Weekly Review 74

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

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My week started on Monday morning (as usual). Mr. O and I were up and went downstairs for our normal routine of eating breakfast, watching some TV, and cuddling and/or playing before I go to work. The day went by quickly and, before I knew it, Lea was making this delicious new dinner recipe for us. She made steak bites with mashed potatoes and peas. The steak bites also had this cheese sauce that went on top of it, but I didn’t have any of that. I was all cheesed-out from a big bowl of mac & cheese I had for lunch earlier. Even without the sauce, the steak bites were still really good and I enjoyed dinner a lot! I’m always appreciative that my wife tries new recipes all the time. Thanks, Lea! After dinner (but before bedtime), I played with Mr. O in his playroom. He likes to run around upstairs and chase me, so we did that, as well as playing with his trains and superheroes. When he went down for the night, I walked for about 45 minutes while Lea and I watched an episode of Bridgerton. It was a solid start to the week. 

On Tuesday Mr. O and I were up and ready to leave the house for daycare. Before we left, he likes to sit on my lap in the driver’s seat and “drive” the car. He turns the wheels, uses the turn signals, sprays my windshield and has the wipers go back-and-forth. He also likes to honk the horn at 6:45 AM. I’m sorry to all my neighbors (but it’s funny)! On our way to daycare, Mr. O talked the entire car ride. “Dada why your windows so dirty?” “Dada what that?” “Dada you go faster?” I love it. Once I dropped him off I headed on over to my mom’s house. I was going to work from there for the day so I can let her dog, Sparty,  out while she is at her new job. He’s such a cute dog. I love spending time with him, but it’s hard now that I have my own family. We don’t see him that often anymore, sadly. It’s okay, though, because when we are there we give him lots of pets and play with him. Sometimes he even stays with us for a few days, but that’s tough because we have two cats and he feels like he needs to mark his territory in our house. It’s easy to clean, just annoying, Lol. 

Before I left my moms house, I packed up some of my old toys that I hadn’t gotten rid of over the past twenty-something-years. These toys have been sitting on my shelf in my childhood bedroom for as long as I can remember, so it would be tough for me to part with them now. Mr. O also loves them, so I wanted to finally pack them up and bring them home. It’s an original Buzz Lighteyear and Woody Toy from the movie Toy Story, four G.I. Joe’s, and a few heroe’s from the Justice League animated series: Superman (obviously), Batman (x2), and the Flash. 

When I finished work and packed up those toys, and since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped by one of our favorite restaurants in The Region: Cheers. Now I will disclose that the owners are family. They’re my mom’s cousins, but I’ve been going there since I was a child. Yes, it’s nice that someone in my family runs the place, but it is actually a really cool bar/restaurant and the food is good. Many people enjoy it! Maybe I’ll write about it some day in my Exploring the Region series. 

When I finally made it through all that traffic to get home, Mr. O was so happy to see all those toys. He’s been playing with them nonstop, lol. After we ate and played, it was time for a bath. When I came back downstairs after bedtime, I was ready to start the playoffs in Madden with my Bears team. We’ve had a really good season thus far, and the new head coach, Larz Honeytoast, turned out to be the real deal. Sadly, I think I am cursed. We lost in the first round of the playoffs. However…I…I mean coach Honeytoast, had his contract extended, so I quickly started my/his second season with the Bears. On Wednesday, Mr. O slept in, so I turned on Madden and made a pretty big trade. I wanted to shake things up. After losing and/or not making the Superbowl three different times, I wanted to bring a true NFL star on our team. So, after sending Rome Odunze (sadly) and three first round picks to the Los Angeles Rams, we acquired star wide receiver Puka Nacua. I’d say it is a good trade. We are 4-0 to start the season! 

When I grew tired of Madden, I turned on Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2). I didn’t get to play too long, though, because Mr. O woke up and was ready to get out of his crib. He woke up too late, though, because I had to start work and I barely had any time to spend with him. It’s okay because I know he needed that extra sleep. He’s a growing boy! In the evening, he and I ran around and played while Lea made dinner. After dinner we continued our play time upstairs. He put on his Lightning McQueen costume from Halloween, and told me I was “Chix Hicks” (Chick Hicks). Then we raced around upstairs. It’s always a good time playing with my boy. To finish the night off, I walked while Lea and I watched our show. 

