Weekly Review 83

This week teased us with warm weather, only to rip it out of our hands the second we started enjoying it. It also blessed me with a wonderful day with my son, the first cut of the season, and a new nemesis (his name is Wasp). 

Welcome, readers! Thank you for continuing to tune in to my Weekly Reviews, where I share my previous week with you. It means a lot to me that you’re here.

On Monday morning I was happy to see Mr. O sleeping in. He was in his “big boy bed” and he slept all night on his own! When he woke up, he played with his new airplane toy on our bed, while Lea and I readied ourselves for the day. It was a beautiful start to the week weather-wise. It was sunny, warm, and the birds were flying around outside our house, chirping back and forth. It was pleasant to listen to. When we went downstairs we opened all of the windows and let that cool breeze take over our home. It truly felt like spring had arrived. 

Then, Lea made us pancakes and we enjoyed the little time we all had together before I had to log in to work. Later that morning, while I was locked away in my office, Lea and Mr. O went to Lowe’s. She was looking for a few things to finish her bathroom project, and Mr. O was scoping out the rideable lawnmowers. Lea said he was playing on all of them, pretending to drive and cut the grass, Lol. Apparently, he was a terror when she took him off and away from them, but then he quickly started behaving when she gave him some snacks and let him ride in the cart. Meanwhile, back at home, my lunch break had arrived and I was taking full advantage of working from home and the warm weather. I took an amazing twenty-minute walk around our neighborhood, soaking in all the sun I could possibly get. I left my headphones at home and just listened to the noise around me. The birds, the cars in the distance, the sound of lawns being cut all around me. Then there was also the smell of fresh cut grass. Oh, how I’ve missed that smell. Something about it is both nostalgic and refreshing, especially in the spring time. It’s nostalgic because it reminds me of my childhood. Playing outside with my brother and my friends. It’s refreshing because in the present day it signals the start of something new. A fresh start, if you will.

In the evening, I played with Mr. O as Lea made us dinner. Then, she took some over to my grandma’s house for her to eat, while Mr. O and I did the dishes. Well, I did the dishes. He took one of his syringes we use for his medicine when he is sick and was shooting water everywhere. I told him, “Only in the sink”. He did not care! When we finished our chores, we played a little bit more before bath time. Then we wrestled up in his room before finally lying down, reading a few books, and dozing off to sleep. When I woke up from my quick nap, I snuck out of his room and ended my night downstairs with Lea.

On Tuesday morning we had the second installment of “spring weather”. It was rainy and gloomy, yet it was warm and breezy. It was a perfect morning for a drive to daycare. On the way there, Mr. O yapped in the back seat and sang some of his songs. When we arrived, to my surprise, he was sobbing. It was so sad! “Dadaaaaaa! I don’t want to go, I want to stay with youuuuu.” My heart! It’s melting all over again as I write this! I was so sad and surprised because he loves daycare and says goodbye with no problems. I had to carry him all the way inside while he screamed and cried. He was hugging me so tight, he did not want to let go. As soon as I left, though, we were told he cheered up and he was fine the rest of the day, so that helped me feel better. On my way home it started pouring rain. I couldn’t see five feet in front of me. A few minutes down the road it suddenly stopped, and the sun popped out of the clouds. It was truly a blessing because I don’t know how I was going to drive the rest of the way when I couldn’t see anything. 

In the evening, I threw some burgers on the grill, only to realize the propane tank had emptied! I quickly threw the half-cooked burgers on a plate and rushed them inside. I put them on our tiny, indoor grill/griddle and cooked them thoroughly. They still turned out well, thankfully! After dinner, Lea put Mr. O to bed while I played Baldurs Gate 3 with my buddies. It was a relaxing way to end the night. 

On Wednesday Mr. O slept in again. The little stinker is getting bigger and bigger every day, and now that he’s been sleeping in, we think he is continuing to grow. Before we know it he will be too big to carry and pick up like we do now, and when that day comes I think I might actually cry. 

The workday was long and boring. I was so happy when it ended. I love opening my office door and hearing, “Dada! You done with work? You play with me?”. It’s the best. We quickly got ready and left for my Yiayia’s house. She returned from her months long stay in Florida recently, and we ordered dinner from Doreen’s and took it over there. Somehow, her tall plants were still alive. Someone must have been watering them throughout the winter, because it surely was not me. They surrounded the kitchen table as they sat in front of the sliding glass door that opens up to the back patio. The branches and leaves tickling the back of whoever’s neck was sitting in front of them. Before we ate I moved them. I didn’t want them bothering Mr. O since he was sitting over there and he was, for some reason, afraid of them. I also did not realize how heavy they were, Lol. I tried picking them up to move them but that did not work. So, I settled for sliding them across the floor, which left a trail of water and dirt on the ground. I covered it up with the welcome mat before anyone noticed. It should be dried up by now (I’m kidding, everyone noticed and my Yiayia didn’t care). 

