Weekend Fun Recap: September 19–21

How was your weekend? Mine had lots of fun events but also some hard moments. As an Enneagram One, it’s easy for me to let hard moments overshadow the good ones. But a wise mom shared with me this weekend that she often tells her daughter “don’t let a bad moment ruin a good day.” I needed that advice this weekend!

Book Club

My book club was supposed to meet to discuss Fredrik Backman’s My Friends (more on that in my reading recap below). Between fall break travels and germs making the rounds, we were down to just three people available. We didn’t want to discuss the book with half the group missing. But friend time is precious in our busy mom lives. So the three of us that were available decided to just have a friend hang, pick our next book, and discuss both books at our next meeting.

We had the best time just being together. My friend made tea, and I remembered how much I love Tazo’s Glazed Lemon Loaf. As an Enneagram One, when there’s a potential for plans to get cancelled, it’s easy for me to lean in to that. (I’ll get more time back in my time budget for more tasks!) But as Laura Vanderkam often notes, “People are a good use of time.” That was certainly the case Friday night!

Breakfast with Middle Kid

My husband and I take turns taking one of our girls out to breakfast the first Saturday of the month. Between scheduling snafus and sickness, we’d gotten behind for September. I was planning to take my middle daughter out to our local French café. But I woke up with a horrible headache that made me pretty sick for a bit.

Once I’d semi-recovered, I gave her the option of rescheduling (again), ordering breakfast via UberEATS, or going out to lunch instead at a mutually agreeable restaurant. When I told her that no, McDonald’s would not be mutually agreeable, she opted for option 2. We ordered from a local croissant restaurant (Ukrainian, not French). This worked well because I was able to just get the croissants and make us some scrambled eggs on the side. I’m also transitioning off coffee for the time being, so I could give myself the sad 1/3 cup amount I was allowing myself to ease the withdrawal symptoms. We had fun eating together despite numerous toddler interruptions!

Family Dinner

After a trip to the library with the kids (they left the haul all over the living room), Chick-fil-A for lunch (I needed SALT), and some chores around the house, we headed over to my parents’ for dinner. My middle kid was very pleased to be having no food made at home all day. I tried not to be insulted and not to remind her about the scrambled eggs. (We’re working on breaking the “ACTUALLY” habit with our girls. It’s not easy when your parents are an Enneagram One and an Enneagram Five.) We enjoyed seeing my brother and sister-in-law and celebrating two birthdays. My mom made a feast, then sugared up the kids and sent them home, as is a grandmother’s right.

Kid Birthday Party

Speaking of kids getting sugared up and sent home, my oldest kid attended a birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I ended up staying and visiting with the other moms, which was a lot of fun. The weather was nice, if a little hot for September, but the kids had a blast on the inflatable waterslide. My daughter took some time to warm up but eventually enjoyed being the “head of the lifeguards.” She promoted and demoted her friends as needed, charged partygoers 400 dollaroos to enter and exit the waterslide, and approved breaks for her trusty team. I loved seeing her use her imagination and make some fun for herself.

I brought her home and fell asleep on the couch, which wasn’t as fun. Then I whined and complained and eventually got dinner made with the help of my husband, who thought we’d ordered in plenty for one weekend.

Reading Recap

I flew through My Friends, both because I’d forgotten that book club was on the calendar and because it was a wonderful, compelling story. Although the book synopsis didn’t sound very interesting to me, I love Backman’s writing (start with Anxious People or A Man Called Ove) and had included this in my list of books I was looking forward to this year. As usual, it was filled with heartwarming and heartbreaking characters, Backman’s signature blend of foreshadowing and twists, and plenty of redemption. Five stars, would recommend.

Little Golden Book

Since I already read one book about friends, why not add a second? F is for FRIENDS will teach the alphabet and pop culture. I can only assume that P is for PIVOT!  

I hope your weekend was full of friends and fun and that no one insulted your cooking. Do you have a go-to author that you’ll read no matter how boring the synopsis sounds? Would you pay 400 dollaroos to exit a ride? Any tips for breaking the ACTUALLY habit? Let me know in the comments—I love hearing from you!

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