The first 4 weeks of 2026...

Monday - Saturday January 5-31, 2026

Cold AF

As I write this, we're only on the 6th week of this year, but it already feels like an eternity has gone by since my last post. But that will be material for the next post. For now, I'll focus on January, when life and the start of the year seemed full of hope and good things. 

Upon our late return after a long, long layover in Orlando seeing Mufasa die several times, I had to pivot quickly and prepare for work travel to Madison for our yearly review. The morning before I left I went on an outside run on the snowy beautiful banks of the Red Cedar. Then that evening I drove myself and some others to Detroit so we could avoid the early morning madness of travel that were the last 2 years.

Snowy banks of the Red Cedar...

While in Madison, I used the hotel for my runs and strength training; it was really cold outside, and the views aren't shabby. I love seeing frozen Lake Mendota! I got to have breakfast with Tina one of the mornings, got some work done during the free time, and the last afternoon we hung out at a coffee shop by the Capitol building before catching our ride back to the airport.

Gym with a view...

Happy place!

Other than work, I did treat myself to a manicure and pedicure that week, it was glorious. Then for the weekend, the boy and I had planned our Mom-Son trip to Cleveland, as he'd never been. My Man and I had been only for a few hours after my DragonBoat races the last 2 years, so I had figured a whole weekend made sense. It would have made more sense had it not been freezing!!!

Relaxing times...

Pupusas!

The drive there was uneventful and before we got to our hotel, we stopped at a Salvadorian place to have some delicious pupusas for dinner. Arrival at the hotel was easier than I expected considering its location (right downtown), and we quickly called it a day. 

Public square from our room!

The following morning we took a rest day because we knew we were going to be walking a lot during the day. We had breakfast at a cute place right on the square, then walked to the Arcade so the boy could check it out, then we made our way to a submarine he wanted to see but unfortunately was closed, and eventually we made it to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. 

The Arcade...

USS Cod Submarine Memorial...

Cleveland Skyline!

Long Live rock!

We got in the RRHF when it opened only to find out there were already lots of people inside. Ugh. They're also doing some construction, so some of the exhibit areas were closed. In the main area they had a cool exhibit about Saturday Night Live, so we got to see Will Farrell's clothes from the cow bell sketch, the gift boxes from Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake's dick in a box, the tuxes from the Blues Brothers... so many fun things!

Dick in a box!

My favorite part was definitely seeing the boy explore and noticing specific things, trying to see things through his eyes, which is always fun for me. And given that in 2025 some of the inductees included the Whitestripes and Soundgarden, I enjoyed the extra displays. 

The Whitestripes memorabilia... 

After the RRHF, we thought we would check out the William G. Mather, so we walked to it only to find out it was closed for the season. Boo.

William G. Mather...

From there we decided to walk to the West Side Market, which was only about 1.5 miles away, but little did I know we were going to have to go over a bridge, in the snow, with the cold wind. It wasn't a lot of fun but we did it, and eventually we found a Mexican place to have lunch where we were joined by my Man, who had decided to join us for part of the weekend!

After lunch we walked to the Market and walked around the aisles, marveling at all the food. We got some dessert there (the boy had a buckeye!) and then we drove back with my Man to our hotel to chill for a bit.

West Side Market...

Boy and Buckeye!

After resting in the hotel for a bit, we went for a walk. We took the boy to the Soldiers' and Sailor's Monument, where we ended up talking to the guy working there about things to do and see in Cleveland. And one of the things he suggested was a grocery store, so after talking to him for a while, we went for a walk on Euclid Avenue.

We stopped at the 5th Street Arcades, and went inside a couple of shops, including one where I got some fabulous earrings. We also went into a fun underground selfie space reserved for events. Very cute. 

5th Street Arcade...

From there, we walked to Heinen's Grocery Store, which is housed in the most awesome building ever to house a supermarket! It was built in 1907 as a bank, and I love that it has been preserved and is now easily accessible by people shopping for food!

Cleveland Trust Rotunda...

Inside Heinen's Supermarket...

We shopped for some snacks while there, then we walked to the Public Library, which was another gorgeous building, and where we checked out an exhibit they had on the Great Migration (incidentally I'm also reading a book about this called "The Warmth of Other Suns"), and then we walked through the stacks so the boy could see what old libraries used to look like!

Cleveland Public Library...

The other thing that was cool at the library was an exhibit about Superman. I guess I never realized that the Superman comic originated in Cleveland! It was cool, they had a nice statue and several display cases with all things Superman, including Hello Kitty, my favorite!

Supermen...

More Supermen...

SuperKitty!

Walking in the stacks, very old school...

At the library...

We had delicious Ramen for dinner and then, after taking some pictures at the Public Square, we walked back to the hotel and called it a day.