An hour or two later, after Mr. O ran all over his great-grandmother’s house, we came home and put Mr. O to bed. Lea laid down to read, while I went downstairs to watch TV. I put on the Noah Kahan documentary on Netflix, because I enjoy his music and it looked interesting to me. It was really, really good. Sad at times, but very well done. He seems like a genuinely kind person. I recommend watching the documentary and listening to his music (if you want to be sad). 

When my alarms went off Thursday morning I groaned. I fell asleep late and slept horribly the night before. It was 5:30 AM when the most annoying sound in the world gave me a jump scare. My mind was boggled, and I continued to carry on with my normal routine. I showered, made breakfast, and rushed to get Mr. O up for daycare. However, I had forgotten Mr. O was not going to daycare on Thursday this week, and I felt terrible when Lea reminded me because I had already woken him up. It was a rough morning. 

I laid next to him in his bed and almost fell back asleep, but he was so excited to have me, there was zero chance that was going to happen. So, we went downstairs and cuddled on the couch watching this show on Netflix called Go! Go! Cory Carson. It’s a silly little show that Mr. O enjoys from time-to-time. After I started working, Lea and Mr. O went to Target. I don’t know what they intended to buy when they went there, but when they came home, I can guarantee what they had was not on that list. Mr. O came running through the garage door, excited as can be, banging on my office door. “Dada! Dada! Come look at my new truck!” When I opened my door he had this huge RC dump truck. He already had it turned on and was using the remote to drive it all over the kitchen. When Lea walked in the door, she gave me a look that said, “Don’t even say anything”. She knew she caved. It’s okay, we all do. 

After work, Mr. O and I played outside. He rode his motorcycle up and down the sidewalk. At one point, this woman, who was taking a walk, passed by us and Mr. O said “Hi!”. She said hello and, “Cool bike!”. He quickly responded, “It no bike, it’s a motorcycle”. As he continued riding his motorcycle up and down the street, he would stop and say hello to every little girl we saw. When he became bored of being so cool, he tried out his new scooter my mom bought him for his birthday. His fascination with it didn’t last long, as his coordination isn’t the best yet. He couldn’t figure out how to use one foot to move it, then put it back on the scooter to ride. Instead, he grabbed his lawnmower and “cut the grass”. When we went into the backyard, I saw what I thought was a rock on our patio steps. I poked it with my foot to move it, and suddenly it jumped at me. I jumped backwards and let out a scream I’m not proud of. Thankfully, it was just a frog. I left it there to chill, hoping it was eating whatever bugs tried to come into our house. 

When Lea came home, I made tacos, and then we gave Mr. O a bath and put him down for the night. It was a good day. 

On Friday morning I wasn’t confused anymore. I was somewhat well rested, and I knew that Mr. O was going to daycare today. We had switched his days due to a work conflict Lea had. He was the same as Tuesday: “No, Dada I no want to go I want to stay with you!” Ugh. My heart. Once again, he was fine as soon as I left. On my lunch break I went and bought gas for the lawnmower, then went to True Value for insect repellent to spray around my house. When I came back home I sprayed the perimeter. Slowly walking around my house, making sure every possible entry way was sprayed with the poison I know will keep these nasty creatures away. As I was spraying there was one single wasp checking out my house for a place to nest. “Not happening”, I said to myself. Like a fool, I sprayed it with the repellent. I then realized I literally bought wasp spray. I should have used that! The repellent did not work. This wasp chased me all the way back to the front of my house. As I ran through the broken fence door, I quickly turned around and took one last shot at it with the repellent. It dropped (or so I thought). “Close one”, I said.

When I went back inside I looked out our sliding glass door and what do I see? THE WASP! It was limping on the patio, struggling to move but making its way under our table to protect itself from any predator flying above. At the same time, I was startled to see two more wasps banging themselves into the glass door, trying to intimidate me. They were NOT happy. “S***”, I thought. Well, there was only one thing left to do. I grabbed the strongest fly swatter I could find and went out through my garage door. I slowly snuck back into my back yard, mentally preparing myself for this big fight that was about to go down. Thankfully, the two wasps were gone. They had abandoned their struggling friend. I took the fly swatter and put it out of its misery. It truly was a fight to the death (the wasps death). 

