Thoughts on Burnout and Blogging

31 posts. That's how many are sitting unfinished in my 'drafts' folder. What happened to blogging? Not just me blogging, but everyone else? I still read my faves, but I often feel like I can't measure up. The posts are unfinished because I'm a perfectionist, I guess. I wrote 90% of a post about a trip to Costco back in August and never posted it. Why is that? And now is it even relevant?

I'm not in this to earn followers (that number has been stagnant for years), make money, sell the craft-du-jour on Etsy, or even try to get freelance writing jobs. But I do love keeping up with my friends' lives (IRL or not; at this point that line has blurred anyway).

My last post was September 25. Here are some biggies since then:

1. Our 6th anniversary on October 3.

We went to an Indian restaurant and feasted like rajas.

2. Audrey started solid foods right after her half birthday.

Sweet potatoes, yum!

3. Halloween, 2015.

4. I did a 'selfie scavenger hunt' on my lunch breaks at work, walking around the city. I only needed 10 to complete it (and get my entry for a drawing, which I did not win), but I ended up finding all 25.

I'm missing a few here, but close enough.

 5. We had a big November snow.

6. My parents came for a visit for Thanksgiving, and I took time off work for the first time since I started working there. (No wonder I'm burnt out, seriously.)

7. The girls saw Santa.

8. And I got a new profile pic for Facebook.

And then I realized I haven't left the state of Indiana in the entirety of 2015 and got a little bummed out. Maybe this weekend I will drive the half hour to Ohio (there's literally nothing over the border by maybe a farm, but . . . adventure?). I also don't even want to look at my 2015 Resolutions/to-do list; probably will be a big bummer as well.

But at least I have cute kids.

Highs and Lows

Lifelifelife. Infrequent blogging. Blahblahblah.

How about some recent highs and lows so you know the low-down? And the high-ups?

High: I have been walking during my lunch breaks most days. The weather has been bee-yoo-ti-fullll here, as we finally got some semblance of summer. I walk around the concourse at our minor league baseball stadium along with all the other sneaker-sporting office workers doing the same.

Low: 3-year-olds, amirite? I just can't even with this one. She's going through some definite three-nagerdom right now.

She's still pretty cute, though. I think I'll keep her.

High: Audrey is a dream baby. We moved her to her crib a few weeks back (which is upstairs while our master is downstairs), and it's like it wasn't even a thing to her. She's very close to crawling, and already does a creep-type thing. If I walk away for a few minutes, she's usually not all that close to where I left her. Childproofing may need to be a thing here again soon.

She's so happy!

 Low: I got suuuuper sick 2 weekends ago. It was a stomach bug thing that lasted about a day and a half (and no, I didn't even miss any work because that's just how I roll it seems). We had to miss out on going to the free day at the art museum. I guess there's always next year...

High: I had my first-ever review at work (I guess it's only annually around here?), and I got a raise! Hooray me. Insert "you like me, you really like me" meme here. There were some also some other long-term goals that my boss seems to be on board with that came up in that meeting. Like, things that could help my work/family balance actually be, well, balanced.

Low: My husband's courseload this semester is rough. We barely see each other because he's studying all the time. I also have to do Thursday nights all on my own since he has class until 9. (The Thursday thing was going to be a low, but those nights are going pretty well.) Our anniversary is next week so hopefully that will be a nice time to actually, y'know, talk to each other. If I wasn't nursing a baby, I was going to suggest a night at an (Amish!) inn about an hour away. Maybe next year. We're going to an indoor trampoline park instead (thanks, Groupon!). And then dinner or such.

High: Hubs got promoted to Lieutenant Commander last weekend! And I finally got to pin it on him (he had been at sea for his previous promotions). Another raise, too. :)

No more "railroad tracks" for this one!

And that's a wrap.

Thank you to Ana for the blog-spiration.

Rambling Life Update Post

When I started this blog 5 years ago, I promised I'd never start a post with "It's been a while." So hello. I am here. Sometimes. Let's get on with it.

:: This little one turned 4 months old half a month ago. She finally got to see the doc last week, and she is 14lbs, 11oz. She has rolled belly to back once (maybe twice), but now consistently rolls back to belly and basically hangs out like this during all waking hours:

Then she cries when she gets tired of it because she can't remember how to roll out of it. Sigh.

:: B has re-started school, and Cora has re-started daycare/preschool. She was wayyy more excited than this picture shows. (And I was trying to hold Audrey, who was spitting up as I was taking this pic with my other hand. Always an adventure.)

Cora is now in the Pioneers class. She has now asked both me and B what classes we are in. B is in the "Engineers" and I'm in the "Brokers." Whatever works, right?

:: Since Cora's daycare is for 18mo+, that means we had to figure out what to do with Audrey. Someone I met through online Catholic blogging circles stepped up. She's a homeschooling mom of 4, her husband is an attorney (and helped us write up a Childcare Agreement), she's crunchy enough to be willing to use cloth diapers for us, and her sister is a Sister.

Maybe you figured it out? Audrey is now in the care of Amelia at One Catholic Mama for 4 days a week! I think she likes it.

:: Our church directory pic came in. No apologies for this being a picture of a picture.

Yes, Audrey slept through the whole thing.


:: I got my hair cut super short and everyone likes it but me. We got headshots done at work last week, and I wish I'd just left it long. Sigh. But new LinkedIn pic will be coming anyway because my current one has been photo-shopped (by me) to death.

Okay but really.

This was a GOOD hair day. It's gone downhill since.

:: I made an ad for a charity event/auction's program. I'm pretty impressed with myself. My company has contracted most of our big ads out with an agency, but occasionally these little dinky things come along and usually have a quick turnaround time (I had one day's notice on this). It's exciting to me, though!

(I swear it had a top line in the high res version.)

:: Frugal win: I downloaded the McDonald's app and I'm getting a free sandwich. See for yourself.

I'll leave you with a another cute kid pic.