Covid-19 Log Days 612-618

Monday-Sunday November 15-21, 2021

Coldish but humid...

I started my Monday and my week with a nice run with Katharine in her neighborhood. As stated above, it was cold alright but it felt humid, which makes for a sweaty, cold run. My legs had definitely appreciated the rest the previous days, but it was nice to run again. 

I decided to work from home that day, which was nice. Starting that day and then Tuesday, I was doing a low-fiber diet to start prepping for the colonoscopy I'd have later in the week. Turns out I really missed eating grapes and mandarines those 2 days. But it was the usual, work, then get the boy, then work some more from home.  

Tuesday morning I overslept so ended up skipping my workout, but I still got ready in time to drop the boy off and then work at my office on campus for a change. I had lunch with a friend, and after picking up the boy from school, he and I went shopping for fancy clothes at Kohl's, which ended up being mostly disappointed. Evidently kids these days don't really dress up, so we only found a couple of shirts and pants, but no suits, no dress shoes, and no dress socks. All those had to be ordered online. Boo. That evening I finished the 3rd season of Outlander. Jamie is so judgmental of modern women! Then the boys and I started watching the HBO version of His Dark Materials. I'm still not sure about Mrs. Coulter's casting... I mean, even James McAvoy as Asriel is not entirely doing it for me, but I'll watch some more episodes and see how that goes. Also on Tuesday evening I had a glorious massage in the basement - Rheyn rocks!

Oh Jamie... 

Happiness!

Wednesday morning Katharine and I had a nice run to celebrate her birthday. Then I proceeded to start my day of liquid diet, which ... didn't really suck as much as I thought it would. I basically had black coffee, one container of jell-o, and water and tea to last me through the day. I had decided to work from home just in case, and that was nice. Lather that afternoon I had my family call and everybody continues to do well, though my brother shared how things have not been great with the rising cases of Covid in Germany (as I write this, Austria is starting a 20-day lockdown... and still people refuse to vaccinate!!! Sigh!). 

Jell-o... it's me... 

At 6:00 pm that evening, I took the first dose of pills. 12 pills to take with 16 oz of water in a period of 20 minutes, followed by 32 oz of water in the next hour. Looking back on the whole thing, this was definitely the worst part of the experience: the nausea and fullness of drinking so much liquid in such a short period of time! But it went ok - I didn't throw up nor anything. I watched lots of Outlander to stay distracted, and within an hour of taking the pills, they started taking effect, which wasn't as bad as I had imagined. 

Slàinte!

Thankfully the effect passed after ~3-4 hours, so I was actually able to sleep. Other than being hungry, my biggest fear had been not being able to sleep through the night, but thankfully I did. 

Then on Thursday I woke up at 6 am to have a cup of coffee before the second dose of pills. And same as the night before, within 3 hours things were done and... clear. Just as they should be, evidently. My Man picked me up at 11 am and drove me to the Surgery Center, where I checked in and proceeded to wait for my procedure. One of the things that made me laugh as they put a breathing line on my nose was the anesthesiology nurse joking that our ears were going to have to evolve to accommodate more things hanging from them (masks, breathing lines...). You could hear everything while waiting, and I got to hear the comments to 3 people who were discharged during that time; all 3 of them had polyps and 2 were going to need further surgery for removal. It was hard not to feel humbled by the whole process.

The procedure went by quickly, and I woke up about 1 h later to the awesome news that everything was great and I don't need to do this in the next 10 years, so yay! They emphasized that due to the anesthesia I shouldn't make important decisions or sign important papers in the next 24 hours, so naturally I texted my speed workout girls telling them this and saying how this would be the perfect time to sign up for races - Jocelyn joked they should find a 50K for me to do, ha!

The rest of the day I spent resting on the couch, re-hydrating and watching more Outlander. That evening one of my friends called me to check on me, which was nice, and we made plans to catch up some more in January when the boy and I do a Mom-Son trip to Houston, but more on that later! And most importantly, I was able to eat again! First a banana and some soup right after the procedure, then some Woody's that evening. It was great. 

Friday morning I seemed to have some strength back in me so I got up early and drove to Haslett to meet my girls for a speed workout. Thankfully it was not a super tough one - 12 repeats of 30 seconds of hard effort, so it was quite doable (so much so we miscounted and ended up doing 13 repeats!).

