Monday, September 28, 2020

A quieter weekend

 After last weekend's jam-packed socialization, this weekend was the complete opposite. I had zero social plans and we stayed close to home. Paul had a runny nose during the week and then I caught his bug towards the end of the week. I don't have any of the tell-tale covid signs such as a fever, dry cough, loss of taste, etc but out of an abundance of caution, I decided that social plans were not a good idea. Plus I was extra tired - story of my life these days! Here are some highlights from the weekend, though!

Changing colors

Fall is starting to hit here in Minneapolis. It's definitely my favorite time of year as the changing colors are so beautiful. I've been taking so many walks now that the weather is cooler and I need activity to make sure I don't get a high blood sugar. I've been soaking in the views and appreciating the beauty of this season. Pre-Paul, my schedule was pretty hectic between work travel and fun travel but that came to a screeching halt after I had Paul. There were a lot of falls that went by unappreciated by me because I was simply too busy to take in the beauty around me. So while I sometimes miss the jet-setting I did back then, overall I'm happy I'm not wracking up as many frequent flier miles!


Starting to see some peeks of color along the lake. This will be gorgeous when we hit peak season!


Walks and Park Time with Paul

Getting out of the house is essential for our sanity on the weekends! So we took lots of walks and visited our local park each day. I'm glad we live in such a beautiful area for walks. We are about a block away from a creek and about a 1/2 mile from a lake so we have lots of different walking options. On Sunday morning, we saw some ducks on the creek so we let Paul get out of the stroller to watch the ducks. They were diving for food so he had fun watching that! We were probably out of the house for 2+ hours each day which makes the days go much faster and usually guarantees a better nap!


Kitty's return!

Phil went out to his mom's on Saturday to help with some chores and bring kitty home. Originally we were going to go out there with her, but we decided to stay home to keep our germs to ourselves (Phil is healthy so far and hopefully remains so!). Oscar has been gone for 7 months so she's going through a bit of an adjustment period. But overall, she seems happy to be back. Phil said she's been all over him at night and purring like crazy. She even sat on my lap for about 5 minutes on Sunday (she much much much prefers Phil - she's really "his cat" and just puts up with Paul and me). We are working on teaching Paul to talk quietly around her... There has been some hissing and growling. She would never hurt Paul, but she definitely lets him know when he needs to give her some space! Hopefully they will be friends some day, but I kind of doubt she'll ever really "love" kids since she's very shy and very particular about who she likes!


How was your weekend? Are you seeing peeks of fall colors where you live?

10 comments:

Stephany said...

Yayyyy, Oscar! That's exciting that she sat on your lap, especially after being away for so long. Love that! (The photo of Oscar staring at Phil is soooo cute. She loves him so much!)

All the fall colors are so beautiful. I hope you get a really nice fall in MN after having such a wretched summer.

Marie-Christine said...

I also love Fall and seeing the leaves changing! So beautiful! But Fall is already almost over here in North East Quebec, I can smell snow coming up very soon! Too soon in my opinion! 😉

Abby said...

this looks like the weekend you needed! Are you feeling better? (that may be contributing to your sugars, too, I just realized since your body is fighting something).

Those fall colors look like heaven to me. I am so envious! It is still in the 100's here. But, I will say that at least the mornings are in the high 60's, so I soak up those moments hard!

Sunday I didn't have a run planned, but I still got up at 5:30 so I could take a walk and enjoy some fresh air before it heated up. I can't wait for it to cool off so I can actually sleep in! But since Ryan worked night shift this weekend, I went to bed at like 8:30 both nights! :)

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

The fall colors are beautiful! I remember coming to see you the first time and I think it was just starting to change then too! Oh the memories! It was in the 90s here this weekend (and yesterday) which is not normal, but we have been having one or two times per year each year for the past few (?) years that it has been doing this, usually in September. So maybe it IS our new normal! I always get out and run early, so I beat the heat, but later in the day, I stayed inside and studied. The only problem is that we don't have air conditioning, which is fine, but I normally open the windows to get some air flow and it has been smoky again!

I agree; getting outside is essential for sanity and health, but man oh man, it has been a challenge at times this year! I am really looking forward to the days when we are free of smoke and COVID (fingers crossed)!!!

Grateful Kae said...

Beautiful photos! I have sadly NOT been out walking the last chunk of days, after a streak of 15+ days of walking in a row. I'm all or nothing, what can I say? lol. It just hasn't fit in and I haven't been prioritizing it, but I need to change that STAT because I will regret it when the season passes me by! I also love fall so much. I've had my parents here on and off since last week since my Dad is helping with a project...which is great, but it throws off all of my normal routines. Having people in my house when I'm working from home always just feels odd, and breaks that I might normally head out for a walk get eaten up by just chatting with them in the kitchen or whatever. Fall temperatures are here though this week and I actually really like walking with a light jacket or sweater on, so I'm hoping to get out there this week no matter what!

Jeanie said...

I'm not sure who looks most content -- Phil or Oscar! That's such a great photo. And well done, getting five minutes. I had to train Lizzie for five minutes and I really think she'd still rather not. Only my hands near her keep her from bolting (but she is a close sitter and good bed buddy!)

Question -- do you lysol the slide handles or places where he holds on? Just curious.

katielookingforward said...

Yay kitty! How nice to have the pet distraction. My bf would like to get a dog, but I am certainly not ready for all that work (i never had pets growing up) I'm glad you got outside and that the cold wasn't anything more serious.

Gracie said...

We've got a daycare cold over here, too, and I had to have a COVID test in order to go back to work. Luckily I got my results in 14 hours so I only missed one day of work. But man, this is not going to be good if I have to take a sick day every time the baby sneezes!
I hope Oscar and Paul can resolve their differences, ha ha. It can be tough to be a little kid and not understand what upsets animals!

San said...

Really looks like fall where you are. I am glad you had a nice, relaxing weekend... and welcome home, Oscar!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Those fall pictures are so lovely. I took a bunch of fall photos about a month back, as the colors were so gorgeous. We had snow and cold for a few days, but next week it's going to get up to +16c!! Amazing for November. We have been super cautious regarding Covid. Our cases skyrocketed here since Thanksgiving :-/