Was gone for 5 days last weekend in Mexico, just Tracy and I, and 20 other adults (no kids) for Beth's destination birthday party. Pretty cool. Adults only all inclusive resort. Shower had a glass on both sides, and doors that opened so you could have sunlight into the shower. That was a new and different twist. Food was great. I'm thinking that's because they didn't have to cater to children. Best thing I ate was the Baja fish tacos at the Lola Beach little pool restaurant, followed closely by the Black Mole Chicken at the same place for dinner. But overall, great food. Probably didn't take enough advantage of the mixology bar off the lobby. Only a single bar/nightclub for entertainment, so a disappointing there wasn't more dancing and grooving. Sonya got sick (flu or worse) on the 2nd day, so that sucked. Tracy got sick on the last day, so that sucked. And then more people got sick after we got back. Frontier lost Frank's bag on the way down (amazing considering it was a direct flight). Funny enough he got it back a couple days after he got home. Apparently it made it down to Mexico and back. Tracy and I got lucky with Frontier on the checkin on the way back and got seats next to each other without paying for it. I guess that's the universe balancing out her getting sick. Thanks to my parents and Moki for taking care of the kids while we were gone. Definitely fun, and hopefully more trips like that in the future.

Way back I thought it would be cool to just hop on a plane and go to a new city for a weekend, check it out, and fly back. That was back before I had a family. But that's pretty much what we did this past weeked. Went down to Miami for the weekend, finally cashing in a Blaine Gala auction win. Accommodations were great, food was pretty good all weekend, lots of walking, lots of swimming, and had 1 great day of weather. Of course to balance it out something had to go wrong, and that was the 6 hour delayed flight home. At least we knew about the first 3 hour delay before we got to the airport, so the kids got to spend even more time in the pools. But yeah, that was rough on the way back. Stupid United. Some highlights. The tapas at Tala Beach Restaurant was pretty tasty. The carpaccio at That's Amore. The rolled ice cream at Miami n'Ice. The breakfast at Cafe Americano. The truffle fries at The Sandbox Poolside Restaurant. Getting some laps in and feeling pretty good about it. Would love to get to do this more often. Just pick a weekend to get away, swim in hotel pools, and eat good food. Maybe San Diego sometime? I liked that place. Maybe when Lucy starts looking at colleges?

Yeah, crazy, 2025. Like the future. But then again, it's been the future for a while, dystopian and all. Been keeping up with swimming and biking, although lost a couple days due to holidays and this week due to my annual 24 hour flu and recovery. Getting better, but still not great. It's been almost 4 months. Well, more like 3 months after a restart (when I stopped cheating with fins). Taking this week break has also been good for my skin; all that swimming has been drying me out. Finally got a chance to go to Activate. Love that place. Lots of fun. Hoping we can go more often, even though it's all the way out in Oak Brook. Slacked and didn't put any outdoor holiday lights up. I did use the string lights in holiday patterns though, so better than nothing. Lots of vacations coming up. Crazy to see 3 sets of flights in Flighty. I'm going to have to buy 2 separate months this year to cover travel notifications. Otherwise, lots of driving recently. Holidays in the burbs. Lucy's swim practices. Definitely buying more gas and putting more miles on the Crosstrek. Did a Ted Lasso rewatch with Jackson. Tracy and Lucy joined in, with Lucy doing her thing and watching on her phone repeatedly and all the time. Watched the second season of Arcane which was pretty good and depressing. Started Agatha All Along.

Ever since Lucy stopped having morning swim practices, I've been lazier than usual. Something about the early starts made me a lot more focused and disciplined. Or maybe those 3 months or so are about how long I can be that ordered. I was sleeping earlier, trying to keep the sink clean by doing dishes as soon as I see them, but both of those have gone out the window. Trying to get back on the horse. On the other hand, I've started trying swimming for exercise. I'm using MySwimPro app/service, which is nice because it provides workouts and progressions and swimming plans. Still slow, but starting to feel better in the water, like my freestyle (the only stroke I'm currently working on) is finally starting to feel a little natural. But I'm currently keeping up with going 3 times a week. Started back in the middle of September. I got all the practice gear, and the first couple of weeks was dependent on the flippers, so had to restart my training not using flippers at all. Haven't had to use the paddles or the snorkel yet. Also I've been biking to the gym and back, so it's a good warm up/cool down. Which takes me to another thing: my Raleigh Carbon Clubman is back. I got a replacement frame (in black, not sky blue) from eBay back in July, put it together as much as I could, and gave in and brought it to Roscoe Village Bikes to finish it off and double check my work. Turns out I put the wrong chain on, and they fixed any shifting issues, and then I had to get a new front wheel (couldn't be trued). Rim doesn't match, apparently they don't have rounded chrome rims at all. But looks well enough for me. Had to get new Carradice bags to color match (black), and then got a bigger one (Nelson Longflap) so I could carry all my swim practice gear in a saddlebag instead of a backpack although it's so big it's riding on the fender. But having a nice bike again? Priceless. I am just waiting to get hit again, and wondering if I should preemptively buy a backup frame. Lucy's switch swim teams, so I'm up at eBar at the Nordstrom's at Old Orchard which she practices with Swift at Niles North.