Monday, November 7, 2022

Weekend Recap

This was probably our first weekend of typical Minnesota fall weather - which means it was kind of cold, or colder than we are used to! And guess who got ANOTHER cold! Me! A lot of people are talking about how sick they/their families have been lately. But this is just the baseline for me. Luckily this cold is pretty mild/run-of-the-mill so I am feeling better and can go to NYC as planned this afternoon. But it does have me wonder about my commitment to travel once/month. It seems like there is a 50/50 chance I will be sick from Sept-Feb! Paul doesn't get sick very often anymore so maybe/hopefully things will be better in a year when Will is sick less? But for now, I get everything either boy brings home from school. 

Friday was a half day since daycare closed at 12:30. Will took a decent nap and then after much cajoling, I convinced Paul that we should walk/scoot to a local church that has a little park. He really wanted to stay home but I needed to get out of the house and tire Will out a bit. That night I made Wild Rice soup in the instant pot.


I got up with the boys both weekend mornings since I'm gone Tues-Thur mornings this week and wanted to give Phil some extra rest ahead of my work trip. Saturday morning was our usual library + gymnastics routine but OMG the library was SO busy. We get there when it opens at 9 and typically there are maybe 5 kids total. I didn't count but there had to be 10-15+ kids on Saturday. It was a chilly morning so I guess everyone was looking for something to do! 

That afternoon we all got into the car and went to Once Upon a Child so I could get another winter coat for Will and some pants for Paul. It works best to have 2 winters coats and 2 snow pants so we can leave one at school. Phil came with so he could help corral the kids. It was not a pleasant experience as there was much begging for toys by Paul... but we walked out with a nice winter coat and 3 pairs of pants for about $40. A thin winter coat at Target is $40 so it's worth it to go to a second hand store! I always buy the boys' winter coats/snowpants there! 

The rest of the day was spent in our house. I made chicken enchiladas with rotisserie chicken and Spanish rice and everyone enjoyed the meal which is kind of a miracle! 

Reading in a laundry basket!

On Sunday, both boys slept until 6am which felt like 7am with the time change. So pushing Will's bedtime back last week appears to have worked, thank goodness! I facetimed with a old blogging friend turned IRL friend that morning. I need to schedule catch-ups like that more often! 

Phil and Paul headed to his mom's after quiet time so I was on my own with Will for the rest of the day. It was crazy windy outside so an outdoor walk was not appealing. So we headed out to a western suburb (Wayzata) so I could pick up my re-sized engagement ring. When we got engaged, I had it resized to a 4 (from 4.5) but it was still a little big. But I put up with it as I thought my hands might swell during pregnancy. But they never did! When I came back to the office this past March, I could not handle it flopping around when I was typing so I took it in to get resized again. Turns out my ring finger is a size 3.75. Isn't that crazy? So basically I have the hands of a child. 

Reunited with my resized ring. My poor hands are already dry from all the hand washing.

After the jewelry store stop, I did something I've never done as a parent before. I went to the mall because walking in a mall was more appealing than entertaining a toddler at home. Those who know me well know I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE SHOPPING. Will was pretty confused about what a mall is. Since he's a pandemic baby he's barely been anywhere. He was pretty entertained by the Christmas decorations and was happy to walk around and check out the various stores. I made one purchase - some Ilia mascara at Sephora which I've heard good things about. But can I just say that Sephora is NOT designed for moms with strollers? Ay yi yi. I had to say "excuse me" so many times to get through the narrow aisles to the cashier at the back of the store. Terrible design, Sephora! I guess a mom with a stroller is not their target market?

He's pointing at some Christmas decorations!

We headed home and had dinner which he barely ate, I think because he's getting another 2y molar. It pushed through this morning so hopefully he'll be in better spirits and start eating better again? 

I gave him a bath and let him play with the couch cushion because it was the only thing that entertained him (hopefully this means the fort-building couch we are getting the boys at Christmas will be a hit?). I was happy to put him to bed around his normal bedtime of 7. We kept him up until 7:30-7:45 last week and those made for some long days! 

Rocking Christmas jammies in November. He'll still be wearing Christmas jammies in March!

Phil and Paul got home around 7:30, I did Paul's bedtime and worked on a puzzle until around 8:30 when I went up to bed to read. I'm almost done with "Acts of Violet" which I am enjoying! 

And that was a wrap! I fly out this afternoon for NYC and come back Thursday afternoon so it's kind of a longer trip. For my last 2 trips, I flew out at 7am but have determined I can't hack that kind of schedule. It makes for a very long day since I have to be up around 4:30 and then have a full day in the office. I have 3 client meetings tomorrow and will spend the rest of the time seeing my NYC colleagues in person. I'm very glad this is my last business trip of the year! It's my 5th of the year so the most work travel I've done since before having kids! And lest you were worried, Phil and I both voted at an early voter absentee place 2 weeks ago! I've never not voted in an election! 