Cleveland Public Square at night!

The following day, the boy and I went to the gym to run and workout, then we drove to the Cleveland Art Museum, which was lovely. The building itself was really cool, and they had a fun fashion exhibit which had some cool gowns and some that looked like they were made for fashion while camping. Something for everybody, I guess. 

At the Art Museum...

Fashion for when you camp out in the cold...

Gorgeous dress...

More fashion of all kinds... 

More fashionable art...

My favorite piece by far in the museum was a tiny statue called the Stargazer, made out of marble, that looked like a tiny person looking up at the sky. It was really cute.

The Stargazer...

Cleveland Art Museum...

Cleveland Art Museum...

From the Art Museum we walked to the Museum of Natural History, where I think my boys were mostly amused by the Foucault's Pendulum... it's the small things.

Walking to the Museum of Natural History...

Boys and Pendulum...

Initially, the boy and I were supposed to be in Cleveland until Monday, which was a holiday (MLK Day), and my Man was going to go back home after having lunch that Sunday. However, after seeing reports of a snow storm, I decided to also go back home that afternoon, so after stopping once again at the same Salvadorian place for pupusas, we all headed back home. And I'm glad we did - Monday morning had some not fun whiteout conditions in several areas. Instead, I was able to go visit my friend Joyce in hospice, where she had been the previous week as her condition had deteriorated very rapidly. 

When I walked in, my heart ached a bit as I heard Andrea Bocelli's Romanza in the background. Her daughter Jen was playing music for her, as she mostly slept. She did wake her up to tell her I was there, and she said hello and went back to sleep. Jen and I talked for a while. She showed me the clothes Joyce had decided to be cremated in (our DragonBoat racing attire). We heard music. I held and kissed Joyce's hand. And when I was about to leave, Jen woke her up again, so I got to tell Joyce that I loved her and I would miss her but was so thankful to have shared some of this life with her. 

That week is mostly a blur. Work, workouts, the boy didn't have school Friday, so we went out for lunch at Taste of Thai with Ryker and Christe, which was nice. That afternoon I had some downtime to read and have tea, and later that evening I received the news that Joyce had died that afternoon, peacefully and surrounded by her kids and a couple of friends. The world definitely lost a bright light, but I will keep on her memory alive in me and continue being adventurous in this life!

Self care...

With Joyce!

Joyce after a DragonBoat race!

Saturday my Man and I went to his company's 20th Anniversary party. He's only been there 16 years but it was interesting to see how many of the people working there have been there almost from the beginning! We had a fun time catching up with friends, which was welcome because otherwise the weekend was really stressful. My Mom had battled pneumonia earlier in the month and had been on constant oxygen since the day we had left, and that weekend both my parents also were down with influenza, which my brother also had (and which sucked for him because sick and all he went back to Germany that Saturday!). My parents were not well, and my sister and her husband took care of them the whole weekend. 

Celebrating good times!

The following Monday the boy had a snow day, so that afternoon I took him and one of his friends to the MAC where several of them were gathering to do a track workout directed by Mo, who is the Dad of his friend Langston. I was doing a simple workout of just half track pick-ups but decided to do one pick-up with the kids. They definitely kept me humble! I couldn't even keep up for 400m with them!

With a fun group of children!

The rest of the week was another blur. My Dad was recovering from the flu, my Mom not as quickly. I had work, worked out; went to get my eyes checked and ended up getting new glasses (progressives, which I am actually loving as I write this!) then went back to do my retina check-up; ortho appointment for the boy, Gena's last week with us! That one was painful when she first brought it up! She's been working with us and helping me stay sane in a clean house for 16 years! Thankfully by then I had already looked for help and had someone in line. 

Catherine O'Hara died that Friday, January 30th. That made me sad. 

And Saturday January 31st we had our Feuerzangenbowle party. This time I had ordered tamales and ended up making a lot of a Mexican corn dish and refried beans to go with them. It was a busy, busy day and we had fun with friends at home. 

Feuerzangenbowle in the making!

Feuerzangenbowle!

Feuerzangenbowle with boy and friends!

The boy had planned to have his friends stay for a sleepover after the party, for which I was very, very grateful once the party was over. As people left and I finally checked my cellphone for updates on my family, I learned my Mom's condition had worsened. I ended up calling my sister and basically hearing that my Mom had "days left", so I quickly got tickets to fly out the next morning. But more on that on the next post...

This December really needed some shamanic cleansing! Here goes 2026!

Monday - Sunday December 1, 2025 - January 4, 2026

Cold then warmer than I thought it'd be!

As I mentioned in the November post, I ended the Thanksgiving break with strep, which wasn't fun at all. Fever, headaches, swollen glands, just awful. I took a break from working out while I was on antibiotics, which really sucked because I had finally gotten to a place where running and lifting weights was fun. Alas, such is life.

