Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

I spent most of the day NOT working and it was so nice! I went to Jenny's this morning and hung out with her for a while, then picked up the Oasis bags and came home. Ben and I had Daruma for lunch and then I took Ollie to gymnastics and worked while she was there. I did a little work after I got home, but mostly just relaxed! Ahhh... so nice! I even watched a couple of cooking shows while I online shopped.  Ben took the kids over to Kwin and Ashley's while he played Magic and I eventually had to go over and rescue Ollie, who was having a hard time. They got pizza and hung out there, while I got all fancy and went to J. Liu's for a girl's night out with Grace, Alicia, Jen Root, and Susan. I was a little worried that it wouldn't be fun, honestly, but we had a really good time! Lots of laughs, and sharing, and stories. Grace put a lot of work into getting a mom's night scheduled, and I'm glad I made myself go.  After the mom's night, we went over to Kwin a...

Ollie had her little Trike-A-Thon today! It was very cute. She did three whole laps. 😅 But the school made it a whole, big deal and she was excited about it. She ended up going back to school later in the afternoon for this pre-k coding camp her school put on. I'm not really sure if she enjoyed it, but it was a cool experience, so I wanted her to try it out. They programmed these little bee-bots to move around and worked with different people than usual. I thought, at the very least, it could be an opportunity to try something new and, not being a very flexible child, she needs these kinds of growing experiences. While she was there, I took the other girls around Dublin. We grabbed ice cream and went to the library, which was great! It was nice to be out, walking around town on a beautiful day. The library was cool too. We all really liked all of the little reading nooks and we spent some time working with a librarian to find books that are just right for Ruby's reading level....

I got to hang out around the house for a lot of the morning and it was such a nice treat! I did have to run out to Target and Home Depot for some stuff, but then I got to do some work on the railings and hang out will Ollie for a while. I worked plenty, but a little less than the last week, so that was nice.  Jonas had his first VBS Drama practice this afternoon and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. I needed to work on the bulletin board, so I just dropped him off and worked on that for a couple of hours before it was time to get him again.  BUT, despite the busyness of the week, I'm excited because neither me or Ben has anything to do tonight or anywhere to go! We're just sitting here watching a movie and eating snacks. Good times!

Another incredibly busy day in the books. While Ollie was at school, I worked and cleaned. Then I grabbed her, went to visit Shannon for 30 min and headed to ballet class. The girls got their photos done today and got their costumes for their recital. So cute!  After ballet, I had to go to Main campus to get my staff photo taken. So convenient and fun! And then I came home and worked some more. Gah, I'm feeling so OVER all of the running around! I did finally stop working, made dinner, and then went outside to work on the deck.  I'm not feeling nearly as depressed, but I have swung right down into a pit of overwhelm! I'm really looking forward to a relatively slow weekend with only a few obligations. 

Happy Monday...back to work! All I did was work in between other obligations. Not a super fun day. I had to take Clem to the dentist for a filling. It went much easier and faster than I expected! We did manage to get to HC tonight, which was good. I caught up with Jordan for most of the time. I feel for him. I know that he doesn't really have a "person" in our group and, although I know I can't be that person, I still want to make sure that he knows his presence is important and noticed. 

Another CRAZY hectic day. I feel like I barely stopped moving from the moment I woke up. Shower, get ready to go, church, walk around for 2 1/2 hours, leave, head to Travis and Kylienne's. Kylienne worked SO hard on Riven's party this year and it was adorable. They did a rainbow theme and she put up really cute decorations and did all of the themed snacks and whatnot. So cute! The girls had fun, but I was already feeling really depleted from socializing for 2 hours this morning, so I kind of just sat on the ground and tried to be invisible for most of the time. I felt bad. I do usually make more effort, but I was just so drained already!  We headed out of there around 2:30, ran to Target, and then I started running around doing...what? Lots of stuff. Laundry, mostly. I know I was busy, but honestly cannot remember what I spent my time on. Oh, yeah, it was laundry. I had like 7 loads that needed to be put away and it took forever. Anyway, Ben left at 4:20 to go play Magic and, s...

