R= Real, sometimes too real…I say too much or say it too straight….A= Authentic, what you see is what you get…and again back to real…just gotta do me. Only took to 40 to be comfortable with that…C= Caring, oh how I care…care possibly too much, I still care what you think and you feel, so haven’t quite mastered the mid life comfy….H=Helpful, yup, i’m in, what do you need?…and I will do it (if I can and it’s legal, or I’ll find someone who can)…A= Approachable, the opposite of high school Rachael, see more comfortable above…E= Enthusiastic, whoop whoop, let’s do it!…L=Loyal, oye vay, strength – weakness, its both.

I know super cheesy. What is this some lame class or introduction ice breaker, introduce yourself with one word that starts with the first letter of your name to describe you. BARF. How many times I have said “Radiant”… PS I am not radiant… but cracked under pressure and couldn’t think of any words that started with R. One time I was ready to call myself a rabbit….

But seriously.. try it… sit down and write yourself a poem.. no one is looking… It is great way to figure out what your values are. What you value in yourself. What you want others to value in you. Who you strive to be. PS. What’s the average the length of a blog. Are we good here?

I am gonna keep it really real today… I am SOOOOOO TIRED! I am tired of the disappointing news, I am tired of canceling events, I am tired of seeing the disappointment in Quinn’s face when we cancel dance camp, tired of watching her watch tv… tired of struggling over doing school work and then struggling with the overwhelm of my own work, tired of trying to filling a void with an Amazon purchase (yes I said it, my name is Rachael and I am a shopaholic).

All this is our “new normal” because we have been in this so long, but there is NOTHING about this that is even remotely feeling normal. Our work is constant… I keep trying to remind myself what we read early on from so many artivksaid to us early on… “we are not working from home, we are at home during a pandemic trying to work”. And it feels like nothing has changed… except maybe that we have forgotten or lost sight that although this is our new normal, it is not normal. I feel like the expectations are creeping back that we should all be okay since we have been practicing taking care of ourselves, have tools and resources, and settling into our home environment. I don’t know about you, but I am not feeling on my “A game”, and although I tell myself that has to be ok, I am unsure it is ok.

Here is a shock, I am missing HUGS from my sister….(I am not a hugger). You have a ton of resources, probably too many… too many articles, too many podcasts, blogs, emails from me, advice from friends. But add this one to the pile you may or may not get to, it’s a goody on hugs… If you are missing hugs, I adore this purchase.

I am grateful, that is for sure! Grateful I have my family and friends, grateful for our health, grateful for my job (hey I get write this email about how I feel, love it), grateful that I can keep it real with you all. Grateful that my child is resilient, and that this, like everything, is temporary. Gratitude is awesome… switches the script.

I am going to go eat some strawberries now. Have a great day friends. Thanks for letting me keep it real.