TGIF - already mid-October??

It's mid-October. Can you believe it? Is there a more cliched comment to make than how fast time is going? Probably not but that is how I am feeling as I look at the calendar!

The book I'm reading is The Roughest Draft by wife/husband writers Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. This is a romance with an enemies-to-lovers trope about co-authors who had a falling out but need to write another book to fulfill their writing contract. I like that it's set in the publishing world and it's unique to see a husband/wife writing team! I'm enjoying it enough to keep reading it, but there's one plot point that is kind of annoying me so that might keep it in the 3-star range for me. But I needed something light/fun after the last heavy book I read and this is fitting the bill.

The high of my week was having dinner with 3 college friends at a newer restaurant I've been wanting to check out since it opened (Macanda in Wayzata for any local readers). The food was good but not as good as the owner's other restaurant (Colita) that is walking distance from our house. But it was fun to try a new spot and the setting it gorgeous as it's on a lake and has a 4-seasons patio. But the best part was catching up with my friends. They have kids in the elementary/middle school/high school range so it's hard to find time to get together with everyone's busy schedules. We talked non-stop for 2.5 hours! I'll see them again in November when I host my annual cookie decorating party. I'm glad we have another gathering on the horizon but that one will be different since kids are included. Still fun, but I'll have less time to really focus on talking with them!

The view from the booth where we sat. It was an unseasonably warm fall day (80F!). The patio will be enclosed during the cold months but I'm glad we got to experience it before it gets enclosed as the breezes off the lake felt great!

The low of my week was Will getting sick. He came down with a fever after school on Wednesday so was home Thursday and will be home again today. He hadn't slept well the night before but I was thinking it was just his teeth. He has a pesky cough, on and off fevers, and soooo much snot! But it's not covid, so maybe RSV or some other random virus? Hopefully he starts to feel better today. 

 

Snuggles with my sick baby. 

A recipe I made was seared ahi tuna made on the grill - again! This is the recipe I mentioned in my last TGIF post 2 weeks ago. This time we had it with corn on the cob. Grilling season will come to an end soon so we are trying to make the most of the waning season (some Minnesotans grill year-round but we don't). 

A show we are watching is season 2 of Only Murders in the Building while we wait for new episodes of The Patient to drop weekly. I think I like this season more than the first. And I really like that the episodes are around 30 minutes. That's how long The Patient episodes are, too. That's my sweet spot since I like to go up to bed around 8:30-8:45.

For workouts I again did not fit in much. I ran on Sunday and did a strength training workout on Monday. Then I was in the office Tues/Wed and balanced work/caring for a sick kiddo on Thursday. I'm planning to run on Saturday and hopefully can do a strength training workout on Sunday if I'm not feeling too worn out. 

The best money spent was getting our toilet fixed on our main level. Thrilling right? Phil was going to try to fix it himself but then the shut-off valve for turning off the water in the bathroom wasn't working so we called a plumber. We weren't able to use that bathroom for about 1.5 days and that was a pain! When we were house hunting, we would only consider home with a main-floor bathroom. Turns out that is not a given in our neighborhood with home built in the early- to mid-1900s! Now I can see that holding out for a house with a main floor bathroom was the right decision, especially when you have young kids. Another "fun" purchase was getting our tire patched as it had a nail in it. That's our 2nd patch in a couple of months. Being an adult is so much fun, isn't it?

My plans this weekend include kind of a lot, but such is life lately! Saturday will be a full day as we have gymnastics and then we'll go to our daycare's Fall Festival. Although that assumes Will feels up to all that. We went to the fall festival last year and Paul had a blast as they have bouncy houses and lots of other activities for the kids. Plus tacos and ice cream! Then on Saturday night Paul and I are going to a Halloween event at the zoo. I've never been but apparently there are tons of lit-up Pumpkins. It's an annual event and this year is library themed! Paul is excited for a mom/Paul outing. On Sunday we'll go to the Farmer's Market and then the boys have haircuts mid-day. 

Bonus pics:

When I was at my girls dinner, the boys had fun playing in the leaves with daddy! Phil isn't much of a picture taker but I am glad he snapped a few as that was probably the last really nice day we'll have for leaf playing.

When you like the spaghetti sauce so much that you eat it directly out of the bowl.

How was your week? Are fall/winter germs rearing its head in your house yet? I'm hearing it will be bad cold/flu season so am bracing myself for a rough fall/winter.