It was a bit of a hectic day! Good, but busy. I went to the grocery store as soon as I woke up so I could get ingredients for side dishes for dinner with the Albinos tonight. I made mac n cheese, Asian ramen salad, deviled eggs, chocolate chip cookies, and a green salad. It all turned out really good, actually. I was starving and SO grumpy by the time I got home from the store...only to turn around and keep getting prepped for Dennis and Hazel to get here! I had about 20 minutes of free time before they arrived and then spent a couple of hours talking and visiting with them. It went really well. We usually have at least a bit of attitude from Denn, but not this time. He was in a great mood and we had a really nice, brief visit. It's a little sad to think that we used to go there for the weekend every other month or so, and now we're down to like two visits a year. We've just gotten so busy over the years though. Weekends aren't free the way they used to be and when we d...

Oh my gosh, Ollie and Andrei were SO cute today. They were outside playing happily for the entire time we were together! Of course, they were getting into mischief and getting super dirty, but NO WORRIES, they came in and cleaned themselves up! Simultaneously, they flooded Jenny's bathroom with dirty water. 😏 Ollie told me they were digging in the dirt with their feet, so they needed to get clean...and wipies wouldn't be enough. 😅 Oh, well! Jenny handles messes a lot better than me, thankfully.  After Jenny's, we went to pick up bags from church and then went to Terracina's for a quick lunch. After Terracina's we headed over to gymnastics. It was a busy day! And, of course, Jane needed my help with an urgent deadline today, so while Ollie was doing flips and running around, I was staring at my computer, doing work. Felt like a terrible mommy and I only got this one picture. Thankfully, she had a fantastic time and loved every second of it, even if I was negligent ...

Ollie had school this morning and then we headed over to a play ground to meet up with Brit & co. for a while. It was a nice little park! Ollie was grumpy at first because it was "so small", but she had a great time on the obstacle course.  I worked so much again today. It's been a really busy week! And I know I'll love this paycheck, but I find that the more I work, the more mom-guilt I feel, resulting in me being busier and busier.  I had cell group this evening and it was one of the best in a while. We all went around and shared the stories of how we got engaged and little anecdotes from our dating lives. It was hilarious, and cute, and really nice learning more about some of these ladies' relationships. Also, Jenny made a really yummy strawberry sangria. :) Thinking A LOT about house projects lately! I think spring does that to me...just look at all the fun things I could be working on! I am the queen of unfinished projects though, so I have to be careful ...

Phew! Humpday is finally behind us. Tomorrow is pizza and a movie night and then it's Friday! Although I'm feeling kind of doubtful that we'll stay inside for a movie when the weather is supposed to be SO NICE tomorrow. It'll be hard to pass up an evening outside playing. And I have a few more seeds I need to get planted. (Side note: my poison ivy rash is DRIVING ME INSANE) It has felt like a crazy busy week for me and today was just a continuation of that - work, Oasis staff meeting, more work, Ollie's 4-year well-check, MORE work, hanging out outside, doing dinner, more time outside, working on milk cartons for seeds, getting kids to bed, and now...relaxation! And some of the outside time was really relaxing too. I'm not complaining about the day so much as remarking that I'd like a couple of slow days to be in my future. But ever since I said that I was slow at work, a lot of work has gotten piled on.  Jane and I talked today about my message to her yeste...

Well, I just sent Jane a message asking if she wants me to quit. I feel like all of my interactions with her lately have been negative and I'm just sick of having anxiety every time I sign on to work. We'll see what she says and whether or not I have a job tomorrow! I think she's going to have a lot of upset clients if I'm not working there anymore. But it won't be my problem. I visited with Patrice this morning and talked to her about our HC concerns. She does not think we should change HCs at all and, honestly, I think I agree with her. Ben...not so much. He's still so upset. But he also hasn't really gotten to talk things through with anyone yet. He and Alex haven't gotten together since he started feeling this way and his plans with John Matthews got cancelled too. I just can't be the only Christian sounding board for Ben when he's upset, and yet, I usually am. We had a good visit though. I really like getting together with her and I felt rea...

I worked for so many hours today - like 5 hours! It was way too much, but I felt like I needed to because of how yucky things have been at work. I almost used the word toxic, but I hate that word so I changed it to yucky. 😎 Jane was out today and I was so relieved that I got a respite from wanting to quit my job.  Nothing else really happened today. Just another manic Monday. I stayed home from group because Ben is acting like he's so sick he's about to die. I picked up groceries this morning. Just a blah day.  Pictures from Ruby's bday, since I didn't take any today.