When Thursday rolled around, Mr. O and I were in the car. He was “driving” again before we left for daycare, waking up the neighbors without a care in the world. We all had a good day, and it went by too fast once again, but that just means we were able to spend more time together. In the evening, Mr. O and I were playing upstairs. We started rough housing after I tossed him on my bed and he, playfully, punched me in the nose! I haven’t been hit in the nose in a long time. Maybe since high school (I was an athlete). It hurt for a few minutes, and he kissed my “boo-boo” to make me feel better. I am proud of him, though. He has a big, strong fist and he knows how to use it. Now we just have to teach him not to use it unless he is defending himself. Right now he knows he can only hit me, so I take most of the beatings when we play. It’s fun, though, so I don’t mind. After his bath and bedtime were complete, I finished the night playing PlayStation.

On Friday morning, I was up eating breakfast and posted a blog. Then Mr. O woke up and we sat in my room looking out the window for the school bus and watched the geese fly by. Sadly, the bus never came, but at least he got to see the geese. Once we realized the bus wasn’t coming, Mr. O wanted to brush my teeth. I brushed them first, and then I let him do it. He was copying me because I brush his teeth, lol. About an hour after I started working, Lea and Mr. O took a trip to Target. When they returned, Mr. O had two new toys. Yes, Lea had caved. After work, I played with him and his new toys and then we ate dinner. As usual, we played upstairs before bed time. After he went to sleep, some family drove into town to spend the weekend with us. We hung out for about an hour but everyone was tired so we all called it a night early. 

On Saturday morning, around 5:30 AM, I tiptoed downstairs. I was trying not to wake up our 11-year-old nephew who was knocked out on our couch. I was trying to eat breakfast before I went into the basement  to work out. I had successfully snuck past him to eat in my office, and then I gathered my things (headphones and water) and descended into the basement to complete a 30 minute workout. It felt great. After I snuck back upstairs and showered, everyone was up for the day. Mr. O was so excited and surprised to see his cousins at our house. He screamed with joy! A few hours later, my nephew and I went to Morkes Chocolates in Cedar Lake. I had placed an order for a dozen chocolate covered strawberries for Lea. I get them for her every year on Valentine’s Day ever since we started dating back in college (2014). My nephew also wanted to buy his mom a box of chocolates. Morkes was really cool. I will have to write about that place also at some point. 

Once we left the chocolate shop, we went to CVS to pick up a few Valentine’s Day cards. One for my beautiful wife, one for my sister-in-law (from my nephew), and one for his sister (our niece). We also bought some candy for her as well. They all loved and appreciated their gifts, and our quick day-of trip was a success. A few minutes after we came home, the girls left for the day. They were going to lunch and going shopping, so that left me, Mr. O, and my nephew at the house. We played for a bit, then Mr. O went down for a nap. My nephew then put on his VR goggles to play his games there, while I played on the PlayStation. It was a fun, quiet afternoon. Then the girls came back. Later in the afternoon, my nephew and I went to this cool lego store in The Region called Bricks and Mini Figs. He loves legos, so he was in heaven. I never got into them, but I think they’re cool. It’s crazy to me how people make such detailed things out of those tiny pieces, lol. 

My nephew and I were able to make a few characters of our own. He made three, I made one. He’s a cowboy: 

When we left the store, we went to pick up the Chinese food we ordered earlier, from this place called Koroke (another small, family run place I need to write about!). That’s another tradition for Lea and I that goes back to 2014! Since we were in that area, we decided to stop by my friend Toby’s house for a quick second. I sent my nephew to ding dong ditch him, and he ran back to the car and we scurried away just as my friend opened the door. He still doesn’t know that was us, Lol. When we finally got home, we ate the delicious food and played with Mr. O before bath time. Our niece helped me with the bath and bed time. She even read him one book before I took over to finish the night. 

At 5:30 AM on Sunday Mr. O was up and begging for milk. So, I went downstairs to get him some. Then he wanted to come lay in our bed, so he squeezed between us and we all slept another three hours. When we were all up, Mr. O was able to play a little bit more with his cousins before they had to leave. After they left, Mr. O helped me do the dishes, resulting in water all over the counter, but it’s okay! He has fun. It’s going to be 60 degrees here in The Region today, so we opened up our windows at a cool 51 degrees and let the whole house air out for a bit. It was amazing. Now, as I write this, Mr. O is still napping, Lea is reading or watching her show, and I just finished a huge lunch of leftover Chinese food and I feel like death. 

The rest of the afternoon should be fun! I plan on playing outside with Mr. O for a little bit. He’s been begging lately, so we will see. 

What a great week it’s been. My favorite part was spending time with our family that came to visit. What was the favorite part of your week? Let me know!

Peter