Lovely morning view!

Lovely moon!

The rest of Friday was fine. That evening we ended up bailing on Silver Bells. Partly because we were tired but mostly because of the crazy rising Covid-19 cases in Michigan. It's not that we're not doing outdoor events - we are planning on doing the Turkey Trot next week, but I figured that's already a biased section of the population that tends to be somewhat healthier and you're moving for 30 minutes, vs. standing in the same place with people yelling for over an hour. Risk perception is a thing. So instead we stayed home, had sushi, and watched some more of his Dark Materials. It was nice. 

Saturday morning I got back to strength training, then we got ready for the bat mitzvah celebration of one of the daughters of friends of ours in town. It was really nice to be in the synagogue with every single person wearing a mask inside. It was also nice to dress up and get to wear one of the many dressier dresses I haven't had a chance to wear! Sure, I like having dresses, but some of these I had bought for the cruise we were going to do last year in the Baltic that we ended up not doing. The event was nice, then we did lunch there and went home to chill for a bit. The boy spent the afternoon at Ryker's before coming back home to get ready for the party in the evening at the Huntington Club on campus. Fancy for sure. 

Spartans...

We clean up nicely...

The dress was a bit long for me but without dancing it wasn't a problem. We sat a table with Dan's cousin and her parents; we had met her before at our house for a Christmas celebration some years before, and we really enjoyed talking about traveling and cultures. My people for sure!

Sunday I did a nice 9.2-mi run with Katharine, then had a mostly lazy day watching Outlander and prepping the house for the in-law parental invasion next week. My Man's parents will come and visit us for Thanksgiving which is nice. The last time they were here was 6 years ago, when Cristina was still living in town. That day we had gone to do the Turkey Trot in the morning (PR for me then!) and then we had had a nice late lunch/early dinner at our house. This time it will be similar except it won't be Cristina but Lauren spending the day with us (and running the Turkey Trot). It should be a good time. 

When you are Lord Grey and you enjoy time amongst the commoners...

And that's basically been it. Lots of work, medical check-ups, Outlander... Seems about right for this time of year! Hope you are all doing well and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday if you celebrate it!

Covid-19 Log Days 605-611

Monday-Sunday November 8-14, 2021

Outlander... 

That's right. That's the weather for this past week. 

I feel the week flew by. I skipped the run on Monday morning and Katharine and I ran on Tuesday morning instead. Then we ran again on Wednesday and I ran with Jocelyn in Williamston on Thursday for a change. I feel bad she's the one who always drives into town, so I offered to go run with her that day instead. We did 6x2-min repeats @5K pace (~7:20 min/mi) which were a lot of fun. Unfortunately the boy and I weren't motivated to do Tae Kwon Do during the week... oh well. Also on Thursday Strava picked up on the fact that I've passed my yearly running goal of 1200 miles, so Jocelyn said I didn't have to run the rest of the year. Believe me, I thought about it!

What else. The boy has really been excited to practice his cornet, which I love, especially when both my boys go to the basement and play together, be it trombone and cornet or piano and cornet. It's so cute. I also love that the boy inherited my Dad's ability to play by ear, which means he's been trying to get some songs out, including the Rocky theme song ("Gonna fly now").  

My musical boys...

On Wednesday I had my family call and everybody is doing well, which fills my heart. I am getting very, very excited about seeing my parents and my sister in Monterrey; and I really hope my brother can join us. I still have to get our tickets to visit my sister in Scotland (and her bairns - I will confess, that has been so far my favorite new word learned from Outlander!) for spring break next year, but that'll be done soon. Plane tickets are crazy expensive! But... in the words of the grandpa from Jurassic Park, spare no expense! Family is important especially after the last 2 shitty years we've had apart!

Other than work (some from home, some from my office at MSU), and working out, the week went by quickly, especially since it was a 4-day week for me, as I was taking Friday off for my annual spa(less) trip with Mayra and Isabel, who was joining us from Utah. So on Thursday, after several meetings, I picked up the boy, packed, and as it was starting to snow/rain, I left town and headed west to pick up Isabel from the Gd. Rapids airport before making it to Mayra's house to have dinner. We ate pizza, then headed up north to our cabin in the Crystal Spa resort. 