So my depression has still been lingering on. My parents were very "concerned" about me while they were here and all I could say was that maybe this is the first time they've had to hang out with me while I was a depressed adult, but this is not alarming behavior! I didn't really know what to tell them about it. I know I'm not as fun like this, but I can't just switch it off because I want it to go away.  I worked this morning, of course, and didn't realize until 20 minutes before that I had to speak in front of CT about Oasis. It was really nerve-wracking for me, but I think it went ok. It's just a bummer that I didn't have more people sign up after I spoke. I was expecting a whole bunch! But I just got four. Four is certainly better than nothing though! I had two people walk up to me and tell me that they don't want to sign up so...thanks for that, people.  While I was at CT, Ben and Clemi both developed pretty high fevers, and as soon as I g...

We had Ruby's birthday party today! We went to Olentangy Caverns, which I've been wanting to visit for a long time. It was so cool! The caverns were slightly underwhelming, but, honestly, I had a hard time enjoying that part because MJ has such a hard time walking and I was worried about her. Also, Clemi continuously complained about her flip-flops and Ruby repeatedly screamed about getting dirty. But it really was cool. We also went to the petting zoo, which was so awesome and the playground was great too. The Albinos were entirely TOO generous with Ruby's gift and got her so much stuff, and also a ton of food and fancy juices for the party. And it was so nice having my parents there with us! I can't wait until they live closer and we can see them more often. Sometimes I feel like long visits can be a little much, but frequent short trips are where it's at. And they're going to come back over my birthday weekend! I feel really grateful that they're going to...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RUBY!!!! My girl is 7-years-old today! I am so thankful for her and her fun and unique perspective on life. She keeps me on my toes and is constantly teaching me lessons I didn't even know I needed to learn. I'm excited to watch her grow and to see where this life will take her! Today was a little bit hard. Ollie was just a handful. Dad worked around the house and fixed a bunch of broken things, which was wonderful and when we broke for lunch, we went out to North Market. Well. Ollie screamed the entire time we were there. I wouldn't give her Baba so she could suck her thumb while we were out to eat and she really freaked out about it. Like, actual screaming the ENTIRE time we were out.  I worked for about four hours today, which felt like way too much, but Jane was acting like I don't work enough, so I felt like I had to do it. After the girls came home, all chaos broke loose. We were inside, outside, everyone was screaming, so much crying happened, p...

Oh my gosh, such a busy day. WHY did I wait until the day my parents are coming to prep for my parents coming??? Seriously, so bad a making good decisions. I cancelled my play date plans and had to squeeze in some work time, but I got the house mostly clean. So glad they're here! The kids act nutty when they're visiting, but at least they get attention from more people than just me. 

I keep thinking it's later in the week than it is. It is only Wednesday, Josie! Ollie and I had a chill morning at home and then headed to a play date at Pingree. At first it was just me and Emily, then Caitlin came and Emily left, then Brit came, just as me and Caitlin were getting ready to go! It was a revolving door. :) But it was good. I have been harboring a little anger towards Caitlin, but we had some good conversation and I told her that it made me feel rejected that hardly anyone showed interest in the Easter brunch and she ended up apologizing for not communicating with us about it. I appreciated that. It still seems like common sense, but that's just me being judgmental and I'm going to let it go. When I've checked in with Ben about stuff, he's still in the same place he's been. We'll see how things progress.  I had to bring Ollie to the dermatologist today to look at her warts and they want to take a very gentle approach to treating them, since O...

I felt like today was a good day. Ollie went to school and I did work while she was there. Right afterwards, we headed to a playdate in Grandview with Shannon, Lisa, and Susan. I had some good conversations and Ollie had a fun time playing. We headed home after that and I worked some more, until Jonas got home. That's when the real fun started. Gardening!!  I was really excited to get out into the side yard and get the flower garden area ready on that side of the house. I made a plan to destroy the weeds over there, once and for all...or at least for this year. I read that if you coat the garden area with newspaper, wet it, then mulch on top of it, it kills the weeds for a year or two. I bought mulch a couple of days ago, got newspapers from a neighbor on Nextdoor, and had Jonas help me get everything set up. I was SO EXHAUSTED and so proud of myself for actually doing something physically difficult!  Ben called 1,000 times while I was working and got really frustrated because...