How was your weekend? For my American readers, have you voted or will you vote in person tomorrow?

11 comments:

NGS said...

Pretty quiet weekend over here. Mostly chores, reading, and a brief outing for Book Club last night.

I'm voting tomorrow in person. I not-so-secretly want to go back to 2016 to the optimistic person I was that it would matter, but I'm not that person anymore. I will vote, of course, but it seems like the results are all but determined here, and I am sort of dreading the results.

Jenny said...

I also did early voting! And, like NGS I'm not excited about the results, especially here in Florida... sigh.
I hope your trip is good! Sounds like you got through the time change really well.
Your post reminded me of the old days (once again.) Going to the mall was actually one of the really fun things my son and I used to do together. We would each get a tea from Teavana (before they were bought out by Starbucks and then closed down) and then go sit in Walden Books (before they also closed, sigh) and read. We would walk around and look at decorations- if it was the right time of year- and throw pennies in the fountain. We both have fond memories of these times, and my son was really sad when the closed Walden Books and Teavana. Those were the good old days.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh. I love your weekend posts. I feel so seen. Thank you, thank you!!

Sarah said...

Wild rice soup is PERFECT for this finally midwest fall. I have a GIANT bottle of hand lotion by every sink in the house and still! Red hands already. Solidarity.

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Ugh our mall is in dire straights. It was apparently bought by a company who is using it as a tax write off and then there is a fire code violation that may shut it down and when Adeline and I went to story time last month at Barnes and Noble we walked through to the food court and holy moly there was like NOTHING THERE. Our Target is a store at the mall but I usually just go there and no where else or Barnes and Noble and no where else. OH AND Dunhams every spring for softball needs! Our weekend was a mix of lazy (saturday) and spent almost all outside on Sunday trying to get the last bit of fall yard work done that we've put off.

coco said...

i also have the finger of a child, and maybe even body of a teenager as Sofia can already use my lululemon pants.
i also hate malls but I can see how easier is to walk the kids in the mall relative to the same routine outdoor. Sephora? I would have lost the kids as I try on everything, haha,

Elisabeth said...

I LOVE your rings. So pretty. My hands are not nearly so photogenic. I often take my rings off when I sit down to type because they flop around a bit and it annoys me (I also hate when they move around when I'm running), but I have big enough knuckles that I can't resize any smaller and still get them off and on.

You know how I feel about thrift stores - YAY for all that great stuff for $40.

Also loving the Christmas jammies. They look very cozy :)

Hope you have a great trip to NYC. Looking forward to all the details.

Nicole said...

I was thinking of you with time change! I hope the transition continues to be smooth.

That ring is so pretty! I feel you on the dry hands though. My sweater keeps snagging on my hands. I mean. It's crazy.

Grateful Kae said...

That's so funny that Will has never really been to a mall! It makes sense being a pandemic baby though. Malls are just so different now than they used to be. When my boys were little we went to the mall ALL THE TIME. Seriously, at least once a week or more. They had this great free play area, and it was a perfect place (albeit germy....) to let the kids run around indoors. We would also walk all around in their strollers, buy some french fries to share... as Jenny said, the good old days! I have such fond memories of the mall from when I was a kid too, when it was a thriving, busy place full of great stores. I used to love going there with my friends, or back to school shopping with my mom. I don't like shopping nowadays, but I also get kind of depressed when there are no good stores around to visit in person when I need things! We do have some nice stores on the other side of town/ downtown that are not super convenient though.

Nice find on the used winter jacket! I actually just took some pics of the boys' old North Face jackets that no longer fit- but are in near perfect condition! I'm hoping we can resell them online or something. At their ages I don't think we'd have much luck at a resale shop, but maybe I'm wrong. I feel like those are more for younger kids clothes?? I just realized we do actually have a Once Upon a Child not far from my house- I never even knew it was there!! I have so many bins of the boys old clothes- and a lot of really, really nice stuff that they barely even wore! I wish you lived closer!

Stephany said...

I dropped my mail-in ballot two weeks ago at a mail ballot drop box, and last week, I checked and saw that it has been counted. I'm not optimistic that things will go the way I want them to in FL, though. Bleh.

I can't remember the last time I was in an honest-to-goodness mall! I used to go to them all the time but it's just not my thing anymore.

San said...

Jon and I both put our mail-in ballots in the drop box last week (and I already got the confirmation that our votes were received and counted). I love how easy voting is in CA.

I hope you're having a good work trip and don't feel to crummy. I can only imagine how hard it is to get through the winter with all the bugs going around.

We love Wild Rice soup.