Weekly Review 93

Hello, readers! I hope you all had a great week. Over here in the region we had our normal routines going on, along with a birthday dinner, a date night, and taking Mr. O to his first movie theater experience. It was a great one and I hope you’ll follow along.

My week started very early on Monday. I had my alarm set for 4:30 AM so I could wake up before everyone and go downstairs to work out. When the time came for my alarm to go off, I woke up quickly to turn it off. I was so exhausted I couldn’t move and when I tried to I felt something along my back. I sat up and turned around to find Mr. O squeezed between me and Lea. That was the final straw. I was definitely not going to workout. Instead, I continued sleeping for the next few hours, snuggled up to my little boy. 

Later that morning before work, Mr. O and I played for a little bit. He’s suddenly into golf and he found his little plastic golf club, so he has been hitting whatever ball he could find with it. It’s really cute until he starts hitting me! In the evening I was reminded it was my turn to cook dinner. Mr. O and I went in the backyard to heat up the grill and I was able to use my Father’s Day gift from Lea. She bought me new tools for the grills. A new spatula, tongs, and one of those cool cleaners where you dip it in a bucket of ice cold water and then clean the grill off when it’s really hot. The sizzling sound and the steam coming up from the grill was really cool and satisfying. Mr. O loved it. “WOAH, Dada!” he yelled, Lol. 

After we ate, I played with Mr. O before it was time to go upstairs for bed. While I was getting him ready in his room, we found these new Iron Man pajamas Lea bought him. He has been obsessed with them ever since! He was pretending to fly around the room like Iron Man, pressing the button in the middle of his “suit” to put his armor on. When I finally got him to lay down in his bed, I read him this book called Somebunny Loves You. He loved it, except at the end when I called him “hunny bunny” and he said, “No call me hunny bunny, I’m Iron Man.” I then called him Iron Man and he said, “Thank you, Dada, for calling me Iron Man.” He’s the sweetest. 

On Tuesday morning I drove him to daycare. I thought it was going to be the same quiet drive as always, with a little conversation sprinkled in, maybe some singing from Mr. O. Instead, we had a long conversation about why sharks aren’t in lakes and only in oceans. It’s not a conversation I was prepared for, but I guess I should start preparing myself to have random facts like that just in case. When we arrived he was clinging to my legs again. He didn’t want me to leave. He was all about Dada until she bribed him with a donut. He waved me off and said bye without looking at me. 

In the evening I cut the grass with Mr. O. He helped mostly in the front yard, but when we went into the back he decided he wanted to dig in the dirt instead. I don’t blame him, the backyard is the hardest part and it takes the longest to cut. Ever since I hired this lawn care company to fertilize or whatever it is they do (I can’t remember), our grass, mainly in the backyard, has become too thick and “fluffy” (I guess you can call it that). It makes it so hard to cut, but really it’s only one half of the yard that gives me issues, so I deal with it. As long as the grass is healthy.

While I was working in the yard, Lea was making meatloaf with mashed potatoes. She’s the sweetest! She doesn’t even like meatloaf, but she knows I like it and I haven’t had it in a long time, so she decided to make it for dinner. The leftovers did NOT go to waste (just FYI). It was delicious. After dinner I gave Mr. O a bath, because washing his hands and feet wasn’t good enough after he was digging in the dirt and cutting the grass, Lol. We did our normal bedtime routine and I ended up falling asleep in his room again. I have to stop doing that. 

I woke up exhausted on Wednesday. After waking myself up in Mr. O’s room the night before, I had trouble falling back asleep for a while in my own room. For the first time in a while, Mr. O actually slept the whole night in his room. Once he woke up we went downstairs and I showed him YouTube videos of Marvel studios Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) “suiting up” and flying. They were two separate video compilations. He loved watching them. He thought they were the coolest things he’s ever seen! I can’t wait until he’s older to watch the actual movies with him. 

After work we all went to dinner with my mom for her birthday. We went to this restaurant called Coopers Hawk. It’s a nicer place, I guess. The food was good and there were a lot of people there. Mr. O was behaved for the most part. We sat in a long booth against the wall, and on the other side was the kitchen and the countertop where the waitresses picked up the orders. There was window Mr. O could stand up and look through to see them. They loved him, Lol. A few of them were playing peek-a-boo with him and he went nuts. He was getting kind of loud so we had to settle him down a bit.

The couple at the table next to us ended up leaving and I think asked to be seated elsewhere, Lol. If it was because of Mr. O…sorry! Well, no, not really, he’s three, and we were trying our best to tame him, but I totally get why they wanted to sit somewhere else if that is the reason, Lol. At least they weren’t rude about it. 

