Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

It feels like a Friday! I wish it were. We got a good morning full of school done today and then went to Dublin Hospital for Ruby to have that ultrasound done on the back of her right knee. Thankfully, the results are already back and it's just a cyst!  After the scan, we went to 4th street to work on what's probably my last bulletin board. That makes me feel sad because it was one of my favorite parts of the job. Just a little creative outlet for me, in a life with few creative outlets. Alas, all good things must come to an end, right? That doesn't mean something else good isn't waiting right around the corner for me.  I have to go to a "kick-off" meeting for LHM tonight. I'm thankful that I have several friends in the group already. Looking forward to seeing Anne and Christine, specifically. Otherwise, I don't want to go at all! 😅 Surprise, surprise! I'm trying to gauge whether or not to shower beforehand. I probably should. Blech.

It's 1,000 degrees outside today, so I decided to take the kids to the art museum, rather than doing Wild & Free. However, after a rough morning, I changed tracks and went to Graeter's instead, since it's closer and would take less time. I am grumpy as all getout! When I got home, I decided to shampoo the carpet, for some stupid reason. So I spent the rest of the entire day on that nonsense. Woo.

Today was pretty busy and not great. I woke up at 5am, feeling anxious about my upcoming mammogram. I left at 7:30am to get there on time and was seen quickly. It wasn't fun at all, no matter what anyone tells you. Having your breasts smashed in a machine is no good. However, I totally understand the value of it! And I had a very kind technician. Also, weird standing around with your top off having someone else manhandle you. After that, I had my annual gyn appt...which I haven't done in three years. That was fine too, if you enjoy being roughly fingered by a stranger, which I don't. Alas, also an important thing to do. She suggested I get back on birth control in an effort to suppress my PMDD/peri-menopause. She thinks it's both things. But she said that if I'm not ovulating, I won't continue to have the symptoms that are connected to ovulation. I've never connected them in my mind that way, but it does make sense. I feel kind of bad that Ben already had a ...

Our school day went pretty well today, although I was feeling extremely frustrated by the end of our work. We had a dentist appointment after that, and the kids were acting like crazy people. That was also very over-stimulating and frustrating. I just wanted to scream. By the time we got home, I was so done. I thought I'd give myself a quiet time, but then I realized I needed to get dinner prepped so...no quiet time for me! Ben was supposed to go to HC tonight, but had nerve pain and decided to stay home. I was a little disappointed, but I get it. He's been feeling really optimistic and connected with God lately, though, so that's a good thing. 

Well, last day of Oasis is done. It feels weird! And really, really sad. I don’t know that I’ll ever have such a cool work opportunity again in my life, but I know that it was time. It often didn’t feel like an opportunity, but a burden instead. It felt awful never being able to go home for the holidays because I was needed at CT. But, on the other hand, it kept us consistent, which was good for all of us. I don’t know what will happen now.  I had three goals for today: finish my book, bring the ladder up to our bedroom to see if I can reach the ceiling, and grout in the patch tiles I installed yesterday. Check, check, and check. I also started trying to install the vanity light in the bathroom, since I’ve given up on tiling the shower, but it was more complicated than expected and it was way too hard to get anything done in the bathroom in the dark. I also took a hot & sweaty walk with Ollie at one point and that was a lot of fun. 

I had a very frustrating morning, trying to get the shower tiled. I've been feeling really overwhelmed about the project, because I just don't know how to cut these damn mosaic tiles! I bought a tile cutter, but the cuts are so imprecise and janky looking. I tried to cut it on the tile saw, after spending a bunch of time getting that set up again, and that didn't work either. I was close to tears by the time I threw in the darn towel. That project is one that is waiting for dad's next visit. Can't freaking do it! We had to go to the welcome hangout for CACH tonight and it did go pretty well. I got to see lots of the moms that I got to know last year and had some good conversations. Ben did ok, but wanted us to leave an hour early. I got it down to 45 minutes early, but I knew he would rush us, so I wasn't super surprised. Co-op starts back up soon!!

We had a productive school day today, thank goodness, because the rest of the week was kind of a bust. After school, we went to French club at Christine's. It was pretty fun and we planned out the next few months. I really want Jonas to continue coming with us, but lately it's just been little kids and I'm finding it harder and harder to help him feel included. He's a good sport about it, but jeez. Why aren't there older kids anywhere we go??  I got a pumpkin cream chai latte today! It's finally pumpkin season!  *TWO WEEKS UNTIL THIS IS US AGAIN!!!*

We met with some of the small group ladies at COSI this morning and it was so fun! We ended up staying pretty much all day. We got there at 10 and didn't leave until 2:30. As always, they had some really cool exhibits. We spent forever in the Color exhibit - like, over an hour! So many great photo ops.  There wasn't much time for anything else in the afternoon, but I decided to go to small group tonight, rather than cell group. I don't know why, exactly, but I just didn't want to go to cell. Small group was a good time though. There was a lady there who grew up Mormon and had no idea whether or not Christians even believe in Heaven and Hell. She had so many questions and it didn't seem like anyone was really willing or able to talk them through with her! I decided I'm going to reach out and see if she wants to read a book with me on the basics of Christianity. I'll see what she says about it, but it just breaks my heart that she's trying to follow God an...

