Weekly Review 98

Well, if you read Weekly Review 97 you know I was preparing for my Cousins Fantasy Football League draft order race last Sunday. About an hour after I finished writing edition 97, most of us hopped on FaceTime and the race began! 

Our draft order is decided by a virtual horse race and, somehow, I WON! You’re looking at the holder of the number 1 pick in the 2026 fantasy draft. I’m so pumped! Now, welcome to the latest edition of my Weekly Review, where I share my previous week with you. 

It started on Monday and I woke up pumped from the night before. I think I already know who I’m going to draft with the number 1 pick, but I have to look at all of my options. Okay, enough fantasy football talk. 

The entire morning was gloomy and it led to really bad storms. Around mid-morning we suddenly received a tornado warning. I unplugged my work laptop and met Lea and Mr. O in the basement. I attempted to continue working but our power was flickering on and off and the internet kept going out, so I had to take some time away from work. 

Thankfully, it wasn’t that long of a break. 30 minutes later and the terrible storm passed by. I was able to finish the rest of my day with no issues and back in my office. Once I shut down my laptop for the day, I joined my little family in the living room and played with Mr. O. 

He thinks it’s hilarious when I miss a shot on his Little Tikes basketball hoop. He falls on the floor from laughing so hard! Do you know how hard it is to miss on purpose? lol. I’m not saying I make every shot, but when I’m trying to miss purposely it makes it so much harder for some reason! 

While we were playing basketball, Lea was in the kitchen making biscuits and gravy, and another storm rolled through the region. It wasn’t as bad as the morning one, thankfully. Mr. O was still scared, but playing with him helped calm him down. 

When dinner was ready we all sat on the couch and watched Psych while we ate. Eventually, we will start eating at our table, but currently it is impossible since we have everything from our basement storage sitting in our dining room! I’m not sure if I mentioned it before, but we had to bring everything upstairs because my father-in-law and his co-worker are coming to stay with us for a bit and finish our basement. So our table is shoved in a corner and surrounded by a bunch of boxes. 

After dinner Mr. O wanted to play with both of us. He never wants to do that, but I’m glad he did. It was fun! He has three green dinosaur monster trucks. Two are regular size and one is really tiny (we call it “baby”). He gave me one of the trucks and said it’s “dada truck”, Lea’s was “mama truck”, and he took the tiny one and called it “Ollie truck”. We played on the floor together and enjoyed each other’s company. Mr. O really loved it. 

During bedtime, Mr. O was having trouble sleeping. We went downstairs and he sweet talked his way into sleeping with his Mama in the guest room. I stayed downstairs intending to work on my Exploring The Region post, but I haven’t been motivated lately, or had the energy to do it. I watched Netflix and then went to bed. 

On Tuesday morning Mr. O did not want to get up for daycare. He slept in so long we were actually running late! When he finally got up I rushed us out the door and hurried to get him there. On my way home I felt bad about rushing him. I need to relax more. I realized everything always works out and we don’t have to be precisely on time every time. I need to stop rushing and just enjoy myself.

In the afternoon I started to feel sick. My throat was starting to hurt, my stomach hurt, and my nose was congested. I grilled a few burgers for dinner and then relaxed while Mr. O played. Then I gave him a bath and Lea put him to bed, which gave me a chance to chug NyQuil and go to sleep early. 

When I woke up Wednesday my throat still hurt, but I was feeling a lot better. After work we ate dinner and then played outside. Mr. O filled up his water gun and drove his car in circles in the front yard, shooting me with his water guns as he drove by each time he came around. Then we kicked a soccer ball back and forth before going into the backyard to dig in our big dirt pile. To end the night, I played BG3 with my friends. It was a good time!

On Thursday morning we slowed down a bit before going to daycare. I didn’t want a repeat of Tuesday, when I rushed us out the door. In the evening it was so beautiful outside, and we basically did the same thing we did on Wednesday night. Mr. O pretended his Jeep was a tractor and he drove it in circles in the yard again. He didn’t spray me as much this time and I’m so grateful for his mercy. After digging in the backyard (again), we washed up and came inside for dinner. 

Then we played on the floor with his toys before I gave him a bath and put him to bed. When I came back downstairs Lea was watching The Hunger Games, so I hung out with her and watched it for a little bit until I decided it was time for bed. 

