There are moments that really make it all seem like we won the parenting lottery.
These past couple of weeks have been like that.
I wrote this on Facebook, and then shared to LinkedIn, a couple of days ago, with the following photo:
“Graduation is Friday, and I shared the following on other social media:
“I am not ready.
Liam should be the little two year old napping beside me, with Porter at Funfield for pre-K for the day.
I should have to go pick him up from Mrs. Theresa’s (which is mostly what we called Funfield at home) on Friday afternoon.
And I should have to wake him up from his nap when I get there, because he was always the last one to wake up, when I got there to pick him up.
Or he should be getting ready to have his end-of-year party in Mrs. Redford’s Kindergarten class, where she still has to limit the number of hugs he asks for in a day or else he would be in her arms all. day. long.
Or he should be a third grader at Carrollton Elementary School, in Mrs. Carter’s class.
Or a fourth grader in Mrs. George’s class, helping her out with her technology issues as they crop up.
Or in fifth grade, when he got released from his neurosurgeon for the Chiari Malformation that is highly unlikely to ever cause him problems, with Dr. Boydston asking him about baseball and telling him as we said goodbye to “have a nice life,” with a smile of satisfaction that he would never require follow-up for that particular condition he’d followed Liam for since he was two years’ old. I wonder how often he gets to release patients forever like that.
Or learning trombone in fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth grades with Ms. Menendez in junior high.
Or maybe, just maybe, we should be having the conversation at the end of the year in tenth grade when he is ready to start IB in the Fall.
I am not ready.
But, here we are.”
Liam is ready, the week is full of IB tests clear up through Friday. Family arrives today, Grinnell new student checklists online have started. I had my first sob-fest yesterday, processing the photos from this session. The graduation gown is hanging to release wrinkles, complete with stoles and cords and medals (he received more after I took the shown photo). I am teary even as I write this.
Liam is ready.
Parenthood is not for the faint of heart. ❤️”
The following was posted as a press release from Carrollton City Schools:
CARROLLTON, GA — Three Carrollton High School seniors were recognized on May 4 at Military, Academic, and Educator Signing Day to celebrate their accomplishments of receiving significant academic scholarships to their respective schools.
Jaira Garcia Cruz received scholarships totaling $321,868 to support her education at Emory University; Venkata Koppireddy received the Presidential Scholarship to Mercer University as well as community-backed scholarships worth $183,887; and Liam Price was awarded Grinnell College’s Founders’ Scholarship and Grinnell Choice Scholarship in addition to granted funds totaling $337,352.
CHS Principal Dr. Ian Lyle congratulated the students on their accomplishments.
“I am proud of these students for pursuing their academic goals and receiving substantial scholarship funds to support their educational pursuits,” said Lyle. “Each has worked hard throughout their time at Carrollton High School, and we look forward to celebrating their continued success.”
Carrollton High School seniors were recognized on May 4 for receiving significant academic scholarships. Pictured from left are CHS seniors Liam Price, Jaira Garcia Cruz, and Venkata Koppireddy.
To say I am proud of Liam is an understatement. There are no words.
The thing is, we have made clear to him: Grinnell is a phenomenal opportunity. However, his mental health comes first, and home is always here. We lived in Grinnell in 2006 and know exactly what the pressure can be like for students at Grinnell– I remember being very well told by local officials to look in places like basements and garages in that tragic season. And while we want him to go and explore the world and see exactly what he can do, home and Georgia schools are always an option.
I am so very, very, proud of and for Liam.
And Liam isn’t the only one setting bars around here.
Last night, Oliver nailed the lead part of Nick Bottom in Carrollton Middle School’s spring production of “Something Rotten, Jr.”
It was so fun. Oliver has refused to practice at home, and the only reason I saw the show before last night was because of the following story:
Oliver has had abdominal migraines for years. They are beginning to transition to regular migraines, and he rarely has stomach aches or vomiting anymore.
Sunday morning, though, brought on another abdominal migraine episode.
We knew it wasn’t a virus, but he doesn’t really have rescue medication yet from his neurologist beyond us just keeping stock of Zofran on hand in copious amounts. It happened textbook just like all his other episodes.
So, we stayed home on Sunday from church, after he threw up.
And, he made it through Mother’s Day late lunch/ early dinner with my parents at Olive Garden, but by Monday morning, he was in rough shape again.
Jared took him to school but they had to bypass school for Jared’s office, where Oliver crawled under someone’s desk for about an hour and a half.
Jared got him to school about 9:30 AM Monday morning, but got a text from the school nurse about 11:15 AM.
