I'm not going to sugar coat it. The last few weeks have not been easy. I find myself more mentally exhausted than I've been in a long time. And while I'm not really worried about money or being able to find necessities, I am worrying more. I worry that I'm not dividing my time evenly enough among the magazine, Alexis, my husband, and myself. Helping Alexis with school work is overwhelming, and more days than not we don't even attempt it. I'm not being any less productive with my own work, but most days it takes me twice as long to get through my standard to-do list. Then it's suddenly the end of the day, and I have all these regrets and guilt. I worry that I didn't spend enough time doing something with Alexis. I worry that I'm trading too much one-on-one time with my husband for alone time for me. I look at my kitchen, which has never been messier than right now, and feel a stab of anxiety that I'm not staying on top of housework better.

Some days are worse than others, and I'm happy to say that most days are on the better end of the spectrum. My husband has been home to take some of that mental load off of me, and to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't be getting any work accomplished if he weren't here. And Alexis has been a real trooper.

This past weekend, we let Alexis spend a few days with grandparents, giving us some time to decompress. We ventured out to a couple of stores (social distancing still in effect) and spent extra time in bed, so this week feels like it's starting off with a little extra energy compared to last week.

This blog has honestly been my saving grace the last few weeks, offering a fun 'distraction' to help keep me connected to myself and feeling normal. So I thought it would be fun to start this week by sharing a few things about myself that you guys might not know.

1. I graduated as salutatorian of my high school, although technically the valedictorian and I had the same GPA. She ended up having a higher grade in Biology than I did, which makes sense considering it was by far my hardest class.

2. I knew I wanted to be a journalist as early as middle school and planned my high school career around that decision. My parents had to sign a waiver because I refused to take Chemistry and Calculus my senior year because I didn't need them to graduate and the counselors were worried it would knock me out of the running for val/sal.

3. I met my best friends in college.

4. I have a degree in Spanish. I'm still pretty fluent, although I don't have much opportunity to practice.

5. I met my husband through an online dating service.

6. I have 6 piercings (all ears) and no tattoos (yet).

7. I have an irrational fear of snakes. Like, unprovoked nightmares, can't handle seeing pictures or videos, and have a hard time reading about them, fear.

8. I'm lactose intolerant, which really sucks since all my favorite foods have cheese in them.