Friday, December 8, 2023

TGIF + Done with Work Travel for 2023!

Hey hey! I got back last night from Chicago. It was my 14th and final work trip of the year! Hooray! 14 trips is the most I have traveled for work since probably 2013. I'm kind of worn out but I get a month plus off from travel and am really looking forward to it. Here is how my week shaped up. 

The book I am reading this week is I Will Find You by Harlan Coben which is a mystery/thriller type of book. It's about a man who is convicted for killing his child (which he claimed he did not do) - but then 5 years later, his SILvisits him in prison and shows him a picture with a child in the background that looks like his child. The book is requiring some suspension of disbelief but it's interesting and very plot driven/page turny. I have kind of given up on thrillers but this one was intriguing to me. 

The high of my week was seeing lots of colleagues in Chicago! This Chicago trip was for a team offsite for a product I support (preferred securities). We didn't have the best year given the bank crisis and all but it was nice to get together and reminisce about the year we had. Besides that team I saw a lot of sales people and spent a lot of time with my new hire. I didn't have any client calls so it was a very low key easy peasy kind of trip. But don't worry - I'll make up for it next week when we have a "day on the desk" series of days which are days when sales people are encouraged to set up calls with people like me. I have 35 zooms over the span of 3 days. Hold me. 

The low of my week was dealing with a sick kid at the start of the week. Luckily Paul bounced back quickly and was back in school on Tuesday - right in time for the book fair!! But this string of illnesses has been so endless and hard!

A show we are watching is the final season of The Crown. I was a huge Princess Di fan so it's hard to watch this season unfold. I knew she was young when she died but you realize HOW YOUNG when you are years older than she was at her death and still consider yourself young(ish). 

For workouts I did a Caroline Girvan workout on Sunday and a lower body workout in my hotel room. I'm hoping to do 2 Caroline Girvan workouts this weekend. I'm kind of transitioning away from running now that we are in the winter season. I just don't love winter running and I know strength training is so good for me - and I'm enjoying it so I am leaning into it right now.

The best money spent was on some bare essentials concealer powder. There was a Sephora a couple of blocks from my hotel in Chicago so I walked down there after my 2 work happy hours on Tuesday night (could have been 3 but I did not make it to the 3rd one - how many happy hours can a person attend in one night anyways??). It was blissful to walk through the aisles of Sephora without a kid in tow. 

My plans this weekend include laying low tonight. Tomorrow morning I'm attending a "favorite things" party that is hosted by a woman I used to run with in a run club. Most of the women I ran with have gotten married and had babies in the last 5ish years so I am looking forward to seeing everyone! My favorite thing contribution is a Galison puzzle. I hope I do not have the most lame gift and that there are others that love puzzles there. Galison puzzles are the absolute best. The scenes are so beautiful and whimsical. It's kind of my "go to" gift for a favorite things party. Then on Sunday I am taking the boys to "The Grinch" at the Children's Theater! Paul and I went last year and we loved this so I am hoping to make this an annual tradition! We are hardcore Grinch fans in our house.

Pic of the week:

Paul is loving the LEGO Advent calendar. It is not the most toddler-friendly Advent calendar and we hide most of the things he builds so Taco doesn't destroy them... But it's been a blast for Paul!


How was your week? On a scale of 1 to 10, where is your energy level? I'm at a 3. 

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