Weekly Review 47

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

Instagram, TikTok, Rumble: @Theregionlife

On Monday morning Lea packed up Mr. O and a few of his belongings and took him to my mom’s house for the day. He has fun there, especially with her dog, Sparty. Mr. O has been taking his little toy lawnmower recently, and he plays outside “cutting” his Yiayia’s grass. My mom said he even took his mower down the street to cut someone elses yard, lol. At the end of the work day, my mom brought the young entrepreneur home, where we played outside for almost an hour. I finally persuaded him to come inside and play, and it felt so good to be in air conditioning again.

Once he was done playing with me, I went to make dinner. Lea had gone to dinner with a few friends, so I made a small meal for myself, and a different meal for Mr. O (he’s picky with what he eats right now). After dinner, it was time to brush his teeth, read him a few books, and lay him down for the night. Once I finished that, I surprisingly decided to work on some of my training that was assigned at work, which is due at the end of the month. I normally don’t do that. Once five-o-clock hits, that’s it. Laptop is shut, work brain is off. However, I felt overwhelmed this week already (and it was only Monday!), so I wanted to get a head start on my training because I wasn’t sure when I was going to have time during work hours to finish them. Anyway, they were pretty easy to get through. A few of them had pre-tests, and somehow I am good at remembering the answers even though I haven’t done the training since last year, lol.

On Tuesday morning, I drove Mr. O to daycare. I brought his little bike with him and he was so excited to go. It was said, though, this time. He held my hand and when I tried to leave he wasn’t letting go. Eventually he did, and he went inside and started playing. I miss him so much throughout the day. After another hectic day, my little family returned home and all my stresses from work were shoved to the back of my mind. I enjoyed the rest of my night by making nachos for dinner and playing with Mr. O and Lea. Once playtime was over, I gave Mr. O a bath and rocked him until he wanted to lay in his crib. Once he was officially asleep, I started working on my next Exploring the Region post. I think I mentioned in last weeks Review that I will be “exploring” the Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City, Indiana. So far it’s been fun writing it and reading about the history of the city and the zoo. I think my readers will enjoy it very much!

On Wednesday morning, Lea took Mr. O to my mom’s again, and I was headed to his daycare because we had realized late Tuesday night that we left his bike there. So, I made my way there, expecting the bike to be on the porch waiting for me. Turns out there was a miscommunication and the bike was not there, lol. It’s okay, it was a beautiful morning for a drive and it was only twenty minutes away. Also, if I had been at home I would have mindlessly scrolled on TikTok until my shift started, so I am happy I was at least outside enjoying the weather. After lunchtime (around 1 PM central time), the work finally slowed down. It slowed down so much that we actually ran out for the day. I was able to finish off the trainings I had started earlier in the week, and ended my work day peacefully. In the evening, we made dinner, played, and relaxed ourselves to prepare for the following day.

On Thursday morning, Mr. O woke up earlier than usual. He’s been doing that a lot lately, and we’re not sure why. It’s probably normal for a toddler his age to begin waking up early, but it’s so tiring for us! If you’ve been following along with my life for a while now, you know the early mornings are my peace and quiet time. Where I eat my cereal, read some news (scroll Twitter), and enjoy the time alone. Well, that seems to be coming to an end for now, as Mr. O is waking up earlier and earlier each day. Some days he sleeps normally, but other times he’s been waking up at 6 AM, right after I’ve gotten out of the shower. So now what do I do? I have been trying to wake up even earlier, but that’s not working, lol. I keep shutting off my alarm. It’s okay though, this will pass and some day we will wish he was this little again.

After work, Mr. O and I took a walk to the park. He played on the swings, climbed the jungle gym, went down the slide, and fought me with every fiber of his being when I told him it was time to go home to eat dinner. “Come on, let’s go. It’s time to go eat dinner.” “NO!” Then he goes and hides in the tunnel because he knows I can’t fit, and he laughs at me with his big face in the tiny window! It was funny, and he eventually started following me. When we came home, Lea made us dinner and then we gave Mr. O a bath because it was so hot out and he was so sweaty! The rest of the night was relaxing, as usual.