Jared brought him home, got him settled in bed, and we didn’t know if he would make it to dress rehearsal at 4 PM or not.
But, he came out at 1:20 PM or so and said he had stage rehearsal before dress rehearsal at 2, and he wanted to go.
So, we got him in the car, and with less than 5 minutes to the school, less than a mile from the school, I pulled out the travel vomit bag I had from a hospital visit in my middle seat console. And sure enough, he managed to throw up, and aim perfectly for the bag– not getting the car, not getting his clothes. He was finishing up vomiting as we pulled into the school parking lot.
We threw the bag away and wiped his chin and he went inside, straight onto the stage.
And proceeded to go through 4 hours of rehearsal.
And by yesterday morning, show day, he was absolutely fine and brought a magic energy to the stage last night.
I would not have asked him to power through that at all. We were prepared to tell the drama teacher that he just couldn’t do it. I didn’t think he would make it to the rehearsals on Monday.
But he did.
And I don’t quite know where my children get their drive from.
Porter is taking two classes, including one of his first cognitive science classes, this summer online at UGA while working maintenance for the school system. He is actively looking out for other internship opportunities for future seasons.
He is excelling at UGA, and I’m pretty sure he takes for granted that philosophy and cognitive science are the hard majors they are.
As I said, we won the parenting lottery. And I have zero idea how.
Jared and I went shopping at Ross last week, and Jared picked me out two outfits. This floral dress is one of his choices; I snapped the photo while we were on our way to Costco today.
My husband is biased, but he commented more than once when we were in Costco about how lovely I looked today. I’m pretty sure he liked seeing me in a dress he picked out himself.
And Jared’s comments reminded me that while I am 46, I am mostly rejecting typical beauty regimens for women in their 40s.
Here’s my routine:
I mostly exclusively use Trader Joe’s 3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, and body wash for their intended purposes as my sole product in the shower.
I found TIRTIR milk toner at Costco probably a year ago, and I use it on my face immediately after I get out of the shower. It came in a double-pack, and I only just opened the second bottle in the last probably three weeks.
Then, I use L’Oreal Pro Longer 10-in-1 cream on my hair before I comb it out, and then I spray my hair all over with Kenra Sugar Spray, and then comb it out, still wet. I used to use the entire L’Oreal Pro Longer line but 1) it’s massively expensive and 2) it weighed my hair down too much.
Next, I put probably 5-6 drops of Trader Joe’s jojoba oil on the palm of my hand and I rub it slightly into my hands and then rub it onto my neck and chest area. Then I used what’s left on my fingertips to coat the last two inches of my hair lightly in the jojoba oil film.
These days, I am mostly letting my hair air dry unless I specifically want a blow-dried look and know I will want to leave my hair down.
But most days these days, I am putting my hair up in a French pin. The Ulta ones I have posted about in other posts are my standard go-to’s right now.
I don’t use any makeup at all, other than a Neutrogena lip oil and I do use that religiously.
I am eleven months post-surgical-menopause, and I’ve noticed in the last two months that my hair is a different consistency now: it’s always been baby fine, but now it feels exceptionally delicate and its graying process is vastly faster now. I’m not upset by this in the least, but it’s made this routine all the more important. When my weight fluctuates I do notice aging in my neck, and my bone health must also be delicate because my scoliotic spine is definitely not stable right now.
I’ve tried other products, and here I will admit something I rarely think about but is true: I haven’t actually used lotion on my hands or other real moisturizers in a decade, other than the jojoba oil and the TIRTIR toner. My hands always looked young, but they still pretty much look like they did in my 30s.
I tried The Ordinary’s line probably two years ago and that didn’t last more than a couple of weeks. My skin is naturally, pre-menopause, very greasy, and all that stuff did was weigh my skin down and make me break out.
I also gave up most makeup over a decade ago. For a couple of years recently I used a blush cream most days, but I gave that up probably eight months ago and honestly, I feel better and I think I look better because of it.
My diet is also a factor in all this, but that is a post for another time.
A note about my hand photo: yes, my jewelry is maximalist. No, in the grand scheme of things, it is not expensive. Jared kindly upgraded my original center diamond to a lab diamond that was less than $200 for our 20th, that we had set in a 4-prong setting I found on Etsy, and the eternity rings are moissanite and sterling, and the index finger ring was a $32 Kudzu find that I treasure because I was out shopping with a friend the afternoon I found it. I like shiny, not expensive. Jewelry on a budget is a whole other post I could do, but not today.
**Edited to add: Not a sponsored post. I just really like the products I talk about here, and the places I really shop on a regular basis.
