The high of my week was no more roofing work! Last week, my apartment building’s roof was being repaired by experts like Tampa roofing company, and let me tell you, being on the top floor of a building that’s getting roofing work done is no bueno. So much banging! And they started at 7am every morning (EVEN ON SATURDAY!!!). All of the loud noises scared Lila so much that she hid under the bed all day and only came out at night when they were gone—I missed having that little fluff around! I’m glad the roof is repaired, but even more glad that I don’t have to hear constant banging while I’m trying to get work done.
The low of my week was canceling my April vacation. Ugh. My mom and I decided to cancel our cruise/trip to California in April because I was feeling very stressed out about the expense. I’m not feeling great about where my finances are at right now (holidays + student loan payments unpausing + paying off LASIK = a lot on my plate), and I need a breather for the first half of the year to catch up on credit card payments and savings. We’ll still take a nice vacation next year, but it won’t be in April.
One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was finally working through my “deal with it later” bin. I haven’t gone through this bin in months and it was overflowing with documents to file, random items to put in their correct spots, and more. It felt good to finally get it all cleared out!
A Reel I loved was this sweet video of a doggo making a build-a-bear. Heartwarming!
I’m currently reading three books. On audio, I’m listening to State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. (So far, I’m liking it! The premise is not enticing at all, but everyone I know who has read it has loved it.) In print, I’m reading The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. (Sooo good.) And my e-book is A Lot Like Love by Julie James, which is a reread for me.
A podcast episode I enjoyed was The Wreck of the Costa Concordia on Stuff You Should Know. I love it when they do deep dives on these random events in history, especially shipwrecks. And this one was fairly recent—2012!
The best money I spent was on gifts for my book club! We are having our book club Christmas party on Sunday and we are doing a “favorite things” gift exchange. I had a lot of fun figuring out what my “favorite thing” was going to be (we wanted to keep each gift around $10 since we had to have five of them), and I think I came up with a great one. We’ll see! (I’ll reveal what the gift was on Monday—don’t want any of my friends finding out ahead of time!)
My plans this weekend include so many things! Let’s review:
- Today, Bri is taking me on my birthday adventure: A day at Disney for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! I haven’t been to Disney in so long and I’m excited to soak it all up. Plus, it’s going to be a gorgeous day: A high of 74!
- Tomorrow, I’ll kick off my day by shipping off my Secret SANta Swap gift and then meet up with my friend Amber for her birthday present to me: brunch! We’re going to a place downtown that has a very delicious-sounding menu.
- In the afternoon, I have a writing date with Mikaela and then I’m coming home and vegging on the couch for the rest of the night.
- Sunday morning, it’s our book club Christmas party! Bri is making breakfast and we’ll play some fun games and swap gifts.
- After the party, I’m headed straight to my mom’s for football with the fam.
Whew! It will be a busy weekend, but such a fun one. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a long time!
What was the high of your week?
What a great week and so much to look forward to! I can’t wait to see all of the $10 faves— a great price point for sudden indulgences.
$10 was the perfect price point – manageable for our budgets AND makes you really think about what little thing made a big impact on your life that year. So fun!
The high of my week was watching a Hallmark movie as a whole family yesterday with snacks (hot cocoa for the kids, hot coffee for me; Crispy Minis)…and then after supper we turned on the fireplace, and the kids did LEGO in front of the Christmas tree while we listened to a Christmas record on the record player. Usually we have activities on Thursday night so it felt like a real treat to JUST BE HOME for a change on Thursday evening.
It’s hard to cancel fun plans, but it sounds like it would feel stressful because of the financial side of things, so this seems like a great call. You’ll be able to plan something else – equally fun – but with less stress in the future!
That all sounds so cozy and Christmassy! I love it!
It was not ideal to cancel our trip, but I’m glad I did it. I feel so much better!
This was my last busy event facilitation week of 2023, so my high is making it through them all, haha! My heart goes out to you about that canceled April trip; I totally get the why and hope you’ll enjoy wherever you go later in the year more with the energy of making a good decision for yourself right now… I love the idea of a favorite things party; I can’t wait to see what you got your crew (and what you get!)!
Yay – congrats on making it through your events! That must be SO MUCH WORK and it must be so relieving to be on the other side of it. Hooray!
I can’t wait to hear about your $10 fave things gift! Fave thing parties are so fun!
I just texted you to ask for photos from your Disney Day. That sounds like Taco’s dream come true. He is so obsessed with Mickey. He has 5 Mickey shirts but could use more!
The high of my week was connecting with a lot of coworkers when I was in Chicago!
My nephew was likewise obsessed with Mickey at that age. There’s just something about the mouse!
