Thought things would quiet down after Halloween, but got a busy weekend. I think the weekend after next is quieter before a soccer tourney weekend and then Thanksgiving. This Apple Watch Ultra 2 is quite big on the wrist. And I shuffled the Apple Watch 8 down to Jackson and took back the Apple Watch 5 for my night/sleep watch, and it’s really nice how small and light the Apple Watch 5 Titanium is comparatively. I am thoroughly enjoying the iPhone 15 Pro. I feel like the screen is smoother, but that actually just might be the Pro-Motion. But I should be good on upgrades for another year or so. I guess try and save the pennies for Apple Vision Pro.

Pretty standard Thursday. Lots of image problems at work, which was pretty annoying. Forgot to put Apple Cash back on Jackson’s Apple Watch so he couldn’t get Dairy Queen this afternoon. Went with him after dinner to get some though. Got it back on his watch, so he’s good for now. Finished up Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. Not sure what’s next on the docket. Maybe I’ll just suck it up and power through Chernobyl. Gotta do it at some point. Been seeing a lot of Brooklyn Nine-Nine clips on Tik Tok, maybe that’s what I’ll clean my palette with while watching a nuclear disaster unfold.

Laundry day, 2 loads, only folded the first. No carpool for Jackson’s soccer practice, so just me and him. Nothing but scrimmage today. Decided to watch The Fast and the Furious series from the beginning. It’s 22 years old at this point. Crazy.

Running related stuff today. Drove Lucy out to Cross Country City Championships in Humboldt Park. First time in that park. Seems nice. Pretty cool, but calm and sunny. Ended up creating the LTACXC base with our blanket (we didn’t have a tent or a flag or anything. Lucy came in 13th, so no medal, but team came in 2nd, so they did get shirts and medals. Boys came in 1st, so that’s cool. And that was the morning. Then after Tracy got off work we took a Lyft to Navy Pier (or at least as close as traffic got to be too much and we audibled at Grand and walked the rest of the way) for the Hot Chocolate Run Expo. Picked up our coats and bibs. Not much in the way of free stuff. Got some treats at Te’Amo even though they ran out of boba for the kids’ drinks. Carbo loaded at Eataly to end the night. Early morning start for the 5K I’ve trained 9 weeks for (to complete, not get a PR at). I imaging it’s going to be pretty crazy tomorrow, and they even have us in all different corrals tomorrow, which is pretty annoying. I wonder if we can all just start together, or they’re going to rigorously enforce the corrals. Find out soon enough.

Long day. Early start, out the door by 6:15am. Hot Chocolate Run. We were too slow for Lucy, and then Jackson and Tracy were too slow for me. Lucy wants to do it again. Next year we’ll make sure Jackson does some training and gets actual running shoes. But yeah, pretty cool. Been a while since I’ve done a fun run. Definitely a little different, there were 55K people there today. That’s crazy. Then this evening had friendsgiving over at Gina’s. Ate way too much. But good times.

Recovery day. I think Fall Back DST affected me more than usual. I’m getting up at like 4:30-4:45 the last couple of mornings. Made sense when I had to get up for the Hot Chocolate Run. Maybe I should go ahead and get up that early to start my day. Maybe go for a run? Maybe do some work? Think I’m used to the size of my Apple Watch Ultra 2. That first week it was really big, now it feels pretty normal. The old Apple Watch 5 for sleep tracking now feels small. Moving to a Starlight Solo Loop and a white silicon wedding band.

Tempted to just make it 3 because Jackson’s got a haircut on Friday. Still have to do research to figure out what hairstyle I’m going to go with. Wish I had more ethernet drops around the house, specifically in the dining room which is currently the classroom. Would be nice to have Jackson’s iMac wired. Dealing with a right leg strain of some kind. Maybe adductor? Massage gun helps. But figure I should take it easy at least for a week. I’ll try again next week.

Soon. Plowing through the Fast and the Furious series. Just started Furious 7. Why wasn’t this ever a TV series? Just got a pair of windproof running pants, even though I’m not currently running. But they look awesome. Can’t wait to try it out. Still getting up too early and not going to bed early enough, although it’s marginally better. Still not good enough. Tried a Long Island Ice Tea out tonight. Boring, but it definitely hits you.

