One of the paths I ran on. I’m lucky that most of my runs are on dedicated run/walk paths. |
There was a zoo employee taking photos so we got a non-selfie together! |
One of the paths I ran on. I’m lucky that most of my runs are on dedicated run/walk paths. |
There was a zoo employee taking photos so we got a non-selfie together! |
Whew the word of the week in our house has been appointments! The boys had dentist appointments on Monday, I had a flu shot appointment on Tuesday morning (which was obv brief) and also had a twice-rescheduled haircut Tuesday afternoon, and then Paul had another doctor appointment Thursday morning. I never realized how much time I would spend making and attending appointments - both for myself and my children. And yes, Phil can take the boys to appointments and has in the past but I prefer to handle them since I tend to have the questions/be the worrier. Of course now that I am traveling quite a bit, there are fewer days of the month to fit appointments in so of course they tend to get clumped together.
So TLDR; it's been a week. Here’s what else we did!
A book I am reading this week is ‘Shark Heart’ which is my selection for our October book club (which is being held the first week of November because - you guessed it - I’m traveling the last week of October when we typically meet). It follows Newlyweds who discover that the husband is turning into a great white shark… which is clearly bananas - but it works!
The high of my week was going for a nice walk through the neighborhood with Taco to look at decorations. I made up a scavenger hunt (for a spider, witch, pumpkin, ghost, and skeleton). Paul had soccer that night so it was a nice 1:1 evening which is my favorite.
We found a Mickey in a coffin which he was confused by. |
This was his favorite house! |
The low of my week was dealing with a LUNATIC driver on my way to Paul’s appt on Thursday morning. Traffic on the freeway was especially heavy as there was an accident - and yet this woman was riding my *ss to the extent that she set off the beeping ‘you are too close to something’ sensor that I typically only hear when I get too close to something when backing up. It was so stressful and resulted in me swearing and making gestures to the lunatic behind me. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!! Now I just have to hope that Paul does not repeat the words that came out of my mouth that morning…
Marathon weekend is in the books! I love how excited the Twin Cities gets for the marathon. So many people come out to cheer the runners on. It’s such a well-spectated course. Here’s how the weekend shaped up.
On Friday I logged off a bit early to take Paul to his first chess club meeting at school at 4. Another dad organized a club at school and there were 32 kids there! We walked over there since it was such a nice day (inspired by Elisabeth's walking club) and I stayed to help out even though I don’t actually know how to play chess. I guess I will learn by volunteering. When we got there, I saw one of the kids that bullied Paul last week at his after school program and wow did I want to give him a talking to. Paul has brushed it off quickly and said one of the kids apologized to him. I’m a bit slower to forgive and forget…
Saturday I was awoken by Taco yelling for me but at least it was 6:30 so not too early. I entertained the boys until Phil was up and then headed out for a windy 5 mile run. Then I took the boys to Target where I needed to grab a few things and Once Upon a Child where we purchased winter coats for both boys and 2 pairs of snow pants for Paul for a total of $58. I feel like Elisabeth would have probably paid a fraction of this amount at her thrift store but it was still far cheaper than buying everything brand new. Now we are all set for when winter arrives (hopefully months from now!!). The boys were NOT GREAT on this shopping excursion. They were so loud and kept running away from me. I must admit I was staring a bit longingly at other parents out with their quiet daughters… I know some girls can be wild, but usually when I see parents out with their daughters, they tend to be so calm and compliant!
Enjoying some cake pops at the SBUX at Target. The sugar probably doesn’t help their behavior but it’s a small treat and something they really enjoy. I got a grande skinny vanilla latte! |
Some of my coworkers were out on PTO so for the first time in many months I had to pull data for our weekly newsletter and write the column for the taxable fixed income section (taxable fixed income (bonds whose interest is taxed) is my area of expertise). It is a pretty brief column - certainly less than 1,000 words - and yet it took me over an hour to write it. I used to write it weekly years ago but rarely write it anymore and wow I am out of practice. The guy that usually writes it is back this week so I will be reminding him how grateful I am that he writes this commentary. I bet he does it in less than 30 minutes!!