At 5 PM on Friday I was officially on vacation! I have the following week off and the Friday before always gives me the best feeling. When I walked out of my home office I ran to Mr. O and informed him of the good news. We played and then I made dinner. I baked BBQ chicken and made peas and mashed potatoes. It’s a really simple dinner but also very good!

On Saturday I was woken up early. Not from Weekly Review 98Mr. O, though! Our other cat, our eldest, Ms. Baby Ruth (Ruthy, Toothy, tooth, as we call her). You don’t hear about her much. She is more of a behind-the-scenes kitty. Full of attitude and grace, she blesses us with her presence when she feels like it, and Saturday morning was my blessing. 

When I opened my eyes her big, beautiful blue eyes were inches away from me, staring into my soul. By the way, can you tell she’s MY cat? Lol I’m also her person. She just wanted pets and cuddles for a few minutes before she left me to go to whatever the heck she does around here. Like I said, we don’t see her much. She keeps to herself. 

It was a rainy day on Saturday. Not only in the region, but it seems like it was most of the Midwest. While the rest of my family was still sleeping (it was 5:30 AM), I was downstairs finishing the book Stoner by John Williams. I read the final chapters at our counter, while I shoveled spoonfuls of Cheerios into my mouth. What a fantastic book! It truly captured the simplicity of life and our mortality. 

Finishing it inspired me to write another piece for my Fragments page. Hours later, after we all got ready for the day, we went to pick up my mom. All four of us were heading into Chicago to watch the Hot Wheels Monster Truck show at the United Center! 

Mr. O had a blast. He loved watching the big trucks smash all the old cars. He really loved watching the motocross guys fly off the huge ramp on their bikes and do flips, too. Overall, it was a great experience. We will probably do it again at some point. 

When we came home we ate an early dinner since none of us had lunch. Lea and Mr. O stopped at Steak N’ Shake on our way home, and I ate a calzone I had in the fridge. Then, after our food settled, it was time to clean the house for our guests. Lea and Mr. O cleaned upstairs, while I stayed downstairs and did the dishes, cleaned the stove top, vacuumed and mopped. Then I went upstairs and vacuumed too. 

When we were finally done, we all went back downstairs to relax for a bit before I put Mr. O to bed. When I came back downstairs after he passed out, Lea and I watched Spiderman: No Way Home again in preparation for the new Spiderman movie that just came out. 

Early on Sunday morning (I swear I never get any sleep around here) Mr. O came into my room. He also put his face very close to mine and was smiling from ear-to-ear, waiting for me to wake up. When I finally opened my eyes he said, “Sleep time is over because…sleep time is over! Get up!” 

So I got up and we went downstairs to eat breakfast. Then we all got ready go to go a different church for our friends baby’s baptism. Mr. O stayed in the childcare roomwhile Lea and I went into the church. At first he did not want to go. He held onto my leg crying his eyes out. Then one of the people working in there told him they had a bulldozer toy for him to play with and he forgot all about us. He didn’t even say bye! He walked in and started playing. 

After the service we went to get him and they told us, “He’s the best dancer we had today.” I’m not sure what they were doing but Mr. O was apparently dancing his heart out. 

After church we went home to change quickly, then went to our friends house for the afternoon. They had a luncheon type thing at their house after the baptism. Mostly, it was all of our kids playing together on the jungle gym and water slides. Mr. O had a blast! After hours out in the sun it was time to return home. Mr. O took a bath, I took care of some chores, Lea went to the store, and then my father-in-law and his co-worker showed up. 

We ate dinner, hung out, ate some ice cream, and then it was time to put our little guy to bed. We did our normal fighting routine and then he asked me to hold and rock him like a baby. My heart melted while I was holding him like that again, for the first time in a very long time. Looking down at him as I was rocking him, I saw his little baby face from three years ago, and I thought to myself, “there’s probably only a handful of times left that I’m going to be able to hold him like this.” It was very bittersweet. 

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About

Obviously, the moment is holding Mr. O like a baby. My sweet boy wanted rocked for a little bit. He was pretending to fall asleep and all I could see was my baby we just brought home from the hospital three years ago. 

I hope you all had a great week!

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