Weekly Mileage #218 and the Last Lesson of My Course

they struggled with the mystery braid bracelets

Monday morning I uploaded my final lesson videos since they had problems uploading overnight. I'm done with the final lesson of the course! I had to split the lesson videos from 3 to 8 (the last 6 were an average of half an hour each) because the course platform has a limit on the size of videos you can upload. It was a lot of time creating, editing, and uploading. Now I just have the Friday Q&A video left. Well, that and getting some prototypes for the advanced course projects ready to share on Friday. I won't be able to get them all done since I need to do the pattern creation on most of them, but I should be able to get about half of them done. I need to pitch the next course to my current students so I have a beta testing group for that one. The last item on my to-do list is to write and send an end-of-course survey a week or two from now.

We also had speech therapy first thing in the morning. This is the last week of speech therapy and our times were changed because the therapist is helping with testing all week.

Then I prepped for my last co-op class.

I also discovered a snag with my toolkits. My contact at the Chinese company left and the new person has no clue what we've done in the past and isn't nearly as responsive (so far, though I'm hoping that changes since I need to place my order soon).

Then I taught my last co-op class. It was hotter and more humid than the first three classes, but it went well and was a good learning experience.

After class, I got my second covid vax, which took a lot less time than the first one (thankfully), then I had time to go home for a little bit before taking sunshine to scouts, where we made neckerchief slides.

Tuesday I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a ton of bricks. I changed our in-person music lessons to online and tasked Jeremy with changing the Kroger pickup time to one that worked for him and changing our <first> family karate lesson to later in the week (they have multiple options). The only things I had to do were virtual music lessons and YW presidency meeting via zoom that evening.

I definitely felt worse as the day went on. Reminding myself that I wasn't actually sick or contagious only helped a little. I still felt crummy. I spent the day in bed and felt a little better in the evening, but still not 100%.

Wednesday was Ocean's last speech therapy session. His IEP is still good into next year, but we'll have to see if they actually do anything for him next year. My understanding is that they won't provide services to homeschoolers once they're officially in school. Since we held him back a year, he'll be starting kindergarten in the fall, and probably losing his eligibility. If he needs more, we'll need to go to a private provider and have insurance pay for it.

After speech therapy, I spent the rest of the morning in bed since I still wasn't feeling great. Better than Tuesday, but still wiped out.

I had my accountability call, but ended up laying on the couch during the last half because I was feeling crummy while sitting up. Afterwards I laid down again and started a Pinterest ads course since I need to get my Pinterest ad campaign up and running.

Fun side effects I had from my second shot: my arm was super sore where it was injected, I got swollen lymph nodes in my left armpit, and there was a reddened area on my arm around where the shot went in that was warm to the touch for several days after I got the shot. The weirdest was probably a return of the cooling sensation on my face (I first felt it when I started my current meds. It lasted for a few weeks, and eventually went away.) It came back, but only for a day or two.

Thursday I still wasn't feeling great, so I didn't take Max for a walk. After the picking up the milk, I got to work on the prototypes for my advanced course. I drew them out a week or two ago, so I was easily able to make four of them. I could have gotten one more easily done, but I was running short on time. the other two projects will take some work and playing around with the patterns. Getting them done this quickly is a vast improvement over how long it took to nail down the projects for the 101 course. I do need to change the leather on one of the projects as it's not stiff enough for the project, but the other three I made are fine. I need to double check leather pricing though, to make sure the leathers I used will fit within the budget for course materials.

I took a break in the evening to take Max for a quick run. It was supposed to be a YW class hike, but only one girl showed up, so I just took Max for a hike, that turned into a run because she was so excited to hit the trails again finally. The last time we were on the trails was last Friday. I couldn't run much since I still wasn't feeling great, but it did feel good to get outside and Max really enjoyed herself. Before we left the house, I'd called her and held out her harness and she very excitedly ran to me so I could put it on her. She's definitely missed her exercise the last week.

happy doggy!

