Sunday
Running: At the crack of dawn, 1 mile before hitting the road.
Reading:
Sense and Sensibility, I got through Volumes 1 and 2 on the road.
Doing: Mainly driving. I took the shortest route through downtown Chicago. I had a couple moments of traffic, but mainly smooth sailing. Once I got to Indiana I took the dog for a walk which turned into an adventure of its own. We were charged by an over friendly Great Dane. The dog wanted to charge deer, and I got to see a hawk and a turkey vulture.
Watching: Introduced Aunts to
Doctor Thorne.
You are welcome.
Monday
Running: 5.5 miles in the morning, on a path I've liked in the past. Then weights and abs in Aunt's basement.
Reading: Still in volume 3 of Sense and Sensibility.
Doing: The main part of the day was helping Aunt Candy Cane
(and she knows why I picked that nickname) put up her Christmas tree and other decorations. I am not anti-Christmas. I just don't decorate my place because I'm never home. I don't mind decorating but I hate packing it all back up so I'd say I timed this well. Aunt Candy had a great moment where she found a Santa with detachable legs. "He's just like me"
When Aunt Candy and I got back to Aunt Host's home, she was unhappy with the current lights on the outside tree. She wanted to try the older lights I refer to as "the ones that will burn the house down" because they legit get hot when they are on. She had one crap string of lights and a few fairly decent strings. We were picking the good bulbs off the crap string, and had the other strings almost fully restored when one of the strings shocked her and altogether went out. And that was when I quit my light bulb job and went downstairs.
Watching: Finished Doctor Thorne. Watched the first live show of
The Voice.
Tuesday
Running: 5.6 miles in the morning. Snow was falling and it was gorgeous. I told family it's the good kind of snow with no wind and no shoveling.
Reading: Finished Sense and Sensibility. Not sure what I'll read next.
Doing: The day started with a shopping trip and exploring Sam's.
It's mostly Costco by me, so this has slightly different stuff. In the afternoon, I bowed out of assisting with the outside lights. Aunt Host and Uncle Host went outside, and then something broke. But it was not a something that would burn down the house, so we at least had that going for us.
In the late afternoon, we headed over to a
local winery that was a lot of fun. Some of the grapes are the same as what we have in Minnesota.
Evening: I said "I haven't had any positive experiences with a racoon" and that had to change.
Watching: The Voice. I'm kind of surprised by the results.
Wednesday
Running: 1.3 miles. Followed by another edition of Vacation weights. The dumbell fell apart.
Sigh
Reading:
Atomic Habits and this one has the distinction that I'm actually reading it. Goal is to get it done before I have to leave town, so that I can start another book then and not have too many books open at once.
Doing: After running, I mostly hung out at home. I did some early Black Friday shopping. This is the one time of the year
Xero Shoes goes on sale, so I had to stock up. Also,
Flickr is changing everything, so I had to get a paid account with them. I looked at getting a hotel room for the trip home, but I need to wait until the weather clarifies itself before deciding what I'm going to do.
Mom and Dad as well as some additional family arrived in the evening and we all hung out, had dinner, and hung out some more. I'm already stuffed and that's before the big meal tomorrow.
Watching: There was a ton of basketball on but it wasn't my thing.
Thursday (Happy Thanksgiving!)
Running: My annual Turkey Trot, around 8.5 miles, in the morning.
Reading: Still on 'Atomic Habits' and finding it both obvious and fascinating
Doing: After the run, I had sweet rolls for breakfast, then reviewed the weather long enough to know I needed to leave town a day early to head home. Thanksgiving meal was around 1pm and lots of people came. After the meal and dishes, we had a walk, which is also tradition. In the evening, I did laundry and read. Everyone else watched a movie. I saw parts of it.
We had 'fourth meal' meaning supper around 9pm after the movie. I had left over turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes.
Watching: Everyone else watched a movie but I just wanted to sit and read.
Friday
Running: 3.25 miles in the morning, plus a 'finisher' at the end. I realized weights should happen but really won't. Hanging with the family is more important.
Reading: I finished Atomic Habits and I started
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness on the drive.
Doing: We went shopping at a few stores to get the Black Friday flavor. We hit Stein Mart and got a gift for Grandma, then Marshall's and got a gift for Mom, and then Eddie Bauer where we were all winners.
We had Italian Thanksgiving for lunch. The lasagna was excellent.
Festival of Trees was a new activity for us. We saw part of the show choir, all of the trees, and some of the dancing. The Embassy Theater is gorgeous. It's so old and well maintained, I loved walking around in it.
After that, it was time to pack and leave. (Originally I'd planned to stay one more day, but I left early because of a snow storm that's going to swing through Illinois and Wisconsin on Sunday.) I drove to Rockford and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. Dear Future Self: it's the Holiday Inn Express at the Loves Park exit. I mention this because there is a regular Holiday Inn an exit south. Either one is fine, but I typically hit up the Express.
Watching: The Road. For reals.
Saturday
Running: 1.2 Miles at home after the drive. Sometimes these 1-mile runs are absolutely the hardest runs ever.
Reading: I kept on with Ministry of Utmost Happiness for a while. Around Black River Falls I switched over to music and singing along for the rest of the drive.
Doing: Driving. I woke up around 5:30am, hit the road by 6am, and was home before 11am. A note to my future self here: Breakfast at Holiday Inn officially starts at 6am on the weekends. It was all out there and the coffee was hot around 5:50am. Packing the coffee thermos was a fantastic idea. Leaving around 6am still puts me in Minneapolis before 11am.
Watching: The road. And now I've got a hankering for Downton Abbey, related to an earlier discussion.
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