Weekend Review + Organizing Bug

Well election week is upon us. I am anxious and so very ready to have this behind us. And that is all I have to say about the election! 

Moving on… my weekend did not get off to a good start. Late in the day on Friday, my rheumatology clinic called to cancel my infusion appointment for this week because they have no IV drugs (I think the saline, not the drug itself, but I didn’t ask) due to the supply chain interruptions caused by the hurricanes last month. I have been in so much pain lately as my flare has gotten worse so I am so sad that I can’t get the drugs my body needs. They can’t even reschedule at this point as they don’t know when the meds will be back in stock. #sob I’ve already increased my prednisone to 15mg but can’t bare to increase it further because 20mg makes me overly ragey.

After that I had the lovely distraction of volunteering at chess club that afternoon which helped. And then that evening we let the boys stay up later in the hopes that they would sleep later on Sunday when we fell back for the end of DST. We watched the movie, Sing, which was so delightful! 

On Saturday I woke on my own, not from a child yelling for me which is always a treat. Taco was up around 6:30 and I had to wake Paul up at 7:30! I ran 4 miles, showered and then a friend came over and walked to Starbucks with us while Phil grocery shopped. Her daughter is almost 14 so she enjoyed being around the boys and said she wanted to take Taco home with her. We need to take her up on her offer to watch the boys for a date night. 

That afternoon, Phil took both boys out to his mom’s so I could get a break (husband of the year!!!). I spent that time organizing the window seat shelves - now that task is off my list and I can mostly use my days off this week as shouldless days. Woo hoo!! I forwent my typical Saturday afternoon reading session/nap and set to work. I also had Taco help me go through the board books before he went to Nana’s so we could donate things we no longer read. 

Lots of books to donate!

Here is a before of one side of the window seat shelves… 

Yes it was a disaster!

… and after! 

Can you see the John Dickerson photo? I’m a huge fan so Phil had his cousin’s wife who works at CBS get a signed photo for my 40th bday. Apparently he didn’t have stock photos to sign so his assistant took this for him to sign. Pretty cool, huh? I’m looking forward to listening to John’s election commentary. 

Here is the other side which wasn’t AS bad…

And after!

The finished product! It will rarely look like this. The pillows are too tempting for the boys and this area tends to be a dropping place for everyone’s bags.

I also hung some of Paul’s kindergarten art work in his room and then I ran out of motivation so caught up on the Great British Baking Show and watched some episodes of One Day. 

The boys were up at 5:50 on Sunday which isn’t too bad since that felt like 6:50. I was already awake and was laying in bed waiting for one of then to wake up. I’m glad our strategy of pushing bedtimes back worked. Starting our day at 5:50 is much better than 5! 

The boys got some holiday activity books from their Nana the day before so Taco and I did some coloring that morning. 

We we working on teaching him now to hold crayons. Fine motor skills are hard! 

I ran 3 miles and then we went to church/Sunday school. I attended a new member orientation brunch at church and then it was time for swimming lessons. Both boys will repeat their levels but have made great progress - yesterday was the halfway point of the term so we still have about 1.5 months of lessons left. 

We had a more ‘effortful’ dinner - turkey breast made in the instant pot with mashed potatoes, gravy, and roasted carrots. Both boys love poultry so the meal was a hit although Paul only ate the turkey. But I’ll take what I can get! 

We’ll obviously eat this meal again later this month on Thanksgiving. I mostly made the turkey breast so we could use some of the leftover meat to make turkey wild rice soup later this week! 

I ended the night watching some of the Vikings game with Phil before calling it a night.

I have Wednesday and Thursday off this week so it’s a short week which I am looking forward to! I really needed a break from work. The days will be mostly shouldless kind of days with a few errands mixed in. 

How was your weekend? Did you enjoy ‘falling back’? I hate this manipulation of time and wish we could just stay on DST! But overall, it wasn’t bad since we pushed the boys bedtimes back throughout the week. 

Halloween + What We Read in October

First up, Halloween! In true Minnesota fashion, we went from 75 degrees on Tuesday to this yesterday. 

At least the ground was warm so most of it melted. It was just depressing. But I nearly always trick or treated with a winter jacket, mittens and hat so they are just getting a true Midwestern trick or treating experience!

