Yep, it sure is almost a week past Halloween 2020, but in my defense, this week – work wise, personal wise and whatever else wise has been ridiculously ridiculous.

On Halloween, we had plans to go over to our friend’s house since like the beginning of October.  Luckily, everyone was still healthy, so we kept our plans.  We went over with costumes in tow, as well as snacks and beverages, of course!  We got over to their house, and they had another friend coming over and these three were so sweet together.  They did tie-dye shirts, and multiple rounds of trick or treating on the small block that they lived on.  Our host had graciously already supplied the houses with bagged candy, so the kids just visited the same houses in different costumes, and collected their candy.  It was such a sweet night, and so thankful that we were able to give the kids some sort of normalcy for Halloween in 2020.

On Sunday, we were lucky enough to have my sister watch Sheff so we could have some time alone.  It had been a bit since our last date, so it was well overdue.  We started by getting some breakfast sandwiches at Hero’s downtown, and then walked a bit around Railroad Park.  After our walk, we headed over to Monday Night Brewing to watch some football!  I was lucky enough to find our tie that we brought hanging up on one of the high spots on the wall – B thinks it’s because I tagged it #bhamstrong, but it was still really freaking cool to see it up there.  After Monday Night, we headed over to Rougaroux for beverages and our second team, the Saints.  We got some amazing pork rinds and fried shrimp, with some delicious drinks and called it a night.

 

It was much needed and Monday Night in Birmingham is such a cool spot – their beers were amazing and our service couldn’t have been better!

I’m hoping that this upcoming week will be way better – I’ve somehow caught my reading mojo back – Sheff has his bball evaulations tomorrow, and I just feel like it’s going to be a good one!

I’m not here to talk politics – I have before, and if you’ve been around me for any length of time, you know where I stand with them anyway.

I’m here to talk about the experience of yesterday.  We always take Sheffield with us when we vote – we think it’s important to show him the importance of voting, so we went right after we picked him up from school. When we pulled up into our polling place, there were cars parked everywhere.  During the last presidential election, we seriously stood in line for fifteen minutes – in and out.  This year – there were so many people in line!  We actually couldn’t believe it – and everyone was wearing a mask!  Everyone!  Even while outside in line.  People were chatting – and not about politics.  Just being nice to each other.  It was pretty amazing.

At some point we were told that we were the polling place with the longest wait time, and that they had already run out of ballots (EEP!) once that day.  At some point, the poll workers brought pizza around!  I had heard of the Pizza at the Polls thing, where people could send pizza to people waiting in line to vote- and thought what a great thing to do.  Sheffield was definitely a fan.  I love that the slice of pizza is as big as he is!

All in all, we waited about two hours and fifteen minutes to cast our vote.  And it may have been a pain in the ass to wait in the cold, but it was also amazing to see all of those people showing up to vote.

We always snap a family pic after we’re done!!  I love how they always give Sheff a sticker, too.  The man last night said, well you had to wait in line too.  It was so sweet.

After that, we headed downtown to see the Dia de los Muertos altars.  It’s always been something we’ve enjoyed doing, and ever since Sheffield has watched Coco, he’s gotten a better understanding of it.  My two favorites were the John Lewis and RBG altars.  So appropriate for voting day!  Aren’t they beautiful?

When we got home, we all got changed into snuggly clothes- Sheff had his dinner, and then came in to join us on the couch for the Great British Bake Off.  We had made the decision that we were not going to watch the returns, so after Sheff went to bed, we made a charcuterie plate and binged all of the old seasons of GBBO and enjoyed a bottle of wine.  It was a really nice ending to the day.

Last weekend, we decided to take a family weekend getaway to Helen.  We really love the town, and it’s definitely beautiful during fall in the mountains.  We rented a cabin in the woods, and we were completely surrounded by fall foliage.  Sitting in the hot tub Sunday morning listening to the little rain and looking at the leaves was my favorite memory from this trip.

We left out Friday after work.  We stopped just north of Atlanta for dinner at a place called Taqueria Tsunami.  It was pretty good – and Sheff got his cheese dip.  It was pretty late when we got to the cabin, so we poured a glass of wine and just chilled out.

Saturday morning we went and got breakfast at Dottie’s Kitchen.  They had enormous cat-head biscuits and were so good.  We were incredibly disappointed with the lack of mask wearing the whole trip.  It was honestly like a pandemic wasn’t happening.  Luckily, we protected ourselves the whole time and wore our masks walking around Helen.  We really wanted to watch the Auburn game, so we were incredibly lucky when we found a patio bar that wasn’t crowded.  They had wine slushies and some German beer, and we just sat there for pretty much the whole afternoon.  So glad we pulled out that win – AU desperately needed it.