The trip was much needed. The last time the 3 of us had been at the spa together was back in 2018, but as usual, we basically picked up where we had left off last time we met. It was so great to just hang out and recharge. We slept in, watched TV (in addition to my own Outlander binging from bed with my computer!), ate munchies. I enjoyed making breakfast for all of us, and we went to Frankfort to see the amazing Lake Michigan on a gorgeous windy, cloudy day. We also made it to Betsie Point; the lighthouse was closed, but we walked around some and stared at the lake. 

Lake Michigan from Frankfort...

Friends near Betsie Point... 

After some driving around and stopping for chocolate/chai at a place in Frankfort, and also stopping at a supermarket and feeling like I was hanging with Cameron Diaz's character in the holiday as she shops along for the munchies, we went back to the house and did yoga (with Adriene) and then we did our nails (well, Mayra did her nails and I did Isabel's nails). It was great to have some girl time like that!

Yoga with Adriene... 

Nail time!

That evening we ate some pizza and tapas, watched Love Hate (meh), and then watched the 1st episode of El Inocente, a Spanish series on Netflix. 1 episode was all that I could take, but they stayed up to watch 2 more; I went to bed with my laptop and watched some more Outlander before calling it a day.

Saturday morning I had planned to go for a run, but I woke up to wet snow and wind, so decided to take another rest day. I knew my body would thank me for it. Instead, I watched some more Outlander, then went downstairs where Mayra was already up. We talked, ate, packed, and eventually left. It was nice. We drove along M-22 and stopped near Arcadia to marvel some more at the lake, then we made it back to Grand Rapids, where I dropped them off and went back home to my boys. 

Lake Michigan from Arcadia...

Sunday morning I ended up taking another rest day at home. The evening before I had slept with the boy in the basement and watched some more Sound of Music. He told me about some difficulties he is having in middle school - I kept thinking of Ben Folds' "Still Fighting It" song - how it hurts to grow up. I hate it, in a way. He's such a sensitive and empathic child and I hate that some of that innocence will be gone in the next couple of years. I know it's part of growing up, and I love that he trusts me to talk about it, but still... 

We called my sister in Scotland to congratulate my nephew on his 4th birthday - crazy to think they were here 2 years ago! - then we got ready and drove back to Grand Rapids to have brunch at Mayra's so Isabel could also see my boys. We had a great visit, and then on our drive back we dropped Isabel off at the airport and came back home to have a nice, mellow rest of the day. I FT with my parents for a while, it was great. 

Hope your week was fine! Wish me luck this coming week!

Covid-19 Log Days 598-604 - And on day 603, the child got his first Covid shot!!! Praised be Science!!!

Monday-Sunday November 1-7, 2021

Cold then slightly warmer

It's safe to say this week was slightly manic-depressive. It certainly had more emotions than my pandemic stress-filled brain could handle for sure, as demonstrated by the total hiding-under-a-rock, sick-to-my-stomach day I had yesterday, but I get ahead of myself. Let's keep it to last week's events.

I started my Monday with a nice run at Katharine's, then did the usual morning hurried routine, and took the boy to school before heading back home to work. Later in the day I went to pick up the boy and marveled at the beautiful fall colors on campus. 

Fall's here...

Once home, the boy did some extra work, then he and I joined a virtual Tae Kwon Do class (via zoom) for the first time in forever! My groin wasn't thrilled with the kicking, but it was so good to be back at class. 

Ready for Tae Kwon Do again!

Tuesday morning I did strength with my friend Senada, then took the boy to school and headed to work. We had people coming that day to finally do our driveway (you know, the one thing we had actually planned to update this fall; had given the downpayment the Monday before the flood back in August!), so I figured I should be out of the way for the most part. I did get a picture from our neighbor when they started breaking apart the old driveway. It looked surreal. 

Bye bye, old driveway...

By the time I got home for lunch, they had taken out all the old concrete and cement and were starting to grade the area. It looked crazy. Part of the project was to install a trench near the entrance to the garage, so they also had to dig an area by the top of our yard so that can drain near the stones we have in the back. Later the guy would suggest that when we have the landscapers come back in the spring, we consider installing something like a French drain along the steps to help make it better. We shall see.

