​Cool Air, Fresh Starts, and Doing All the Things

It is so nice to have our air conditioning back. We slept like babies last night. The house was quiet again instead of being filled with the loud craziness of window units, which was slowly driving me insane. I love a quiet house. I am not one of those people who needs noise to sleep. I am the exact opposite. I want it so quiet that I can hear somebody breathe from across the house. Not in a creepy way. I just need to know peace has been fully restored.

We got up pretty early this morning and headed out to run errands and do a little shopping. We had planned to see a movie, but realized we would be pushing it to get home before the kids, so we pivoted and stopped by a little local produce stand instead.

Then I ran into Dollar Tree to put together a basket of goodies for Norah Harper. It is her birthday month, and I always like to surprise her with little things throughout the month. You can get a shocking amount of stuff at Dollar Tree for forty dollars. Although, if I am being honest, it was closer to sixty because I ended up making Gage a basket too. Apparently, I cannot buy one child a basket of tiny treasures without immediately developing guilt and buying twice as much stuff.

Gage is not nearly as interested in Halloween as Norah is. I think she associates it with her birthday because they are so close together, so the entire season feels exciting to her. She gets so happy when I start decorating, which I have not done yet. Obviously, I was waiting for the new AC to be installed. I will get to it, like everything else.

I honestly wondered whether I wanted to decorate at all this year. First off, Gary cannot stand Halloween, and also knowing we plan to move next year has made me feel less attached to doing certain things around this house. My mind keeps wandering toward the future house instead.

Then Norah said something last night that reset my thinking. She told me, “Mom, this will be our last Halloween here and our last Christmas here. I want us to have good memories of it.”

That was exactly what I needed to hear. Leave it to a child to make perfect sense while I am mentally decorating a house that does not even exist yet. So yes, the Halloween decorations are coming out.

We are probably close to a year away from being settled anywhere new, but we are excited about what is ahead. And now we have a brand-new AC to include when we eventually list this house. Around here, “brand-new AC” might as well be written in glitter across the front door.

Gary is still training for his new position, and he really likes it. I think working on the tech side suits him and will give his body a much-needed break. He has also been exercising like crazy and has lost 31 pounds. I am so proud of him. We have genuinely changed our lifestyle, and we have been encouraging each other and helping each other stay motivated.

I increased my medication dose two weeks ago, so I have had hardly any appetite, but I still make sure I get enough calories every day. We ate out more than usual while the AC was broken, and although you can make healthier choices at restaurants, I am glad I can cook again. Turning on the oven while the house was already hotter than Satan’s screened-in porch was not happening.

We have learned to make low-calorie, high-protein meals that we genuinely look forward to, and many of them are family-friendly enough for the kids too. This is a real lifestyle change for us, not something we plan to abandon once we reach our goals.

Other than that, I have been painting as much as possible. My brain never stops, and it has been that way since I was a little girl. If I were not painting, I would be obsessively cleaning, organizing, cooking, baking sourdough, or dreaming up another project that requires supplies I do not currently own.

I am not someone who likes to sit around feeling bored. If I sit still for too long, I start thinking about everything I want to do until I finally annoy myself enough to get up and do one of those things. We get one life. Do not sit around thinking about everything you want to do. Do it.

Football season is about to crank up, too, and we love this time of year. When it finally cools down, we like to put the game on outside, sit on the porch or in the sunroom, eat dinner, and enjoy being together. Those are some of my favorite nights.

I guess that is all the news I have to share today. Welcome to my new website. I hope you will come back and enjoy keeping up with me and my little world. I will post every day, every other day, once a week, or whatever rhythm I eventually fall into. I will keep you updated on my art, my family, and whatever else happens to wander through my very busy brain.

Y’all have a good one.

xoxo- Jenny