Happy Birthday Mom! You are 92 today!

Heading Back to the Coal Mine

 Tomorrow, I return to work after a seven-week hiatus. To say I have "mixed feelings" would be an understatement. On one hand, I’ve genuinely missed my staff. On the other hand, the thought of dealing with DHS again makes my inner voice scream "NO!" at a volume that is frankly unprofessional.

I have a mountain of work waiting for me, and I’m still undecided on whether I’m dreading it or looking forward to the distraction. I’ve only done the bare minimum while recovering from surgery—which is still an ongoing process, by the way—so the "to-do" list is intimidating. Naturally, I am currently managing that anxiety by procrastinating and writing this blog post instead.

I usually love to work, but I'm questioning if this is still the work I love. Running a daycare should be fun, but the bureaucracy is sucking the joy right out of the room.

However, my house is clean and the holiday chaos is packed away, so I have run out of valid excuses. It’s time to write a list and get moving. Hopefully, after a couple of weeks of catching up, I’ll have a clearer perspective on where I stand in the job market—or at least stop screaming internally.

Boys Take Over!

It was a takeover at my place tonight—Short boys edition! I swapped the girls for the boys and we went straight into party mode. First stop: the grocery store to raid the snack aisle and pick out a feast.

They battled it out on video games while I cooked, and then we all crashed for a movie. These kids are hilarious, full of energy, and absolute blasts to have around. I love it when they visit

Girl Time

Started the New Year right with some much-needed girl time! 💖 It was a blast hanging out with my grand-girls—I've missed them so much. We raided the snack cabinet, played some awesome new games, and got crafty making Valentine cards for friends and family. I'm also teaching them some classic games so the whole family can join in next time! They are growing up way too fast, so I'm soaking up every second of fun they'll give me. 🥰

A Cup of Joe that will Last All Day!

 If I warm up my coffee ONCE..... I warm it up 10 times before I drink it......  If I even drink it!  Dennis teases me when I have any procedure and can't drink anything before that I can still make coffee cause I never drink it anyway!  Today I took down my big Christmas tree that took me about 1.5 hours to do, and in that time I warmed it up 3 times and never took a drink! I even load it up with good stuff sometimes and take a drink... ONE... and then it's to the microwave over and over and over!

I will probably die of thirst with a cup of cold coffee in the next room!