I ended up ordering the Mahi Mahi and I was not disappointed. Then we ordered a Reese cookie ice cream cake for dessert. It was sooooo good! Of course my stomach hurt a little bit later that night, but it was totally worth it. Every time I try to talk myself out of getting ice cream or eating sweets, I hear my friend Toby’s voice in my head saying, “Come on, live a little.” He said that to me once when I was hesitant and now I can’t stop hearing it when I try to have some self control. Darn it, Toby!

When we were walking out to leave, at least four members of the staff came out to say goodbye to Mr. O. I’m telling you guys…he is a little celebrity! I’ve said it before about how he’s treated when we go to church. It was the same at that restaurant he’s never been to, Lol. It’s cute and funny, but he has two introverted parents! I guess he’s good for us in this way, too. He helps us be more outgoing and talkative. On our way home it was starting to storm. A big one was on the way, but it was just north of us. We only had a heavy rain for about twenty minutes before it stopped. Mr. O went to bed and we all called it a night. 

On Thursday I woke up and made myself breakfast. I stuck with my Honey Nut Cheerios again and watched a few TikTok’s before going upstairs and doing some chores before waking up Mr. O. I went into his room and gently rubbed his back to tell him it was time to get up. I had to get him dressed and ready to go for daycare. He smiled with his eyes closed and pretended he couldn’t hear me. I eventually got him up and we were out the door in no time. 

In the evening I made chicken and rice. I chopped the onions, the chicken, and then mixed it all in a pot with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and two cans of tomato sauce. When Lea and Mr. O came home, my eyes were filled with tears from the onions. I had to hide my face so Mr. O wouldn’t ask why I was crying! After I had dinner ready and on the stove, I set a timer for one hour and then Lea took over and made the rice. I had forgotten I promised Mr. O he could workout with me downstairs after daycare, and he surely did not forget. 

He brought down his Spiderman boxing gloves and I lowered the punching bag for him. He went to town on that thing while I attempted to do pull-ups for the first time in a long time. Twenty minutes later, when my workout was officially done, I took a quick shower while Mr. O played in the bathroom with his cars. Then we came back downstairs to eat dinner with Lea. After dinner we had our usual playtime. We switched up the routine tonight, though, and Lea put him to bed after I gave him a bath. Team USA had a World Cup game starting at 9 PM central and I did not want to miss a second of it!

Well, I tried not to. I fell asleep more times than I could count, and when I woke up it was tied 2-2. When I woke up again, Turkey had scored the game winning goal in stoppage time. It’s okay, though, the USA is still advancing to the knockout round. I don’t know why I was so tired. Long day I guess!

On Friday morning I potty trained Mr. O for a little bit before going to work. It’s been a slow process, and kind of a frustrating one. He knows how to do it, he just doesn’t care to do it. Sometimes he will tell us when he has to go, other times he won’t and, well, you can probably guess what happens next. However, he has been doing a lot better since then, so that’s a good sign! 

After work Lea asked me to give her some alone time in the house. She’s been with Mr. O all day, every day and needed a break. Since I was already going to my friend Toby’s she asked if I could drop Mr. O off at his grandmother’s for a few hours. So I packed up Mr. O and we were off. First, we stopped to pick up Uncle Snack, as Mr. O calls him. Then we dropped off Mr. O at my mom’s house. Once we left there, Snack and I headed over to Toby’s house to hang out for a few minutes before walking to the Town of Griffith’s festival in the park. 

It was a chilly night, but it was fun! It was “country night” and there was live music, lots of people, and awesome food trucks. I ordered a polish sausage from one of the trucks, and then Toby and I split an elephant ear. About an hour later I went and got a big waffle cone with cookies n’ cream ice cream in it. “Live a little”, I thought to myself after minutes of trying to talk myself out of buying it. Toby was also telling me in real time to just get it. I’m glad I did! As the night went on, the temperature kept dropping, so we packed up our chairs and table and walked back to Toby’s house, where we turned on his brand new TV that was just delivered hours before we arrived. He hooked up his Nintendo Switch and we played Mario Party. 

I won! Well, out of the three of us I won, but overall, the computer won. So, technically, I won. It was a fun night, but I was glad to be home in my bed by the end of it. 

Early on Saturday morning, Mr. O came to sleep with me. We snuggled and then, hours later, we all had to wake up. It was time to get ready for Mr. O’s FIRST MOVIE EXPERIENCE! We took him to see Toy Story 5 and he loved it. He loved the movie, the theater, and the entire experience. He was in awe of how big the screen was, and he loved seeing all the trailers for the things he loved (Spiderman, Paw Patrol, Ice Age, etc.).  I thought the movie was good and sweet. I also believe the Toy Story franchise should have stopped after the third movie, but that’s just me. 

