Avissa

food, fitness, books and lots of whining

[avissastone]

Hello, hello and Happy New Year!

Here are some random things

It’s Sunday evening and I’m home alone. It is absolutely lovely. I ate ALL the snacks, drank lots of tea and finished reading “An Invisible Thread”. My next read is on my lap ready to be started. It’s so nice and quiet.

We went on a little hike with some friends this morning. It was slower than usual, but it was nice to have company and catch up with friends.

We are doing Dry January. I’ve been doing it for the past few years and it always feels so good. G joined me last year and decided to do it again this year. I usually continue for few more months and I plan to do it this time, too. Winter is really dark and gloomy here and drinking seems to make things even gloomier for me.

We are invited to a birthday party and I’ve got to admit it’s a little annoying when you go to such events and people try to pressure you into drinking. Are you pregnant? What’s wrong? Oh it’s a party! Let’s celebrate! One surely won’t hurt! Sooo annoying… but I can handle it.

I’ve been snacking a lot lately. Too much, actually. I should probably get into a new diet, or a new way of eating. Something healthy ish. I like to try new things, for example one time I was pescatarian for like a month. I did keto for two weeks. I tried weight watchers once or twice. I read the 4 Hour Body and followed the advice for a bit. I think I need something to get me motivated. If you have any ideas or advice please share. It would be greatly appreciated :)

I ran a 5K yesterday and it was pretty slow (34 minutes) I haven’t been running lately. I do go to the gym and hike once in awhile though, so I guess it’s better than nothing. Running, however, is almost therapeutic. I should get back to it. I don’t know how but I should.

Ok, enough of my ramblings.

I’ll try to get at least through few pages before my boys come back.

1/15/23

[avissastone]

Zero motivation today. I mean I did go to the gym for a bit, grocery shopped and cooked soup. That is it though. I don’t feel like doing anything else but eating chocolate, drinking tea and reading.

A has to have blood work done so I might take him to the lab after school. I will decide once I pick him up. I want to know what the mood is and whether we can do it today, or if we need daddy as reinforcement and muscle power to hold him.

The things I should do today are laundry and my nails… I don’t know. I just don’t know if I can achieve anything else today.

I have a race on Sunday. It’s 8K and I haven’t really been running much lately. Last week I was on antibiotics because I had an upper respiratory infection and although I’m better there is still a bit of congestion. Possibly allergies but who really knows. It is what it is. Photos to follow soon 🍁

[avissastone]

It’s been awhile since I wrote. I think I should get back to it. Journaling is good for me. This is one way to do it, although pen and paper feels lovely too. When it’s in a notebook I worry about someone close to me finding it and reading about my problems, worries etc. When I share on the web I basically worry about the same thing but I also get some feedback from strangers (hopefully), which I actually like and appreciate.

It’s a rainy Sunday here in NEPA. We went on a little walk earlier today and now everyone is relaxing doing their own thing. I’ve scrolled through social media, found some fun arts and crafts and recipes on Pinterest, read a bit and now I’m here.

I am currently working two days a week as a preschool teacher and I sub in the local school district whenever I get a chance. I was a sub para but on Friday I did a workshop, which will allow me to be a substitute teacher as well. I like having the set schedule in the preschool and the flexibility to pick up a shift or two, whenever I want to. I thought about working full time because I know the district is hiring para professionals but decided against it. I have a lot going on at home and since my husbands commutes very far and gets home really late, all of the responsibilities fall on me. I’m really happy with my work and if you’ve been following me for a bit I’m sure you can remember my past posts. I was really depressed because it seemed like I completely lost my self. All I did was care for others and had nothing going on for myself. I was miserable and lonely. Thankfully, things slowly changed. Not everyone is meant to be a stay at home mom. I surely didn’t thrive, although I always thought I would love it. It was an eye opening and humbling experience 🤍

Now that I got some things off my chest and it finally stopped raining, maybe I can get my family to go on another little walk with me.

Fall is slowly starting to make its appearance. The trees are turning red and the temperature has dropped. Sweaters, pumpkin everything, apples, corn mazes, candles and aromatic soups are on my mind 🍁

9/25/22

[avissastone]

Ukraine's president has asked NATO to block sky over Ukraine to prevent Russian airstrikes, but this has been ignored.

in 1994, Ukraine signed the "Budapest Memorandum" which is registered with the UN Secretariat.

At that time, Ukraine had the 3rd largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world (after America and Russia).

The essence of the agreement is that Ukraine has renounced nuclear weapons, while the United States, Great Britain and Russia guarantee Ukraine's security assurances.

and the fact that no one is fulfilling its obligations to protect Ukraine is a great political precedent for the world.

This shows other countries that such agreements do not make sense if they are not respected. And if other countries ignores the protection of Ukraine - will lead to the nuclear militarization of other countries

btw.

For the last 20 hours, Ukrainians have been defending themselves against Russian invaders.

