I’m feeling a sense of relief today. The last ~month or so has been so busy at work. On top of other things, in the last week I had 2 big quarterly meetings that I am basically solely responsible for preparing and presenting at (the 2nd one was yesterday at 3 pm). There are like, literally 60-70 slides in each and the meetings are 1.5 hours long and it’s pretty much alllll me.
They both went well but I’m just so happy to have these DONE for a while now!!
We had a nice weekend, though.
On Saturday morning I decided to “go for a run” as my cardio. I really do NOT run, ever, anymore. And it showed! I don’t know, I feel that I am in relatively good shape- I exercise frequently and all…. but man, my body was like WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! hehe.
First of all, it bugged my back- it was “jarring” my back and it hurt. (I have chronic back issues, which have been overall good lately, but apparently running is not on the approved activity list.) Second, I have basically zero running endurance at the moment. Like, you guys, it wasn’t fun at all. Jenny, Coco…. sorry, I don’t get it!!
I guess the fresh air was nice, but you also get fresh air when you walk. 🙃
Photo evidence from the trail I ran on:
At noon Ethan had a home soccer game. It was also my mom’s birthday, so my parents came along. It was a great day for soccer – very pleasant temperatures.
Ivan had his own game in the afternoon so I had a nice couple hours to myself in the afternoon. I made a Target run and also baked some fresh oatmeal raisin cookies to take to my parents’ as part of my mom’s birthday celebration!
Ethan stayed and volunteered at school after his game with his team- there was a UW Badgers game and his school is close enough to the UW stadium that they rent out the parking for game goers (to support his school’s athletic program).
In the evening, he met up with us downtown and we all went out for dinner for my mom’s 76th birthday!! It’s rare to get both boys available at the same time these days.
We went to Nattspil, which if you’ve been reading a while, you may recognize. It’s kind of become our latest favorite date night/ night out spot, but my parents had never been.
We had such a nice time! The cozy vibe and candlelight give it such an intimate feel- every time we go there I feel like I just want to linger and chat for hours. 🙂
After, we went back to my parents’ house for oatmeal raisin cookies and tea (for me), gifts, and a bit more hanging out. Such a lovely evening!!
On Sunday, my parents picked me up to go watch Asher play in Day 2 of a local golf tournament.
I had never actually watched him play golf before! He’s really only been playing for a year or so (more seriously), but he’s SOOOOO into it, it’s kind of ridiculous. Like, obsessed level. He just really, really, really wants to get better and he loves it.
This tournament was basically all adults playing, so I was proud of him for even putting himself out there to try it; I have to think it was a little out of his comfort zone. He did not end up having the best day, really, but it was still a good experience.
I do not golf… jeez, that’s a slow, long game. Haha. It was actually really fun to watch though (we only stayed for the front 9 ) and I can see the appeal.
It was after noon by the time I got home. I immediately made the weekly meal plan and grocery list and headed out to Aldi and Woodman’s. (Ivan was still working on the big fence power-washing project.)
I found this super cute, cozy fall blanket for $4.99 at Aldi!
After, I raced over to the gym for a 2:30 Les Mills Core class, did some quick elliptical for cardio after, and made it home in time to watch the Packer game. Which… started out strong, ended up decidedly less strong. Ha. 😩
At half time Ivan and I made milanesa de res and cream of zucchini soup for dinner (one of our all-time favorite meals). Mmmmm, it was so good. I also made a new batch of fresh salsa verde. I have been thrilled with the increase in home-cooked meals around here lately. My new meal planning system is working so well!!
The temperatures have really cooled off around here this week- especially at night- so I actually went in the hot tub for the first time in a while before bed. It felt great.
All in all, a very nice weekend.
Yesterday was my big meeting, so that kind of dominated my headspace much of the day. But I did get to the gym before work, as scheduled. Morning workouts keep winning for me. 🙂
I made salmon, brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes last night after work. It felt “fall-ish” outside and the sweet potato smell helped too. 🙂
I had a soccer zoom at 7 (I’m on the banquet committee). This marks 3 Monday nights in a row now that I have sports volunteer meetings on Monday nights…. hmph. (Swim last week, soccer this week, swim board again next Monday…).
Asher and I made a quick library run at like 8:30 p.m. to return a book and my card was due to be updated. Charlie rode along and it was fun to have Asher tag along.
I picked up a couple new books! My reading has been LACKLUSTER lately, partly because the fiction book I was reading (from my own shelf) just wasn’t captivating me. You know what happens then…. you don’t read it! 😅
I have had Sandwich on my list for ages and decided to browse the shelves to see if it was there. My friend group chat has had a lot of chatter about the whole “sandwich generation” thing with various tough things happening for people lately, so this was on my mind.
I also picked up a non-fiction that came highly recommended from Elisabeth and was on the “buzz books” shelf at our library, too. I started Sandwich right away before bed and dove into The Irish Goodbye this morning. 🙂
Oh, and in other exciting news, I also brought out some fall soap yesterday.
I can’t believe it’s already Sept 15th!!! I guess I need to block some time for Saturday to actually put up my fall decorations….
That’s all to report on my end.
I hope you’re having a good week! 💕
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for the end half of my week looking a lot lighter than the front half.
GRATEFUL KAE 