End of week update: Birthday weekend accomplished!

Oh wow, what a week. What a weekend! I’m so, so glad it’s over.

Friday I was pretty zonked because I couldn’t fall asleep until 2am on Thursday. I took my son to the dojo, but came home to work out while he was there. I did half my workout, then went to get him, and finished up when we got home. I also got pupusa’s for dinner by the dojo (a church sells them on the street on Fridays and they are soooo good and so reasonably priced).

Our daughter was at a sleep over Friday, so we had more opportunity to watch something, but we were both zonked so we didn’t really. I was bummed about that, but it was probably the right choice.

Saturday morning I got up way later than I intended – at 9:30! I never sleep in that late. I guess I needed the sleep after the fiasco that was Thursday night. I cleaned the house and wrapped birthday presents while my husband took our son to swimming. When they got back my husband and I walked to the SFUSD enrollment fair to learn more about a few middle schools were considering for our son next year. By the time we got back it was 30 minutes until grandparents arrived for our son’s family birthday. I will say, the house looked really good when they all got there. I was pleased.

The timing was weird on the family because of the enrollment fair in the morning and our daughter’s Homecoming dance in the evening. Even though we got together between meals, we ordered these amazing flatbread pizzas from my friend’s restaurant, and my in-laws were kind enough to pick them up for us. We all snacked on them while the almost 11-year-old (his actual birthday is Tuesday) opened his presents. Then we had cake, and everyone was gone about 1.5 hours after they got there. I very much appreciated that.

After spending about 45 minutes in the backyard working on my next martial arts form, I helped my daughter get ready for Homecoming. A little before 7pm I took her over to the dance. She looked lovely, and even though she’s been managing some friend drama that reared its ugly head at the dance, she had a good time.

My husband picked her up around 10pm and she was up super late after she got home, so again we didn’t watch anything. Oh well.

Sunday I was up at a reasonable hour (8:30am). I worked out, as did my husband, and by 1pm we were out the door. Our son wanted Krispy Kreme donuts instead of cupcakes, so we stopped there before heading to Dave & Busters. I did not realize there would be a 49ers game right when I booked the party, or that Dave & Busters is such a popular place to watch football. It was totally nuts there, and I was very thankful the birthday room was separate from the main area.

Most of the invitees had a soccer game until 2:15pm that day, so we knew they would be late. Luckily two friends came on time and my son headed out to play games with them. The rest of the crew was there by 2:45. They ate, and played the games, and enjoyed donuts right before we lost the table at 4pm. We had extended the party to 4:30 for the soccer players, since the game cards worked all day, and that timing ended up being perfect. They were pretty much done by then, and ready to go home. They enjoyed their goodie bags and had a great time. It was definitely a success, and even though I blanched at the final bill, I was soooo grateful that we had it there and whole party required so little planning on our parts.

We hit up Spirit Halloween on the way home, because I’ve been worried my son’s Deadpool costume would not arrive in time for Halloween. He found a Fall Guys hotdog costume the he LOVES, so now I can let go of that anxiety, and I’m so grateful for that. He seriously wanted to wear it all afternoon.

We got In-n-Out on the way home, which my husband and daughter ate very quickly, because by 6:30pm we were back in the car and I was dropping them off a couple blocks from the Chase Center to see Charli XCX. I really wanted to go to this show, and was going to for a bit (my husband offered me his ticket), but it was clear my daughter wanted my husband to go, as was originally the plan, so I conceded (and her relieved response suggested that was the right move). I’ve definitely felt pangs of jealousy this evening, as I did all the start-of-week and end-of-day chores while they enjoy the show, but I’m also wiped so it’s probably for the best.

I’ve finished the two main parts of The Plan and spent some time at Dave & Busters today doing a brain dump and trying to plan November, which will be a tricky month because my sister is coming to town. I only get to see her once a year (she lives in London), so I have to take advantage of her being here, which can be stressful since the rest of my life has to happen too. We have a complicated relationship and hanging out with her is not always joyous so… I don’t know. It’s just a little fraught. And I’m trying to be more intentional by naming what is important and identifying how I feel about it, what has worked well when she’s in town and what has caused stress. Maybe I can actually figure out how to enjoy her being here, instead of mostly dreading it before she comes, feeling stressed out when she’s hear, and then regretting choices I made after she leaves. Blerg. We shall see.

And now a little rundown of my workouts this week, because I want to keep track of that moving forward, as it’s been such a point of contention between my husband and I.

M: This was the day I attempted my first bike bootcamp, and realized I couldn’t cast to our old screen and still hear on my AirPods. After burning crazy time trying to make it all work, I gave up and did a 30 minute Intervals and Arms class with Tunde.

Tu: Forms, Sparring Concepts (Ground Grappling class), then Sparring at the dojo.

W: Rest day (I mostly picked up the house).

Th: The new monitor (with speakers!) came right when I got home from school, and I was able to set it up and do a 45 minute bike boot camp (w/ Jess Sims)! It was awesome. The only hard part is I can’t pause the class when it’s casting, and I realized that I pause the class a lot! This is ultimately a good thing, as I’ll be more efficient with my workout time if I can’t pause the classes, but it’s going to take some getting used to.

F: 20 min hill climb (w/ Robin Arzón) + Dale Duro class 1 (glutes and legs). The hill climb was super hard – I was sweating bullets by the end and totally out of breath. It was my first cycling class (no bootcamp) and I really liked it. I’m very excited to explore more 15-30 minute classes like that before I do strength training. I also started my first Peloton program, called Dale Duro (w/ Camila Ramón), which is three weeks long and entirely in Spanish. I really like it, and I’m pumped to try a program and see if it feels more comprehensive than just throwing stuff together myself.

Sa: Rest, but I did spend 45 minutes in the backyard working on my form.

Su: 15 min Groove ride with Camila Ramón, then Dale Duro class 2 (upper body).

Reading: I finally finished Marina, which was the final Carlos Ruiz Zafón book I had never read. I don’t think I realized he died in 2020, and I’m sad he won’t be writing any more. I absolutely LOVED La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind) and the other books in that series. I also liked his YA trilogy a lot. It was bittersweet to finish the last book of his I’ll ever read. I also basically finished The Plan, and started my book club book, The Dream House. I’ve been listening to Liane Moriarty’s new book Here One Moment, but it’s hard to binge listen to because it’s about death and it bums me out really quickly. I usually listen to her books like crazy and finish them in a couple days, but this one is taking me a while. It’s just not something I always want to put on.

I am so very glad that this weekend is behind me. It was nuts, and we got through it because we planned it all really well, but it was so exhausting. I am so glad it’s over.