In this 20 hours, more than 30 Russian tanks, about 130 armored combat vehicles, 5 aircraft, and 6 helicopters were destroyed.

and there is information that about 40 fighter jets are preparing to attack Kyiv from the airports in Belarus.

What is happening? How is this happening!?

[avissastone]

Just some random stuff.

1. Dinner. Yum.

2. A 3 mile hike on Sunday.

3. Color and cut. Not sure if I’m loving it. Shaggy layers may not be for everyone. I think my hair is just too straight… or maybe it’ll just take a little time to get used to it. We shall see.

2/23/22

[avissastone]

1/11/2022

Virtual day #2

A kept asking for a new pencil because they were breaking. I thought he was putting too much pressure while writing. He was also using a wiggle seat to help him stay put and focus. After a class or two he told me that the seat was making a weird noise. At first I didn’t put the two together. I tried putting more air in and then I noticed it and I got really, really upset. His pencils were breaking because he was poking holes in his wiggles seat… 😳🤬😐😮‍💨

[avissastone]

Question:

Would you be upset if you invited friends for NYE and they left before midnight?

I think a friend of mine is mad at me because we did just that. In my defense, the forecast predicted heavy fog on the way home. I don’t like driving at night and fog, the way it gets here in the mountains, is really scary. So I explained it to my friend and we left at 10:30pm. They asked why wouldn’t we take an Uber or Lyft. The answer was that we have a child at home (with my brother) and if there was an emergency, I need to be able to leave right away and not wait for a cab to show up. Also, we live in rural PA and I have never taken an Uber here, so I didn’t want to risk it on NYE.

What do you think?

[avissastone]

Sunday…

We took A to church today. We don’t usually go but for some reason husband thought we should. I agreed and so we went. A was on his typical behavior. He moved around, touched things, fidgeted, asked questioned, whined… Grumpy old man was three seats down and made it very clear he wasn’t happy. He literally made A cry. I was a bit annoyed with A and the grumpy old man and then right at the end, as the priest was leaving, he fell and hit his head. We went over to see if he was ok and saw blood. People gathered around to help. He hit his head pretty hard. I felt so bad. I think it was just too much for me in that moment. I didn’t know what to do. I stood there and went back and forth and we finally just left. I hope the priest is ok and it was just a scratch. I also hope A does better next week. We will figure this out slowly. We I’ll learn and we will never sit next to grumpy old man again.

[avissastone]

Got myself a little gift 😍

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As promised, some pictures from Saturday.

It was a beautiful ceremony and we had so much fun at the wedding 💕

[avissastone]

Where do I begin? It’s been a busy week and more is still ahead. I am working everyday this week subbing in a preschool. On Friday my brother, his new fiancé, and their four kids are coming. On Saturday we are all driving to a wedding that is an hour and a half away. Next week I will be working as a substitute para professional in a junior high school. I haven’t worked with that age group yet. It’s very exciting and scary at the same time. A started wrestling. Pre season was fun because it was all games. When actual wrestling started he came out crying because he hit the back of his head. He cried all the way home. I almost withdrew him from the team but after speaking to the coach decide to stay and see how it goes. A really wants to do it. The thing is he talks a lot, but his skills and coordination are not there. Its all talk no game. He gets the bigger kids going and they take him down. I hope coach will keep an eye on A. Random randomness but that is what is happening lately. Ohhh and I got this super cute dress at a thrift store and I think I’ll wear it to the wedding. Photos coming soon!

[avissastone]

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Pony ride and barn kitties 😍

[avissastone]

Do you know how sometimes you feel like relocating would change your life? Or getting a new job? It probably won’t because you, meaning me, really, that is where the problem lies. I don’t know where or when it all started. Maybe it’s everything together; they way I was brought up and my experiences. The way I handle being hurt… and stressed. I don’t know… but often life feels lonely… but looking from the outside I have so much, and I do… and sometimes I still don’t know what it is that I really need.

[avissastone]

I love bike rides. Today we did 10 miles on a new trail in Easton. Not my favorite place but still pretty cool.

[avissastone]

Today’s recap:

- gave a two weeks notice at my job

- headache

- tea

- three glasses of sangria

- still have the headache

But overall I’m happy that I’m out of there. I don’t think it was meant to be.

[avissastone]

Friday morning and I’m finally feeling better. The throat pain is still there but not excruciating like it was yesterday. What you see is my breakfast: oatmeal and coffee with frothy oat milk. I was reading in bed for a bit before I got up and now I’m trying to make a Costco shopping list. It’s an hour away so I need to be prepared 😁

The mess is my kid’s new toys. Yesterday was A’s birthday. He turned 6 🥰 My little burrito is going into kindergarten. It’s true what they say; the days are long but the years are short. It wasn’t the perfect birthday with us being sick, but everything doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. I’m so happy A is feeling better and I’m feeling much, much better, and so grateful.