Weekly Review 109

Hello, readers. I’m going to be honest…I’m exhausted! My heart may not be in it tonight as I write this, but I’m going to give it my best shot. I usually write my weekly reviews in the morning or early afternoon on Sundays, but tonight I’m starting to write this around 8:15 PM (that’s late in this household!). It was a long weekend, I’ll tell you all about it. 

It started on Monday. It was a bank holiday here in the U.S of A, so I was off for the day. My morning started as it usually does. I woke up before everyone else, went downstairs, ate breakfast and watched a few TikTok’s, before going upstairs to clean myself up for the day. 

By the time I’m done with all of that, Mr. O is awake and looking for me. I get him cleaned up, dressed, fed and then I pack him up in my car and take him to school. Lea helps too, but these posts are mostly about me! Plus, she is also getting ready for work and leaves early so there isn’t much she can do on some days, which is fine. She’s with him all day most of the time. 

Anyways, I put Mr. O in the car and we drove around the corner to school. He was excited, but also didn’t want to go. He never wants to go to school. He always wants to, “stay at home and play with you, daddy.” It’s the sweetest thing to hear, but I’m pretty sure he says that to guilt me! After I drop him off he usually has a really good half-day and lots of fun. 

When I came home I had about three hours to myself before I had to go back and pick him up. I started by knocking out some chores. There were three heavy bags of salt for our water softener that have been sitting in our garage for weeks. I finally had the time, energy, and hands to pick them up and take them downstairs. If you’re wondering why I wouldn’t have the hands to move them before, let me explain: I was basically one handed for about a week leading up to this Monday. I had a bad blister, but it healed quickly. 

So I took the bags downstairs. One-by-one. It’s even more difficult now that our basement is being finished and the walls are up. I have to bend and maneuver myself around all of the appliances in the basement to get to the water softener. It’s tricky but maybe it’ll help me be more flexible. 

After that I picked up all of Mr. O’s toys and whatever else was laying around our house, and then I vacuumed the upstairs and downstairs. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I put my headphones in at full blast and listened to Pardon My Take. It made the job so much faster. When I finished I realized I had a little under 2 hours left, so I treated myself to relaxing on the couch and playing PlayStation. 

As it got closer and closer to 11 AM, I turned off the games, grabbed my keys and sunglasses, and hit the road. It was time to go get my boy! He was so excited to see me. “DADDYYYYY!”, is what he yelled as he ran to me for a hug. He used to his Momma picking him up from school, but when I am off of work I surprise him. 

When we came home, the maintenance guy was waiting for us in our driveway. They weren’t supposed to come until the afternoon, so they were early. It’s okay though, he was nice about us not being home and when he got there. I mentioned this to Lea recently, but it’s funny to me how most people nowadays are our age, lol. Typically when you think of an HVAC person, plumber, electrician, you think of an older person, but now I guess we are the “old people”. At least to the younger generation. 

As he finished up his job outside, I made lunch for me and Mr. O. We ate and played and then my father-in-law showed up to continue his work in our basement. Mr. O was so happy to see him. He sprinted out the door to greet him with a big hug. 

In the evening, my mom came over and brought dinner from Cheers for all of us. She stayed and hung out a bit. Then it was bedtime. After Mr. O went to sleep, I was played some games and worked on my cousins fantasy football newsletter. It was a long day. 

On Tuesday morning I also worked on my newsletter. We have a strict publishing date of 7pm central every week! When I finished that I got ready for work. My FIL started painting the basement, while Lea and Mr. O went to have a picnic at the park. In the evening I grilled a few steaks and Lea made stuffing and corn as our sides. Then we colored with Mr. O before putting him down for the night. I ended my day by going for a walk (on my treadmill). 

On Wednesday morning it was pouring rain. Mr. O and I raced to the car, as if moving a little faster than normal would stop us from getting wet. I dropped him off at school and came home to begin my work day. Thankfully, it went by fast. In the evening, I made chicken and rice for all of us and we hung out, played, and watched TV. 