Pikachu and Chase, under warm winter jackets in our neighbor’s yard.

It wasn’t so bad once we were walking around, especially with heavy bags of candy. They went with me for an hour and then we emptied their bags and they went back out for 30 more minutes with dad. We do not need this much candy but it’s a good opportunity to see our neighbors. 

Now- onto the main topic! Here we are in the penultimate month of the year! I'm not going to say "where did the time go?" because while time has flown, I have been so busy with travel and such so it feels like 10 months have passed. But I digress. My book count for October is 10 which is very high, but I read 97% of one of the books (Wellness) in September and I slowly read another book over the course of 9 months with a Patreon group (Lonesome Dove) so I didn't actually read every word of these books in October. If I had to pick a word for my October reading, it would be "meh." There were a lot of solid 3 star reads which for me means "just ok to meh." 

Favorite Books:

Ina Garten's memoir "Be Ready When the Luck Comes" was a DELIGHT. I gave it an enthusiastic 5 stars. 

The Return of Ellie Black is a mystery about a missing girl that is found on a hiking trail in the Pacific NW. Something is not quite right with her (which, duh, she was missing for years) - where has she been and why isn't she talking much about her captors? 

Forgotten on Sunday has a truly horrible cover but it's a very sweet tale about a young woman that works in a retirement home in France and forges a relationship with one of her patients. 

Lonesome Dove was a re-read for me but I had read it so many years ago that I did not remember much. I read this with a Patreon group which really added to the experience. Now I want to track down the miniseries!

The rest (which is a mix of ok to meh):

I've liked other books by Rainbow Rowell but Slow Dance was solidy "just ok to meh" for me. It's a romance but the main protagonist is hard to root for and while I know she had a challenging family background, some of her behavior was just so juvenile. 

The Great Divide is historical fiction about the building of the Panana Canal. I had heard great things about this book but didn't connect with it. 

Expiration Dates was a fun romance and almost made my best of list for October. It's about a women who gets a slip of paper telling her how long a relationship will last when she meets someone new. 

I Hope This Finds You Well is about a woman who writes nasty things about/to her coworkers in white text in emails. HR finds out and she gets in trouble, but they accidentally give her access to the whole company's emails and instant messages. It was good in theory but was too unbelievable for me. 

It pains me to say that I didn't adore Shark Heart. I fear it was a bit over-hyped. This is my October book club selection which we'll be discussing next week since I was traveling when our club usually meets. The premise of the book is that a newlywed couple finds out that the husband is slowly turning into a great white shark. It's a bananas set-up but it somehow works. The writing felt choppy to me, though. 

Lastly Wellness is a book that had such mixed reviews but people kept telling me I should read it so I finally did. It did not work for me, though. It was just TOO DANG LONG. I thought the writer had some great things to say about marriage and parenting but, for me, it got lost is all the wandering side stories. I did not need to know about several generous of the husband and wife at the center of the novel. 

What the boys read:

Paul continues to mostly be interested in Dog Man books, but I am trying to expand his interest outside of that genre (Chelsea - I am going to check out Stick Dog!! Thank you for the rec!). We were told at his teacher's conferences that he is reading at a 4th grade level which kind of blew our minds! His teacher emphasized that we should still read to him so I'm trying to get him interested in a read-aloud. Currently he mostly reads to himself at bedtime. We started The Mouse and the Motorcycle but that didn't seem to interest him, so my search continues... 

Taco has been VERY into Halloween books. His favorite is Pumpkin Soup which is an adorable book that I heard about from The Mom Hour years ago. Besides that we've been reading a lot of Julia Donaldson, including Room on the Broom. I think it's time to get rid of our board book collection as he rarely picks out board books anymore! I like that board books are short but much prefer picture books!

Did you read anything great in October?

Fun, full, fall weekend!

We fit in lots of fun fall activities this weekend. Here’s how we filled the weekend. 