That week sort of flew by with work. I skipped Tae Kwon Do because of being sick and on meds, and only by the weekend I went back to running indoors at the MAC. That Sunday afternoon I gathered with the extended group of running ladies for our Book Club and delicious cookies. 

Snow and gray skies... winter must be coming to Michigan!

The following week also flew by with work. I started doing short runs and got back to lifting weights and Tae Kwon Do. The boy had no school that Friday. I also started the round of holiday celebrations that eventually led to my pre-Mexico trip demise, with a lunch with my running ladies on Thursday, a holiday party at Jamie and Maureen's on Friday night, coffee and shopping in Howell with Adrianna on Saturday afternoon, and Amy's 50th birthday dinner on Saturday evening, then brunch at our house with Joe and Stephen on Sunday. 

Jamie setting up the Christmas pudding on fire... 

New Christmas ornaments... 

The new German Christmas ornament... 

The following Monday (December 15th) I woke up sniffly so I stayed home, only going out to have lentil soup at Woody's with Sibel and the Winter Concert from the boy at ELHS that evening. Tuesday I felt equally sniffly and congested so I took a rest day from working out hoping things would clear out by Thursday, when we were flying to Monterrey to be there in time for some appointments my Dad had made that Friday, but most importantly, to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary that Saturday with the whole family; my sister who lives in Scotland had gotten there in early December, and my brother was arriving Wednesday night and planning to stay with us at our place, so it was a big deal to be healthy, especially since that Saturday for my parents' anniversary we had planned on having an indoor meal at a private room in a fancy restaurant. 

ELHS Winter Concert... 

All this to say that on Thursday really early in the morning, as we got ready to leave home around 5:30 am to get on the 6 am Michigan Flyer to DTW, I decided very-last minute to do a Covid test just to make sure it was just the sniffles and not Covid... but of course, it was fucking Covid. I texted my sister Claudia, who I knew was up early... To say I was upset and angry and disappointed and so depressed would be an understatement. I eventually texted my whole family to let them know about this, fully knowing it would completely mess up the plans we had for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday, which included an indoor meal at a fancy restaurant (which would have been the first time my parents were inside a restaurant since January 2020). 

The start of a very shitty couple of weeks... 

And then this happened on the flight... 

The trip there was mostly uneventful (mostly because I did break my glasses at some point!), which considering we had a short layover in Orlando (my newest addition to airports I hate), I was grateful for. We got to Monterrey and got a cab to our place, and I was so happy and thankful that shortly after we had gotten there, my Dad showed up (masked, of course, as was I indoors so that my boys wouldn't get infected, thought at that point we had been hanging out maskless for 4 days already!). He was bringing us some basic groceries for breakfast, which I very much appreciated. Then he asked if we wanted to have dinner with them outside, so of course I said yes! We had sushi with my parents and my brother that evening (and again, I was masking outside, only removing the mask to put food in my mouth, and sitting on the other end of the table from my parents!), but unfortunately I didn't get to see my sisters that night. 

Friday was busy. The boy went for a run and since I was feeling better but still testing positive, I went on a slow walk just so I could move. My Man walked with me. Later that day, we went with my parents and my brother to a Notary Public to finally sign some documents related to the condo, which I knew my Dad had been stressing about, and which thankfully I was able to sign (there was some uncertainty about whether I'd be able to given my having Covid!). That afternoon I finally got to see my sisters - the last time the 3 of us had been together was in November 2019! We also met up with my cousin's widower and her kids, briefly, before having dinner with my parents. Such short moments, but I was happy the boy got to see his cousins and 2nd cousins. 

Happy place... 

Cousins reunited a year and a half later!

Saturday morning we were out again at Fundidora running (the boy, my Man), and walking (me). Then we started getting ready for our family photo session at 11 am. We had all planned on wearing gold dresses, and I had found a really cool and comfy pair of red heels to make it extra fun. And just as we had finished showering and were getting ready, we lost power, which meant I couldn't really do much with my hair. Luckily, messy buns are always a thing. 

Anniversary couples! (50th for my parents, 21st for us!)

How do you know a family runs? Don't worry, they'll show you their Garmin!

That picture above is funny. At some point the photographer asked me if I wanted to remove my watch because many women forget about it and only later when looking at the photos, they seem annoyed by it. I told her that was one of my expensive pieces of jewelry so I was definitely keeping it on! And I'm also proud of my hard work in that you can see my calf and tricep muscles! It's been a journey!

The ~40 min session was really fun. We did pictures with the whole family, then some of each of the families, then some of my parents and the grandchildren. Even though I was a bit bummed out Alberto (the photographer who took our pictures back in 2019) wasn't able to do this session, I was thankful for this new photographer one of my ChemE classmates recommended, especially because she was able to go meet us there, which is a big plus. I love that area!

