Weekly Review 29

Hello readers! Welcome to my weekly review, where I share my previous week with you. 

Instagram, TikTok, Rumble: @Theregionlife

On Monday, I was up bright and early. It was nice being back on my normal schedule. I for sure thought all the sleeping in throughout the prior week was going to screw everything up, but I was wrong (which is rare. I am usually always right. Right, Lea?).  Soon after I ate breakfast, Mr. O was awake and ready to go. The only issue we had this morning was he did not want to leave his momma upstairs. So, once Lea explained she would be down soon, he grabbed my hand, and we walked downstairs to start our day. 

This kid lives the good life. He had a banana in one hand while he used the other to steer his little motorcycle throughout the kitchen and dining area. Then, once he scarfed down his favorite fruit, he heard the school bus coming and ran to the window. The big, yellow bus stops right in front of our house most days, and Mr. O loves it. He rushes to the window every single time. It’s adorable. Later in the afternoon, I turned on the White Sox game in the background while I was working. It’s great background noise. It’s a slow enough game, so I don’t have to constantly turn and look at it, and the noise of the wind and the bat hitting the ball is relaxing. Also, I have to ask the question: are the White Sox good? On Monday, they won 9-0, with seven runs in the first few innings. It was incredible to witness. 

Later that night we ate dinner, watched some trains on YouTube, and binged The Sopranos.

On Tuesday morning, Mr. O and Winston the cat played through his crib. Mr. O would stick his hand out and Winnie would try to smack it. Mr. O won a few times but then Winnie got him once and the game was over. Before work started we played in his play room with all of his trains. It’s always a fun time. He pats the floor for me to sit by him (like I’m a dog or something??) and then rarely lets me play with anything. 

Later that night, after dinner, my boy and I played catch for a few minutes with one of his basketballs, while the Sox game was on in the background. It was a good night and he is getting really good at catch!

On Wednesday morning, I woke up early enough to do the dishes, knock out some reading, and clean up all of Mr. O’s toys (only for him to take them all out again an hour later).  When the little monster finally came downstairs, we turned on Monsters Inc., and my mom came to watch him while I worked. We had another round of bad storms coming through Wednesday night, so it stormed all day. That night, we had another tornado warning! I’m so sick of it, but the season will be over soon. Mr. O and I watched Region Weather on Facebook. This meteorologist is fantastic. He is very calming and helps so many people with his insight and advice. Once he said our area of the region was in the clear, I turned on some TV because I was not feeling too hot.

Once Thursday morning rolled around, I realized I was not going to have a productive day at work, so I called in sick. I’ve rarely called in sick since I started working remotely, but on this day, I decided I couldn’t power through. So, it was just me and my boy all day. Thankfully, he let me sit on the couch most of the time. However, whenever I tried to play with him (or when he asked me to play), I would tell him, “Buddy, Dada does not feel good today.” Of course, I would tell him after a while when I would feel my energy draining quickly. Do you want to know what his response was when I told him I wasn’t feeling well? It was “Haha,” Lol. He didn’t care! Why should he? He’s two. 

When Mr. O went down for a nap later that morning, I tried to take one myself. I failed miserably. For some reason, I cannot nap unless I am really, really sick. I thought for sure I would be able to nap this time because I felt horrible, and my eyes were heavy all morning. Nope. My body said, “Not happening.” So, I went downstairs to play some PlayStation and made Mr. O’s lunch so I didn’t have to worry about it when he woke up. 

On Friday, Mr. O slept in until 8 AM! We think he is either growing, teething, or both. Later that morning, when I was working, I had a surprise walk into my office. It was Mr. O! The little stinker learned how to open doors! We’re in deep trouble now, lol. I felt bad locking my door, but I had to. He kept walking in! 

On Friday afternoon, our fence was finally installed. We had planned to get a fence in our yard for a long time, and I am so happy it can finally be checked off the list. In the evening, we played upstairs and gave Mr. O an early bath. Then, we watched some of the Bulls game together on my phone while lying on our bed. It was a fun and relaxing way to end the night. Once he was asleep, Lea and I decided to clean up and organize the basement a little bit. 

On Saturday, I woke up way earlier than everyone else in my household. So, I did what I normally do: shower, eat, read. This morning, I read Images of America – Cedar Lake. I picked this up last year when I was at CVS, but I never got around to reading it until now. It’s fascinating! I didn’t realize how much history our town has. 

After reading this for a bit, I have decided to focus my Exploring the Region section of this blog on Northwest Indiana’s historical locations. I think it’d be really cool to see and show all of you the history of this area. I plan to start doing this soon, so be on the lookout! After reading for a bit, I looked at the monitor and realized Mr. O was awake. So, I went to get him, we did our normal routine and played for a bit. Then…it was time to get him ready for his first–ever soccer practice!

First, I made him breakfast. Before any kind of physical activity, a good meal is key! I made him waffles and cut up some strawberries and a banana. He graciously accepted it and sat down on the kitchen floor, right in front of the refrigerator, to eat it. So, that’s where we sat to eat. Then, we wrestled to put his soccer clothes on and take cute pictures of him. An hour later, it was time to go to his practice. Let me start by saying he didn’t care for it AT ALL. He’s on the early side of two, so the coach said it was normal lol. Besides running away and lying in the wet, muddy grass,

this is what he did most of the time:

He was obsessed with this tree. I have no clue why, lol. Once the longest half-hour of our lives was over (it was really fun), we finally went home, where we were greeted by our sister-in-law (SIL) and one of our nieces. They came to visit for the weekend, and Mr. O was thrilled! When Mr. O went down for a nap, Lea and her SIL went shopping and to lunch for a bit, so me and my niece hung out. We turned on the Sox game (she was uninterested, which is surprising because I thought most seven-year-old girls love watching baseball?), played PlayStation, ate lunch, and hung out until they came back. Later in the day, I made a list of everything I needed for the yard this Spring & Summer: 

• New string for trimmer (mine keeps breaking)
• I need to either buy a new air filter or clean the one I have in my mower
• Get a new bag of grass seed/keep seeding
• Leaf blower (to blow the extra grass off the sidewalk/driveway
• New gutters! (With our new fence, two of our gutters have to be angled away from it)
• Gutter holders (this dang wind keeps taking them away!)
• Fuel stabilizer to mix old gas with new gas for my mower (because I don’t want to waste the old gasoline I have from last year)
• Tarps for fridge and outdoor appliances (We have to move everything out of our garage at the end of the month because we are having our garage floor fixed. I don’t know the term for it lol but it’s going to look nice!)
• Wall putty (Or whatever it’s called. We need to patch up some holes in the walls in the garage). 
• Topsoil
• Sand
• Compost

It’s a long list, so I better get started soon, lol. On Saturday evening, I started cleaning up the garage a bit and taking things into the basement. It was not enjoyable, but it had to be done!

On Sunday morning, the first thing I did after waking up was to add to my list of historical places to put a spotlight on. I’ve got a solid list right now, and I cannot wait to start. After our family members left, we didn’t do too much here. I did the dishes, Lea went to the store, and we lost power for a few hours because the electric company was fixing something nearby (fun stuff). Losing power did give me a chance to read more about the history of Cedar Lake, so I’m glad I took advantage of that while Mr. O was asleep, lol. When he woke up we put on The Lion King for him and hung out the rest of the day. 

It was a great week, and I hope you enjoyed yours as well. Let me know if you did anything fun or interesting!

Peter