Friday:

- I went into the office which isn’t typical for a Friday. I sometimes have issues with my VPN connection. It can take a LONG time to save files when I WFH and since I had a long to do list, I figured being in the office was best. Plus I had a client call at 8:30 so I wouldn’t have been able to workout if I had WFH (being able to squeeze in a workout is the main benefit of WFH). One of the items on my list was to write my self-review for 2024. It’s so early to write a self-review but my company keeps moving up the deadline every year it seems. I’ve been tactfully lobbying for a pay increase over the last several months so I wanted a really strong self-review with lots of examples of my contributions. My role has changed dramatically in the last 2 years. For example, I used to rarely travel… this year I will do 20+ trips. Plus I have a direct report that I manage/mentor now. I don’t love comp conversations but I know many of my male colleagues aren’t shy about asking for what they want so I had to go outside my comfort zone and be more direct. 

- I also voted early while I was downtown. There was a steady steam of people at the voting site. I really liked the idea of voting on Election Day with Paul since our polling site is next to his school. But I wanted to make sure nothing got in the way of casting my vote!!

Saturday:

- It was a chilly morning with temps in the upper 30s which felt good on my 5 mile run. I needed to wear a vest and LS shirt for this run. 

- After I showered Phil headed to get groceries and I took the boys to the fall event at our church’s pumpkin patch. Taco helped me pick out our pumpkin and he picked out 2 small ones for him and Paul while Paul jumped in the bounce house (Taco is terrified of bounce houses - Paul was scared at his age, too). The boys also enjoyed a pumpkin sugar cookie. A woman offered to take a picture of me with the boys so I took her up on that since I am in so few pictures with the boys! I was wishing I had worn make up that day but oh well. This is my weekend mom look.

- After quiet time that afternoon we went to a free tennis clinic that is put on every weekend at a tennis bubble close to Taco’s school. The boys had so much fun!

- Then it was off to a pumpkin carving party at our friend’s house! I worked on making sweet and smoky chili while Phil carved our pumpkin. After dinner the kids all watched a movie together while the adults played cards. It was such a fun night!!

We usually carve a cat but this year we went off brand and Phil carved a hand as it was one of the easier stencils in our book of patterns. Our friend’s cat pumpkin was amazing! 

- The boys’ and I went to Sunday school on Sunday morning. I volunteered in Taco’s room which was pretty easy and fun. I helped in the music room and played the piano while 2 of the teachers went to hear their grandson sing in church. I was a little nervous to sight read a piece but the kids are 3-4 so not a very judgmental audience! I took some pics of the boys on the way home from church for our Christmas card which was quite an ordeal… 

- In the afternoon Phil golfed with some friends while the boys had swimming lessons and went to the fall festival at Paul’s school. There were bounce houses, food trucks, games, llamas, and more! The boys had a great time.

Could we have fit more into the weekend? I don’t think so! 

This afternoon I fly to Detroit for a work trip. I’ll be back around dinner time on Wednesday so it’s a pretty short trip. Then I get a week break from travel thank goodness.

How was your weekend?

5 Things Friday

Hey hey, it's Friday again! This was a whirlwind week since I was gone Monday-Thursday for my work trip. Here are 5 things on my mind today. 

1. I've definitely reached travel burnout. Usually the trips are shorter 2-night stays but this NJ trip kind of pushed me over the edge as it was a 3-night trip. Of my 5 remaining trips (one more trip got added for December but it’s a short one to Chicago), 3 are 2-nights, the other 2 are 3-nights. I am going to really try to rein in the 3-night trips in 2025 because it's just a bit too long to be away, especially considering that Taco wakes up during the night when I travel... I should get a nice long month+ break from travel in December/January, though. I really need a break! 

2. The boys are SO excited for Halloween and we have a fun weekend of fall-themed activities on tap. Tomorrow morning there is a fall event at our church's pumpkin patch with a bounce house and such. Later that day we are going to a friend’s house for a pumpkin carving party! Then on Sunday afternoon, the PTA at Paul’s school is hosting a fall festival with bounce houses, face painting, etc. The boys have been wearing their costumes throughout the fall and are excited to get candy!! Paul will be Pikachu and Taco will be Chase from Paw Patrol. I hope this mild weather sticks around for Halloween. Last year it snowed the morning of Halloween!

