Weekly Review 103

Hello, readers! This week was filled with a huge “first” for Mr. O, a trip up into Chicago for me, and a long holiday weekend. Overall, I’d say it was a great week. 

Monday was Mr. O’s very first day of school. We enrolled him for 3-day-preschool so he’s not gone all week (yet). In the morning, Lea made him breakfast and he played on the floor and ate every once in a while. We were trying to explain to him he needs to eat before he leaves because he probably won’t eat until lunch time, but he didn’t care. After he ate, Lea got him dressed and outside to take “first day of school” pictures. When he finally had enough, I gave our little boy big hugs and lots of kisses before he got into Lea’s car and left. It was such a sad morning. Our little boy, Mr. O, is growing up so fast right before our eyes! I cannot believe he’s already starting preschool. Where has the time gone?

In the afternoon, on my lunch break, I took a walk around the neighborhood. Normally, I’d enjoy it, but it was so hot outside that I couldn’t wait to get home. In the early evening, Lea brought Mr. O home from school. He was exhausted. Our little man walked over to the couch, laid down, and passed out. He woke up about an hour later when my mom showed up with dinner from Cheers. She also brought him a Spiderman Connect 4 game so he was excited about that as well. We played for a while, then my mom left and Mr. O went to bed. Lea and I finished the night by finishing Smallville again. What a great show. 

I woke up early on Tuesday morning to gather my things. I was heading into the office and I needed to make sure my clothes were ironed, lunch was packed, and my computer was in my backpack, because going all the way to Chicago and forgetting my laptop would have stunk! The train I planned on catching was late (of course), but it was nice outside so I didn’t mind. I used to care about being “on time” when I would go into the office, but now I just say, “I’ll get there when I get there”. I’m never seriously late, so it always works out. No need to worry about it. 

When I got to the office I was so happy. I hadn’t felt happy about work in a long time, but it was so nice seeing some of my co-workers. I decided I wouldn’t put any headphones in today. I was enjoying listening to the chatter around the office and the distant sounds of the city. The ambulance sirens fading as they drove further away, the cars honking as people tried to rush through the city. These were refreshing sounds. Throughout the day I realized why I was so happy. I think being in my house all the time, working from home, depresses me. 

I came to another realization as well. Lately, I’ve been feeling down about work and my current salary. I’ve been feeling like I don’t provide enough money for my family, but Lea helped me see that is not true. We still get to live normal lives. We still go on trips, have food to eat, and a roof over our heads. I’ve also been thinking I could make more money elsewhere (and I probably could). However, while sitting in the office I realized I value relationships more than I value money. Sure, I could make more money somewhere else, but where else would I have an environment like I have now in the corporate world? Where else would my boss’s boss be so excited to see me? Where else would someone in that position give me a hug, tell me how happy they are to see me in the office, and share personal things going on in their life? Where else would I have a work fantasy football league, great chemistry with my teammates, and loyalty from those I’m closest with in the office? Nowhere. This is what happens when you join a growing department two years after it started. You’re part of the build, you’re molded into it, and you go through the ups-and-downs together. I don’t think I would trade this for more money (unless things get worse economically and I am forced to). It’s all about the people. Relationships. That’s part of what makes life great. 

In the afternoon I finally took my break. I went for a stroll through the city, turning on streets I normally don’t walk down. After 10 minutes of mindlessly walking around, I ended up near the river. What a beautiful site!

After work I met my godfather at our usual restaurant: Exchequer. On my way there I saw an old restaurant sign that I just had to get a picture of. It looked too perfect to just walk past:

Dinner was great. We talked about life, movies, pop culture, and God. I’m glad we’ve been growing closer over the years. Growing up it was hard to see each other because we lived far apart, but now we can meet in the city occasionally to grab dinner. It’s always a great time. When I came home Mr. O was still awake. He wasn’t sleeping and Lea asked me to help out. I tried to read to him too, but nothing seemed to be working. You all know how this ends (he came to sleep with us, lol). 

On Wednesday we shipped Mr. O off to school. He only had a half day this time, but that didn’t make it any easier at drop-off. Lea says he cries and cries and doesn’t want her to leave. I hope I never have to drop him off because I wouldn’t be able to leave him there if he’s crying for me, lol. When he came home in the afternoon, he had a sticker on his paper for doing so well! He traced some shapes and he did a great job. We are so proud! It’s on our fridge. In the evening, Lea had a meeting to attend, so she left me at home with Mr. O, her parents, and the other guy that comes up with my father-in-law to work on our basement.

This meant I was making dinner for everyone. Mr. O and I cleaned off the grill and put some burgers on, while my mother-in-law chopped up onions, tomatoes, and watermelon. She also made corn on the cob. While I was cooking outside, Mr. O was playing in the dirt. I don’t know how this kid always gets so dirty, but he needed a bath immediately after dinner, lol. His “Gaga” (Lea’s mom) had to wash his hands, face, and feet before he ate dinner. After dinner I gave him a bath, then did the dishes while he played and watched a movie. When Lea came home we finished our night by watching Barstool Sports Surviving Barstool. 

