Oh man, I am just so out of it. Yesterday, I tried to make an oven chuck roast via this one Pinterest recipe but it turned out awful! It just tasted… off. And the recipe was weird in that it said to preheat oven to 500, stick roast in (seared, obvs) then turn the oven off and let it cook to 135 for about 2 hours. Well, it lost heat rapidly and I couldn’t get it to temp. My mom suggested turning it back on but then it went too high – 165! The inside color didn’t look too tough but it was just not right. Sigh. I don’t have very many failed meals so that was a one-off for me. Anyway, I am making a pot roast in the crockpot today with a beef shoulder so let’s hope this one turns out ok!

Once the kids were in bed and after a nice bath, I fell asleep in my chair, only to wake up coughing and sputtering because I have had thick mucus in the very back of my throat. Cannot get it out! So I woke up and sat upright, finally feeling ok. But then I fell back to sleep for a bit. Finally got in bed around 11:30 but could not fall back to sleep. I think I finally did around 12:30 but then woke at 2 to a text from Ash, which could have been sent earlier; my phone is weird about delivering notifications if it gets below a certain percentage. Anyway, I woke up feeling ok – motivated to get stuff done at least. But the mucus is still invading. After I took the kids to camp, Ell and I went to Target for school supplies. Success! Now I am grading and sitting with the diffuser in my face, with peppermint and eucalyptus, looking or any kind of relief.

It’s gray and ugly outside too, which never helps my mood. Luckily, Ash does come home today. I’m tired of going it alone. I just need normalcy! One way I am doing that is by working around the house in between grading. I folded towels, put things away, cleaned the bathroom. I’m drinking my bone broth and finishing work.

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Wouldn’t it be cool if I wrote and published on the same day?

I really love blogging but I feel like I either need to promote this more as a personal blog or switch it to something else. I’m thinking about joining Substack and writing more of my thoughts about the socio-political stuff happening now. I’m only reluctant because it’s responsibility and I also don’t want it to be TOO personal. I want to reference being a mother and how new rules and regulations affect my children but I’ll need to keep it very basic and neutral in terms of their personal info. I think it’ll take a bit to get it off the ground but it might be a nice side venture and a way for me to vent.

To reference yesterday’s meal, the pot roast turned out great! but my kids just weren’t into it. I thought it tasted good but I wasn’t hungry around 5. Then Ash got home and I was so busy that I wasn’t really hungry until 8 and then, that was too late for me to eat. So I am now waiting until dinner tonight. We’re taking Dakota out for her birthday meal, even though her day was technically a couple days ago. She originally wanted to go to Sarku in the mall – lol – but now has changed to our normal hibachi place. More expensive but a better meal.

I am so glad my husband has returned. I honestly do not know how my two best friends ever deal with it. Robert traveled 4 days a week almost all year for about 5 years. Kenny goes away all the time for the Reserves and sometimes, he’s deployed for weeks at a time. I just don’t know how they get themselves into a place where they can stomach it. I guess they’re just tough women! I can only be tough for so long.

We’re getting close to the weekend now and I am trying not to panic. I have to do all of Ash’s laundry and get the house tidy. My parents come tomorrow to stay with the kids and we’re meeting my sister and her boyfriend in Jacksonville. We were supposed to be seeing Poison, Def Leppard, and Motley Crue but they pushed their tour back to 2022. Which is ridiculous given that Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza are taking place. But hey, what can ya do? We had the chance to cancel it all but we decided that they never take any vacations so we’ll still go. Our airbnb is about 6 minutes from the best brewery in town and nearly that close to a few others. So we’ll eat and drink and just hang out. It’ll be nice! This year will be momentous because we took a trip with just them and before, just my parents. That’s what makes life living, y’all.