This wasn’t a typical week for us over in The Region. It was filled with lots of love and laughter (which is the norm), but we also had some unusually beautiful weather, a terrible dream and a wonderful Palm Sunday service at a church I hadn’t been to in over a decade.
Welcome, all of you readers out there, to my Weekly Review, where I share my previous week with you.
My week started early on Monday morning, when Mr. O woke up and accused me of ignoring him all night. “Dada, do you see my blanky anywhere?”. I told him I did not, but as soon as I said no, I noticed he had it tucked underneath his pillow. “It’s right here, bud”, I said to him. “Oh! There it is! My blanky”, he exclaimed excitedly. He then went on to explain that he asked me all night through the monitor and that I was “Ignoring” him. Let me set the record straight – I was not ignoring him. I heard him and even woke up because he was talking throughout the night, but he was talking IN HIS SLEEP! He was lying down and still sleeping, so of course I’m not going to walk in there.
Once that blew over, we went into our bedroom and he watched the garbage and recycling trucks come by. Then, we went downstairs for breakfast, watched PJ Masks, and played before I had to start working. On my lunch break I tried doing a Harry Potter crossword book while I was walking on the treadmill. I failed. Well, I was able to do at least one, but I almost fell off twice and my head started hurting from the motion, Lol. When I finished walking I had 10 minutes left on my break, so I went outside and planted more grass seed in some spots in the yard that needed it. The forecast said we were going to have a lot of rain come through, so I wanted to get that in the dirt beforehand so I wouldn’t have to water it as much.
It was beautiful outside. So much so that after work I pulled out the grill and prepped it for dinner. While it was warming up, I swept half of the garage (our other half is covered with appliances and Mr. O’s toys, so we only park on one side). I tried my best, but it’s going to need mopped and sprayed down with the hose, probably. Then, after I cleaned the grill, I seasoned our chicken breast and put it over the fire. I was making barbeque chicken and steamed veggies for dinner. It was pretty good for not having grilled through the entire winter season. Later in the evening, I played my weekly game of Baldurs Gate 3 with my friends, and then I played Skyrim for the first time in years afterwards before finally calling it a night. What a wonderful way to start the week!
On Tuesday I enjoyed a quiet morning to myself. I ate my breakfast and continued making my way through the crossword book at the table as I took in all the silence around me. It was pleasant. Soon, it was time to wake up Mr. O so I could take him to daycare. He was super excited and really wanted to “drive” my car. So I let him sit in the driver’s seat and he turned the wheel, messed with my blinkers, pressed whatever he could reach, and honked the horn. A few minutes later I told him it was time to go and that he needed to go in his carseat. He said no, and started jumping back and forth between the front and back seats. If I tried to grab him from the front, he jumped in the back (hysterically laughing). If I tried through the back door, he jumped to the front. This went on for a few minutes, but it was fun and he was enjoying himself, so it’s okay.
It was a gloomy and stormy day in our area. We were under a severe thunderstorm threat warning almost all day. We get those a lot in the spring time, so if you live in The Region, you typically don’t worry about those warnings. Sometimes the storm comes through, other times it just barely misses us. We’re in an odd spot on the map. After work I cuddled Mr. O on the couch while Lea made tacos. He’s always so exhausted after daycare, which is good, but it puts him in a crabby mood! When dinner was done, we watched American Idol. Later on, I cleaned up the kitchen a bit and did the dishes, then finished the night off with a crossword puzzle (I think this is becoming a new “thing” for me).
Wednesdays are always strange for me. I don’t know if I should be happy that it’s the middle of the week and that two days from now it will be the weekend, or if I should be annoyed that it’s only the middle of the week and I still have two days until the weekend. I guess it just depends on my mood, Lol. I was in a good mood, though, so I was happy we were about to get over the “hump”. I started my day with two overeasy eggs and two pieces of toast at the kitchen table, while working on a new crossword puzzle. Since it’s a Harry Potter crossword book, I believe the theme for this particular puzzle was the names of “Full Blooded Families” in the wizarding world.
By 8 o’clock I had logged on to work. I typically don’t start until 8:30, but I was taking a half day so I had to start a bit earlier. Before I knew it, the clock struck 12, and I don’t think I’ve ever signed off from work so fast! I was heading to a doctor’s appointment and I did not want to be late. If you recall a previous weekly review, I told you I went to an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat doctor) to finally get answers for my chronic sinus congestion. This appointment was a follow up for that. When I first walked in, I thought the woman at the front desk said the “normal” greeting one gets at these types of offices: “Hello, how are you today? How can I help you?”. So I walked up and I said “Hi, I’m here for a sinus CT.” She just stared at me blankly. I circled my sinus area with my finger, thinking she didn’t hear me since it was a packed office and there was lots of chatter, and said, “A sinus CT with Dr.” (I’m going to leave his name blank, obviously).
She continued to stare with a blank expression on her face before finally repeating herself and saying, “What’s your name?”. I was so embarrassed. I have trouble hearing in one of my ears, so when it’s noisy, like the office was, everything sounds mumbled and I sometimes have a hard time making out what people are saying. I apologized and told her my name. We both laughed and she said, “Well, I can’t help you if I don’t have your name.” “That’s fair”, I said. Then I explained to her my hearing issues, which then prompted her to speak to me very loudly the rest of the time, Lol. She was really nice through it all and I’m glad we got that cleared up.