After I finished the four projects, I made a video showing them and talking about the advanced course and winding up things on the 101 course. Then I edited and uploaded them before bed.

Friday I went for a run with Max, then worked on the prototype patterns for the last couple projects. I want to get this bit done and checked off.

In the afternoon we went as a family to karate class.

Saturday was a lazy morning, then we did some much needed cleaning in the house. Afterwards, I worked on prototypes. I have 1 pattern left to create, 1 prototype still in the works (deciding what I want to do with it/how it fits into the course) and I need to change the leather on one of the finished prototypes. Then it will be time to price out the leathers and make sure they fit in the budget

Sunday we tried the noise cancelling earbuds on Ocean during Sacrament meeting, but he didn't really like them in his ears. Despite that, he did ok and didn't have to go out in the hall. Maybe because we'd talked about it and he was a smidge more aware of things? It's hard to tell.

Weekly Mileage 

Monday-                                            1.5 hours outside

Thursday- 1.04 miles hiked                .5 hours outside

Friday- 2.16 miles hiked                     .5 hours outside

       total- 3.20 miles             2.5 hours

2021 totals

98.0 outside hours

170.27 miles

Sunday Funny

It started out as just a picture of the boys...

then they started touching their noses with their tongues and Sunshine jumped in

Ocean can't do it yet, but I'm sure he will. They all have freakishly long tongues 😉

River was asking Jeremy why he married me. 

River: Why did you marry Mommy?

Jeremy (joking): "Well, I saw her, and she was clearly shorter than me, so I knew she was the one for me."

River (thinks): ".... so it was love at first height?"

It's doubly funny since its usually Ocean who's trying to get laughs.

Weekly Mileage #217 and First Guitar Lesson

I felt rather crummy over the weekend. super tired + allergies = not fun

But life goes on, so I prepped for class, then went and taught my co-op class.

I got gas on the way home. Only unleaded was available, but there was no wait to get to the pump. (Jeremy had gotten some Friday or Saturday, but had to wait about half an hour)

I finished and sent off the notebooks for one of the homeschool conventions that I'm advertising at as an absentee vendor.

Tuesday we had music lessons in person for the first time in a long time. But it meant there was no time for a walk with Max that morning.

Ocean had his first guitar lesson, which consisted of him learning to hold it properly and strum the strings. It was good for River to play with our teacher in person. He hasn't had that chance in a while, and we could tell (it's just not the same playing together over FaceTime. there's always a bit of lag on one end or the other). It was also good for Sunshine, since our teacher was able to help her with some things she was doing that weren't as apparent on the video link. While she had her lesson, the boys and I took a walk on the trail through the woods next to our teacher's house and I got some photos of the waxed canvas collecting pockets in use. 

After we got home, I went to work on lesson 8 videos.

My allergies are definitely worse right now. I use Flonase every day for my sinuses, but it's not as effective for seasonal allergies, unfortunately. Other allergy meds, even the kids versions, make me non-functional. So suffer through it all, it is.

Jeremy joked that it looks like he's posing for a school photo here

Wednesday I took Max for a hike, then worked on the final project videos and photos. After my accountability call, it was back to work on the videos and photos.

Ocean approves of the ability to carry sticks and pinecones around with him

Thursday I went for a hike with Max, then went to the chiropractor and handed off health forms for the boys troop for an outing they have planned this weekend. I got home in time for speech therapy, then went back to work on the videos. They're long videos this week (lots of stitching), so it's a good thing I started on them earlier than usual this week.

Friday I went for a hike with Max, did speech therapy with Ocean, then worked on the lesson videos. Later in the afternoon, we went to a family karate class intro meeting, where we signed up the whole family to learn karate. It's a family-oriented studio, so no matter the number of family members, you only pay for two of them. Which actually makes the whole thing fairly affordable.

Saturday morning I went on a Scout hike with Sunshine that was just under 5 miles round trip. It was getting hot and humid by the time we were done, so I'm glad we didn't start any later.  Temperatures reached a high of 90 this weekend (yuck!)

