Oops, okay, this time I did forget to post

Darn it, broke my blogging streak yesterday. I have no excuse besides that I was just doing other things and kept saying “I’ll do it later”. But then later kept getting later and then we ended up watching a movie last night – Remarkably Bright Creatures!!, on Netflix- and, well, clearly, I never posted.

I really liked the movie! I guess I chose good timing to finally read Shelby Van Pelt’s mega hit book, because I just finished it a couple months ago.

I thought Sally Field was wonderful. Did anyone else watch it yet?

Happy Mother’s Day, by the way! I’m so grateful to have a truly incredible mom and mother-in-law, and to just know so many amazing moms!!

I had a low key day. I told the boys + Ivan to just make the Garth Brooks concert my Mother’s Day gift. I also didn’t really feel like going out and doing some big thing today.

We’ve had quite a few fun “outings” lately and I honestly just felt like sort of… chilling. My parents were originally supposed to come and stay over, but then we ended up deciding they should be here next weekend, when Ethan has his Conference tennis matches. So, the social/family plans I thought we had for this weekend suddenly dissipated.

I took advantage of the open space yesterday to do a lot of Zion planning. I actually find National Park trips to be a little confusing to plan sometimes. The parks all seem to work a little different in terms of parking, shuttles, permits needed, etc. Also, while there is a lot of info available online, it just can feel, I don’t know, less clear cut than planning a city trip that has very clear attractions you can mark on a map.

In National Parks there are often SO many different hike options. It can be a bit overwhelming to try and sort out which ones are “the best” or the “prettiest” or are just the right fit (length, difficulty) for our group, etc.

Anyway, I did a bunch of research and now feel significantly more informed.

I also booked our rental car, the hotel for our arrival night (1 night stopover in Vegas before heading to Zion; we’ll be back to stay longer in Vegas at the end), and I researched e-bike rentals! I am strongly leaning toward renting e-bikes for one full day to get around Zion. It sounds very fun/ beautiful, I think the boys will like it and also means we avoid the need to ride the park shuttles that day. (Until yesterday, I didn’t know that the main park road is not open to vehicles in the summer, only shuttles and e-bikes!)

Today we puttered around the house in the morning- it was a BEAUTIFUL sunny morning. I had the windows and patio door open. A highlight for me was this brilliant red cardinal who kept flying onto my deck and just sitting right there, very close to the house! It kept coming back repeatedly and I swear it was like, looking at me. Supposedly cardinals have spiritual significance and it’s often said that they signify the presence of a deceased loved one, so I watched it a long while and decided it was perhaps one of my grandmothers paying a visit for Mother’s Day. 🙂

Sadly, I didn’t capture a photo.

My big Mother’s Day lunch was eating at Chipotle with Ivan and Asher. (Asher lifeguarded in the morning, but then Ethan was working in the afternoon…) I do love Chipotle.

We took separate cars and I ran to get groceries after. (Ivan did offer to do this for me, but I needed to restock a bunch of the specific protein things I like to eat and I just wanted to do it myself!)

I did sit on the deck and read for a bit this afternoon, while Ivan made me his other Mother’s Day gift:

I asked him to make me a big container of salsa verde to have on hand for the week. I use it on salads and it basically improves all other foods I eat, too, like eggs, or chicken, or almost anything. 😉 He threw an avocado in too to jazz it up. It’s DELICIOUS. And I was happy to not have to make it. (It’s not hard, I just didn’t want to do it!)

He and I then watched an episode of El Rey (Netflix series in Spanish about Mexican mega superstar Vicente Fernandez) before he left for soccer and I headed to the gym.

I talked to my dad for a long while this morning, and then my mom this evening!

It was a good and low key weekend. I’d take one more day off, but, I guess we can’t have everything. 😉

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for my mom!!! So very grateful.