Went ahead and made an appointment at Floyd’s Barbershop for tomorrow. Definitely getting chopped, did some research and think I’m going to ask for a low drop fade, with and still slightly undecided about what to do up top. Maybe just leave 2-3 inches and style as desired? Or shorter and textured? Combover? Don’t think I want to do a pompadour. Definitely want it shorter though. Short enough it won’t get in my eyes. Also means I’m committing to getting regular trims. Started using the foam roller on my leg, along with the massage gun. Seems to be working, or maybe it’s just enough rest and recuperation that it’s getting better. Excited to start running again.

My head’s cold. I got a haircut today. It’s short. And styled. But yeah, definitely going back to wearing hoods and hats. But yeah, 1 year’s worth of hair growth, gone. It’s weird. That’s all.

Finished up the Fast & Furious series so far. Even included Hobbs & Shaw. Actually looking forward to that sequel, if they ever make it. But seriously, watching that series back to back to back it’s pretty crazy how crazy their activities get over time. And how their hair styles change over time. And that the series has been going for 20+ years. I’d totally watch a prequel series, like Dom and the gang starting out. Also the supposed all female spinoff? I’d watch that too. You know what else would be good? A spinoff with just the Shaws. Or even a prequel of the Shaws. I wonder what the red string murder board would be on how all the characters are related and who’s actually behind it all (how funny would it be if it ended up being Papa Toretto after all these years) and how many people have been double crossed and who is actually evil and how evil they are and how many deaths aren’t actually deaths. It is sad that Paul Walker died, and they didn’t want to kill off the character, so not having Brian around for everything since 7 has been sad. Kind of wish the technology would be good enough to bring back the character digitally and the family would allow it to give the character a great write off with everyone else at the end of the series. Also can’t wait for the eventual reboot with all their kids.

Got to dog sit today for a bit. The Wang’s Sasha, who we traded Lucy for this afternoon. Since Tracy had to come back and work, Lucy had to catch a ride with the Wangs on the way back in (didn’t get home until 9pm), so Tracy took Sasha home. Kinda fun having a dog around. Annoying though to have to clean or watch to make sure she doesn’t eat any random stuff on the ground. And she’s surprisingly strong on dog walks. Ate a lot of leftovers out of the fridge. Had the holiday dinner with my parents last Friday night at Buona Terra Italian Ristorante. So those were some leftovers that were eaten, along with some Eataly, and some fried chicken from Chop Suey Hut that my parents also dropped off the other day. Managed to hang some additional shelves in the linen closet yesterday, but didn’t get the oven cleaned like I was supposed to this weekend. Gotta try and fit it in before going to St. Louis next weekend for a soccer tournament. Weather actually looks pretty good for it, which I’m pleasantly surprised at. Hip’s feeling better, so think I’m going to start running again tomorrow. Thinking just longer slow runs on MWF, and 4x4’s on T-Th. Or switch those depending on how I feel. We’ll see.

Started running again after a week off. Doesn’t seem like a long time, but my body’s definitely feeling it. Definitely think I should look into real running shoes. Not sure if my feet hurt because of the shoes or because of my feet and running. I’ll have to get some to find out. But guessing it’s going to take me a while to build up the stamina. I’ll probably hold off on doing anything more intense than running for a couple more weeks. Try and build up to it again. Head’s been pretty itchy, or just I’m getting used to having short hair again. It just feels cooler. Getting colder in my basement office nook, so I’m thinking of breaking out the electric blanket and heater again. I still haven’t dialed in clothing for temperature yet.

Jonah had his birthday party at Sluggers tonight. First time there. First time in a batting cage. Wow am I bad. Had a couple beers, had some pizza. Not a bad Tuesday night. Hudson’s gonna join P4 for the tourney this weekend, which is cool. Surprise practices the next couple of days. Can’t believe we’re headed down to St. Louis in a couple days. Hard to believe it’s Thanksgiving next week.