3. I haven't talked about my RA for awhile, but that's not because everything is going splendidly... I still have a bad flare in the pointer finger of my right hand so the infusions have not been the wonder drug I was hoping they would be. My doctor doubled the dose of the infusion in October but that hasn't seemed to make a difference yet. If things don't improve after my next infusion in early November, we can shift the infusions from every 6 weeks to every 4. This flare has been going on for over 6 months now and I am so tired of it - and I'm also so tired of being on prednisone which makes it very hard to manage my weight. I keep telling myself that there will be a time after this. 

4. Luckily I have some time off to look forward to in the coming weeks, though. I decided to take 2 days off during the first week of November and 3 days during the first week of December. I haven't had a shouldless day in quite some time and I was feeling like I needed more than just a day off to really replenish my energy reserves. The days off won't fully be shouldless days, though, as I have a few projects that I'd like to work on around the house, like organizing the shelves in our window seat. But the days are mostly meant to be relaxing, restorative days. I need to add up the number of days I've taken off this year because I think the count is rather low... but I struggle to take time off since my calendar is filled with meetings and such. But now I know I need to just plan it in advance or it's not going to happen. 

5. I’m currently reading Ina Garten’s new memoir and it’s so delightful. Her warm, calming tone comes across the page. If I was an audiobook person, I would listen to this as she narrates it but audiobooks are not my jam. This book is the equivalent of a warm hug. I am so envious that she owns an apartment in Paris. What a dream! 

What’s on your mind today?

DC trip recap! + the rest of the weekend

Paul and I had a wonderful trip to the DC area to visit my sister and her family last week. It was a fairly brief trip - we flew out Wednesday morning and got home Saturday afternoon - but it was the right amount of time for us. I like shorter 3-night trips and really like having a one-day buffer before returning to work/school. I opted not to bring Taco on this trip since tickets were stupid expensive (since it was fall break across Mn for an educational conference) and it’s just simpler to travel with 6.5yo Paul. This was my 2nd solo trip with Paul. We visited my sister in the spring of 2022 in AZ. This time around Taco was very aware of the fact that he did not get to come so I promised him that we’ll do a solo trip together in the future. Anyways, here is how we filled the time! 

Wednesday:

My sister and her girls picked us up from the airport and we hung out at their house in Quantico. Her family relocated from Arizona this past summer as her husband is attending special schooling at the Marine Corp University on the Quantico base which is about 45 minutes south of DC. I had never been on a military base so was curious what it would be like. But aside from the gated entrance where she had to show her military ID, it felt like a typical neighborhood with lots of young families.

I thought I hadn’t seen my sister since last September but Abby reminded me we saw each other in April at my grandma’s funeral. I had blocked out that visit since it was so brief and I went by myself since Paul wasn’t feeling well and funerals and an active 3.5 yo aren’t a good combo. Abby is 7 years younger than me but our kids are close in age - our kids’ cousins are much older (they range from 10-20 years old!!). Her oldest is a little younger than Taco and then she has a 16 month old and is pregnant with #3 that is due in late April!

We laid low that afternoon/evening and played at their neighborhood park. 

Enjoying some McD’s pancakes at the airport. I had to text Kae since her boys both work at McD’s. And Paul was wearing a hand-me-down shirt from her boys!

My 3.5yo niece Maddy and Paul. She was a little shy around him at first.

Riding a remote control car at the park that belonged to another family! They really got a kick out of this.

It didn’t take long for Maddy to get over her shyness. She scooted right up next to Paul and he read some Dog Man to her. Hopefully he did not pollute her mind with potty humor…

Thursday:

We had breakfast at home, hung out for a bit and then went to the Smithsonian National Zoo mid-morning. Like most Smithsonian places in DC, admission was free although Abby did pay to reserve parking. 

I was amazed at Maddy’s interest in and ability to color! Taco has zero interest in coloring and scribbles when he does color.

They enjoyed watching the Orangutan eat popcorn!

Millie, Maddy and Paul! Paul rode in the stroller a decent amount.

After the zoo we came back home and the kids played in the backyard. Then we ordered pizza and the kids watched a movie - The Grinch! Turns out Maddy likes this movie as much as Taco does. 