Dirt driveway...

Prepping the trench drain...

After picking up the boy from school, he went with me to vote (only minor elections in town but still a nice civic duty to perform), ran some errands, then got home to work some more before calling it a day. That evening, for the Day of the Dead, we had Rheyn, Badge and little Daisy over. I made chilaquiles and we had Pan de Muerto and chocolate Abuelita for dessert. It was nice.

Pan de muerto y chocolate Abuelita...

That night the vaccine for kids was approved, so late at night I scrambled to try and get the boy an appointment for next week. Initially I found an appointment for next Wednesday, so I booked that, but hoped that the next day would provide some more options, which thankfully it did. 

Wednesday morning I looked up for more vaccination appointments and was able to find him an appointment for Saturday, which was great. Then I ran around campus with Katharine in the morning and worked during the day, partly at my office and partly at home after Gena had come here to clean and provide some sanity for me. I also had my family call later in the day; everyone is doing fine. I finally told my parents that we're going in December, especially now that we have the certainty that the boy will be fully immune by the time of our travel. It feels so good to know I'll see them soon!!! It's been way too long. 

Thursday I met Claire and Jocelyn at the track to start Jocelyn's training plan for the next 11 weeks. We ran 2 easy miles to warm up, then 8x1-min @7 min/mi with a 2-min recovery, then ran ~1.4-mi to complete a total of 6 miles. It was awesome. I really love speed workouts! The rest of the day was ok. I was home while they poured the concrete on the driveway. The only set back was that they screwed up a wall by what I imagine must have been an egress window (but it no longer is), so they said they'd fix it. 

Let the pouring begin!

Driveway done in the back!

That evening I had to go get a pelvic ultrasound to rule out other issues about my groin pain; I still think it was just overstretching it, but they wanted to make sure it wasn't something weird with my ovaries. It was fun holding liquids for an hour, let me tell you! But thankfully it was quick and I was able to sleep almost as soon as I got home. 

Friday morning Jocelyn and Claire came over and we ran to campus from my house, easy 5 miles. I had an easy morning as the boy didn't have school; we had gotten notice that the schools would be closed since the teachers had had a vaccination clinic the day before and they were preparing for potential side-effects and stuff, which was fine, but then they also added how the kids "needed a much-needed break". Give me a break! They had a bunch of half days already due to P-T conferences! But I digress. 

Knowing I'd feel guilty for working and ignoring my child, I planned ahead with Christe and Ryker came over and spent the day here. They had a lot of fun. Played Nintendo, legos, and even made bracelets and stuff. 

Crafty BFFs...

Checking out a new store in town...

I worked in the morning and then picked up JJ for lunch for all of us. Later in the afternoon I took them to check out Quark, a new store in town, and we got cookies. Then we took Ryker home and I talked to Christe for a while. 

That evening we had dinner at Adrianna's. She had made a delicious, DELICIOUS mushroom soup with mushrooms brought from Poland. So, so good. We ate, talked, had some bubbly sweet red wine, and played the newer version of Life, which was fun. 

The future of life choices...

Saturday morning I went on a nice 9-mi run with Katharine. We had originally planned to run to Hawk Island, but then I remembered the bridge before Aurelius isn't completed yet, so we ran on campus and then to Crego to get our 9 miles. Unlike the previous weekend, I felt totally fine. 

When I got home I ate quickly, then the boy and I headed to Walgreens for his Covid-19 vaccination appointment. We had to wait some which of course only made him more nervous. He was trying to be funny, but as we got into the little vaccination area, I could see him shivering and clenching up. I kept telling him to look at me and just relax, and in the 1 second he was able to do so, the pharmacist got the shot in and he was thrilled he didn't even feel it. To say that I'm thankful for Science would be a complete understatement. I wish everyone had the same level of awe and respect towards it. But alas... I know that's not the case. But for us, one step towards some more normalcy.

Waiting for his Covid-19 vaccine!

The rest of Saturday was ok. Ran some errands; went to my office to pick up my old keyboard and mouse, then to Best Buy to get another monitor so I can properly set up the house office again. 