Drove Jackson and Hudson to a tourney team practice today. Weird being up there at Foster Fields. There’s no nets on the goals. Also had to pick up Lucy and Matilda from swim practice, so a bit of driving around today. Also managed to go on a run today. Officially only 1 more day of Couch to 5K training, and then I have to pick what I want to do to maintain or elevate. Definitely easier driving around and parking for practice. Just not a lot of people out today. Or maybe it’s because of the upcoming breaks and stuff. I also squeezed in a Jewel and Target run today.

The other day I forgot where I put my iPhone 15 Pro, and figured I’d ping it from my Apple Watch Ultra 2 and track it down, but I had forgotten that they do precise location finding. So I was able to wander around the house, following the prompts, until I found my phone in my closet. That was really cool. Had totally forgotten about it. Will be really nice when all the devices have it. Jackson’s birthday today, and he had to go to soccer practice. Didn’t get to open up and setup his new PS5 until after, and now it’s just downloading Spider-Man 2 (video game) which apparently takes a while. It’s pretty impressive. Curious to see what Remote Play is like.

Drove down to the STL with Dave and Hudson for a soccer tournament. Left at 3:30 and got to the hotel at 10pm. Of course stopped for dinner and gas/coffee on the way. Same Chalet hotel as the spring. Hoping it’s not too cold, but I did bring a lot of cold weather stuff. So we’ll see. Got to use a mobile key on my iPhone to open the door. That’s pretty cool. I think I can use my Apple Watch too. As far as I can tell, only have 3 games, no playoff or bracket play. So far, the only thing I think I forgot was my eBook.

Lost their first game today, 0-2. Didn’t play well. Had a big gap between their 10:40am first game and 6:40pm second game. Went to Fitz’s for lunch. Good food and soda. Also picked up a 24 pack of asstd sodas. Then had to go to Dick’s to get Jackson new cleats (since the outsole was falling off his old ones). Also took a while to find a swim suit (apparently not a whole lot of choices in November. Side note, the mall was hopping. Found one eventually at Macy’s, but realized after we got back to the hotel that they forgot to remove the security tag. Managed to get it off using the saw on the Leatherman to open it up and pliers to get it off; however, I managed to slice my finger open. Managed to get a band-aid on it, and Austin got me some crazy glue, but not going to open it up again until I get home. Jackson and Hudson got an hour of swimming in, then back for the 2nd game of they day. They played better this time, but managed to lose 0-3. More shots on goal, but no conversions. 1 more game at 9am. Hoping we can at least get on the board. Got some bubble tea on the way back to the hotel for pizza with the team in the hospitality room for the tourney.

Lost again this morning, another shut out, 0-5. Didn’t score a single goal, only a handful of chances all weekend. And they started out pretty sluggish again. Not a strong showing. Trouble sleeping last night, ended up going out early this morning to get breakfast and a later checkout so we didn’t have to pack up before the game. Got Dave to the airport, and did the drive back to Chicago. Much easier and faster on this return leg. KFire for dinner, which was alright. Worth a try. Finished up Season 2 of Loki. Not sure where that leaves us with whatever MCU Phase it is. Not sure what’s next out of the queue.

Went for my run in the morning, since I didn’t have to drive Lucy to school. Kind of nice to get it over and done with, but maybe I should take a shower after, I kinda smelled all day. But definitely pretty quiet out at 7:30 on days with no school and Thanksgiving break. Not as much traffic, only really people walking their dogs. Took a drive this afternoon, because I thought Lucy had an eye doctor followup, but turns out she wasn’t on the books. Was going to pick up Joy Yee’s in University Village, but they’re closed on Monday, so instead just went to the one by Lane Tech. Got a blueberry freeze with boba and blueberry popping boba. It was pretty good. Different.

Quiet birthday for Tracy. After work, kids got some shots (Jackson a flu shot and Lucy the most recent covid shot). Did some shopping at Mariano’s after and went home before coming back to that neighborhood for dinner at Sushi+. We actually remembered our frequent diner cards, and Tracy spun the wheel and got us $50 off. Yay! Other than that, cleaned the basement fridge and the oven. Did a Jewel run to get some milk for Lucy. Otherwise, pretty quiet.