Friday morning was a fun one for me and my boy. We played, made breakfast (waffles), and watched a couple of his shows before work. He was extra excited today because we had a change in plans. Since daycare was closed for the day, my aunt was coming over to watch him all day. I could hear them playing, and saw them occasionally when I left my office. This boy loves playing outside. He was out in the back digging in his sand table, then inside running around and screaming laughing. He was having a blast. After work we made Mr. O dinner, then Lea and I ordered food from Aurelio’s. I ordered their grilled chicken sandwich and I loved it. It was delicious! We let Mr. O watch Toy Story 2 (again) as he relaxed before bedtime. Then, after he went to sleep, we watched another episode of The Sopranos (2 episodes left, I think!).

Saturday was a fun day overall. In the morning I did the dishes (woohoo!) and hung out with Mr. O and Lea. We watched the first episode of the new season of Hard Knocks on HBO, folded some laundry, and played with our crazy little man. Then, when he was settling down before nap time, I put on The Lion King for him and we found ourselves in a pretty heated discussion:

Me: That’s Simba, he’s going to be king.

Mr. O: No.

Me: Yes…he will be.

Mr. O: NO!

Me: Yes.

Mr. O: NOOOOOO!

Me: Yes! That’s the whole point of the movie. It’s called “The Lion King”.

Mr. O: NO!

Me: You don’t understand the film.

He eventually came around and enjoyed it. I don’t think he understands it though. Once he went down for a nap, I worked out in the basement, made myself some eggs, and hung out with Lea for a bit. A few hours later I took a shower. I was heading out to Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Valparaiso, Indiana. I was meeting my friends there. Let’s call them Toby and Brandon. Toby invited me the night before because one of our old friends from high school, who I probably haven’t spoken to or seen in close to a decade, was performing with his band at this little pop-up festival at the park. It was a beautiful evening, with a great breeze coming through the fields. We brought our lawn chairs, grabbed some food from the food trucks, and listened to some really great music.

It was nice seeing our friend, who plays the drums, for a few minutes while the band was taking a break. I was happy for him. He was still doing what he loves, and he’s really talented too. Excuse the terrible photo. I took it quickly because I was in the middle of a conversation with Toby and realized, as I was taking the picture, that it was kind of rude to turn and put my phone up for a picture, lol. It’s the only picture I took this night because we were having fun. I didn’t think about it again after taking this one.

If you’re interested, their band is called Fresh Hops and you can follow them on Spotify and Instagram!

On Sunday I slept it a little bit. I was exhausted from the night before. It was about an hour drive there and back, and I left the park to head home around 9 PM. When I came downstairs I made breakfast for me and Mr. O. Then, Lea, Mr. O and I went outside to do some yard work. We put topsoil down in a few areas in the back yard and in one spot in the front, where out tree used to be. When we finished, Lea and Mr. O went inside, and I went to buy grass seed and more gas for the lawn mower. When I came back I trimmed the edges, cut the grass (it took me forever because it was so hot out! I had to stop to take breaks before I passed out), and laid the seed down. After I came inside a few hours later, I cooled off, cleaned myself off, and made some eggs for lunch. Then, Lea came home and made these really good chicken Caesar wraps, so I had her make me one too because my little plate of eggs was not filling enough, lol.

When Mr. O woke up, him and I took a drive to my grandmas house. She had a few things there she wanted me to look at. I ended up coming home with my grandfathers really nice looking fishing rod. I’m excited to use it! I hope I can find time to go fishing before it gets too cold this year. Mr. O had fun running around and rummaging through her desk drawers, lol. He was also munching on her snacks and eating some potatoes she had made. Eventually, he grabbed his blanket and went to the front door and said, “Go home”. So, I packed him and all our things up in the car and we came home. I made dinner for all of us and then we spent the rest of the evening hanging out like we always do. It was not a bad ending to a good week.

I hope you all had a great week, and I hope your current week is off to a great start!

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Peter