🗓️ February 2020 in Review
February brought a lot of moving parts — surgery prep, snowy chaos, and plenty of family milestones. It felt like a transitional month in more ways than one, but we found some bright spots along the way.
📚 Books I Read
Reviews to come next week!
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (re-read!)
- Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
🏅 Favorite Book of the Month:
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
📚 Books Read: 2
📈 Yearly Progress: 3/100
🎬 What I Watched
🎥 Movie:
- The Lodge – Perfect for horror lovers or psychological thriller fans. Saw it with Margaret and LOVED it!
📺 TV:
- My 600 Pound Life – still watching this nonstop!
- Welcome to Plathville – odd. So very odd.
📌 Happenings & Tidbits
- I saw my primary care doctor to get my surgery referral. She also performed an EKG because the surgery center noticed that I had a higher than normal heart rate. My doctor then started me on a new med for that. It seems to be working so far! I’ve been monitoring it on my Fitbit and it’s definitely gotten lower.
- I attended my nutrition seminar at the hospital, and started logging my food for the dietitian. This means I had to really start to re-think and overhaul my diet. Lots and lots of protein bars, drinks, veggies, and fruits have been eaten and tried this month. It’s still a work in progress.
- Speaking of surgery, I officially “announced” it via the blog and Instagram. Quite a lot of people know now, but not everyone. It was a huge weight off my shoulders to not have to keep it a secret any longer.
- I saw Jesus Christ Superstar with my aunt and friend. While it was not at all my favorite play, it was well done and I enjoyed staring at my new favorite hottie actor for 90 minutes. My coworker working miracles and getting me his autograph was a hilarious highlight of the month too.
- I did my sleep study as required by the surgeons. I got sent home from the sleep clinic with a kit so I could do the sleep study at home. It was an uncomfortable night with all sorts of wires all over me… and it ended up being all for nothing! They called me last week to tell me the test was inconclusive, and now I’ll have to come sleep at the office and re-do it.
- I went to the movies once, as already mentioned.
- We celebrated a lowkey Valentine’s Day at home with some homemade Keto breadsticks by Jerry. He also made keto brownies and donuts this month.
- My book club went out to eat at a new-to-me Mexican restaurant for our monthly meeting. YUM!
- I went back for a second appointment for a migraine medication trial I’ve been doing, and promptly got let go from the study because the study meds interact with the new meds I’m on for my heart. Ah, well. You win some, you lose some. Luckily, they still pay you for the time that you put in, so I’ll get something for it.
- There was a really bad snowstorm early in the month, and as per usual, Jerry and Caleb got snow days and I…. did not. The town (for whom I am employed as a public librarian) is hardcore. We never shut down. Lord help me.
💖 What I Loved
- Quiet Valentine’s Day at home
- Time with my aunt – musical, mystery dinner coming up
- Celebrating Holden’s baptism with family and friends
🙃 What I Hated (a.k.a. Things That Sucked)
- Our beloved 2-month-old air fryer died — and the replacement process was a headache.
- My sleep study was inconclusive and now I'll have to do it again.
- I was removed from the migraine medication study due to a med conflict.
- Everyone got a snow day except for me!
👦 Boy Mom Moments
- Holden finally got baptized on February 29th, followed by a little pizza party celebration at the church. It went really well, we had a private ceremony, and Pastor Larry kept it short and sweet, about 5 minutes in total. As expected, Holden shrieked about the water on his head, just as he does in the bath! His Godparents are my sister-in-law Sheena, my bestie Katie, and Jerry’s friend Geoff. We really appreciate and are thankful for all of them! Also thankful to my parents for grabbing the pizza on their way, my aunt Julie, and my bestie Taylor (Caleb’s Godmother) and her family, the G’s, for coming to celebrate!
- Caleb threatened to call the police because we wouldn’t let him play with glitter.
- Holden got his second haircut ever, and it’s much shorter this time!
🍔 What I Ate (Besides My Feelings)
- Lots of keto treats
- Mexican food with the book club
- Celebratory Mexican dinner after filing taxes
🥤 McDonald’s Diet Cokes Consumed: ~30 (give or take a few)
💸 Money Check-In
- Filed our taxes and were happy with the return!
⬇️ Debt Decreased:
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⬆️ Savings Increased:
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🔄 This Month in Loops & Spirals
- Lots of mental back-and-forth about the surgery announcement
- Frustration over medical steps (sleep study, med interactions)
🔍 Things I Googled at 2am
- How sleep studies work
- Side effects of heart rate meds
- Jesus Christ Superstar actor bio
📝 This Month on the Blog
⏭️ Coming Up in March
March is going to be a really busy month, which I’m never really a fan of. I keep looking at my calendar and getting heart palpitations. In reality, it’s probably not that bad, but any more than one event or happening in a week, and this introvert starts to panic.
- Caleb is doing a pre-k Olympics at school. This ought to be good.
- Caleb has a playdate on the books with hisbuddy John! It’s been too long since we’ve gotten the boys together, so I know he’ll love it.
- Our nephew’s 2nd birthday party is coming up at an activity center that the kids really enjoy.
- We have a field trip to the planetarium for Caleb’s school. He had one last year, too.
- I have my annual with the OB?GYN. Ugh. Luckily, I love this particular doctor. Unluckily, well…. ya know. Not enjoyable.
- I have my first one-on-one with the dietitian. We’ll go over my food diary, talk about how I did with my goals from last month, and then set new goals for our next appointment.
- Holden has a check up.
- I have my mental health evaluation, as required for surgery.
- My aunt and I are going to a murder mystery dinner! You have no idea how excited I am. I’ve always wanted to do one of these, so thank you to my auntie!
- Above aunt and I also have our next musical to attend: Hello Dolly.
- I have my car inspection and brake job. Thank God for tax refunds.
- Speaking of tax refunds, Jerry and I are hoping to order our new couch set this month, once we get our return!
- I have a few days off in March because my parents are going away and we don’t have a sitter without them. I always look forward to time off!
- I have my next laser hair appointment. I started these before Holden was born, then had to pause them during my pregnancy. Almost done now, I think / hope!
- Our author visit with Zoje Stage is this month at work!!! After months of back and forth emailing with her, I can’t wait to finally meet her! We’ve been working on this for a long time and I can’t wait to see it all come together. We’re also doing a book discussion event at a local cidery a couple of weeks ahead of time, on March 9th. Fun, fun!
- Possibly my sleep study re-do, but I’m not sure yet. The sleep clinic is waiting to get the approval from my insurance, and then will call to re-schedule. I was really not looking forward to this, but I asked about it in my local bariatric FB group, and they tell me that the rooms in this clinic are like hotel rooms and they have snacks, Netflix, etc., so now I’m kind of excited for a night of quiet and relaxation. Is that wrong of me?! LOL. I love my kids, but LORT are they LOUD!
💡 What I Learned
Progress rarely looks like a straight line. But it still counts as progress.
…and that’s what we were up to in February, and what we have coming up in March! How was your February?
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