Tag: health

Life

Rebranding and Other Missives

Elizabeth Baylus - Author
The golden retriever is Cece and the border collie puppy is Pepper 💜

Do you know how many times I’ve started typing and then immediately deleted what I wrote? I’m not really sure where this post is going, and I can’t believe it’s been almost two years since my last post 😳 A lot has happened in that time, so I suppose some updates are in order 😂

We got a puppy! Her name is Pepper and she is a border collie mix. Prepare to see a bunch of pictures of her, especially if you follow me on any of my social media (linked above, and all updated as of today 🤦🏻‍♀️) and just because I can:

First we eat, then we zooooooom!

I am, once again, a stay at home mama. I won’t talk about the specifics, but there was an ongoing bullying situation between Joey and one of my students (where my student was the bully, not Joey) and I strongly disagreed with the way their teacher and administration was handling it.

While I initially gave them the benefit of the doubt, it became clear that Joey was just expected to ignore the bullying despite it clearly escalating (mind you, Joey is in first grade, and the bullying included physical violence BEFORE I was let go), which I was absolutely not okay with. Once it became clear that I was not willing to just ignore the behavior from my student I was “no longer a good fit for the department,” and was let go the Friday before last Thanksgiving.

I have to say, I was absolutely gutted for a while. I did everything I was supposed to, including voicing my concerns multiple times to everyone I was supposed to about working with the student due to the optics of the situation, making sure that my behavior towards the student was fair and above board to avoid any accusations of mistreatment, and allowing Joe to handle the situation on Joey’s end to maintain a positive working relationship with everyone involved.

I took the last couple of months to focus on my mental health and being present with my family, and I have decided to put a pause on going back to school for the time being. I need time to decide if working in education is for me, and to be honest, I don’t think it is. I know that I only worked in one school and I shouldn’t let one bad experience impact me, but I was getting burnt out even before everything went down, and I didn’t like who I was becoming during the limited time I had with my family. Joe’s career is finally taking off, so I don’t NEED to work, which brings me to…

After a lot of thought (and tears, because I did put in a decent amount of work on it), I scrapped the book I’ve been trying to write for the better part of two decades and have started fresh. I’m simultaneously in the planning/outlining/brainstorming stage and the build my social media presence stage, so I would be absolutely honored if you’d take a look at my public social media links (they’re towards the top of this page, just under the header image) and give ‘em the old like & follow 💜 Once I have the basic story nailed down I’ll drop some hints, but it’s definitely going to be geared towards an adult audience, if you catch my drift 😉

As for the state of the world we live in, I feel my thoughts can be summed up in this:

Weight Loss

You Don’t Have to Eat Carrots

Elizabeth Baylus - Author

I have a love/hate relationship with carrots. Love them when they’re roasted or otherwise cooked (air fryer carrot chips are the best), hate them when they’re raw. But all the “health guru’s” say you gotta eat them raw if you want to be healthy. And because I have neither the time nor the desire to cook carrots everyday, I thought raw was the only option when it came to having carrots with my lunch. But then, my former therapist said something:

You don’t have to eat raw carrots if you don’t want to. There are other options, and you’re not going to stick to healthy eating if you keep trying to eat stuff you really don’t like.

My “raised as the eldest daughter” was skeptical. We’re supposed to be the responsible one, the one who does the things to set the example for the younger siblings. I kept eating the carrots until one day I just couldn’t stomach them anymore, and I marched downstairs and threw them in the trash. I haven’t had a single raw carrot since.

Can I let you in on a secret?

You don’t have to eat them either, if you don’t want to. I’ve settled on a strawberry banana smoothie, cucumbers (I even leave the skin on!), ranch, string cheese, and crackers for my lunch, and the best part of all?

I eat it everyday, for the most part. It’s not a struggle to get myself down to the kitchen to make my lunch, and I don’t get bummed out as lunch time approaches because I actually WANT to eat my lunch. The weight coming off is just an added bonus.

Thirty Days of Gratitude

Gratitude Day 14

Elizabeth Baylus - Author
This is one of my favorite photos of just the two of us 😍

Day # 14: I know I said I was going to do “non traditional” things to be grateful for this year, but I want to shout out Joe, who works tirelessly to make sure I can stay home with Joey and who has been my fiercest supporter in pursuing the mental health help I need.

When I asked him if I could go on the retreat I’m on this weekend (praise Jesus for WordPress’s scheduling feature 😅) he didn’t even let me finish asking before saying I could go.

The Liz from 30 extra pounds ago has been screaming that I can’t pull a certain bathing suit off and I’m an idiot for even thinking I could. Hell, even current Liz is terrified she’s going to get made fun of for wearing it.

But not Joe. He’s seen the work I’ve put in, he’s seen the pounds fall off , and he more than willingly gives me the confidence I need while my brain catches up. Even though I can’t quite see the changes to my body yet, I trust him more than my brain because that bitch has proven time and time again that she’s unreliable at best.

And aaaaaalllll that, plus so much more, is why I am grateful for my best friend, my partner in life, my sun moon and stars.