We had some down time in the afternoon, which I used to start watching Outlander. And I must say... better late than never! My sister had told me about it years ago, when we went to visit them in Scotland and we actually went to the cairn where the my sister claims the author got the idea for the book series (I will confess - I did not travel in time when I touched the stones).  My parents also told me about it last year, but I'm not big on period pieces, so I didn't. Why did I finally did on Saturday? Who knows. Maybe Shiva knew I needed the entertainment in the days to come. 

I also finally made reservations for an AirBnB for when we go visit my parents in Monterrey for Christmas, and for a Mother-Son weekend that the boy and I will have in January, but more on that later. That evening we had dinner at Joe and Stephen's. We played Apples to Apples, ordered sushi, and had a wonderful time with our friends. It was nice.

Sunday morning right after waking up I saw an email with some questions from the AirBnB woman, which led me to think she hadn't really read my whole message to her. I had just gotten my coffee, sat down, opened the AirBnB website, and had just finished telling my Man "can I just have 1 day with things that aren't out of the ordinary?" when, at 6:55 am, I got a text from American Express asking if I was trying to make a charge at Meijer for a bit over $200, and to press 1 if yes and 2 if not and call them. So I did. I figured someone had gotten a hold of my card number. As I was talking to the customer service rep, he asked that just for security purposes I give him some numbers in my card, so I asked my Man to please get my wallet from the car. Next thing I know he's coming in freaking out, with my wallet open and half empty. I immediately blocked my card and told the guy I'd call later as this was now a bigger deal. 

I initially thought they had just taken everything that wasn't in the wallet when my Man brought it in, but no. When I went to the car, all the stuff was scattered in the passenger seat: my Mexican DL, my Mexican voting ID (yes. I carry them with me at all times). Covid vaccination cards for me and the boy. My marriage license, the boy's birth certificate, and a copy of my name change order, since the boy and I don't have the same last name and I've had to show them at times. I never carry cash, so naturally I had about $70 from the pizza party for cross country, where people had given me cash instead of paying electronically. Gift cards... and the ones that hurt the most: my aviator Ray Bans. Sigh. 

My Man called the police and an officer quickly made it to our house for the report. My Man started calling our bank to block our card. We scrambled to find my car keys. The officer kindly reminded me that the only person at fault here was the person who stole the stuff. I was so very thankful to American Express for their tracking AI - I already have a suspicious activity alert that allows me to approve a purchase at the spot (hence the "press 1 if this is you" from the text I had gotten), so that allowed them to let me know immediately. Had they gone to the Meijer near our house, maybe that wouldn't have happened. He said that between the time of day and the video security at Meijer, they might be able to figure out who did it. He also said he wouldn't be surprised if others in the neighborhood called with similar incidents. And yes. I was still in my pajamas, slippers, my jacket, and my crazy hair talking to the guy, without a sip of coffee, the horror!

So yeah. Not a great start to our day. Blocking cards. Seeing what else had been taken. My Man drove me to get another wallet (I loved that wallet from Matt & Nat but the zipper was broken, so I had to settle for a crappier one for now). We did some house stuff. And later in the afternoon we met friends for a wonderful walk at Woldumar. 4 families. Lots of kids. Nice talking to the adults. It was nice for the soul but I could already feel the unraveling of anxiety taking hold of my belly as we drove there. Since mid August, things have been a bit more than I can handle...

Boy at Woldumar...

Kids in nature... #PureMichigan...

Charades in nature...

And that was pretty much the day. I watched some more Outlander that evening. And I have to say, I've gotten some good laughs with some of the dialogue. My sister unfortunately has been getting my running commentary on it. How did I live all these years without Jamie Fraser I'll never understand... 

Ah... Jamie Fraser... you'll learn... 

Hope your week went well...

Covid-19 Log Days 591-597

Monday-Sunday October 25-31, 2021

Nice... and cooler... 

Another week... and with that, October is done. 

Let's see. I took Monday off from working out; I hadn't planned on it but Katharine canceled, but my body needed the break after the half on Sunday so I just took the morning off from running. Instead, I slept in a bit, had a nice lazy morning, took the boy to school, then basically talked to the painter when he got here and got a list of the things he'd be working on the next 4 days, mostly in the basement: lots of closet and cabinet doors, stairs, walls, floors, and building a table. The only non-basement things were to paint the outside of a door upstairs and to put back the fence on our driveway. 

