Happy Monday! I’m starting the week with Holly and all of you! I hope you’ll link up with us for Hello Monday!

I usually share EIGHT GREAT things that happened over the weekend. It’s been quite a while since I’ve done that, so I am going to share EIGHT GREAT things that have happened lately to catch up a bit.

1-Luke can’t do any rough activities or contact sports for three weeks after his surgery. Luke also needed to do a little moving, so we’ve been taking at least one walk a day. I love our walks together. We’ve been talking about the most random, yet interesting things on our walks. We talked about numbering systems for houses in our neighborhood, how map scales affect details, how our bodies recover and adapt to different challenges, what would happen if we lived in a Minecraft world, what your house would look like if you had a million dollars and an acre of land, and on and on. We haven’t walked fast or too far, but they have all been great!

2- The weather this week was wonderful! The sun shined at some point every day and most days it was out all day. I took advantage of the sunshine every day. We walked in the sunshine, I did some work on the deck in the sunshine, I read in the sunshine, and I was happier for all of it. Sunday was absolutely freezing – literally 32 degrees or below – but the sun was shining and we got out for a walk.

3-Jack has been working on his golf game. He’s doing his best to get to the course every day, even if it means he is playing alone, and working out to get even stronger. I am proud of him and excited to see him have a great season!

4-I’m not sure how I got to number four without mentioning nurses. The nurses at Hopkins we so incredible. They did every single thing in their power to make Luke feel better and heal. I am still in awe of their knowledge and compassion. Those nurses also checked in on Jeff and me to make sure we were comfortable and understood what was happening. School nurses are also pretty incredible. The nurse at Luke’s school has always been so good to him, and this week has been no different. We went by on Friday to drop off some medicine and you could tell she truly cares so much about the students. The nurse at my school was checking in with us all week because she cares. My friends that are nurses are always so helpful to bounce thoughts off of and offer smart questions to help me think things through. Nurses really are the greatest!!

5-Last Friday, Jeff and I went out to dinner and I had a giant margarita. It was a rough week and a margarita was the right way to end it. This Saturday, my mom texted that they were in the mood for Mexican food and would we like to join them. Of course we would! This week’s margarita was celebratory. Luke’s surgery was successful, Jack made the golf team, my mom’s surgical recovery is going well (she had neck surgery two weeks before Luke), and the caregivers did a great job for the patients! Woohoo!

6-I wore pants with buttons TWO times this week! Can you even believe it?? I wore jeans on Friday and Saturday evenings. I am still loving my Vionic sneakers, too! I thought pants with buttons deserved to be documented after a solid week of pjs, joggers, and leggings.

7-I went to our public library on Friday evening for a few hours. They hosted our culminating celebration for our schoolwide book club. All five elementary schools in our town/area read the same book, Fenway and Hattie, and the public library created an incredible event for our families. Fenway is a Jack Russell terrior and Hattie is his person, so the library took the theme and ran with it. There was a scavenger hunt for clues in a crossword puzzle about the book, legos to build a dog park, dog cutouts to decorate, a guess the number of dog bones jar, real live dogs to read to, a smelling/sniff challenge, a few kahoots throughout the night, make your own bookmarks, and an adorable Fenway and Hattie keychain for kids that attended. I may have missed something, but you can see what a great night they planned. I am so grateful for our partnership with our public library.

8-I am planned for this week like it is the first week of school again. My breakfasts are made or planned. Lunches are ready. Dinners are planned and as prepped as they can be. I have my outfits picked out for the week. The house is reset. This might be my first five day week of 2025 so it feels a little daunting. I know Luke is going to be tired and have a lot of work to do. Jack is back to practice after school almost every day. I have two evening commitments this week. So it feels like the best thing I can do is be prepared as we get into our routine.

Bonus 9-I spent a bunch of time reading, thinking about reading, planning reading, reading about reading, and on the library website. All that reading is always great! I am taking a science of reading class online and spent a good bit of time on it this week. Even though I haven’t taught reading in 12 years, I was pleased to find out that I knew a lot of what the science of reading shows and the way to teach it. I realized (again) that I am easily swayed to pick up my phone and scroll if it is near me. I discovered that my reading benefits when I leave my phone face down on the kitchen counter. I put holds on quite a few books and added some more to my TBR list. I spent some time on our library website putting holds on books, checking out upcoming events, and learning about some books I haven’t read. You know I always think reading is great!

I love ending the week (I usually write this on Sunday evening) and starting the week (sharing with you on Monday morning) with positivity. I hope the positive vibes continue all week. I’m excited to see my students after a week away and I know Luke is excited to see some friends. Jack is excited to be on the golf course. I’m not sure what Jeff’s excited about this week, but I’ll be sure to find out. Don’t forget to link up with us if you blogged today. Have a great day full of sunshine and books!