We climbed to the top of a mountain, but it was covered in trees and nothing really scenic to see, so I forgot to take a picture at the top before we headed back down.

When we returned, Jeremy took the kids and Max to the dog park and to wash my incredibly disgustingly dirty car while I edited videos. Despite getting an earlier start on the process, I'm still at the same point I've been the last couple weeks. 6 videos rather than 3 videos for a lesson means  a lot of time spent filming, then editing, then slide deck, then voice overs and final edits.

Sunday Ocean could not contain himself during sacrament meeting. I finally took him out to the foyer and he was fine. As we sat there, I remembered that this had been the case in the past as well. It's just been so long since he's been to church on a regular basis that I'd forgotten about it. Then, as now, I thought it was a sensory issue- too much noise/too many people/too many lights/too much something. Which I totally understand. So I'm going to dig out the noise-reducing earbuds I used when we went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert a year and a half ago to see if they help him. It'll be interesting to see if it's auditory or visual for him. Its both for me, but auditory is much more the issue based on where I spend my time. School classrooms really stress me out because of how crowded the walls are- they're always plastered with all sorts of things and so chaotic. Yikes. So glad I'm rarely in a school classroom.

I talked about Bubly Bounce a few weeks ago, but I wanted to talk about it a bit more. It's caffeinated sparkling water (triple berry is the best, but the other two are pretty good). Less caffeine than my Aspire sugar free energy drinks (35 mg vs 80something). No sugar, just flavored water. They've proven to be good for when I need a little extra pick-me-up or it's later in the day and I'm really dragging but still need to sleep that night.

Weekly Mileage 

Monday-                                            1.5 hours outside

Tuesday- 1.00 mile hiked                   1.0 hours outside

Thursday- 1.60 miles hiked                .5 hours outside

Friday- 1.80 miles hiked                      .5 hours outside

Saturday- 5.00 miles hiked              2.5 hours outside

       total- 9.40 miles             6.0 hours

2021 totals

95.5 outside hours

167.07 miles

Sunday Funny

Sunshine cleaned out her room and gave her old stuffed animals to the boys. River took a liking to this fox, which looks like it's giving me the side eye.

Though here it looks like it's contemplating nibbling on River, so I'm not sure that's any better...