I used some of that morning to start working on our trust things (changing accounts to put them in the name of the trust, same with beneficiaries and stuff like that). Some might take longer than others but at least I got the process started. I also got annoyed that one of my car headlights was out (mostly because I had just had it replaced some weeks before), but figured my car was up for a scheduled maintenance, so I would just deal with that then. Still, it definitely got on my nerves to be driving around with weird lights, especially in the mornings on the way to the boy's school since it's already darker. 

The painter had gotten started, and around noon, we had a pair of electricians here as well. They were part of the sump pump installation (the pump needs its own connection), and they were kind enough to fix an outlet for me so we can have an extra one near the laundry area, so that was nice. They were quick, and by the end of the day, the painter had done some prepping and we had extra electrical outlets, so all was good. My Man was home briefly; he had come near here to return the boy's rental trumpet (now that he has his own cornet), so he stopped by to check out  the electrical work. Other than that, I tried to get as much work done as the noise in the basement allowed, but overall, it was a good day. The boy did piano in the evening and we had leftover Indian food for dinner. 

Does the cat have a mask? 

Tuesday morning I did strength and spin, then got ready and took the boy to school and got home to work. Had a couple of meetings during the day and thankfully it was a mellow day. The painter made a lot of progress downstairs. After getting the boy from school, he came home and went for a run. I'm loving that as soon as he gets home from school, at least Monday-Thursday, his plan is to run 1-2 miles to keep some of his fitness over the winter. Let's hope he sticks to it. 

Wednesday morning I ran with Katharine on campus, then the usual getting ready and taking the boy to school. I worked, made myself some tuna mushroom pesto with pasta for lunch and talked to my sister Claudia and my nephews, worked some more before getting the boy, and then had a nice, mellow afternoon/evening that included my family call. The boy had French... and the painter had done most of the work except the stairs. So all was good. 

Thursday morning I was supposed to meet Jocelyn for a mellow run but I didn't sleep well so I bailed on her and felt awful about it. Oh well, such is life. The day was basically the same. Boy to school. Work. Met a friend quickly for lunch. Worked some more, and then talked to the painter for a bit to see the work he had done. After he left that afternoon, I ran to Home Depot to pick up some double-sided tape I had ordered for the stair treads I had ordered, then got the boy from school. 

Laundry room... updated...

Workshop room... updated...

That dinner, after evening, we were picked up by the Alwins and headed out to Commerce Township north of Novi, as we had tickets to check out the Glenlore Trails; a ~1-2-mi "haunted" trail that Lauren had recommended. It didn't disappoint, though I wish the drive there had been a little shorter considering it was during the week! Our tickets were at 7:45 pm and we didn't get home until almost 10 pm. But I am thankful Tom drove and we all rode the Alwin party van, so that was fun. 

Boys at the haunted trails...

Come into this pumpkin...

Ghosts!

Going into the light...

The disco section...

Friday morning I did meet the girls (Jocelyn, Al and Al's dog) at my house for an easy campus run in the glorious rain, so that was nice. Then I got home and got ready to take the boy to school, then drove to Spartan Toyota to take my car for maintenance (and to check the lights). As it turned out, most of the lights were out, so they fixed that and did the 5K maintenance, so I ended up being there almost 3 hours. I had brought my laptop along so I was able to work, so that wasn't bad. 

I picked up JJ on the way home, ate, then headed to MSU to work for a bit and have an in-person meeting with Adrianna and Ashley at the VC room, where I hadn't been in forever. It was bizarre. Once that was done I got the boy from school, then we went to Whole Foods to pick up a couple of things I needed for dinner, then we came home and chilled for a bit before I started cooking. Zacch was coming over for dinner (the happiest runner you'll ever meet!), and I had planned to make Huitlacoche Alfredo, and we had a really nice dinner. That evening the boys slept in the basement and I had a great night of sleep for a change.