The whole family!

My parents and the grandchildren!

My parents and their children!

The whole family again!

My sister and her family left Sunday morning to go back to Scotland, and the rest of that weekend and right until Christmas Eve (when I finally tested negative!), our days pretty much consisted on going for morning runs/walks, eating outside with my parents (lunch or dinner), going for evening walks sometimes with my brother. We did go to Luztopia, which was cool. 

Paseo Santa Lucia... 

Chilaquiles... 

Happy uncle and nephew!

Monterrey from a ferris wheel!

For Christmas Eve we had our dinner at my parents' place. It was delicious. They had it catered, as they've done in past years, and the chef is fantastic. The salmon was yummy, as was the soup, and the dessert (the best cake!). We ate, then opened presents (and I always love looking at everybody opening their presents before I open mine!). It was a good night for sure.

The following morning my brother joined us to go for a run, which was great, until he had a positive covid test later that morning. But alas, we would realize it was false positive later on, so all was mostly ok. The rest of the time was mostly spent hanging out with my parents and brother, running some errands with him as he tried to make my sister's condo (where he was staying) a bit more comfortable (the crazy husband from Sleeping with the Enemy comes to mind, ha!), and watching Stranger Things!

Running with my boys!

Stranger Things!

Delicious breakfast at Tia Toñis!...

Acción Poética... 

Eventually we were able, just the remaining siblings (and without my parents, which was unfortunate), to go to the fancier restaurant where we were supposed to have the anniversary dinner. I was amazed by the boy's willingness to try different food including oysters and octopus!

Oysters anyone...

Octopus!

Other interesting happenings where the boy's ear getting stopped by wax and being checked by my Dad, then going to an ear doctor to have it cleaned on New Year's Eve day (so thankful for the doctor who was working that day!). The last few days we were there it got slightly colder, so I was amused by the local TV news saying how hot coffee and bread helps (I mean, they're not incorrect). I have to say, I found it hilarious that my Man would wake up and turn the local TV channel on. The level of product placement, the attire of the weather ladies... it's just a reminder that we're somewhere else for sure!

When your Grandfather is a pediatrician... 

Family meal at El Papalote!

Sandalias elegantes, $120 pesitos... 

Tips for cold mitigation... 

Beautiful morning run view!

We also were able to go to Galerias Monterrey with my brother and sister one of the afternoons. My latest thing is that I want to wear red lipstick most of the time, so whenever I'd see a red lipstick I liked, I'd ask the person about it. At Galerias I was able to get 2 different ones, one from a Mexican brand called Bissú, and another one from Yves Rocher. Fun times. I also got to enjoy some Gorditas Doña Tota!

Gorditas...

Elote...

Amarres anyone?

Ear cleaning... 

For New Year's Eve we had tamales as usual, and we spent a lot of time talking about music. To my surprise, I learned my Dad likes Lenny Kravitz. Spotify was useful in quickly finding songs and music from all different eras and genres. I tortured my family with some of my favorite cumbias these days (including Grupo Frontera's "No se va"), it was really fun. I laughed when New Kids on the Block came up and my sister also remembered some of the steps. 

My parents on the last night of 2025!

The one thing that really bummed me out (though not as much as it bummed out the boy) was that I had signed us up to do a race the last day of the year. The boy was super excited because looking at the finishing times, he had a good chance of finishing in the first spots. BUT, because I'm dumb, we completely missed the packet pick-up the day before and found out there was no day-of packet pick-up, which of course I can complain about how stupid and unfair that whole thing was, but alas, that's what it was. So yeah, first time for everything. I felt so, so bad for the boy, but alas, he still went on a run and I was very proud of him for that. 

We got 2026 started with a run at Fundidora, and had a nice day with my parents and brother, our last full day there, as we were leaving in the morning of the 2nd back to the tundra. I had mentally prepared for passing 5 hours or so at the Orlando airport, but as it turned out, we were there over 8 hours! We had initially planned on spending the night in Detroit, as our flight was supposed to land shortly before 11 pm, which was the time when the last Michigan Flyer left. Instead, we saw Mufasa died about 5 times in Orlando (we were sitting across a mini theater that was showing The Lion King in a loop), and didn't get to Detroit until 2:40 am or something. By the time the hotel shuttle showed up (super late, I was not impressed) and we went to bed, it was 4:30 am. Still, we got the Flyer at 7:30 am and by 10 am on January 3rd we were finally home!

Arrival back in Michigan!

The rest of the weekend was spent getting ready for the the coming week (grocery shopping, laundry, etc), and on Sunday, after going for a nice and cold morning run on campus, I drove back to DTW with coworkers for a meeting, but more about that on the next blog update!