Having to work meant I lost my nap slot as we left for Phil’s friend’s house shortly after I was done working. The winds calmed so it was a beautiful afternoon. Our friends have a son around Taco’s age and the 3 boys played so well together. These friends are very into Halloween so Paul loved checking out their decorations. Taco was terrified of them and would not even walk by them! This is the first year Paul wasn’t terrified of the decorations.
All that fresh air wore the boys out so I had to actually wake them both up around 7:30. I woke on my own around 6:30 and felt rested. It was so nice to drink coffee and eat breakfast in silence!
We grabbed donuts and then headed to our friend’s house who lives along the marathon course around mile 9 to cheer on the runners. It was a chilly morning (in the low 50s!) and there was much complaining about the cold from the boys but all in all we enjoyed cheering on the runners! My coworker was in such a clump of runners since he was running around a 4 hour pace (9:09/mile) at that point which is a popular pace goal, so he actually saw me and yelled out my name as he was passing by! Often it’s easier for runners to spot spectators than vice versa! I also spotted 2 guys I used to run with when I was in a running club pre-kids.
Swimming lessons went great in the afternoon. Paul made good progress. I had just talked to Phil about enrolling him in private lessons rather than signing up for another session in the winter so now I am on the fence and will see if he continues to improve.
Making some progress on his front crawl |
Yay! A week where I did not travel! I guess the good thing about traveling is that it makes me really, really appreciate the weeks that I don't travel!
A book I am reading this week is ‘Forgotten on Sunday' by Valerie Perrin. This is a French novel that was translated into English with dual story lines. It's mostly set in a nursing home and is told from a 19-year old nursing assistant who really gets to know her patients. The other story line is a flashback of one of the residents who is in her 90s. I'm enjoying it so far. It is very much character-driven, though, so don't read if you need plot.
The high of my week was just being home! It's nice to see my family, have complete control over what I am eating each day, and sleep in my own bed.
The low of my week a situation where Paul was treated poorly by some other kids at the after-school program. The staff handled it really well so hopefully it's a very isolated incident that doesn't happen again.
On Wednesday night, Taco and I went for a walk/scoot to look at Halloween decoration. Pumpkins are his favorite decoration! |
September was such a blur that had you asked me what I read during the month, I couldn't have told you without looking at my goodreads account. That is often the case but was especially the case last month since I traveled so much! Overall, the month was "just ok" in terms of my reading. I read 6 books, bringing the number of books read in 2024 to 74. Here is how my reading shook out.
Good to great
You, with a view is a romance that was recommended by Stephany. It's about a granddaughter that discovered that her grandma had some secrets in her past that she doesn't learn about until her grandma has passed away. The book involves a road trip which made it extra enjoyable for me. The Guncle Abroad is a sequel to The Guncle which is a book I absolutely adored. I enjoyed being back with these characters but didn't like it as much as the first. After loving Rufi Thorpe's latest book, Margot's Got Money Troubles, I decided to read some of her back list and started with The Knockout Queen. It's a coming-of-age story about 2 teens that live next door to each other. I love that Thorpe's characters are so very "voicy." How We Named the Stars is a book I heard about on Sarah's Bookshelves Live. It's an owned voices coming-of-age story about 2 college roommates that are discovering who they are/their sexuality. Humor Me is the sophomore novel from Cat Shook. This one features a protagonist that works on an SNL-type of late night show. I enjoyed it while reading it but had to remind myself what it was about when reflecting back on my month's reading.
Did not work
The boys' reading
We pulled out our fall books which Paul seems to have sadly outgrown. :( But Taco has really been enjoying them, especially Room on the Broom and Pumpkin Soup.
Paul has mostly been reading Wimpy Kid books. We are reading The Getaway together which is about a family vacation gone wrong. He also likes to re-read the various Dog Man books we own over and over and over so we are really getting our moneys worth on those books!!
Did you read anything great in September?
The calendar says fall but it has been HOT lately with highs in the mid-80s. Where are you, fall? I bank on cooler but still sunny weather and that has not happened much this month. I don’t want highs in the upper 80s when all the pools are closed! But the weather will cool off this week but then will warm up over the weekend - right in time for the marathon. Womp womp. It won’t be dangerously hot - just hotter than ideal for a fall marathon in the upper Midwest. You may remember it was canceled last year due to the heat and humidity. I wonder if the race organizers will consider pushing it to late October since warm falls seem to be a thing that will happen going forward (global warming, amiright?).