I had the day off on Thursday and it was no vacation! My day started early in the morning, around 6 AM. I had a doctors appointment at 8:15, so I left my house around 7:30. The appointment was faster than I thought, thankfully. When I left I went over to Menards. Since I was out this way I figured I might as well run some errands. I went to Menards to buy more lightbulbs for our master bathroom. Most of the bulbs had been out for a while and I never took the time to replace them, so I definitely had to do that today. After I left Menards, I tried to find a bookstore to wander around in, but I didn’t realize most bookstores in the area don’t open until 10 AM, and it was only 9! I should say, barely 9. So, since Second & Charles wasn’t open yet when I got there, I drove over to Target and wandered around there for a little bit. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking for, but it was nice to be out of the house for a little bit. 

When I finally went home my father-in-law asked me to go golfing with him and his buddy. I said yes, of course! I haven’t golfed in probably 3-4 years. The course was nice, but my play was not. Oh. My. Gosh. You can probably guess how bad I was. It was so embarrassing! On the bright side, I did realize I missed golfing and wanted to pick it up again. I will definitely be going to the range soon to practice. After 9 holes we called it quits. We were all playing terribly and the hot weather didn’t help. When we got back to the house, my mother-in-law and the other guy left to go home, while my father-in-law stayed to help me fill up our dumpster we had ordered for all of our trash from the basement. 

When we finished filling that up, Mr. O and I had popsicles, Lea picked up dinner, and then we all went to bed. What an exhausting day off! 

Early on Friday morning, Mr. O came running into our bedroom. “Daddyyyyyy”, he cried. I woke up to him standing beside me. He asked me to come sleep in his bed with him. I did, of course, and we slept for a few more hours. When I woke up, I snuck downstairs to eat and read. Mr. O woke up soon after and came downstairs and asked for breakfast. I made him waffles (in the toaster), watermelon (already cut thanks to my mother-in-law), yogurt bites (poured out of their package), and his yogurt drink (bought from the store). Okay, so I didn’t “make” his food. I simply took what was already prepared and placed it nicely on his plate for him. 

Because of the holiday weekend, I was able to leave work 90 minutes early, which meant more time with my boy! We pulled out the Nintendo and finally got this star we’ve been trying to get in Super Mario. It’s a great accomplishment. When we finished playing, Mr. O and I got ready and headed over to my friend Toby’s house. He was so excited to be able to come and hang out with my friends. We stayed for about an hour and then I took him to my mom’s for the night. I went back to Toby’s, and uncle Snack showed up too. We walked to the Griffith town festival a few blocks away. It was so hot out! We hung out there for about an hour, got some food and dessert, then went back to Toby’s house. He grilled some hot dogs and we played Mario Party again (I don’t want to talk about it! I’m horrible at that game). 

While we were playing, Lea stopped by to drop off cookies she was baking. Then she went to pick up Mr. O and took him home. She said he was so tired she didn’t even get to put pajamas on him. He laid down in bed and passed out for the night, lol. 

On Saturday morning I was able to get a lot of reading done. My little family was sleeping in, exhausted from the night before, and I took advantage of that and plowed through this book I am reading. When Lea and Mr. O finally woke up, I closed my book and rushed upstairs to see them. They were getting ready to go to Home Depot for a children’s workshop class. They were meeting their friends there so the kids could all do it together. I went over to my mom’s house instead to help her move some of her things to the curb, and then we all came home around the same time. 

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m trying to get into college football this year. I try most years but can never fully invest in it, but this year feels different. I still don’t truly have a team, but that’s okay. I’ll just cheer for whatever Indiana-based team is playing. Mr. O and I watched football almost all day. It was a lot of fun! In the evening I vacuumed, mopped, and cleaned up a bit because I was disgusted at how dirty our house got throughout the week with everyone here. Now it’s nice and clean and smells good! Then Lea went to her friend’s house for the night, so it was just me and Mr. O. He had chicken nuggets for dinner and I ordered Jimmy John’s. We hung out and played until bedtime. It was a good day. 

On Sunday I had planned to go to church with Mr. O. We haven’t gone in a while and I feel like a terrible father for not taking him consistently. It’s been months, I think, and I really wanted to take him again. However, my body had other plans. When I woke up and sat up in bed, my back quickly locked up and had been in pain all day. I laid on the floor to see if that would help but it made it worse. I could not get up. Lea put one of those patches on my back and gave me a couple tylenol pills, and that helped for a while. 

While I was on the floor, waiting for some of the pain to go away, Mr. O had the audacity to say (from my bed by the way), “Daddy, you woke up me and Mommy”. I grunted in response, as I couldn’t even think of any words to say since my back was crushing me. After a while I was finally able to get up and move around a bit. Mr. O and I went downstairs and attempted to watch a church service on YouTube, but the live feed kept cutting out, so I turned the TV off. Then my aunt invited us over to swim, so we packed our things and went over there for a few hours. Mr. O loved the pool, and my back enjoyed me taking the pressure off of it by floating around on a pool noodle. Mr. O also got to play in my uncle’s boat. He had a lot of fun!

On the way home we picked up Steak N’ Shake and then ate it while watching psych. Currently, Lea is upstairs, I’m writing this, and Mr. O is snacking and watching a show before he starts playing again. It was a great week!

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About

I’m still thinking about how great it felt at work on Tuesday. Being in the office, seeing people, realizing I have a really good life and work situation. It really changed how I think and I’ve been in a better mood since then. Life is all about relationships, and to me that is worth more than a paycheck. 

I hope you enjoyed this edition of my Weekly Review! If you did, please subscribe!

Peter

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