It’s a bummer about your April trip, but totally the right thing to do. Between that and clearing your “deal with it later” bin, you’ve done a lot of adulting this week. Time for the weekend!
Too much adulting! But two things I am very grateful to have off my plate. I feel so much freer now!
I just took out a book from the library about a shipwreck and I’m so excited to get to it. I love reading about shipwrecks, as weird as that sounds.
I’m so excited you did a favorite things party! I can’t wait for you tell me (you write this blog just for me, right?) all about what the gifts were!
I most DEFINITELY write my blog for you, Engie!! 😉
Shipwrecks are so interesting to read about! I still have not figured out why that is.
I’m sorry about the April trip — it must be disappointing, but also a relief. And such a smart choice. I’m glad your mom was amenable to changing plans until it’s a trip you can ENJOY.
Ugh – the roofing work sounds awful! What is with early construction work?! Our next door neighbors are doing construction and the workers show up at 7:00 there, too. Super annoying! Not that I am usually asleep at that time anyway, but it’s still jarring first thing in the morning.
It’s so jarring to hear loud construction noises at 7am! I am never ready for it, even though it shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did. I’m just glad it’s over and now I have a more stable roof over my head!
Oh, too bad about your April trip! That’s disappointing but it sounds like the right decision.
Ooooh cannot wait to hear about your favourite things party! And your weekend sounds so great. How fun to just go to Disney whenever you want to! What a neat thing that is.
It was so disappointing to cancel the trip, but I feel like a weight has been lifted off me, so it was the right decision.
Disney annual passes are very much the norm around here! My brother and his family have had them for yeeears, and Bri has them as well. It’s fun to be able to pop over whenever we want!
I CANNOT WAIT to hear all about the weekend! Honestly, the least fun part of it to me would be Disney, but then I’ve never been there at Christmastime and I understand it’s really special. I really like the part about the writing date and book club party! And of course Sunday football- except the Dolphins aren’t playing till Monday night, boo. Anyway I hope you’re having a great time!
I am not a huge Disney person, but I have to say that it was super magical at Christmastime. They really did an amazing job with everything! I can only imagine what it’s like to be a kid at Disney at Christmas!
I’m SO SORRY to hear about your April trip, and I feel this a lot because we have had to do that so many times. Plan a trip to Vancouver, then the car needs a lot of work. Plan a trip to the East Coast, then the house needs something. It never ends. Then of course there was COVID and so MANY cancelled plans. But it sounds to me like this is the right decision. It’s best to not get into too much debt if you can help it, and with the eye procedure recently, I know money is tighter, and you want to pay that off before they charge you interest (we are in the process of paying this off for Mulder’s chemo, so I understand! Such a great benefit to have, but you have to be careful or you will end up owing…) No need to stress yourself out. The HUGE silver lining that I see is that your mom is LOCAL. So postponing this vacation doesn’t mean less time with her. That is the real blessing, family time together. Going somewhere fun just makes it extra special.
I love hearing about your book clubs. I’m not sure why, I’ve never been part of one, but the ones you belong to sound great.
That is a great way to look at it, J! We don’t need to plan vacations to see each other, so at least there’s that. I have a sense of relief at canceling the trip, so that’s the peace I needed to know it was the right decision.
I am super noise sensitive and that would have driven me nuts! I am glad it’s done!
Smart call on the April trip. You will reschedule it when it makes sense!
I am excited to see what your “favorite thing” is! I am not sure what I would pick!
What a fun weekend!!!!
The highlight of my week was the holiday office party! And the week being over. It was just a nutso week.
Tehehe – you got to see what I chose as my favorite thing early. Lucky you!
I’m glad you had a good time at the office party and hopefully had a relaxing weekend!
OMG, the noise would have driven me berserk! The people who drop their weights across the hall, in the little gym, drive me bonkers. (Not quite berserk, but close…) It’s random and makes me jump every time.
I’m sorry for the canceled trip, but also know the relief of knowing you won’t have those extra costs on top of our increasingly expensive lives. You’ll get your trip – and it will be amazing! (And also, not stressful. Trips are not supposed to be stressful!)
I hope you had a good week – clearly, I am behind (again) on blog reading. Sigh.
Yes, we’ll reschedule this trip for later in the year when I feel a bit more settled with my finances. It’s been a very expensive fall and my bank account is hurting!
Oh, I love that you’re doing a favorite thing party. I can’t wait to find out what you’ll bring as your favorite thing gift.
And I am sorry about the cancelation of your trip – but it sounds like the right decision. Sometimes adulting is hard.
I hope you had a great weekend. Looking forward to hear all about it.
I was so glad my friends were on board for a favorite things party. We’re going to try to make it an annual thing because it was so much fun!