This post contains affiliate links. Linking up with Kelly’s Quick Takes!
Hoping to get back in a blogging groove with some Quick Takes! If you lived nearby, I’d invite you over for peach tea and cookies (I’ve been trying a few recipes that are refined sugar free!) so we could catch up. In the meantime, here are seven things I have to tell you:
1 // A PUPPY IS A LOT OF WORK AND I’M TIRED.
Lucy is the biggest reason for my radio silence here. Talk about learning on the fly! I’ve never had a puppy before, so I’ve been Googling all.the.things…
- how to collect a stool sample for the vet
- how to redirect puppy biting
- are frozen carrots good for puppies?
- how to keep a house from smelling like dog
So much I don’t know and so much to learn. Good thing she’s so cute and eager to please! I’m still in a sleepy stupor most days (I have the 1:00 AM potty break shift and it’s rough), but we’re getting there. I’ll be singing all the praises when she hits 16 weeks and can (hopefully!) sleep through the night!
2 // I THINK MY FORSYTHIA BUSH IS DEAD.
We had it moved last spring while the landscapers put in our brick flowerbeds and it must not have made the move well? We had a ton of rain all summer so it can’t be from lack of water…maybe I drowned it? hah! Oh well, I’m going to prune it way back and see if I can salvage it for next year.
3 // WE HAVE A NEW “NEXT DOOR” NEIGHBOR AND SHE HAS A HORSE!
She’s been fencing a pasture between our houses and we are so excited to be able to watch and visit her beautiful chestnut horse.
4 // I TRIED A SHAMPOO BAR…
and I think I like it! I bought this one from Shady Nook Bee Farms. I’m still in the transition stage where you feel a little greasy while your scalp adjusts to a chemical-free shampoo, but my natural waves/curls are really thriving, so I think it’s worth it. In the meantime, I’ve been doing an extra apple cider vinegar rinse to help things along. Hah, that sentence just makes me laugh. I was the high school girl who doused herself in Bath & Body Works and Herbal Essence shampoo, so clearly, I don’t even recognize myself at this point.
5 // I’M LOVING T25.
D and I just finished our eighth week of T25. I’ve lost a few pounds and a few inches, but more importantly, I’m feeling really strong and improving every week. I can finally keep up with the burpees!
6 // I’M IN A READING SLUMP.
I gave up reading fiction for Lent and it was way more difficult than I imagined. Honestly, it put me in a bit of a reading slump! In order to get back into a groove, I’m participating in the #25in5 Reading Challenge which started yesterday. I definitely don’t think I’ll complete all 25 hours, but here’s my tentative book list anyway: Olive Kitteridge, Murder on the Orient Express, finally finishing An Everlasting Meal, and My Italian Bulldozer. Wish me luck!
7 // OUR HOMESCHOOLING YEAR IS ALMOST DONE.
I think I can, I think I can… We have standardized testing next week and then we’ll start wrapping things up. I like to end in May so we can enjoy being outside before it becomes boiling hot. And bonus: by August, we’re all bored and ready to get back to the books!
Your turn! How is your spring going? What’s new in your neck of the woods?
Ahh, I still claim that having a puppy is more difficult than having a newborn, having had two newborns and one puppy…haha! It definitely gets better once they sleep through the night. 🙂
YES! I was just telling a friend that I thought the middle-of-the-night wakeup call would be no big deal (having done it with six kids), but it's killing me, hah! Having to go outside and then be on high alert for nighttime animals (like bears!) is making it so hard for me to fall back asleep. Counting down the days until she sleeps through the night!
Awww Lucy, looks like an angel on that first pic but puppies are hard indeed. Mine was a complete devil when she was little and she was my first dog too
She really is so sweet, but then will have moments where she's biting everyone and won't listen and we'll go to bed thinking, "Have we just made the worst decision of our lives?" It's been reassuring to hear that these thoughts are common during the first few months. 🙂
I'm amazed at how much work a puppy is! We're at 10 months so it's slowly getting easier.
I'm so happy to hear that there's light at the end of the tunnel!
We have three weeks left of school and I am having a really hard time attempting to finish strong. I am so done and I cannot focus myself while my head is swimming with thoughts of our next move. I am done. Did I say that already? 😂
I am SO DONE too. My motivation is SO low, but I'm trying to keep it together for standardized testing. After that, I make no promises, hah!
Oh my gosh, when Marley was a puppy we did not wake up to let her out and instead woke up to a poopy crate for way too long. I still remember Logan hosing the crate out every morning. Hang in there!
My SIL and I were just talking about being in reading slumps and blamed it on reading all nonfiction, LOL. (Although I really do love nonfiction!) I've never heard of 25in5, totally going check that out…
So glad I'm not alone with the nonfiction slumps! For me, I think nonfiction requires a level of concentration that I can't maintain when I'm tired. Since I do the majority of my reading once the kids are in bed, my brain just felt like mush!
Your pup is adorable! And I wish you luck in coming out of your reading slump. I hate those!!!
Thanks! I'm on my second fiction novel and already feeling like I'm back in a groove, thank goodness!