Monday, August 15, 2016

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Charles Dickens' epic first line from the book, A Tale of Two Cities, sums up how August has gone for me so far. I feel like I've packed about a month's worth of activities into the first two weeks of the month and am definitely ready for life to slow down a bit. Here's what falls under the best/worst category for the month!

The Best of Times...
- My month started out great with a girls weekend getaway to a cabin up north with 5 of my college friends. We did some shopping, ate great food, put together a 1,000 piece puzzle, caught up on each others lives, soaked up the sun, and laughed a lot. We had so much fun and are committed to getting together on an annual basis going forward!

Posing by Babe the Blue Ox, who is the side kick of the American Fok Hero, Paul Bunyan.
- We spent the second weekend hosting Alli and Chris and showing them the sights of Minneapolis. Neither one of them had been to Minneapolis so we did our best to show them the best that our city has to offer. We were gifted with absolutely beautiful weather! I did a terrible job of taking photos of all the things we saw and did, but some of the highlights were walking through the Rose Gardens by Lake Harriet, checking out Minnehaha Falls, walking through my old neighborhood, and eating dinner at one of the best restaurants in Minneapolis.

Alli & Chris by Minnehaha Falls
 - My garden has been producing a ton of fresh produce! I came home from a business trip and picked everything in the picture below, plus a bag of green beans. I already had quite a few tomatoes that I had picked the week before, so I need to figure out how to can stat! My goal is to try to make salsa and spaghetti sauce next weekend.


The Worst of Times...
- I have been so sick. Like the sickest I have been in a very, very long time. After hacking away all weekend during my girls weekend getaway, I ended up going to urgent care last Monday as I'd been sick for a week and hadn't made any improvement. It turns out I had a nasty case of bronchitis. I went to urgent care the morning before leaving for a 3-day business trip to northern California, so the timing was terrible.
 
Starting off my Monday with an urgent care patient bracelet.
- Being sick while traveling for work is HORRID. I coughed through presentations. I was constantly hot/clammy as my body couldn't regulate its temperature and it was so hot in the Central Valley of California where I spent most of my time. The low point of the trip was when I made the mistake of taking my antibiotics on an empty stomach and ended up throwing up one morning. I had to quickly rally as I had 4 different client meetings that day. I was on my own for the first two days and on the final day, the sales rep I was traveling with said I sounded so awful and said he would have understood if I wanted to stay in the car while he went in and did the client meetings. I opted to go into the client meetings with him as I figured I might as well contribute to the conversation since I was already there.

- To top things off, earlier in the month I found out that there was a water issue in the building where the condo I own is and because the connection between the dishwasher and kitchen sink in my unit wasn't properly installed, water backed up in to the kitchen. The laminate tile got wet and warped, so the flooring has to be replaced and I had to get that connection between the sink and the dishwasher fixed. And the oven element stopped working, too, so that is getting replaced.  When it rains, it pours I guess. Anytime I have to shell out money for that condo, it annoys me because I would LOVE to sell it, but it's STILL worth less than the balance of my mortgage. Le sigh. Luckily I have a property manager that deals with stuff like this because clearly I would not have had time to deal with it this month.

So there you have it. It's been a month of insanity. There have been good times, but there have been some tough times. I'm hoping that calmer waters are ahead because I feel like life is totally and completely kicking my *ss right now. Luckily, I have a mostly plan-free week. Thank God. I feel like I've barely seen Phil for the last 2 weeks so we really need some quiet time to just be together. And, his birthday falls this week so I'm glad I'll be around this week so I can help him celebrate it!

What's going on in your world these days?

11 comments:

Charbelle said...

I've learned that with girls trips like that you have to go ahead and plan a year out. That way it's already on everyone's calendar and if they are truly committed (which I know your friends are) then it means that the trip happens. Otherwise life gets in the way and the best of intentions go by the wayside.

I'm so sorry you have been so sick! It's difficult enough when you're home but a million times worse when you are having to travel!

I've been fortunate that even though my month is truly insane, some of the insanity is actually downtime at the lake. So laundry gets done at weird times and bathrooms get cleaned on different nights and life moves on. Trying to fit in time with Jamie amidst all the craziness too!

So glad you're going to be able to help Phil celebrate his birthday!!!

Abby said...

Oh my goodness,Lisa! You have had so much going on! I'm so sorry. I hope you can get some rest this week. Especially with how busy you've been - tough to recover from bronchitis. I pray you are on the up and up now.

And that is so shitty about your condo! Ugh. I know how much of a burden that has become for you -- so I'm sure it's super frustrating to have to deal with maintenance issues that are sooo out of your control.

Sending positive thoughts your way!! You are overdue for some R &R and good news!!!

Nora said...

Gosh, what a bummer about the issues with the condo. Thank goodness for property managers but still totally sucks that you had to spend money on it.

Traveling when sick is the WORST. Absolute worst. I hope that you feel better/get well soon.

Loved the photos you & Alli did share on IG this past weekend. Looked like a fabulous weekend indeed :)

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Oh no! Sorry to hear you've been so sick, and about the condo troubles - it always seems like one thing after the next as a home owner. Sounds like the girls trip was a great time (even though you hacked throughout it), and it's nice that you got to catch up with so many friends.

Carolina John said...

Wow that is crazy times! putting money into rental properties is so painful. If you got out for under $15k then it could have been worse. Good property managers are hard to find.

About the only thing worse than that is being sick on work travel! oh my, when you hit it bad, you really hit it bad. So sorry you had to go through that.

The good news is that garden veggies make everything better! so do good friends.

Marlys said...

"The good news is that garden veggies make everything better! so do good friends."
I had to copy his quote as that is so true! I pray the cough syrup you finally got today will help you as that is what you should have had the first time you went to the doctor! I would have requested it if it was me, so remember to do that if it happens again!
I so wish I could help you can those tomatoes! Do you want my recipe for spaghetti sauce? You kids loved it!
Now, in a few days I want to hear that you are not coughing much at all and that you catch up on your rest and relaxation!

Amber said...

So crappy about your sickness! I hope the meds you got today finally kick it!

August has felt very "summer-y" to me as per my summer fun blog post today. I've spent a lot of time reading and laying by the water this month which has been really nice!! I am also working 8 - 4 now and while it sucks working through my lunch it is super nice being done at 4 each day and feels like I have way more of an evening to myself than I did before! !

Gracie said...

Being sick in summer is so much worse than in winter. I hope you can heal soon.
Your garden did so well this year - and your first time, too.

Stephany said...

Oh, August has just been pure hell for you! I'm glad you were able to have some fun, but being so sick for so long AND dealing with issues at your condo seems terrible. I really hope these next two weeks of the month are much, much better for you. Sending healing thoughts!

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Ugh!!! That all sounds really rough, Lisa. Being sick on a work trip like the ones you have would be so hard. You're a trooper! Hope you get some rest and some much needed down time.

Jeanie said...

Yikes -- it HAS been grim. I so feel for you with the bronchitis. Yes, you know I know. I hope they are giving you a good cough syrup. I feel like I live on sugar free Ricola lemon mint cough drops when things get rough. They're very soothing. But all that with the travel? I can't begin to imagine how awful that was.

I'm glad you did get in a bit of good time with your friends and Alli's visit. And that you have been able to harvest! I'm very impressed -- and your first gardening year!

Hang in there, my friend!