Friday:

This was definitely the highlight of the trip - we went to the Mall and saw some of the monuments! Paul was SO EXCITED about this! 

Paul really loved being the ‘big’ cousin for a change. He was so sweet with both of his cousins, especially Millie!

Abby and me!

I love his ‘senior picture pose’ at the WWII monument. He came up with this pose on his own.

Paul and I on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument behind us

We ended up seeing the Washington monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Korean War Memorial. We also saw the Capitol building and White House from the distance. There is soooo much to see in DC so we definitely need to come back as we just barely scratched the surface. But considering the ages of the kids we had with us, I think we saw quite a bit that day! My sister expects that they will live in DC for awhile and Phil has a cousin that lives out here so we have lots of reasons to come back!

When we got back the kids played in the backyard again and then we went out for Mexican. 

Cousin love! I love how Maddy is looking at Paul.

Saturday:

We had a noon flight so we had a slow start to the day and then Abby and the girls dropped us off at the airport. Paul and I grabbed some Cava (basically Mediterranean chipotle - it is so good!) and then boarded our flight home. 

I got a kick out of watching Paul carefully put hummus on each small piece of pita with a knife. 

Phil and Taco picked us up at the airport and we headed home. It was a beautiful fall day so we raked leaves and the boys jumped in the piles.

Pretending the leaf pile was their bed.

Sunday was the usual program - I ran, then we went to church/Sunday school and had swimming lessons in the afternoon. And we added in a visit to CVS for flu shots for both and a COVID booster for Paul (they couldn’t give one to Taco due to his age so he’ll get one at his 4yo appointment in December). 

Today I fly to NJ for work. I can’t say I am excited about this since I just got back from a trip but so it goes. I have another trip next week (to Detroit), get a one week break, have back-to-back weeks of travel (DC and NYC) and then it’s Thanksgiving. I only travel once in December (NJ again) thank goodness. I knew going to DC would add more travel to an already heavy season of travel - but it was worth it!! I just hope Taco sleeps better during my work trip this week. He was up 1-2 times/night during our DC trip. He tends to wake during the night when I travel. 

I’ll leave you with a picture from my run on Sunday and another leaf play pic from later than day! It’s so gorgeous in Minneapolis right now although it’s bizarre that it was 80F yesterday.

What I Wear When I Travel for Work

I’ve been meaning to do a post about what I wear when I travel for work. I travel quite often these days (typical twice/month, sometimes three times) so I have gotten good at packing. I nearly exclusively wear dresses because I feel most confident in dresses and they take up less space than pants, a top, and a jacket would. I do not own business suits anymore because I hate how I feel in them! 

I should preface this post by saying that I am not super into fashion (for fashionable content, see Lag Liv’s blog! She works with a stylist and has a very large, beautiful wardrobe.) I’m pragmatic about dressing - I want something comfy that won’t wrinkle that looks professional and ‘put together’. So most of these outfits are made of a fabric that does not wrinkle and feels good on my body. I’m also a minimalist when it comes to my wardrobe. I don’t have a capsule wardrobe but my wardrobe is capsule-adjacent.

For this trip, I flew to Charlottte for some client events. I had 2 client dinner reception events and I moderated 2 panels (and also did 32 zooms that week as it was a week that sales was encouraged to book lots of meetings). 

Here is what I wore that week with pretty crappy bathroom selfies which is the best I could do.

Night #1: client dinner reception 

I flew in, checked into my hotel, and quickly freshened up to meet 2 portfolio managers for a drink/chat before the client event started. I wore a striped dress from Boden. I have this dress in 4 colors (this striped version, black, navy, red). When I find something I like, I tend to buy it in multiple colors. I love that this dress has pockets!

Day #2: moderate panel + lots of zooms

I moderated a panel with the portfolio managers fairly early in the day and then had a day of solid zooms. I wore a dress I bought at a boutique in a suburb of Minneapolis last summer. I loved this dress so much that I ordered 2 more this summer (brand is Gretchen Scott). The fabric is wrinkle-proof which is key for travel. This is my favorite of the 3 dresses - I think it’s the most flattering since the pattern is a darker color. I didn’t have any post-work client commitments so I went out for dinner with one of the portfolio managers that was on the panel (she lives in Chicago, the other PM is Charlotte-based). 

