The Latta Family

 Technically, it's not quite 14 days.  Tomorrow morning is officially 14 days.   I'll say this, I'm surviving.  And this week it's been easier than last week.  I still want treats, but not with that same level of desperation I did last week.  Last week I needed cheerleading and being talked off the ledge and I had to pep talk myself a lot.  This week . . . I haven't had to get any cheerleading.  I've also not really needed to pep talk myself much.  In some ways I am feeling positive and in others . . . I am feeling frustrated.  I have definitely noticed some patterns.  I'm feeling positive because yes! I'm doing this, and it's definitely getting easier in the day to day.   I'm frustrated because the patterns I've noticed, are going to be hard to avoid when I release myself from the challenge.  1. I want sugar when I'm stressed, but the feeling goes away fast.  So I just have to wait it out.  I can do th...

 I'm going to start this by saying, if you can't laugh when people say nuts- this blog post isn't for you.   Andrew recently got his permit.  I am the official new driver rider.  Andrew is suddenly willing to go anywhere with me- even a few weeks ago, when I went to a store to buy underwear.  He was willing to drive me, knowing the destination would be totally awkward and uncool.  (I won't lie- that trip was totally a test to see how interested he is in driving.  Pretty interested apparently.  We went our separate ways upon entering the store, but . . . he knew his mom was buying the dreaded underwear.).   Have you driven with a new driver recently?  Holy smokes it is stressful.  You see so many things you want to warn about (there are other cars braking 1 mile away, the light 3 intersections up is turning red, don't speed in case a mountain lion comes jetting out in front us- they move fast and are unpredictable.) but . ....

 I mentioned on the last blog post, that I had reached a point where it was time to take a break from sugar.  It had reached a pretty unhealthy level.  I cleared through a bag of Hershey Nuggets- family size, by myself in 3 days.  I didn't stop eating my nightly ice cream.  I just realized I had perhaps become too reliant on using sugar to help deal with stress.   It's not a life style I'm adopting.  I will not follow a diet where I'll never eat sugar, when the 21 days is up.  I just needed a reset.   Here's how it's going after 7 days, with 14 more to go:  1. I have not had any headaches, shakes, frothing at the mouth. puking, extreme grumpiness etc (side note- if you ever watched Little House on the Prairie, do you remember the episode where Pa helped Albert overcome his morphine addiction?  That haunted me for life.  That episode is why I'm still afraid of drugs to this day.  I never want to go through a dryin...

 Here's just a weird collection of "stuff:" 1. Dogs.  Boy I tell you.  Dogs are smart.  They are so good at training us dumb humans.  Our older dog would get 2 meals a day (before the puppy).  She got dry food, a drizzle of low sodium chicken broth, and a scoop of canned dog food.  It's the highlight of her day- twice a day.  With the puppy I was going to be very disciplined.  She was not going to get all that nonsense, or table food, or extra treats.  She doesn't get table food- unless she steals it (Alexa tends to not pay attention, and I'm sorry if you leave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich unattended a dog is gonna get it.).  A few weeks ago, the puppy started this weird thing.  We feed both dogs at the same time, not in the same place.  But Dixie (the puppy) would sit about 6-8 feet from Gracie (far enough to be appropriately respectful, but close enough to swoop in and check out the bowl when Gracie had completely ...

I once said Andrew's like the Motel 6 . . . he'll leave a light on, or 3. All day. Whether he's in his room, or not.  He and I have been having a bit of a struggle over the light situation.  He NEVER turns the lights out.  Ever.  I'm so tired of walking back to his room, climbing over 2 puppy gates, and turning the lights out in his room.  I do it probably 3-5 times a day.  I mean . . . why am I turning the lights out in his room so much?  It's daylight!  He's not looking at anything except his phone or the tv when he's in his room.  Neither require the use of an overhead light, a desk light, or a bedside light.  I started by saying sarcastic comments, indicating I was irritated that he never turns his light out.  But he just smiled his, "But I'm Still Your Only Son, and You Think I'm Awesome" smile.  Then I did the, "Hey- I'm kind of serious- it's wasteful.  Turn off your light." and he responded, "Ok- you're r...

This will blow your mind- it blows mine- we're in the process of trying to get Andrew his permit.  I'm about to be chauffeured everywhere I go.  I'm about to change Andrew's name to Jarvis (after Howard Stark's chauffeur- Iron Man's Dad's Chauffeur).  I've been befuddled by this process from Day 1.  It doesn't help that the process has been completely screwed up by having a Global Pandemic.  This isn't the only process that causes me confusion.  Every single year I am totally confused on how to renew my car's registration.  Every year.  Why?  Does it change that much from year to year?  It seems to, to me- but here's the thing I have a very difficult time following procedures. Anything to do with insurance?  A mystery.   Which is kind of hilarious because I am a special education teacher- our job is pretty much following paperwork procedures.  Which I can do (probably because I have a LOT of opportunities to practic...

Well, the governor announced North Carolina's "Back to School" option, and my school district's decision of how we'll implement it has been announced.  Doug and I were talking about it last night, and he said something about "Well, in 3 weeks when you have to go back to school . . . " WAIT.  HOLD THE PHONE.  3 weeks?!!!!  That's like 20 ish days.  Uhhhhh . . . .  I know some of y'all are freaking out about what you're going to teach, or how it's going to look, or like real stuff- but I'm over here thinking: 1. How am I ever going to get out the door in a reasonable amount of time?  I don't remember how to do that skill.  For 5 months I have had excessively slow mornings.  (Even when it was still school back in April and May- I'd just wash my face and appear like I was ready and professional.  I was like a mullet.  Business on top- pajamas on the bottom) See my morning wake up routine takes like 3 hours now.  It involves lot...