Today felt very, very long to me. I overslept this morning until 9am and was very frustrated with the kids for letting me...as if it's their responsibility to get their mom up! It kind of is, but it shouldn't be, I guess. Anyway, I was rushed to get out of the house for my hair appt, but I did make it on time. Sadly, I am annoyed with the way it turned out, which is nothing at all like the picture I showed her or the video I showed her. Plus, she puts these froofy curls in my hair at the end and I feel like a stupid cheerleader or something...also, very much unlike the picture I showed her. Here's the thing: my hairdresser sucks at cutting hair. She is a master at color, but cutting is just not her forte. I had a haircut years and years ago and was really unsatisfied, which is why I've cut my own hair all these years. But I wanted a cut that I knew I couldn't do myself, so I tried her again! It was a failure. And it's not like my hair looks bad or anything. It...

We had W&F today and met at Shale Hollow. Such a beautiful park! The hike was nice and the natural play area was gorgeous. I could just imagine sitting there, in a chair, with a book, while the kids played for a while. As it was, I had no chair and had to conversate with other people instead of reading, but it was still really nice.  After the park, we came home and didn't do much else. I was going to go to virtual book club tonight, but I hadn't finished the book and MJ thought I should skip so that it wouldn't be ruined for me.  Last night's HC meeting was ok. I felt a little weird being there, of course. I guess I had thought that since I felt so comfortable at girl's group a week and a half ago that I would feel comfortable here too, but that just wasn't the case. I was really ready to leave pretty quickly and Ben was too, so we didn't hang out for very long after the teaching. I don't know what this will mean for us, group-wise. I'm not sure...

Today was a school day and I finally got the girls' new tablets set up, so they could start doing their reading eggs after their school work. It felt like school took forever, but it was a pretty typical day, honestly. We just have some lengthy books that we're reading, and they take a lot of time.  I final waterproofed the shower walls today after school and got my new credit card set up, that will give up lots of travel points. I'm just over here dreaming about travel, all day every day lately. I cannot wait to get out of town! Go explore the world! I really, really want to go somewhere where I can use French.  We have home church tonight and, as I've noted, I haven't been since early June. I am looking forward to being there...kind of. I don't know exactly how it's going to go, but I think it's good to get back, especially since it's going to be earlier in the evening and we can bring the kiddos. 

It was my next to last Sunday working today. I'm feeling a little more at peace with my transition out of the role. I've been putting so much responsibility and anxiety on myself, as if I'm responsible for the outcome of the Oasis program. But I'm not. God is. He's got this. He's had it in his hands from the beginning and no matter who is CTO over the program, it's still His. I'm feeling much better about letting go right now, although I want to leave it at its very, very best! Praying team leads will take up some of these new responsibilities and that everything will get done! In the afternoon, I went to the movies with Kaitlyn and Emily and, while the movie was decent, I wish I had just stayed home. Here's the thing. Me, Kaitlyn, and Emily met up front, said hello, scanned our tickets, and sat down. We watched the movie and I whispered maybe two sentences to Emily during that entire time. The movie ended, we said goodbye, and then we all went our s...

Kylienne cancelled our hike this morning and I was so excited to not have to rush out of bed! I need to text her back to reschedule though. Travis had surgery yesterday and is still in pain today, which makes sense. I did some stuff around the house today, decluttering mostly. I cleared off my indoor gardening rack and moved it into the dining room, where Ben wanted it to be for extra storage in there. It's fine in there, but I'm not excited about the way it looks at all. Oh well! It's temporary.  I spent some of the midday relaxing, but mostly got food ready to take to the Browns this evening. We went over there and feasted on some delicious Italian food, Caprese salad, homemade bread, and a peach crumble. It was so good! We only hung out for an hour, because I could tell Megan was starting to get a little overwhelmed with everything happening and Mariah getting fussy. She is adorable, but, like all newborns, cranky. I'm glad we went over and saw them though. 

We had a productive school morning and a somewhat relaxing afternoon today. I started to get really anxious about my plans to go out tonight with the small group ladies pretty early on, though. Lauren offered to drive, insisted actually, and it made me feel super trapped, like I'd never get home. It's hard for me to want to do things with people!! All I could think about was how nice it would feel to just stay home and do nothing. 😅 BUT, I went. And guess what. It was actually fun! I was shocked, honestly. The ride over wasn't too bad...just lots of me asking other people questions to try and have conversations. But when we got to dinner, I realized that maybe it's just the three ladies that I spend the most time with that are conversationally stunted. The two ladies who were already at the restaurant talked about important things and got vulnerable, and even made space for me to contribute, and then asked follow up questions! I had a good time with them. We headed to ...