Another old funny from about a year and a half or two years ago. 

~~~~~~

We were getting ready for a YW campout, and I didn't record who said it, but it was one of the boys. Probably River.

River: "Are we bringing the RV?"

Me: "No, we're sleeping in tents."

River: "Oh, I thought we were doing REAL camping."

Me: "Um, camping in tents IS real camping."

Weekly Mileage #216 and the Rocket Launch

putting finishing touches on rockets before launching them

Monday morning I had to get up early and finish uploading the last video for this week's lesson. It stalled out at 99% overnight and took another hour and a half to upload properly. So frustrating.

My second co-op class was a little rocky. I left some of the tools we needed at home. Oops. I worked around it, but it was not how I wanted it to go.

At Scouts the girls launched the rockets they'd built as part of their Space Exploration merit badges. Lots of fun was had by all. Jeremy and the boys came to watch and the boys had fun running around the soccer field, chasing after falling rockets.

Tuesday I went for a hike with Max, then did music lessons, speech therapy, and grocery shopping.

The gas stations are running out of gas because the pipeline was hacked over the weekend. The CRV has to go back to the garage to get the alternator or battery fixed, so we're not too worried about its 1/3 full tank. The Camry had about 2/3 tank, so again, not worried just yet. This weekend might be dicey if gas isn't delivered. Sunshine has a Scout campout an hour or so away. Panic buying is making the whole thing way worse than it needs to be. It's just like when a big storm comes in and everyone clears out the milk, bread, water, and tp. There's no reason for it, and if people bought things as normal, there wouldn't be a problem.

I set up a new shelf for my desk area in the basement. The wood shelf I built awhile ago just wasn't cutting it anymore. Now it's much easier to find stuff and there's a lot more space.

Wednesday we dropped off the CRV at the garage, then I took Max for a hike. My foot is feeling pretty good. I wrapped my foot and ankle in an elastic brace, which seems to help, though it could just finally be healing. Either way, my foot is doing a lot better.

I'm reasonably certain my older brother had an SR71 rocket like this when he did rocketry in 4H when we were kids.

After my accountability call I prepped project info and numbers for the leatherworking class I'll be teaching at YW camp this summer.

Then I worked on lesson 7 materials. It's a late start for how much work I need to get done this week and I can't go on the campout this weekend because of the amount of work I need to do.

I finally let Max sleep on my bed. She did fine in that she stayed put all night, but I kept waking up because she moved, or one time, because she was licking herself so loudly. So, as much as she wants to sleep on my bed, she doesn't get to. She's been sleeping on Jeremy's bed since, and is still doing well.

she started like this

We've been sleeping in separate beds for the last year and a half or so because the slightest movement or noise wakes me up. So Jeremy rolling over in his sleep and putting his arm around me, while sweet, wakes me up. Multiple wake-ups, problems going back to sleep, etc, added on top of everything else, was taking my daily exhaustion level from "mostly bearable if I didn't think about it too much" to "life sucks, I can't think clearly and I'm constantly cranky because I'm so stinking exhausted." Separate beds isn't optimal, but at least I'm more functional and a lot less irritable. We plan on building our next house and I've already found a couple floor plans that can easily be modified so we're sleeping near each other, but still have walls and a door between us to mitigate noise.

but the doggy donut turned into the doggy sprawl

Thursday I went for a hike with Max, then after speech therapy I did more work on my lesson materials.

I also started narrowing ideas for projects for the advanced course I'll launch in the fall. I realized it would be good to show the projects to my current students before the end of class, so I should get going on that now. I have the ideas and now need to find time to squeeze in making patterns and completing at least a few of the projects so I can show them in a video at the end of lesson 8.

Friday I did more lesson work, then got my first haircut in about a year and a half. I haven't been able to go that long between haircuts in a while, but my hair has been thinning the last year or so (stress? hormones? age? all of the above?), so I've been able to let it go longer than usual. But it's just getting too long. I don't like when the ends of my hair brush the skin of my arms below my sleeves. And I don't like catching my hair when I sit down, it's so annoying. Since my bangs have finally grown out long enough to fit in a ponytail (it only took 2 years), it was time. It ended up a bit shorter than I'd anticipated, but it'll grow. I'd also forgotten that my curls freak out when I cut my hair and now have to figure out how to handle hair that's curly in the back, only mildly wavy on one side, and a little more wavy on the other side. It's much more noticeable with short hair than it was when it was longer.

finishing off a bucket

Jeremy dropped off Sunshine at her campout while I worked, which gave me some good quiet time for focusing. 

I made some notebooks to be used as door prizes at one of the smaller homeschool conventions I'm advertising with.

Saturday we picked up the CRV. Apparently the issue all along was the battery, not the alternator. Last time we trust one of those battery tester things at the auto parts store. They claimed our battery was fine and it was our alternator that was having problems. An expensive mistake to make.

After a hike with Max, I did more lesson work while Jeremy picked up Sunshine from her campout.

Jeremy is back at work every day now. We're definitely looking forward to the day when he can quit his job and work from home.

Weekly Mileage 

Monday-                                            2.0 hours outside

Tuesday- 1.25 miles hiked                   .5 hours outside

Wednesday- 1.52 miles hiked              .5 hours outside

Thursday- 1.76 miles hiked              .5 hours outside

Saturday- 2.21 miles hiked                .5 hours outside

       total- 6.74 miles             4.0 hours

2021 totals

89.5 outside hours

157.67 miles

Sunday Funny

a cape, a dandelion, and a Mike&Ike box "sword"

These are from about a year and a half ago (I just found the note with it), and I don't completely remember the context behind them, but I do remember they were funny.