**Also adding: I am low-key anxious about my hair turning silver and its much more delicate texture. The consolation I get is that I never have gotten caught up in the highlighting or dyeing treadmill, so the natural silver streaks are somewhat of a novelty that is happening gradually. There will never be a root line or a synthetic transition I have to battle.
**Also also: Jared really likes shopping for me. I sent him to ThredUp tonight to look around at dresses and he’s sent me probably a dozen links to dresses. All of which were overpriced, but it is the thought that counts, right?
I’ve been silent because I had little to write about.
I mean, lots is going on in my life, but I don’t feel about writing about it. It’s not really my stories to tell.
Suffice it to say that I have unspeakably generous family, who is very graciously giving to us.
It is Spring Break and last weekend, Jared and I started thinking about going on a mini-adventure. We talked about going to Destin as a day-drive.
And then for reasons I won’t write about, it became a good idea to take a two-day drive: from Carrollton, Georgia to Olathe, Kansas.
So Tuesday, I drove from Carrollton to Olathe, in a single day, and then on Wednesday I drove from Olathe to Carrollton, again, in the single day. I was a sole driver both days. They were long days but traffic was good and the weather was fabulous.
For what it’s worth: State Line Plaza in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas is an awesome place to stop for gas and restroom facilities and a small snack.
Jared and I did tour the house we bought in 2007 today as it is for sale, and its current state both made me sad and very glad we sold when we did. While I’ve been waxing nostalgic and daydreaming about downsizing back into the very house I brought two of my three brand new babies home to, it became clear today that that house is at least $70k overpriced probably due to its condition and needed repairs.
We actually toured three houses today (that’s what happens when one of your best friends is a very generous real estate agent) and all that happened is that Jared sat me at the end of our driveway when we got home and had me look at our house and tell him that yes, I do actually think the house we currently own is the nicest of the houses we looked at today. So I am re-energized about staying here forever. But Jared says that we just have to start with staying here tonight and that claiming “forever” is the black-and-white thinking that gets me in trouble.
The only other news is that I have re-branded my business again. I dropped the “Luxe” from my LLC name and just named the LLC after myself. Seems more appropriate to my current life stage.
The view in this photograph doesn’t exist anymore.
And I suppose anniversaries can be like that, too.
This photo is standing close to the arch at Epworth-By-The-Sea at St. Simons Island. We are standing facing the arch, with Virginia facing those beautiful Live Oaks in the background.
Standing in this very spot now, there are condos in the background now in 2026 where there was only woods in 2005.
Not all progress is positive. Even if I am a curmudgeon about progress in general, especially when it mostly only benefits rich people.
Today was not an easy day. I have been really sick (thus the COVID test picture and post that went viral on Facebook, from the other post– last check there were over 309,800 views on that post).
Today was our 21st anniversary, and I always get extremely anxious on special days.
And, Jared had taken the day off (and tomorrow) to be with me all day, and Jared got called into work for an emergency. Which I didn’t mind later in the moment.
But as typical for special occasions, there were fights last night.
I got scared because Aquaguard came to inspect our crawlspace encapsulation, and this kid that graduated with Porter, who probably hasn’t even been on the job very long at all, tried to tell just that there are problems with our foundation.
And, there very well might be problems. But probably not to the extent that the kid tried to scare us into buying a solution into. We will hire an independent structural engineer company when we have funds to do so. There are no external signs that there are problems, and with our house being 32 years old, these “issues” may have gone unnoticed for years upon years.
And that sent me into a spiral of feeling like crap about being unemployable, and I posted a not very wise Facebook post that I have since archived, after Jared and I had been fighting for hours, about 11 PM last night.
And I woke Jared up after crying myself to sleep at about 2:30 AM, and Jared hadn’t been asleep very long himself at that point.
So, we were not set up for a very good day together.
The day was not a loss; we had a lovely time at Gallery Row for lunch.
But there was more fighting later in the day.
I have high expectations for special days like anniversaries, and I’m hoping to tone them down for future events so as to not cause problems like happened today.
But now that the day is over, I can calm down, and we can go back to real life.
It is Easter weekend, and I am still really not feeling well– I finally called a Telehealth urgent care on Tuesday and got an antibiotic for the secondary sinus infection I have developed. But I’m still far from 100%.
We may not make it to Good Friday service at church like planned, and I’m hoping for a better next couple of days than the past couple of days.
I suppose having had 21 anniversaries at this point, there was bound to be a hard day mixed in somewhere.
Neither of us even made the joke that our marriage is old enough to drink today.
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