It has been…

…..a crazy few weeks since my new first post and now….some great things, some not so great things and a bunch of in between over all goodness. Aside from kids being here 24/7 we’ve been trying to get the outside ready for summer. It isn’t even near being ready. We had a lot of last minute Ohio weather change that left us cold and wet with a back yard of mud… So now that it’s finally dried up we’re going to finish it tomorrow….but to all that has lead up to now…

On the 5^th we spent the day doing all kinds of shopping. Malachai wanted to go to Easton for her birthday and to have friends with her. We’re officially out of the birthday party days 🙁 …she’s growing way too fast. We also took little miss Autumn. She’s growing way too fast as well. She will be 7 in October. Autumn was a daycare baby that I’ve had since birth. Her dad was friends with Kia (my brother) and that’s how I ended up babysitting her. But she is more family than anything. We still get her for weekends and weeks during the summer. She’s basically Malachai’s little sister from another family lol. She was excited to visit the American Girl store. We spent the whole day walking around and shopping, laughing and just enjoying spending time with each other. The teens went off in their group of 4, Malachai, her 2 friends and Harlie. WE ended up eating at the cheesecake factory, which is where Malachai wanted to go. Needless to say the food was amazing and I definitely ate things I shouldn’t have.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes..so it’s been a roller coaster year of trying to change my eating habits. I haven’t done horrible, but definitely need to do better. I’ve lost about 40 pounds but should be down a lot more by this point. To be honest, the holidays and my lack of control did not help. I think I did better onmy trip to New Orleans than I did navigating through the Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers, but I slowly getting back on track. Haven’t gained any more weight since my last doctors appointment but haven’t lost any more either. So my summer goal is getting back to no carbs & sugars and somehow fitting exercise into my schedule.

Anyway back to the birthday fun stuff. Malachai had a wonderful time and so did everyone else. It was nice having a day without any daycare kiddos and just spending time with family. Not that I don’t love my job, but it really does get in the way of family time at times.

Mom decided to give Harlie back her cell phone that day. Had me take it to the apple store and have it wiped and reset…brand new start. Well mom left for her little friendcation with her bff the following Tuesday and told me to make sure I checked her phone while she was gone… yeah really didn’t need to see the things I saw… she no longer has a phone again… didn’t even last a week 🙁

We made plans with Mark & his siblings (so her aunt & uncle) to take family pictures for his mom for mother’s day…. Well that kind of fell through. One of her cousins ended up sick with the 48 hour virus that hit the daycare earlier that week…and then Mark called to say Kaydence & Mason were both sick… about midnight that night Malachai ended up sick too… so we have to reschedule again. She was actually excited about seeing her siblings that weekend too.

I have since started using my fitbit again… and have been doing really well about tracking my food intake and all that. This week has kinda sucked because I was craving carbs bad late at night. Sunday starts the back to healthy eating craze that I must do. I say must because it’s just not an option to not do it. I just really need to last the 2 weeks of sugar/carbs detox. I did it before so I know I can do it again.

So I have been planning or thinking about planning my next life path, for after Malachai graduates. Yes I realize that’s 4 years from now, but I’m a planner. I’ve decided I want to get into holistic healing. I’ve just finished my level 1 reiki class, so I am able to work on myself now. I had the attunement last night and I kind of fell asleep during it. It was a distance attunement so I didn’t have to go anywhere specific, just to be somewhere quiet and where I wouldn’t be disturbed for 30 minutes. I chose the time that the kids would all be sleeping and before their parents would be here to pick them up. My fitbit actually tracked my sleep activity at that moment and it was pretty interesting. I normally don’t move much once i’m actually asleep but there was a lot of restless activity. I woke up about 1am to let one of the parents in to pick up their kiddo and I was pretty woozy when I set up. Not bad woozy but definitely not my normal waking up self. So I went back to sleep after said kiddo went home… and had the weirdest dream. All I remember is that I was at a party and I swallowed a bunch of pills. One of those dreams you wake up from thinking WTF.