When I came home from the appointment, Mr. O woke up from his nap. I made him lunch and we played with his monster trucks, super heroes, and dinosaurs. Then, we went downstairs to workout and listen to some music. While I was lying on the bench press, about to lift the bar, Mr. O quickly climbed up on top of me and laid his head on my chest. He said, “I cuddle you for a little bit?”. It was so cute! Unfortunately, it was neither the time or place to get a cuddle-sesh in, so I had to tell him to get down, Lol. Later in the evening, I made us dinner and we watched the movie Lightyear (again) while we played with his toys. Then, when I was putting him to sleep, I realized how much he’s grown and it broke my heart. He doesn’t want to sleep in his sleep sack anymore, and he didn’t want to cuddle in his chair after reading anymore! I wanted to cry.
On Thursday morning we played for a little bit before Lea drove Mr. O to daycare. When they left, I played Skyrim before work. In the evening I made us all dinner and then we packed for Easter weekend. Well, American/regular Easter. Orthodoxy Easter isn’t until next weekend. Once we finished packing, I walked on the treadmill for a bit, then Mr. O and I went to workout again. It was a good way to wind down and end the day.
On Friday morning, Mr. O and Lea slept in (he slept with her in the guest room), so I made myself breakfast and continued my quest on Skyrim for the Stones of Barenziah. This quest entails traveling to unmarked locations all over the map to find 24 of these gems for the Thieves Guild. It’s a really tough mission, and since I’ve done it before without any help, I pulled up a cheat sheet online this time to find the remaining 12 I needed, Lol. When I logged on to work I was met with a surprise email from one of my managers. She was informing us of a 90 minute early release, which is always a good thing!
When I signed off for the day, I walked on the treadmill while Lea vacuumed and Mr. O played with his cars on the kitchen table. About two hours later, my mom came over to babysit Mr. O, while Lea and I had ourselves a little date night. We went to the Crown Point square for dinner, at this restaurant called Square Roots. It’s a great place, with great food, and I had the best view of the most beautiful woman on planet Earth!
When we finished dinner, we drove over to a bar called Social 219, for our Koumbaro Demetri’s birthday party (Mr. O’s godfather). It was a great night and we had a lot of fun. We didn’t stay out too late, though, because Mr. O ended up not feeling too well, so we wanted to get home in case he woke up with a fever. Before we left, Mr. O’s godmother gave us this cute Easter basket she made for him, and we set it on the counter at home for him to find when he wakes up in the morning.
When Saturday morning came around, Mr. O woke me up through the monitor. He was yelling, “Yiayia! Yiayia I’m awake!” (my mom). Instead, he got me. He was confused, but happy. When we went downstairs he was super excited about his Easter basket. Of course, the one thing he absolutely loved was the Spiderman car, and he’s been playing with it ever since he opened it! He also received a basket from the Easter bunny, too. He didn’t care for that one because Le – the Easter bunny – put a bunch of clothes and books in there.
After he went through both baskets, we ate breakfast and finished packing for our weekend trip to my in-laws for the holiday. We packed up the car and I drove us a little over 2 hours south. On the way down Mr. O talked non-stop, while I had on a lecture series from the Patristic Nectar app, called Humility: Acquiring the Heart of Jesus. It was really interesting and I hope I can have even the slightest amount of humility He has. As soon as we arrived to my in-laws, Mr. O had to play with his new bottle of bubbles the Easter bunny brought him. So, we went out into the backyard and blew bubbles for a few minutes, but then it started to rain so we had to go back inside.
Then Lea and her mom went shopping, so I laid down upstairs with Mr. O, trying to get him to nap (it didn’t happen). Instead, we laid there watching a movie on Disney Plus and playing the train simulator game on my iPad. When I told him iPad time was over, he said, “It’s my iPad now”, so there’s that. Later in the evening we went to my brother-in-law’s house since we were staying with them this weekend. The kids played and the rest of the night was relaxing.
I woke up early Sunday from a horrible dream. I rarely have bad dreams and I have no clue where this one came from. It lasted all night, so every time I woke up from it and went back to sleep, I was just in a different part of the dream, it was so strange. It was about some huge serial killer, with long, curly black hair. He reminded me of the Undertaker from WWE and Michael Myers, by the way he moved. He was everywhere, but somehow no one knew what he looked like and when he would strike. He would just stab people and we’d all run. It was wild.
An hour or two later we were all awake. Lea, Mr. O and I got ready for church. There is an Orthodox church in this town, and I haven’t been there in over a decade (since I graduated college). It was so nice to be back. The Palm Sunday service was beautiful, as was the church itself. The people are always so nice, too. I cannot believe a couple people even recognized me and one remembered my name. One man I know, who I met a long time ago and have been friends with on Facebook, made us feel so welcome (the others did as well, but this was really nice). He said, “It’s nice to see you. Whenever you’re in town, you have to come back. This is a second home for you. You’re welcome here anytime.” It’s just such a nice thing to hear, and we will be back!
Currently, I am sitting in my nephew’s bed, next to a snoring Mr. O, while he naps. I’m finishing up writing this Weekly Review, and then we are going to celebrate Easter in a couple of hours. It’s been a great week!
A Moment I’m Still Thinking About
I know this just happened, but I’m still thinking about how kind everyone was at this church. They make you feel so welcomed and they’re so appreciative when you stop by and attend a service. It’s good to know I always have somewhere to go, even when I’m away from home.
What’s a moment from your week that you’re still thinking about?
Peter
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