Day #3: lots of zooms + another client dinner reception

Today’s dress is the same as yesterday’s, but a different pattern. This dress is my least favorite of the 3 as I don’t wear a lot of pink but I still like the dress. 

Day #4: moderate a panel, do lots of zooms, fly home in the afternoon 

Finally, the last day of this intense trip. This dress is the same brand as the other 2 but has a different neckline + pockets! 

I look so tired in this photo because I feel so tired. If I zoomed in more, you’d see circles and bags under my eyes. This trip was intense with all the meetings and client interaction! It was TOO MUCH. I am glad I am unlikely to have a trip like this again. It was the combo of in-person client interactions plus so many zooms that really pushed me over the edge into complete exhaustion. 

Shoes and accessories: I wore the same navy blue Rothy’s each day (I typically pack one pair of work shoes + running shoes for workouts). Since getting diagnosed with RA, I stopped wearing heels for the most part as I want to be extra kind to my joints.

The necklines of these dresses had enough going on so I did not wear a necklace. If I had worn a solid pattern version of the first dress, I would have added a necklace but it looked too busy when I tried a necklace with the striped pattern. A necklace is the only accessory I add to an outfit as I am not an earrings person (and wish I had never gotten my ears pierced!). Most earrings bother my ears so that is why I don’t wear them. 

***

And there you have it! These are the kinds of dresses I wear during the warm weather months. Now that it’s getting colder, I shift to wearing dresses + tights. I can wear tights with the last dress but the other 3 dresses will be moved to the ‘summer’ section of my wardrobe and will only be worn if I travel somewhere warm like FL or CA, etc. 

What kinds of outfits do you feel best in? How do you dress for work? The outfits above are what I wear when I go to the office, too. 

Weekend recap

We had a beautiful fall weekend! The temps have cooled off but it’s still beautiful during the day which is my favorite. 

On Friday Phil took Paul to the driving range after school since it was so nice outside. I met a former colleague that still works in the same industry as me for coffee before getting Taco from daycare.

Taco had been waking at night last week, probably because of the cough he picked up at daycare, but he slept through the night on Friday night and was up at 6:30! Phew! I needed a solid night of uninterrupted sleep. Once Phil was up for the day I headed out for a 6 mile run. I signed up for a 10k race on Thanksgiving morning so I plan to maintain 6ish mile weekend runs. 

One of the paths I ran on. I’m lucky that most of my runs are on dedicated run/walk paths.

Then the boys and I headed to the library where we ran into friends. The boys enjoyed playing with the camping toys. 

After lunch I had to pull data for work again - last time for awhile (hopefully) as my colleague who took this task over from me last spring is back this week. Then I laid down and took a monster 2 hour nap while Paul had screen time and Phil and Taco went to his mom’s. I have felt so tired lately and a couple of nights of Taco waking did not help so I really needed this solid nap. I so want to be a person that doesn’t need naps. But the reality is that I do between this demanding stage of parenting, my RA, and my intense schedule at work. 

We walked/scooted to the park that afternoon. The weather was gorgeous! 

Then after dinner it was time to head to the Pumpkin Spectacular at the zoo. This is an annual tradition for us and we had so much fun!!

There was a zoo employee taking photos so we got a non-selfie together!

Taco had a good day at Nana’s, too. They went to Costco where he basically wanted everything. 

All that fresh air, excitement, and movement meant everyone slept well. I slept until 7 and was the first one up! I went to bed with a sore throat so my body is clearly fighting something off, hence allll the extra sleep I seem to need. 

The boys were resistant to going to Sunday school so I got them out the door by enticing them with a Halloween scavenger hunt. We looked for a ghost, spiderweb, witch, pumpkin, cat, and skeleton. We managed to find and take pictures of everything! The ghost was the hardest to find.

It took much cajoling to get the kids out of the house for swimming lessons, too. Actually cajoling was really the word of the day for most interactions with Taco… Both boys are making good progress in lessons. 

This is a short week for Paul and me as we fly to DC to visit my sister and her family for fall break! I haven’t seen her since last September so we are long overdue for a visit!!

How was your weekend?