~~~~~

Ocean, blowing a raspberry at daddy. "Take my spit!"

~~~~~

For awhile, Ocean's favorite phrase was "A little help, please!"

Weekly Mileage #215 and a Virtual 5k

Monday morning I finished prepping for my co-op class, then headed out to teach my first co-op class. It's only a 4 week session, held outdoors to accommodate restrictions, but it's a good opportunity to teach the first half of my course in person and see what the kids have trouble with.

After I returned home, it was back to the lesson materials exercise wheel, then Scouts in the evening with Sunshine.

Tuesday after music lessons I drove Jeremy to the VA hospital for his back shot. We hit a super fun storm on the way back, but luckily it was traveling in the opposite direction as us and we were able to drive through it in about 10-15 minutes. 

getting ready...

getting ready...

getting ready...

getting really ready...

jumping!

pleased with himself 😊

Wednesday I took Ocean to his ear doc. His second tube is out, sitting in wax in the ear canal and will move out on its own (the first one did the same months ago). With both tube sites healed, no more need to return to the ear doc!

Then we rushed home to pick up Sunshine for her orthodontist appointment, which took uncharacteristically long, forcing my accountability call to get pushed back a bit. It all worked out in the end, though.

After my call, it was back to working on lesson materials.

the woodpeckers are having a heyday with this tree

Thursday after speech therapy I did more work on the lesson materials, then went to YW in the evening. We held YW outside in the church parking lot, decorating cupcakes for their moms.

Friday after speech therapy (rescheduled from Tuesday since it interfered with when we needed to leave for the VA hospital), I spent more time working on lesson materials.

Saturday I did a 3 mile hike with River and Max. We each needed to complete a virtual 5k race, but my foot was still giving me problems. I wrapped my foot before we headed out and iced it when I got home. It didn't hurt too much while we were hiking (strictly walking, no running), and it was still ok by evening.

Sunshine's BFF came for the day, in keeping with their birthday tradition. They had a great time together, especially since they weren't able to meet up last year.

I worked on more video editing and voiceovers for Monday's lesson. Only two more weeks of this and then things will calm down a lot!

Ocean decided he needed to climb trees after church, too.

I was super tired all week. I'm not sure what exactly is going on. I haven't changed anything. The best I can come up with is that my medication has stopped working and needs to be increased. That's not a good thought, since I've only been on it about 6 months. How much can it be increased before I have to stop taking it? Will increasing the dosage also increase my anxiety even more? I'm waiting a bit longer to see if things resolve on their own, but if they don't, I will have to go back to my doctor. I've gotten used to being functional and this week has been rough.

One other option I can think of that could be contributing to being super tired: I didn't exercise all week, except Saturday. I ran on Saturday of last week because my foot wasn't hurting, but it's been hurting ever since. Regular exercise does help me feel better, so that could be the issue here. I am a bit worried about my foot. I'm reasonably sure I didn't rebreak it (there was a lot more pain when I broke it a few years ago), so I'm thinking it's soft tissue damage at the attachment site, that also happens to be right where I broke it (the pain is localized at the original break site). There's swelling, but no bruising, and while it hurts to walk, it's not like when I broke it. It feels more like a couple weeks after it started healing. It's rather frustrating, regardless of what I did or didn't do to it.

After hiking Saturday morning, I am inclined to think it may be related to lack of exercise. I should have been riding my bike instead of not exercising at all just because my foot hurt. I've gotten out of the habit and just didn't think about it. That, and I'm busy creating the lesson materials for my course.

Weekly Mileage 

Monday-                                            1.5 hours outside

Thursday-                                         1.0 hours outside

Saturday- 3.39 miles hiked              1.5 hours outside

       total- 3.39 miles             4.0 hours

2021 totals

85.5 outside hours

150.93 miles