A Day in the Life, Weekend Edition

Today is a Saturday with no baseball or lacrosse or cross country meets. So, a little different than most of our recent weekends. 

Thomas and I went to the gym when it opened at 8. Jack had already left for track practice. He ran 4 miles. Thomas did a weight workout, I did the elliptical. I listened to the Office Ladies podcast during my workout, but I still thought it was very boring and I left before Thomas. Normally, I like to exercise at home, either with a YouTube workout (CDornerFitness is my favorite) or weights. But, Luke wanted to do a weight workout and he likes to watch t.v when he exercises. Since that meant I couldn't use the weights or the t.v, I went to the gym. Anyway, 4 of us were exercising at the same time.

When we got home we had breakfast (protein shakes made by Thomas). I spent a little time cleaning the kitchen. Then, Luke, Thomas and I played "Trekking the National Parks". I won by 1 point! Kara was at a sleepover; I picked her up at 11. It was her first friend sleepover. Our family has always said no to sleepovers with rare exceptions (Marta, Summer and my sister). So, she was excited. One of her friends is moving to Brazil, so it was a surprise party and she had a lot of fun. Kara was in charge of baking and made cookies and brought a cake. She said both were well-received.

We ordered lunch from Tijuana Flats. We go there most Saturdays for the 2 for $22. We are frequent customers and they know us, which at first we found embarrassing, but now we just embrace.

After lunch, Thomas, Jack, Anna and I went to Kohl's. They had an additional 50% off clearance and we all got something. Anna got some super cute shoes that will be perfect for cruising dress-up. Thomas and I got jeans, Jack got sunglasses.

When we got home, I played Memory with Luke. He won handily. Then, Luke beat Jack, then me again.

Thomas and I read. I finished Water for Elephants and Thomas finished the Half Blood Prince. Jack met up with a friend and walked to the lake. We didn't see Kara much at all today. 

Anna and I made dinner together. It was a meal that Anna picked out--"Pizza Pasta Bake". Everyone liked it. After dinner, Anna went running. Then she and I went for a walk. Luke heard some kids playing in the park next to our house and went out and joined them. It was a group of girls he knows and they were playing and then having a sleepover. Luke felt a little out of place and came home. Shortly after, the girls rang our doorbell, Luke and Thomas answered and the girls caroled "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" and invited Luke to come have cookies at Beya's house. Luke did, but came home very sneezy from their dog (and/or cat), so he took a shower and then went to bed. 

Thomas and I watched two episodes of Ghosts (love that show!) and then we called it a night.

Stayed tuned for tomorrow's adventures.

Sunday: Thomas and I tried voting earlier in the week, but were met by a massive line. The polls open at 8, so we got there a few minutes before that today to beat the crowds. There was still a line, but there were only about 10 people in front of us. We had thoughtfully filled out sample ballots and brought them with us to copy, so voting only took us a few minutes. From there we went to Walmart just because it was right next door. Thomas is looking for a certain set of baseball cards, but they did not have them. I got a Christmas shirt and we grabbed a few other things. 

We got home and had breakfast, then gathered the family for a 10-minute clean-up (we literally set a timer and see how much we can get done). It is amazing what 6 people working for 10 minutes can accomplish. 

Kara and Luke played three games of Memory. Luke won 2 out of 3 games. Thomas and I played a match (Thomas won). For the record, before this weekend, no one in our house had played Memory in several years. I am not sure why the cards were brought out, but Luke is definitely the champion. My guess is they won't be played again after today, but we'll see.

Thomas, Anna and I went to Target. I had a 10% off coupon, which I thought I activated but didn't. We went to one Target, but they didn't have the baseball cards Thomas wanted, or the Tree Hut Anna was looking for, so we went to a second Target (there are about 6 within a 30-minute radius). We got a few things there, but no baseball cards or Tree Hut. 

We went home and had lunch. Then, Jack, Thomas, Luke and I played Trekking again. I won! Then, Anna, Thomas and I played Scattergories. Thomas won. Thomas took a nap. I watched a bit of my high school friend's documentary on YouTube. 

I also took Anna to check her blood pressure at Publix (first we tried CVS, but they don't have a machine). She had her physical last week and the doctor gave us a referral to a nephrologist, as her blood pressure is always high. However, I know that it is never high at home. Thomas had (has?) "white coat syndrome" (where you have high blood pressure readings at the doctor's office, but it's not really high). So, we own our own blood pressure kit, but I wanted to double-check the accuracy. Publix confirmed perfect, healthy numbers that matched our home monitor.  The doctor told us to check it at home for a couple of weeks and to email her the results to determine if we really need to use the referral. Thankfully, it doesn't look like we will need to. 

We watched a bit of The Half-Blood Prince. I started a new book (Tom Felton memoir). We had turkey burgers and tater tots for dinner and discussed the week ahead. Then, Thomas, Jack and I put up our Halloween decorations.  

I did a Walmart delivery order for tomorrow. Anna picked out the recipes for this week. We tell the kids they can choose the meals, but they need to give me the list and then help make the dinners. If they don't do this, they can't complain about what we are having. Kara and Anna are the only ones who have taken us up on the offer. Kara actually made all our weekly dinners by herself a month or so ago, it was amazing.

Jack and Thomas watched some of the Washington DC/Chicago football game. Something super amazing happened in the last 2-seconds with a hail mary that they got EXTREMELY excited about. Anna and Luke came down to see what the fuss was about and we all watched the replays.

Now, it is about 830, the kids have turned in their phones and gone to bed for the night (we still send them upstairs around 8, but they can read or hang out in their rooms, just no screens. The girls sometimes read to Luke, sometimes they play cards, etc.). We trust them to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. 

Thomas is watching more of the Half Blood Prince and I am writing this blog.

That is a weekend in the life.