occoneechee state park

Twenty Eighteen, You’ve Been Kinda Mean (Personal: Part Two)

If you missed part one, you might want to start off there.

This year our immediate family grew a little.

Nope, not another kid. Actually, my mother-in-law moved in for a while. (With a very adorable in-its-own-way puppy.) You see, she was taking care of grandma and when grandma passed away, Ryan’s mom and sister needed a new place to stay. Ryan’s sister got married and it was a very cute wedding! And Ryan’s mom moved in with us.

morgan nunez wedding

Photos by Rebecca Burt Photography

I should say this – we get along. We’ve lived together before. And living with her is a lot easier than living with my own mother. But nevertheless, our house is small and after living with us for more than half the year, she’s decided to spend time traveling between her kids.

I think one of the hardest things with Ryan’s mom living here is that our house became the main house for visitors. For me, that can be really difficult since my home is my respite; it’s where I go to be comfortable and quiet and alone. (Arik and Ryan are the only people that I can stand when I go through my need alone time periods.) To come home from a full week of work, even work that I love, and see a full house made it really hard for me to relax.

Here’s what I learned from this:
  1. I love my alone time. I am irrational and terribly irritated when I don’t get it. To work on this, I warned everyone that at times, I’m going to close my door to my room. That way I can be by myself for a while. I’m not mad at anyone, I just want to be by myself.
  2. Grandmas spoil their grandchildren. Sometimes too much. Arik has mountains of stuffed animals now.
  3. I absolutely love my husband and would do anything for him.

Ryan with Fishing Pole

Speaking of Ryan, he now works in Richmond.

So, we have an apartment there and he spends 5 days there, 4 nights and 2 days here. It’s still a new thing and I’m still getting used to it all. The only thing I’ve learned from that is that I kind of hate it.

Also, this photo of him hating me for taking his photo is from our first camping trip ever. It was fantastic and definitely a win for 2018. We went to Occoneechee State Park and it was my very first time sleeping in a tent. It was my first time cooking on one of those fire grill things with firewood. It was so much fun. Sadie and I would go hiking and Arik and Ryan would go fishing. It was a blast.

occoneechee painting

What I learned from camping:
  1. Check what your 6-year-old is packing for camp. Because he only packed like 2 things and was incredibly bored; thank goodness it was a short trip.
  2. We were hoping that August would have been a good time to camp with Sadie, since the weather should have been cooler. We were kind of wrong.
  3. Our attempt to go without electricity and an air mattress was noble, but also not the best when you have a six-year-old and a dog with you.

occoneechee state park

Speaking of six-year-olds…

Arik was such a handful this year. Is there a such thing as “Sassy Six?” Because he’s got it bad.

All year long I’ve been battling the “bad mother” syndrome. I say that it’s a syndrome because it causes me to get depressive, angry, and I straight-up just want to sit in the bathroom and not deal with it. It sounds dramatic, but it gets dramatic and stressful when it’s the 5th battle of the day and it’s over the brushing of the teeth. It feels like an every. single. day. thing. I have the most persistent and stubborn child of all. He spent an entire day in an empty room rather than going to school. (Don’t worry he was fed and watched over.) He lost all of his toys and electronics. He finally earned them all back and on Christmas day, this boy told me he didn’t get that many presents this year. I blew up and put all his new toys in a tote and told him to think about what he said and how inconsiderate he’s been. He has since gotten his toys back, but damn kid… really?

Arik-being-grumpy

What did I learn from this?
  1. I’m still learning this mothering thing.
  2. I may need to start drinking. (kidding.)
  3. But really, I learned that I need to make rules more clear and start acting like the person I want him to be. Which means, I should work less and be more present. Except all of his hobbies suck and mine are much better. I’m working on it…
  4. Lastly, I think I need to find a way to get some me time. Time where I’m not worried about my son, or husband, or dogs, or clients, or full-time-job work. or money. AGH money. If anyone has ideas on that, please let me know.

Some other things that also happened this year.

  • I traveled to Whistler, Canada for my cousin’s Katty wedding and saw some of the biggest mountains of my life. They were gorgeous and humbling and one day I’m going back to spend more time there.
  • We got to watch Nitro Circus this year. It was such a great experience for us to see crazy bike stunts.
  • Arik had his first ambulance ride and ER visit (he had pnemonia and low oxygen levels.)
  • We also visited the Nauticus for the first time and did many small family trips.

Needless to say, I didn’t take very great care of myself this year. I hope you come back to read the 2018 business update and goals for 2019!

 

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