Saturday morning I woke up and got ready for my long run. Katharine and I had planned to run at Peacock to avoid the campus madness (what campus madness you say? MSU and UofM were playing each other in town and it was cray!). And I'm glad I did. Just getting out of my neighborhood was insane with traffic at 7:40 am! (the game was at noon!). And unfortunately that just wasn't my day to run. We had planned on 9-10 miles, but 7 was all that I could do that morning. I felt tired and just off, so why overdo it. Other than that, the scenery was beautiful.

Beautiful fall run...

Scenery on the way home...

We spent most of the day working in the basement, putting things back in place, organizing things, throwing away stuff. I refuse to live in squalor! And every couple of years I go through a phase of just wanting to purge (closets, the attic, the basement), and I'm glad I have! Otherwise it would have been worse! But we made some good progress that day, so that was good. The boy, of course, spent an unreal amount of time on technology, and eventually, the only way I could get him away was by showing him the videos of the debauchery around campus. 

I figured, just like my Mom's stories about teen pregnancies were the best form of birth control for me, maybe seeing all the college students' idiocy will be the best way to prevent the boy from being a moron when he is off to college. And believe me, there were plenty of examples, including this one right around our house. So naturally, I asked the boy if he wanted to go for a walk to check it out, which he did. We walked by the frat house in that Twitter video and saw the charred remains of the couch. Thoughts and prayers indeed.

Hold your couches tight...

Then, as we kept walking, I saw some smoke coming out from one of the student rentals' area, so naturally I suggested we walked there. When we got to the area, we saw the firefighters actively putting out a couch on fire as some dumbass was pouring something on it to make it worse. The boy got to see the firemen yell at the student and sit him down. We had passed some houses where students were having drunken fun in their yards, so it's very clear to see the line between having a fun time and being a fucking vandal. Plus, we talked about the potential issues of these burns. What if your house was on fire and the firefighters couldn't get there because they're putting out a couch? What if it was your car that had been flipped? 

Another one bites the dust...

And that was pretty much Saturday. My Man picked up sushi for us that evening and we watched the awfulness that is the latest Bill and Ted movie (most sucky!), then the boy and I slept in the basement. He and I started watching Sound of Music, which made me day. I love these moments with him! And I actually slept mostly ok, which was good.

Sunday morning I woke up and my Man was already up. I had every intention of working out at some point during the day, but instead I focused on finishing the TCBA newsletter, then we got working on the basement (shelves for storage, building a bigger wine rack for all the wine we don't drink, etc) and before I knew it, it was 1 pm and I was tired, so needless to say, no workout was done, just house stuff.

Basement stairs are looking amazing!

I talked to my parents at some point during the day, they are doing well, thankfully. Then Christe and Ryker came over, we had pizza and salad, then I drove them and Adrianna, who had also showed up as the grumpy CareBear, to the boy's friend Abigail's house, and I drove back home to set the candy out on a table by our house, made myself some tea, and headed to Helen's across the street to hang out with her by her fire pit. It was fun. 

Boys in black...

Trick or treat!

Halloween views...

Boys at one of the most decorated houses on our street...

I was so thankful that Adrianna was with them for half of it, as she took a lot of great pictures of them. They came by half way and she stayed with me and Helen (and Paola and Katherine, who had stopped by by then) and joined the conversation while having some wine. It was great. We had a nice turnout of kids, and eventually, once my Man, Christe and the boys were back, we went back home and called it a night. 

Boys after trick or treating!

The boy poured all his candy on the table and we sorted it. He was nice and gave me all the chocolate/caramel candy (milkyways, rolos, heath bars, twix) so I have some candy to get me through the next several weeks. 

And that was pretty much the week! I'm glad the basement is mostly done - sure, we still have to sort through 2 boxes of toys and the workshop table still needs to be cleared but our trash bin is already full and they won't pick it up until Friday, so we'll just have to do some of that remaining work next weekend to be finally done with that part. I am glad it looks great though, much brighter and way more inviting, which is great considering we now have a fully functional rec room down there that has gotten a lot of use in the last 2 years, so all is good. This coming week we should have our driveway finally done and then I can take a break from house stuff (sort of - they will do some re-finishing in our bathroom!) until the spring, when hopefully we'll have landscaping and a bathroom addition done. But... slow steps! 

Hope you had a good week and a great Halloween and I hope you have a fantastic coming week and a nice beginning to November!