TGIF

Happy Friday! Daycare is closed today for teacher training/conferences, so I'll be juggling childcare with Phil while trying to keep up with work email... fun! Our conference slots are at the end of the day. We have conferences twice/year. I really enjoy connecting with the boys' teachers to hear how they are doing. We don't see our kids' teachers at drop-off since we drop-off on the earlier side and the teachers are so busy at pick-up so our conversations are limited to me saying something like "buen dia?" to Will's teachers. 

I did put my out of office on for today so people won't schedule client meetings so that should help! It has not been the best week with me feeling so under the weather. Here's how the week shaped up!

The book I read this week was All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. This is classified as YA but don't let that classification deter you if you typically don't read YA. While the book is about 2 seniors in high school, it covers intense topics such as drug/substance abuse, racism, and other intense topics I can't reveal because they would be spoilers. So trigger warnings abound! It's about 2 Indian-American teens who are living on the margins in California. One lost both parents in an earthquake in Pakistan when she was a child and was rescued by her uncle. The other teen loses his mom early in the book and his father is an low-functioning alcoholic. I don't think I'd want a young teen reading this unless they were really mature and ready for hard topics... But it is very well-written 5-star book and I thought about the characters when I turned off my kindle every night. 

The high of my week was nothing really? Is that bad to say? Some weeks just aren't great and this was one of them. 

The low of my week was being sick and having to cancel my NYC trip. Besides my office visit in NYC, I was also going to attend a conference put on by my company for women in finance. So there were a lot of coworkers from all over the US in NYC this week. I rescheduled my trip to NYC for early November and it will still be a great trip but I'm sad I couldn't go this week.

A recipe I made was 3-bean turkey chili in the instant pot. This is another go-to recipe for us. The boys won't eat it, but Will did eat beans from it so that's something. Since our kids go to Spanish Immersion daycare, they eat a lot of beans and like them as a result. 

A show we are watching is the same as usual - The Patient and Only Murders in the Building. We finished Only Murders this week and I think I liked season 2 better than season 1. I just love Steve Martin. I've also watched 2 episodes of the new season of The Great British Baking Show which I just adore! 

For workouts insert crickets... I know some people work out when they are sick but that doesn't work for me. So I have been taking it very easy. I'm hoping to go for a run this weekend, though, but I know I will have to bring lots of kleenex with! October is shaping up to be an awful month for workouts, but such is life when you and your child are sick!

The best money spent was on tickets to the winter light show at our local arboretum. Paul and I went last year (flashback photo below) and he loved it so much and still talks about it! Last year it was extremely cold but he was such a trooper and had nothing but good things to say about the experience. We will go in early December so maybe/hopefully the weather will still be mildish then!

My plans this weekend include nothing tonight which is good as I know I'll be tired from a day of juggling work and kids. Gymnastics is canceled on Saturday morning as it's MEA weekend here so many families are out of town. We'll still do the library and then maybe go to the park that morning. Phil and Paul will go out to his mom's in the afternoon after quiet time to bring our cat back to her. Oscar has been with us for about 2 weeks as she had a routine vet appointment. I am sure she will be thrilled to go back to my MIL's quiet house where there isn't a toddler screaming "kitty!!!" over and over (which to be honest sounds like "titty." LOL!). Oscar is just not into kids so she mostly lives with my MIL - plus my MIL really loves her companionship. But it was nice to have her for a couple of weeks. On Sunday we'll go to the farmer's market and then in the afternoon we are meeting up with a daycare families whose kids are in the same room as our boys. And then that evening a friend is coming over for dinner. The weather is going to be gorgeous this weekend so I want to take advantage of it and spend as much time outside as possible! 

Bonus picture:

Paul is still thoroughly enjoying the leaves! Will is less into them but I'm sure that will change next fall.

Cat boy to the rescue!!

How was your week? Has the weather been weird where you live? It looks like much of the US had a weird cold snap this week!