On Thursday I was up early again, but this time I put my phone down for a bit. Instead, I sat at the counter and did a couple crossword puzzles from my Harry Potter crossword book. This is a thick book. It’s going to take me forever to finish it. I’ve already been working on it (on-and-off) for almost three years I think? I don’t know, it’s been a while. 

Before I knew it, I was sitting at my desk beginning my day. The work day always goes by faster when you’re training someone. When 5PM came around, I still had stuff to do and figure out, so I stayed online an extra 30-40 minutes (employee of the year?). Later on in the evening, I played PS5 with Mrs O. He loves these Spiderman games. He mainly runs around, swings around, while I handle the missions and storyline to get us new suits to wear. He has so much fun playing with me. I love it!

On Friday Mr O and I were up early. The little man didn’t have school because he had his first ever fall break, lol. So we spent our morning playing “balloony”. I can’t tell if he made it up or if he got it from the shoe Bluey, but we spent about an hour hitting a balloon back  and forth to each other, trying to keep it off the ground. I know it’s not a new game, but I am talking about the name. When I was growing up (old man talk), we didn’t have a name for this game! 

We watched Bluey while we played, and then in the evening, we played PS5 for a little bit, watched the movie Flubber for maybe ten minutes, and colored. I let him stay up a little later than normal too. He enjoyed his extra time!

Now Saturday and Sunday were our busiest days. On Saturday morning I was up early again. My body is just used to it. I ate my breakfasts, grabbed my headlines, and laid on the couch listening to music. It was so relaxing and peaceful. I need to do it more often. Just put my phone down and let the music play. 

When the rest of my household woke up, we got ready for a 1-year-olds birthday party. It was about two hours away in Illinois, but the drive doesn’t really feel like it. Mr. O had a blast playing with all of the other kids. Lea and I enjoyed seeing our friends as well. One notable thing from the party was Mr. O yelling across the room at me, lol. “Dada! DO NOT EAT MY FOOD!” I had no intention of eating his food, but now that he screamed that and everyone was staring at me smiling, I really thought about it. He was watching me, maybe I should have taken a bite out of his meatball!

A few hours later I drove us home. Mr. O napped in the car while Lea and I tried to talk without waking him up. When we came home I changed, freshened up, and grabbed a box of cookies Lea had baked. I was heading to my friend Toby’s house to watch the Notre Dame game and hang out with him, Uncle Snak (as Mr. O calls him), and our friend Matt. No nickname for Matt, I can’t think of one right now. Sorry, buddy! 

We watched the first half of the game, then walked around the corner (at 9pm) to the grocery store. The items we picked out really showed where each of us were at in our lives. Me, being the only married one with kids, picked up a new bottle of multivitamins because I ran out a few days prior. The other three? Well they had a few cases of beer, sushi, corn (?), grapes, and multiple other snacks that I can’t remember. 

We went back to Toby’s and played a very long game of Mario Party. This was probably the most frustrating game I’ve played yet. Toby stole my one and only star. Uncle Snak stole all of my coins from me, and Matt laughed in my face about it all. I ended in last place again and I’ve come to realize I am just not good at Mario Party. 

Around 11:15PM I drove home and passed out. On Sunday morning we were all up and getting ready for church. We had a ten year memorial for my younger brother. I can’t believe it’s been ten years already! More to come on that later in the week. After church we went to Cheers with some family and had lunch and watched the bears game. Mr. O followed our waitress around and “helped” her take orders. 

Then we came home and watched the second half of the game. The bears won! They’re back, baby. Caleb Williams returned and all is right in the world. Mr. O and I played with his toys and kicked a ball back and forth. Some more family members came over to visit since they were in town, and now Mr. O is upstairs sleeping, Lea is cuddling Winston the Cat on the couch, and I am writing this on my phone on the treadmill fighting for my life not to fall off. 

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About 

I don’t have one moment in mind this week. I just love all the time I’ve been able to spend with Mr. O. He lights up my world. 

I hope you enjoyed this edition of my weekly review! If you did, you should consider subscribing. 

Peter

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