After work I was nervous to go back outside, but the grass needed to be cut. It was time for the first cut of the spring/summer season! I was excited. I put in the fuel stabilizer and the new gasoline, changed the oil, and I was ready to go! I adjusted the height of the mower as well, since our grass was so tall and thick. Unfortunately, that did not matter at all. It still clogged up the mower and I had to continuously stop and restart the machine. By the time I got to the front yard, the mower gave out on me. This has never happened to me before. I was so close to finishing up, and it died. Luckily (I guess), it had only run out of gas. I couldn’t believe it, but at least it wasn’t something worse. In the end, the lawn is looking gorgeous, and from now on it will be way easier to cut. After I cleaned myself up, I made eggs and toast for dinner because this was one of our “wing it” nights. I hung out with Lea and Mr. O (who was up late because he napped until 6 PM after daycare) and watched Smallville. After Lea put Mr. O to bed, I played Skyrim for a bit and did the dishes. Lea and I ended the night watching Region Weather on Facebook, because we had really bad storms coming through the area. Thankfully, they moved quickly and there was no wind or tornado damage (that I heard of). 

I woke up Saturday morning to Mr. O standing beside my bed. He let out a loud toot and laughed. With my eyes squinted, and voice raspy from just waking up I said, “Did you just fart?” to which he replied, “No”. Liar. We made our way downstairs and I made us bowls of cereal. We watched a few episodes of one of his shows, and then played in his playroom. With Lea being gone all day at a wedding shower, Mr. O and I were so excited to spend the whole day just the two of us (no offense, Lea/Mama). 

Later that morning, Mr. O and I met up with my friends, Jak and Toby, at a restaurant called Tyler’s Tenders. Mr. O loves this place. He gets to play with all the trains, and he even rode one! It was a nice, fun lunch spent with my boy and my friends. When we came home, I tried to get him to nap but he didn’t want to, so we played, ate, and watched TV. Not in that order, it was a mix throughout the day. When we laid down in his bed, and after I finished reading his books, I asked him, “Did you have fun today?”. His eyes were fluttering. He could barely keep them open. He removed his thumb from his mouth and in his sweet, little, sleepy voice, he said, “It was a good day”. It was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard. Then he fell asleep. When I snuck out, I went downstairs and walked for forty minutes on our walking pad while watching a YouTube video. It was easier than it sounds, especially when you’re watching something you are actually interested in! 

On Sunday morning Mr. O and I got dressed for church. Lea was out late Saturday evening, so she didn’t join us this time. When we arrived, I noticed Mr. O had somehow fallen back asleep. I carried him into the church, then set him down. By that time he was awake. He took a candle (on his own) and went to light it next to the icon. I went to help him, and we kissed the icon and went to our seats. He ate snack after snack as the service went on. Overall, he was really good in church. Then we went to Sunday school, where he hardly listens! It’s okay though, it’s a preschool class, and he is still young, so they don’t really expect him to participate fully yet. Although, he will when they color or if one of the teachers asks him a question. 

When we left Sunday school and were walking toward the exit, one of my mom’s friends (who loves Mr. O), called his name. He saw her and immediately started playing. He ran to hide behind this big door, and was screaming and laughing so loud, Lol. He eventually gave her a hug, and then we drove home. For a few hours, we all relaxed as we played catch and watched the movie Cars. Then we got ready for a birthday party. Our goddaughter’s baby brother turned 1, and Mr. O was so excited for this party. We all had a good time. Mr. O played mostly by himself, but he occasionally played with the other kids. Before we knew it, it was time to come home. We ended the night by watching Mulan. Mr. O has never seen it. He said he didn’t like it. When the movie ended, Lea gave him a bath, put him to bed, and I wrote this blog. 

Overall, it was a really great week. 

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About

“It was a good day.” That one, tiny sentence coming from my little angel was the best thing I heard all week. As parents, all we want to do is give our kids a great life. We want them to have fun and to feel loved. With that one simple sentence my heart filled up with happiness. I knew, for this one day at least, I had done a good job. I had given my son a great day. Well, he said good, but I’ll take it as great. 

Is there a moment from your week you are still thinking about? Let me know!

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Peter