Today was a very efficiently run day. We got to school on time and worked all morning, then finished up around noon. I was supposed to do a project with the girls and totally forgot about it, but I started working in earnest on MaryJo's baby quilt! I'm looking forward to it being finished and ready to give to her for her birthday next month. I think she'll be so excited! I listened to my book club book on tape, because I really need to get it done by Tuesday. I've missed so many book clubs over the last couple of months! We ordered pizza out today and had pizza and a movie night. All-in-all, it was a good day. I didn't leave...didn't even put a bra on all day and that kind of makes me feel like a loser? Even though it was a productive day. Weird that a bra has so much power. 😅 Ollie isn't actually injured, she just scratched ANOTHER mosquito bite until it bled. It's the only photo I took today, but at least I have something! 

The kids were as good as their word today! We woke up and did school for about an hour and a half, then headed to the Hilliard splash pad. Lauren picked up pizza for everyone (although she got there almost 2 hours later than everyone else and we were all starving) and the kids had a great time visiting. As always, I'll say that I do like these ladies, but, at the same time, they bore me. None of them has asked a single question about me still, which seems insane to me. I'm still the one asking all the questions and carrying the conversations. We literally sit in silence, unless I constantly pepper them with questions. It kind of sucks. I miss having good conversation! And they invite me to EVERYTHING, all the time. It's like, I appreciate the invites, but I might as well be sitting by myself, as much conversation as I'm having.  We got home from the splash pad around 2:30 and did school for the next 3 hours or so. As soon as that was finished, I had laundry and Ben got ...

We met up with our Wild & Free group today and even stayed for lunch! It was a pretty good morning/mid-afternoon. We had a nice time visiting with everyone and the weather was beautiful in the shade. We had lunch with everyone and I got some time to catch up with Anne. I was feeling incredibly tired, as I have been for weeks now, and I felt like it was too much to do school once we got home. Not much else happened today! We got invited to the splash pad tomorrow and I thought we'd be doing school, so the kids all agreed that we'd squeeze school in wherever we can. We'll see how that goes!

Aside from feeling queasy and having diarrhea all day, it was a pretty good one! I met Lauren, Christina, and Sarah at the park...although they were all very, very late. We hung out in the nature center, went for a short hike, and then went to the playground for lunch. I still don't know that I actually fit in with this group of ladies, but the kids have an awesome time together and I'm comfortable with them, at least.  When we got home, I cleaned up and then, basically, sat around. I'm just tired and feeling yucky. It was a long morning!  Oh, something crazy happened with Ben on his way to work this morning. Right in front of him, there was a TERRIBLE car accident! Someone sped through a red light and t-boned this old lady who was driving through the intersection. Her car flipped over and Ben ran out to help her. The car was stopped with the driver's side door on the ground and he pulled her out of the car, which was smoking like crazy. He ended up leaving before emerg...

I had work this morning and, because Ollie was refusing to go to church, Ben stayed home with her. We just don't know what to do about her. I've had to drag her to class with her kicking and screaming before and it's very embarrassing. I don't want to have to do that! She and Ben got a lot more yard work done while I was gone, though, which was very nice. And work was fine. I've been feeling a little sick, so Leslie and I sat and caught up for a half hour. It's crazy, I cannot remember EVER sitting down while I was at work before. A first for me! So good to catch up with Leslie though. It's been too long.  I took the girls to McDonald's afterwards and we just relaxed for most of the day. Ben went to play MtG in the evening and, since Jonas was at Cedar Point today, we had a girls night! We watched Call the Midwife and got Rita's for pick-up. It was a nice night with my girls. Jonas didn't get home until after 11! 

This has been the most productive and fulfilling day that ben and I have had in a very long time. We made a plan and actually followed it and it paid off. We started the morning by going to Home Depot and getting mulch, yard waste bags, flowers, and plants, then I weeded for a while (I started earlier this week). I had to leave to have lunch with Rachel at 11:30, but, while I was gone, Ben and Ollie kept working! They got so much done. When I got back, I continued weeding, we got those plants in the ground, and we mulched. It looks so nice!! There's still a bit more work to be done...like the entire other side of the house 😭, but it was a great start for us. We are beat! Lunch with Rachel went pretty well. It was awkward at first, which I expected. The truth is, I wanted an apology from her, and I did not get one. I apologized to her several times. 1. for leaving, 2. for telling her through text in a way that was too rip-the-bandaid-off, 3. for the general awkwardness between us. ...

School dragged this morning, but we got it done! Lauren called in the middle of things and I thought we'd just talk for a minute or two, but she ended up talking for almost an hour about drama that's been happening in small group. I feel bad for her. I know she's been really stressed about everything, so I just took the time to let her vent. I did skimp on some of the things we should have done for school, but it's fine. We don't have to check every box every day.  Ben and I went out to run a couple of errands in the mid-afternoon and I felt really productive because I had deviled eggs made, and mac started, and ramen salad, and I showered, and I started a return, and I paid the bills, and I set up a VoA pick up. It was a good feeling! The McKeans got to our house at 5:30ish and, while Ben and I both thought it was kind of going to suck, it ended up being a really fun time. I think Ben doesn't want to like anyone from the small group because he just doesn't ...