After the game we went to Habersham Winery.  We had been before and loved it, so we went back to try some different wines.  We ended up buying two bottles that were both delicious!!  When we were driving back around town, we noticed there were so many more people and so many without masks or social distancing.  We didn’t really feel like being out in that, so we picked up a pizza and had a pizza party in the cabin.  Sheff had been super good that day, so he got to play video games while the adults went into the hot tub and watched football.

We woke up Sunday morning and went into the hot tub one last time. The rain made the scenery even more beautiful.  We got dressed and went back into town to shop around before everyone else got there.  They have a fun playground, so before we left, Sheff got out some energy.  He crossed the monkey bars for the very first time!  He was so proud of himself, and we were too!

It was a much needed weekend away, but was very disappointed in how Covid is being handled and perceived.  This shit is real, and I don’t understand how people can just be so nonchalant about it.  It really is disheartening.

This weekend it’s Halloween, and it’s my most favorite.  Plus we’re playing LSU, so B is going to make his gumbo.  We’ll dress up and pretend all is well – we’ll do our best to make sure Sheff has a good time.

 

I love these little coffee chat posts, and I love coffee.  So much coffee, so here we go:

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…. yesterday was our last at-home school day.  Sheffield goes back to school full-time, five days a week next week.   If I’m being honest with myself, it’s pretty bittersweet.  I have actually enjoyed having this day in the middle of the week to be with him and see how much he’s learned.  I will miss our lunch picnics and dance parties.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…. my creativity has been severely lacking.  My job has been sucking the soul out of me lately, and I just haven’t had anything left to give when the day is over.  Plus I feel like I am being pulled into so many different directions lately, that I’m pretty sure my brain shuts itself off after about 830 pm.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…. we signed Sheffield up for basketball.  He had been doing gymnastics when Covid started, and we haven’t been back yet, even though they’re open.  Sheffield has been asking to do basketball for some time, so luckily our city’s rec center is doing youth basketball.  There will only be 24 kids in his league, so I’m hoping he makes some new friends.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…. I’m still struggling mightily with my body image.  I stopped wearing my Apple Watch for a week, because I was becoming obsessed with the move/stand/exercise goals.  I am proud of myself for noticing it and putting a stop to it before I let it get to a bad point.  Recovery is a hard and long process, but I’m working on it.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…. I bought eight thousand skeletons to decorate my house, because Halloween rules.  Also going all out for everything is key in 2020.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…. how much I miss human decency and kindness.  How is it so hard lately just to be nice to people?  I get that we’ve all been cooped up like animals since March, but come on people.  Treat people how you want to be treated, mmk?

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…. to start watching Ratched on Hulu.  Unless you don’t do well with some gore and creepiness.  But it’s October – everyone needs a good scare in October.

Thanks for having coffee with me – I hope to be able to do it with people in person soon!

(linking up with Steph and Jana – happy SUYB anniversary!)

Little Secrets – Jennifer Hillier // This book gave me massive anxiety, and probably would to any parent.  BUT it was so good and twisty, and everything is so intertwined, and you just have no idea what is about to happen.  I am becoming a huge fan of Hillier.

 Twice in a Blue Moon – Christina Lauren  // I love just sinking into a Lauren book – they can give me all those “first love” feels, and sometimes a girl just needs that.  If you just want a lovely feel-good love story, read this guy.

 The Whisper Man – Alex North  // Oh man, this book was creeeeepy!  But in a good way.  I will say that I probably should not have read it at night, but if scary, murdery stories are your jam, then read this one!  I can’t wait until the other one by him comes off wait list!

The Dilemma – BA Paris // Like with any of Paris’ books, I got into this one pretty fast, but all in all, I was waiting for a twist that just never came.  I think there was a lot left on the table for this one, and it could have gone a million different directions.  It was a quick read and passed the time just fine.

The Night Swim – Megan Goldin // This was picked for Lindsay’s virtual book club, and once I started it, I couldn’t put it down.  Pretty relevant to the times, as a girl was raped by a star swimmer, and a true crime podcaster is there to report on the trial, but gets involved in another case while she is there.  SO.  Good.  I’m such a fan of true crime podcasts, so it was fun to kind of go behind the scenes.