All that said, we had a nice weekend. Phil took Paul to the driving range again on Friday and then to Home Depot. I had a late (for a Friday) client call that went until 4:30 pm but since it was a $200 million opportunity, I was happy to be on the call!
Friday night at the driving range! |
Taco had a rare solo bath since he was so dirty from playing in the sandbox at daycare. |
I did overhear a convo between them - the boy they met made a comment about Paul’s size as he was bigger than Paul but a year younger. Paul confidently said, ‘I’m 6.5, I’m just small for my age.’ He weighs about the same as Taco these days (prob around 38 lbs) so he is very small. But his doctor has never been concerned since he’s stayed on his (4th percentile) growth curve. Admittedly I worry about him getting teased for his size as he gets older but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.
Phil took Paul out to his mom’s for the afternoon and I stayed back with Taco. We went to the goose house and played with LEGO.
Paul got $5 from Nana for helping with yard work! They also found a cardinal feather in her yard which he was excited about. |
Sunday was the usual program - church/Sunday school, Vikings game viewing for the boys (they almost blew their big lead but pulled off a win in the end), and swimming lessons.
Working on his back float. |
This week will finally be a normal week with no travel… although now I wonder - is a week of travel now my new normal and a travel-free week is more abnormal? That’s what is feels like these days. My Chicago employee will be here for part of the week since he’s running the marathon on Sunday (his first!!). A lot of our 1:1 meetings this spring/summer have had a solid amount of time dedicated to discussing his marathon training and he usually lets me know how his long run went. I’m excited to cheer him on!
How was your weekend?
It’s the last week of September. I am actually not terribly sad to see this month come to an end because it’s been intense. I leave for another work trip today. It’s my 3rd week of traveling in a row which is TOO MUCH. I get a 2 week break after this thank goodness. This week’s trip is a team offsite in Chicago so a short flight and lower pressure since I won’t have any in-person client meetings. But there is often pressure to socialize and stay out late with the team but I have decided I will not be doing that. I’m secure in my position within the team and do not need to be the most fun person.
We had a nice weekend. I took Friday off as I had a friend who was in town for work. I hadn’t seen her in person for almost 7 years when I visited her in St. Louis when I was pregnant with Paul! I picked her up at her hotel, we went out for Mexican, walked around the lake by my house, and then I took her to the airport. This is a friend I met through blogging (who sadly no longer blogs) but despite not seeing each other for many years, we picked right up where we left off and gabbed for hours straight.
Since it was so beautiful, Phil took Paul to the driving range when he got home from school.
Taco will be Chase from Paw Patrol which is a hand-me-down from Paul |
Paul is going as Pikachu |
I woke up on my own at 6:45 on Saturday which was delightful! The boys slept past 7! It was a rainy morning so we hit up Starbucks for treats…
Is there something on my face? ;) |
After lunch and quiet time, the rain had moved out so I took the boys to the park. They had a blast running around and pretended a pine tree was their house where they made croissants (pine cones) - I think they got this idea from Bluey.
They slept past 7 again on Sunday (although Taco yelled for me at 5:40 to cover him with blankets and I didn’t fall back asleep like he did). I laid in bed until 6:30, though, which felt good.
Sunday was our usual church + Sunday school + afternoon swimming lessons. Phil and the boys watched the first half of the Vikings game before swimming lessons while I rested. The Vikings won and are 3-0 which is shocking to us as we thought this would be another ‘rebuilding season.’ The boys are both progressing well in swimming lessons although I imagine both will repeat their level, which is fine. I do sometimes wonder if we should enroll Paul in private lessons to see if he’d advance to a level of more comfort and then we could put him back in group. But I am seeing progress in him willingly putting his face in the water.
Paul working on the front crawl |
Taco working on his front crawl |
When we got home, Phil took them to the park so I could start making dinner. I made a marina with blitzed veggies hidden in it. I had mine on spaghetti squash and boys had theirs on pasta.
And then after Taco was in bed, we played Paul’s new favorite game, ‘bank.’ He is very good at counting out money and likes the made up withdrawals we come up with. We make up names and amounts we will withdraw. He’s very interested in money so I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
How was your weekend?