Slight work crisis this morning. So much for a quiet Wednesday before Thanksgiving. At least I don’t have to deal with the Black Friday stuff pretty much at all anymore. Took Lucy over for her orthodontist followup, all checked out, and set an appointment for 3 months, again on a day with no school, but after lunch, instead of 9:15 which was way too early for her. Got my flu and covid vaccines this afternoon. So in the household only Jackson is missing his covid vaccine this season, everyone else has one and everyone has had the flu shot. Didn’t get a chance to go running, maybe tomorrow, we’ll see how I feel. Started watching Raiders of the Lost Ark to build up to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Just surprised the first one doesn’t get the Indiana Jones and the prefix like all the others. A little annoying when you do a search for Indiana Jones and Raiders doesn’t show up.

I didn’t do the turkey this year, Tracy did everything. I made some pies for tomorrow’s friendsgiving, but today was all her. I was also a little out of it. The flu/covid shots yesterday did me in, although just about 24 hours later, I think I’m over the hump. Seems to have affected Lucy and me, not Jackson and Tracy though. Only had the in-laws over, so pretty small and quiet. Jackson’s already 100% Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on the PS5, so probably going to have to get the first one and Miles Morales as well, maybe for Christmas.

Prepped for Friendsgiving. Went well. Still ongoing.

Waffles and bacon and breakfast sandwiches this morning. My turn to do the cooking. Introduced the Cases to Acron. After they left, we went to the mall, today! Out at Northbrook Center, where it was pretty quiet and maybe 30% retail occupied? Nothing like the mall I was at near St. Louis. Got the LEGO Alpine Lodge (Winter Village set for this year) while the girls went shopping. Jackson and I wandered around. I tried on some Maui Jim’s, thinking I need new sunglasses for upcoming vacations. Wanted to eat at P.F. Chang’s but didn’t have a reservation and so it was an hour late. Just so weird how empty the mall was and how packed Chang’s was. Just ended up having leftovers at home.

Got a little over a month before vacation, so gotta start planning ahead. Also Thanksgiving break was good, but gotta get back to it. Big part of that will be eating better and exercising regularly. But that starts tomorrow, so today went to family breakfast at Crosby’s Kitchen, then this afternoon got some froyo at Forever Yogurt.

Didn’t even get a chance to exercise today, too busy working. Kind of annoying, wanted to get out and running. Maybe tomorrow. I did manage to not eat much, so that’s something. Also stayed up way too late last night (which is like 2 out of 3 recent nights, so I’ve got to get back on schedule there. Basketball started up for Jackson today with a parent run practice, which was nice. Definitely starting to be too many kids to figure out carpooling. Not sure what we’re going to do for carpooling for soccer since P4 has a different Friday schedule than P2. Maybe I’ll just end up driving every time again. Did that the first year he was up there.

Got a decent night’s sleep. Work quieted down enough I went out for a run today. Think I actually overdressed. I think I’m supposed to be cold at the start and comfortable at the end. Although I assume the cool down walk would be cold. Today I started comfortable, probably got a little too warm, and was comfortable on the cool down. Probably more appropriate attire for when it’s colder and windier. No carpooling today, just Lucy to/from swim practice. No driving for Jackson either.

Found out the drain on our tankless water heater wasn’t installed properly. Apparently it’s acidic, and needs to be neutralized and through PVC pipes. Oh, and it should be flushed yearly. Whoops. I noticed it on Monday, not sure why I decided to look into the mechanical room, but yeah, we got some water damage that we now need to get taken care of as well. Used Rocket Plumbing again, awesome as always. Always fun to get these surprise household expenses.

Crazy, November’s over. December in mere moments and before you know it, 2024. Fingers crossed it’s a good year. Tried going for a run today, weather was great, but had tightness in my left calf, so cut it short and walked after about 15 minutes. Drove Lucy to school, picked up Lucy and Julia from math practice, drove Lucy and Matilda to swim practice, so a decent amount of driving. Got my annual check up tomorrow. For a while I was good about doing it in July, but I slipped last year to October and even more this year to December. I’ll slip a month or so every year until I get back to July, seems like a good time to do it. Better than now, post Thanksgiving. I guess it could be worse, just after the New Year.