So about 8am my sister calls me. Yes the pos sister who is the mother of Harlie. Well she’s doing all peachy with herself finished school finally and became an emt. She called to tell me our younger cousin OD’d last night and was in icu in Columbus. So I had that dream about the same time Shelly Od’d….just insane. Shelly is doing okay, she is finally responding to the doctors but she has all kinds of crazy going on because of whatever the meth was cut with. I’m sad that she has fallen back into that life. When she had Zane she gave all that up, he was her world. He’s 4 now and I guess he saw her OD. I don’t know what happened to make her go back to it after 4 years, but I really hope this puts her life into perspective. But I also know there are a lot of other parents that choose to leave the kids and continue down the rabbit hole. I really hope that she takes the better path after this.

I have been making other plans as well. I’m actually considering opening a business in the area that offers reiki, massage therapy, yoga and a few other heath classes. My best friend is a licensed massage therapist and has the degree in spa management. So we’re thinking of doing this together. I know 4 years is a while down the road, but we’re talking it out and planning ahead. I’m going to go ahead and get the business plan done, might as well use my degree lol. I’ve already researched the area we want to open in and I’m happy to report there is only 1 competitor and we’re going to be offering much more than they do. The area is perfect because it’s a vacation get away for city folks who want to have some nature in their lives. There is a ton more work to do but it’s looking great so far. I’ll be done with my reiki level 2 in a few weeks and then move onto the master course. I’m really excited to be venturing out like this. To actually have something to throw myself into after Malachai graduates. Everyone keeps asking me why I want to stop doing daycare. It’s not that I want to stop but Mom and Dad are gonna be retired and without responsibility again and I just don’t see them really wanting to have a house full of kids like it is now. Retirement is supposed to be relaxing and carefree. Plus I’ll be 43 and have no responsibilities other than helping Malachai when she needs it. So a new business with my best friend doing something that I’ve always been interested in. I really am the flake of the family….or rather the hippie lol!

Oh I forgot to mention Dad had surgery yesterday too. They had to go and fix some discs…but this one was tricky. They had to go in from the front of his neck and move his voicebox to fix it. He’s home now but he’s sore. He has a 6 to 8 week recovery window, which translates to a bunch of grumpies from him… love him but so not looking forward to that.

I had a big step of progress with Malachai today. I am such a strict parent but in this world, you kind of have to be. She is a straight A student, a junior varsity cheerleader next year and just an overall good girl. Has a good head on her shoulders and all of that. But I always worry about her friends and their families…i mean you never really know. But her friends sister is graduating this weekend and her aunt flew in from new york and got a cabin and said that AJ could have a friend come too. Well AJ’s parents are not parents of the year to say the least…but I guess her aunt is very responsible, respectable and the opposite of her parents. (I got that from a reliable source not Malachai or AJ) so I let her go to the graduation sleepover. I’m not ready for her to have upperclassmen as friends lol. But I guess I really just have to face the fact that she is growing up and that she is well liked by most people and makes friends easy. The complete opposite of how I was in high school lol. So here I am sitting her at home not having a panic attack or letting my head go to the 50 zillion scenarios it could drum up.

On another note I purchased a spirit board. It’s not my first one ever. I haven’t used it yet and no it’s not a cardboard one, it’s handmade and really beautiful. I currently use a pendulum and I take all protection precautions when using it. I won’t use the spirit board alone, but I haven’t found anyone that I feel is the right fit. My friend wants to do it, but I’m not certain she takes it serious enough for that. Just not getting the good vibe when I think of using it with her. And I’m not sure my best friend would actually use it. She’d take it seriously, but I really don’t see her using it.

Okay so that’s me in a nut shell the past few weeks. I have lots coming up, including a family vacation to South Carolina. Malachai is excited I’m going. The original plan was that it was just mom, dad & the girls. Mom has put her foot down and closed the daycare for that week lmao…. And I though I was in control of my job! I’d be lost without her though!

Hope you all are having a great time…. Enjoying whatever life throws at you, even the curveballs… because those are just lessons we have to learn!