When we came home Mr. O went down for a long nap. I helped Lea clean a little bit while she prepared some food for her friends. She was hosting a girls night at our house, so she was cooking and cleaning all day. My mom had asked Mr. O and I to watch her dog while she was at a concert, so when Mr. O woke up we packed our things and went to my mom’s for the night, giving Lea another night to chill and have fun with her friends. I loved spending quality time with my boy! We stopped at Highland Gyros and went through the drive through. I ordered a double cheeseburger with everything on it (ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles), and Mr. O wanted a grilled cheese with french fries. 

When we got to my mom’s we let her dog out into the backyard and ate our food at the table. Surprisingly, Mr. O devoured the whole sandwich, crust and all. I was so proud of him! He usually eats a few bites out of each side and calls it a day. He’s probably growing again. *Sigh*

After dinner we ate some ice cream my mom had in her freezer and played with his legos and cars. Before we knew it, it was time for bed. When we went up into my childhood bedroom, there was an extra Woody doll on my shelf. This one was different from my original one that I brought home with me months ago. This one on the shelf blinked when you pushed his chest. So Mr. O and I played with him for a minute or two, pushed his chest a few times, and then I put him back on the shelf. Well, after I put him back on the shelf I heard his eyes click open and shut…ON THEIR OWN! I looked over and it did it again. I quickly grabbed the allegedly possessed doll, took him into my brother’s childhood bedroom, threw him on the bed, shut the door, went back into my room with Mr. O, and shut the door. No chance in heck I was keeping that thing on the shelf next to us the whole night!

After I calmed my thoughts down and told myself his eyes were still blinking because it was an old doll and we pressed his chest a lot, I laid down with Mr. O and turned on my iPad. We watched Lady and the Tramp for the first time, and Mr. O seemed to be enjoying it. He was so excited to sleep over at his Yiayia’s house with me that he couldn’t sleep. So I had to turn the movie off and we both eventually fell asleep. When I woke up in the middle of the night, Mr. O was upside down. His feet were by my head! Then when I woke up another time, he was back laying the normal way, Lol. I don’t know what happened. 

When we woke up for the final time on Sunday, Mr. O went to wake up my mom. He was so excited she was back home. We all went downstairs and she made us french toast for breakfast. Then, at 7:30 AM, Mr. O and my mom were singing karaoke on her little karaoke machine. It was too early for that. I went back upstairs to take a shower before Mr. O and I went to church. In the evening, my mom came over to babysit while Lea and I went on a date. First, we went to Schoop’s and ordered the exact same meal! We both got the Mickey burger with a chocolate shake. I love that place. 

Then we went to the movies to see the new Supergirl movie! It was incredible! We both loved it. I’ll never understand all the hate it’s been getting. I mean, I understand it…it’s a bunch of losers who are upset that their dead “Snyderverse” (DC movies directed by Zack Snyder) is no longer continuing. Before I carry on, let me be clear, I enjoyed some of his films when he was in charge of making DC movies, and it’s not all of his fans, obviously. It’s also a bunch of DC comics “fans” who hate literally everything. Then we also have the biggest losers of the bunch – the ones who hate on anything and everything women-led. It’s a Supergirl movie, for pete’s sake! What do you expect? One last thing that’s annoyed me about the people hating on this movie… What’s up with people making fun of the actresses’ looks? *This* might actually be the biggest group of losers…She looks fine, like a normal young woman. There’s literally nothing wrong with her appearance. She looked great as Supergirl, and she performed well too! Anyways, like I said, the movie was fantastic. Now, keep in mind I am an easy critic, but I truly believe all the negativity surrounding this movie is a bunch of bullshit (forgive me). On the way home Lea brought up how she enjoyed the character being morally gray. For example, she is a good person overall, but she is also not afraid to get her hands dirty and do what needs to be done. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say…She’s definitely not like her cousin, Superman! Go see Supergirl!

On our way home we stopped at Target for a pickup, then we did our grocery shopping quickly at Aldi before finally going home. It was a long week, but there were so many things that brought all of us joy, so it was worth the exhaustion. 

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About

I know there is recency bias at this moment, but I really enjoyed spending one-on-one time with my wife. Our dinner and a movie date was so much fun and I really enjoy sharing this passion of mine with her. I’m glad she actually enjoys these DC movies too and has fun watching them. She’s gotten to a point now (after 10+ years) of really understanding some of these characters and I like actually having conversations about them that she understands and can participate in. 

Thank you for reading this week’s edition of my Weekly Review. The 100th Weekly Review is quickly approaching and I have no clue how I’m going to celebrate it. If you have any ideas let me know! 

I hope you all had a great week. Go see Supergirl in theaters!

Peter

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