ways, this keeps our life afloat. Admittedly, I constantly wonder how Novella will be impacted by this mentality. I have to make a conscious effort to really be there.

Kristen Bell’s Top Self Care Tips Don’t we all just love Kristen Bell? A lot of these self-care lists seem to overlap, but she nails it in 5 easy tips. I have literally done every single one of these this week, including (gasp) ordering pizza while on Whole 30. I mean, it was Valentine’s Day. We fought traffic to be together, and I thought: Do we really need to prepare a huge meal? I simply wanted to be sitting on the couch with my husband which doesn’t happen as often as it used to.

Big Little Lies I really don’t read a lot of fiction, but this just happens to be something I read last year. (OK, I actually listened via audible, but still.) The author described the appearance of each character thoroughly, and so I spent so many road trips trying to visualize the characters. I cannot believe the casting on this series; it’s going to be incredible! Sunday night is the night, and I kind of wish I had a little group of girlfriends to watch the premier like I did when SATC hit the big screen. Pleeeeeease, don’t disappoint, BLL!

24 Signs You Live With a Toddler My life. Especially the blurry pictures part. I was so jazzed up about getting the iPhone 7+ for the portrait effect before I realized how incredibly difficult it is to capture a photo of a toddler. Anyway, here’s one of my favorites. Can you believe I got this coat and hat at Sam’s Club for like $15? Man, I love a good deal.

Monday afternoon, I got probably the best email I’ve ever received: our school district would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to illness. I know, I know. Illness= no good. But my kids were feeling well, and so was I. Y’all, I thought my soul was going to leap right out of my body. I’m a positive person, but normally very calm and not excitable. People tell me all the time that I am impossible to read (because I internalize everything).

If I had a time machine, I would go back and record the moment I got to tell my kids, who were working intently on this Monday afternoon, that they were about to have the next two days off, that we all won the time lottery.

“Stand up, stand up! I have something to tell you! Y’all. We have the next two days off!”

Oh, their faces. I have the best kids, the hardest workers, and they were weary from using their brains all day. We all did a happy dance (well, I can’t dance, so I just went to my trusty “raise-the-roof” move).

***

Being a working mom is tough. I’m not going to get into a who-has-it-tougher debate, but with my job, I am fortunate enough to be on both sides of the fence, and life (for me) is much more manageable when I don’t have that little 50-hour-a week side gig. To top it off, my man (B) has worked the last two weekends and has been out of town. And we’re doing Whole 30 that requires a TON of prep. This past Saturday, I was so exhausted that I zonked out at 8:00.

Self-care is seriously so underrated.

Since B was going out of town again, he actually asked me if he could wake up with Novella and take her to school. When I planned the day in my head, I swore I was going to sleep until 10. B shut the door to our room, so I wouldn’t be disturbed (this hasn’t happened ever before), but since he was about to get on the road, I really wanted to say bye and tell him I love him.

I made my coffee, a nice breakfast, and then I went back to bed with a book and just laid there and read LIKE SOME SORT OF WEIRDO! FOR THREE HOURS! I’m almost finished with Chasing Slow. A good, easy read!

Then, I decided to go ahead and clean out my closet and shoot for that capsule wardrobe thing I talked about last week. I think I want to write a separate post about it, but it made me WAY happier than I thought it would. I kept running my hands over my clothes, and feeling their softness. One of the biggest suggestions I’ve heard with this purge is to consider what your “uniform” is. I definitely love flowy, super soft shirts, and fitted pants. There are a lot of rules that go along with this, but really…just don’t keep anything you don’t absolutely love. And, apparently I LOVE blue.

After I accomplished this, I made myself a fancy lunch with plans to go scoop up Novella to go to the park and take pictures. But as I was enjoying said lunch, it started monsoon raining. Seemed like a perfect opportunity to take a bubble bath!

The rain slowed, so I went and got Novella. When we got home, she wanted to play in the rain. I love this age so much. My favorite thing about this picture is the sticker on her shirt. She received this treasure from the nice lady at Kroger three days ago, and she’s been wearing it like a Badge of Honor ever since. I love her little heart so much!

I normally wouldn’t chronicle an entire day, but my soul needed this day so much. I never want to forget it- it truly felt like a gift from above. I’ve been so overwhelmed, trying to be the best wife, mom, teacher, friend, all other titles I can be. I really believe being calm and rested is essential to being my best self.

What would you do if you got two bonus days?

I don’t really know where this week went. It’s felt a bit chaotic and relaxing all in the same. We started Whole 30, and Lort. It takes up e’ry second of my life. I’ve been insanely tired at 8:30 every night. That’s probably from prepping food and eating food, and then getting it all in nice little boxes (that are plastic, and I’m sure will kill me too) for the next day. It’s crazy to think a diet (ok, ok…”lifestyle change”) can have such an impact, but I have felt so distant from so many people, including my daughter. Because she can eat pizza, and I can’t even look her in the eye I’m so jealous of her these days.

Why We Live in A Teeny Tiny Apartment With Three Kids

I’ll always talk about how much I love my small house. It just works so well for us. Like everything, you have to do what works for you. At this juncture, I would say my favorite aspect is the ability to hear every move Novella makes. She is so rambunctious, yet I can decipher what she’s doing at all times. We don’t have a lot of clutter, and everything feels purposeful.

The Capsule Experiment

I have seriously got to do this. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I had it kind of going for a while, but I didn’t adequately pack away seasonal clothes, and it’s a big mess. By the way, I have a closet so tiny that a 37 piece capsule would still clutter it well enough.

What’s Saving My Life

This is a follow-up to what I posted last week. I plan to really write out all the things that are saving my life at the moment- and while I talked about Seasonal Affective Disorder and the blatantly honest way I’m coping with that, there’s more to the story than that. I made 17 goals for 2017, and I’ve been working pretty intently on them, but a lot of them are an uphill battle. Thinking about the things that save us really keeps the things that destroy us at bay.

Believer

One of the many benefits of teaching seventh grade is that I get to kind of see myself through students. Did anyone really make it through seventh grade unscathed? Anyway, I have this student this year that is seriously my soul twin. She came into class today and told me about this song, and yep. She’s right. It’s amazing. Listen to it first for all the music, but then soak in the words.

My Time

I just haven’t been able to get this out of my head lately- like a gentle nudge or a bittersweet song. This was written by a classmate (5^th grade until our sophomore year of college), Shea. She was truly an incredible person. What a light. When she passed away in August, she had no idea she was even sick anymore. Her little girl is just a few months younger than Novella. We had a lot of parallels in our stories, so we occasionally talked through messages about the pure miracle of life. She celebrated her first birthday in Heaven last week, and the simplicity, the bargaining and budgeting of her words have resonated with me this week as I’ve tried to keep all the plates spinning. I just really wish she could’ve continued to experience the same struggles in motherhood that I do, dashed heavily with joy.