Hunger Games

Korra is reading Hunger Games.  She sent me the following message:

Peeta's in love with her???

Unbelievable!!!!

Where the heck did that come from??

This is not supposed to be a heartfelt love story.

I love getting to experience her reading one of my favorite series.

Cookie Delivery and a Friend

Korra is on "Late Winter Break" this week.  She went to work with me today so she could deliver all the Girl Scout cookies that my coworkers ordered.  

After lunch, Nate came and got her and together they picked up one of her friends for an afternoon playdate.  

Even though Nate and I can't take off work and we can't take a big vacation, I hope we're making the best of a week off school.  

Greenville

 Today we drove up to Greenville to meet Brian, Anna, and Lily. We got a hotel with an indoor pool so the kids could have some fun even if the weather was yucky (and it turned out to be rather cold and windy today). 

We also went on a brisk walk down Main Street to look for mice, eat pizza for dinner, and buy some cookies for dessert. 

Appetizers and Masters of Air

For dinner tonight we went to Todd and Sarah's where we shared appetizers (7 layer dip and fried green beans) and watched the newest episode of Masters of Air. It was wonderful to see them and catch up- especially since we'd had to cancel the last 2 get-togethers due to sickness. 

Exit Interview

Today was my favorite work friend's last day and since I've been taking on more responsibilities in HR, I got to do her exit interview. It was interesting and I think I did a good job (she said I did) and it was nice to get some one-on-one time with her. 

6th grade drama

Korra called me when she was walking home today and the story she told me was the most middle school drama-filled I've ever heard "Olivia P was so mean to Harper today and she didn't even ask what happened when I told her I'd had a terrible day, which was because Elijah didn't do his part of the group project and Eliza and I got into an argument about what pictures to use on our sides." 

Lots of "oh really?" and "That must have been tough" comments from me. 

Shirt Refashion

I bought some men's dress shirts at a thrift store and decided to try a refashion I saw on Pinterest. 

Excuse the bathroom selfie. 

Women's Resource Group

For over a year, a couple other women and I have been working on creating a women's resource group for our organization.  It's taken SO LONG to move forward because people are busy, but also because everyone wants to do this right (being sensitive, considerate, thoughtful, etc).  Today I presented our suggestion to the executive director for approval and we got the green light to present to the staff!  

Glad to Not Be Teaching Today

Valentine's Day is one of my least favorite days to be a middle school teacher (also Field Day and the day after Halloween).  All the drama and the hurt feelings and the hormones and the sugar.

Instead I'm spending my day receiving an Instacart order for the breakroom, overseeing the dishwasher getting fixed, updating contacts in our database, and listening to my audiobook.  

Fat Tuesday

Pancakes and sausages for dinner with king cake for dessert. 

Weather and Book

It's very rainy and windy today. I'm also listening to a book about a hurricane. It made the walk home very interesting!

Mini Hike

Korra and I decided to enjoy the warm temperatures (65 degrees) even though it was cloudy and muddy and try a short (1.5 mile) hike at a nearby nature preserve. 

Romantasy Book Club

I met my new friend (also named Katie) and one of her friends for breakfast at Java Jive to discuss the Fourth Wing books we all recently read. 

It was so fun to nerd out about our favorite books (and TV shows and movies) and we've already made plans to do it again next month!

4/10

If yesterday's pain was a 9/10, today it's down to a 4. Sleeping was rough but walking and sitting straight is fine. Twisting of any kind is out of the question. 

PAIN

I am in immense physical pain.  I pulled a muscle in my back.  This same spot/pain has happened twice before.  The first time was when Korra was a baby and I bent to pick up something while holding her on my hip.  The second time was about 5 years ago while I was jogging before school.  Today it happened when I was pulling up my pants in the bathroom.  I wish I could lie and say it was something different.  I am so embarrassed and frustrated.  It's a spot right under my right shoulder blade so it hurts when I twist, move my right arm, or breathe deeply.  It hurt bad enough that I had to ask Nate to get me from work almost immediately.  When I got home I sobbed.  That hurt too.  I'm laying on a heating pad, slathered in Icy-Hot and with a tummy full of ibuprofen and Tylenol.

I'm also in a good amount of emotional distress.  I found out this morning that we owe several thousand dollars in our taxes- AGAIN- even after we both made changes to our withholdings last year.  We have the money in savings, but it is so upsetting to have this huge of a mistake.  And we still need to figure out what the mistake is so we don't have this issue for a third year in a row.

Customer Service Compliments

I'm on the phone with Verizon (yes, again) and the representative this time has been so complimentary.  He said I have a lovely name, then he said I have a clear voice, and just now he said I have been one of the best customers he's ever worked with.  I don't know if he was being sincere or not, but I'll take it.

Also, I assumed this would be a 2 hour long call and we got it all done in less than 30 minutes!

Finally Better

Korra is over 24 hours fever and symptom free so she was able to go back to school today. Nate and I are still healthy, too!

Weird Stuff

One of my little tasks at work is to check the online forms from our website.  Most of them are in Russian or are advertisements for BitCoin or online casinos, but this one (obviously also spam/scam) caught my eye today:

Hіǃ Ι арplаud women whо have thе соurаge tо enjoy the lovе оf manу wоmen and chooѕe thе one whо wіll be her bеst friend during thе bumру аnd сrazу thing cаllеd lifе.
Ι wanted to bе thаt friеnd, nоt ϳuѕt thе stаble, rеlіаblе, bоring hоuѕеwife of аn оrdіnary mаrried couple.
Ι аm 26 yeаrs old, Аgnеs, frоm Dеnmark.

HUGE misunderstanding

I got an email from the congresswoman's aide saying they were waiting for the troop at the East Staircase.  I got a text from one of the Girl Scout troop leaders that they were also waiting at the East Staircase.  I emailed the aide the troop leader's number and then found out after the fact that the congresswoman is in DC.  Apparently I never said which capitol in my email.  They assumed national.  I assumed they knew I meant state.  So the girls didn't get to meet the congresswoman and I feel ridiculous.

No Capitol for Korra

I feel so sad for Korra but since she was still running a fever last night, we decided she can't go to the Girl Scouts event at the state capitol today. I know she's really sad to miss it. This will be her third day stuck in bed. Hopefully she'll be much better today and can go back to school tomorrow. (Also hoping this plague passes over me and Nate). 

Sick Kid

Korra was complaining of a headache and stomach ache yesterday and was still feeling yucky this morning so we kept her home from school. I'm thankful once again for a job where it really wasn't that big of a deal for me to work from home this morning.

She just threw up so I guess she got what our friends' kid had on Friday. Fingers crossed Nate and I are spared. 

Old Photos

This weekend, Korra and I spent some time going through old photos. We really enjoyed remembering and sharing photos with friends and family. 

These were some of our favorites. 

Chimichurri

I made chimichurri this week. It's officially my favorite condiment. I want it on fries, sandwiches, steak. It's delicious and if you haven't tried it you should make some immediately. 

https://theforkedspoon.com/chimichurri-recipe/

Pretzels

I baked pretzels. 

Alex Loves Popcorn

Alex is obsessed with popcorn. He comes running into the kitchen when he hears it popping. He gets in our faces, purrs, meows, and head butts us, when we eat it. If we throw him a piece, he'll chase it, catch it, and chew it up (sometimes eating it and sometimes leaving until pieces on the floor).