The Life of Bon: January 2017

Monday, January 23, 2017

Never Miss a Monday


This is a picture of newborn June NOT new baby.  I repeat, NOT new baby. 

Never miss a Monday.

I keep seeing that phrase on people’s instagrams.  I think it might refer to going to the gym?  I don’t know.  I don’t go to the gym and I definitely don’t go to the gym on Mondays.

In any case, the phrase is good for something because it has inspired me to get my butt in gear with blogging.  Today’s a Monday!  So I can’t miss Monday! 

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve taken a 3 week break and before that my posts have been sporadic at best.  There’s been a lot going on!  A few months ago I made the decision to kindly delegate blogging to “hobby” level and therefore put it in a league with my other hobbies- painting my finger nails, going to movies, doing puzzles… things I do when I feel like it, but not on any kind of schedule and not with any kind of pressure.

The problem is when blogging turns 100% hobby on me I can’t find the time to get in even a post a week.  I used to blog 5 or 6 times a week.  FIVE TIMES A WEEK!  And now it’s seriously a struggle for me to crank out even one a week.

Hence, the Monday mantra.  If I can never miss a Monday then I am at least getting in once a week and that is certainly better than the schedule I’ve been keeping lately.  Ideally, I’d like to blog 2-3 times a week.  Ideals are nice.

It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about.  I have so much to write about!  Probably more to say on this blog than I’ve ever had to say before.  But there isn’t the time to write it in.  Or the energy maybe?  Or maybe it’s just not the priority?  I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING.  But thanks for still reading and checking in here.  It means a lot.  Even if I do thank you by going awol for weeks at a time.

I have been pretty good at staying updated on Instagram.  I kind of feel like instagram has become my mini blogging platform.  And while it will never be to me what a blog is, it is nice that I can write long captions there with a picture and that you guys can comment and I can respond.  It’s blog-esque even if it doesn’t carry all the charm and commitment of a real life blog.  If you’re not following me on Instagram, my handle is @thelifeofbon.  My pics aren’t perfect.  But they’re real and they are of all the things, people, places, experiences that mean the most to me.  So it’s an important space to me.

And now, a quick update!  We’ve been busy!  I hate the glorification of busy and I’m trying to stay away from that.  But how do you unbusy a life that is clearly too busy?  December was an absolute hurricane of jewelry.  We did 7 local markets and close to 1000 online sales.  Just Greg and me!  And that was on top of me working every other day at the high school and taking care of our little June bug.  There were some hard, miserable days in there.  Days we wanted to kill each other.  Days we wanted to burn down the jewelry shop and not look back.  Days we wanted to run away and become hippies in Belize.  But we survived and the week before and after Christmas was filled with nothing but family and cookies and lazy mornings.  Well, that’s actually not true.  I did try to potty train June during the break.  That was a huge mistake.  I quit after three days and feel good about picking back up again in the spring or summer.  Home girl is going to be in diapers far longer than I ever imagined, but there’s a lot in my life that has gone much differently than I ever imagined and turns out I’m still ok.

December had such a focus on jewelry that by the time January rolled around I felt like I had to do a complete mind shift to school.  I had tests and essays that I hadn’t graded in a month!  End of second quarter was looming!  Kids were wondering when in the world I was putting grades in!  On top of that I told the school that I would teach an ACT prep class for two weeks.  The class was held Tuesday and Thursday after school from 2:45- 4:45.  I have a lot of great resources and tips for ACT prep so I really wanted to teach it- but it fell the same week as the end of the quarter and that was all kinds of total manic-ness.  I taught four 85 minute classes in a row and then darted downstairs to start in on the ACT prep class.  At 37 and 38 weeks pregnant!  I AM INSANE.  No one let me do that ever again.  I surely thought I was going to die.  And if I lived through it, then certainly not all of my students would because I was GRUMPY.  And TIRED.  And 17 year olds at the end of the quarter as annoying as they come.   (Then the next quarter starts and they are cute and sweet again.  It’s just that last week of the quarter.  It makes the sanest of people go nuts and I’m not even sane to begin with.)

But I lived!  End of second quarter was last week, ACT prep ended on Thursday and now I just have to make six weeks’ worth of lesson plans and train my long term sub.  Then I’m out of there!  Ain’t no thang!  It feels so good to be wrapping up school stuff for a little while.  And then in February the only thing I am focusing on is my kids and my family and my home.  It’s gonna be a dream.

In the midst of all of this I have been nesting up a ying yang, trying to get our home prepared for a new baby.  June was born ten days before we moved into a new home.  I felt like for a year we were living out of boxes, not totally cleaned up, prepared, slightly frantic.  We never really recovered from that time.  I think my lack of nesting with June has made me overcompensate for the nesting this time around.  I want my house perfect!  I am working on projects and house goals that I have been trying to get around to for two years!  It’s awesome.  But also exhausting and gosh I am so pregnant.  Too pregnant to be painting a wall. 

I really wanted to have the nursery ready by the time baby got here.  I know that’s not necessary.  I mean, June’s nursery wasn’t ready until she was 6 months old.  But again, I hated that I was so behind and I want to fel ahead with this baby.  But I’ve struggled a lot with the nursery.  The gender neutral thing throws a kink on it.  Last week I was having a triangle crisis.  A TRIANGLE CRISIS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. (I posted a pic on Instagram and you guys had AMAZING suggestions.  Thank you!)  I think this week I have finally figured out what I want out of my nursery (spoiler alert: it’s not triangles!) and we’re full steam ahead with that.  I’ll give you all the deets in another post but it feels exciting and fun which it DIDN’T feel last week, so I think that is a good sign.

As a Christmas gift my mom gave me the gift of a clean home.  She paid for a cleaning crew to come in and whip this place into shape.  They came on Wednesday and for three hours six amazing women cleaned my blinds, organized my pantry, mopped my floor, scrubbed my toilets.  My microwave right now is glistening.  GLISTENING.  While they were here I shipped Greg and June out of the house and I did laundry, folding, organizing, everything I want to get done but never can.  It was seriously everything dreams are made of.  My house has been spotless since.  I mean, no one is really allowed to move anymore, but it’s clean!  It is amazing the level of stress and anxiety it takes off of me when my house is clean. 

Oh, and we switched June over to a big girl bed this month.  That has basically been hell on Earth.  But she breaks out of cribs and play pens like the true escape artist she is so we were forced into it.  That is also a post for another day but basically nobody around here has been getting the kind of sleep we love and need.


Ok!  I think that’s it!  We are 10 days out from baby’s due date and meeting this little nugget is definitely the most exciting thing going on in our world.  Waiting for the gender has added a whole new level of suspense and anticipation and WE ARE ON PINS AND NEEDLES TO MEET THIS CHILD.  June was a c-section because she was breech but this baby is in position and ready to rock and roll so we are crossing our fingers for a successful vbac.  Send us your good juju!  And if there is no baby, I am hoping to continue my week of blogging by posting again on Wednesday.  A girl can dream, right?!