Normally, I work from home on Fridays. I'm in the office today covering a colleague's reference desk shift. It's the second to last day of classes. I took a lap of our space and there are only 8 students here at the start of my shift. While that makes the shifts feel longer, I will be able to get a lot of other work done.

Here's what made me smile this week:

• The sun came out after many days of gray
• Started a new felt-tipped pen
• Brought home a stash of really tasty sausage from a place near my in-laws
• A highly aromatic candle that makes our home smell fresh
• It's Hallmark Channel Christmas move season!
• Watching our kiddo fill a small notebook of drawings where she matched her scribbles to the color of butterfly stickers she added
• Reading a fun graphic novel
• Looking at cute animal pictures for a work project

Our drive down to SC was delightfully smooth and two hours faster than normal. While the weather tomorrow looks okay, I don't think the traffic volume will be as kind. Fingers crossed we make it home in under 10 hours.

Here's what made my week:

• The sheer happiness our kiddo exhibited every day
• Riding a Ferris wheel and feeding the fish
• Getting a great family photo to use on our holiday card
• Zip hoodies
• My father-in-law randomly vacuumed out our car
• Delicious Thanksgiving stuffing
• The husband had the brilliant idea to buy a few packs of the tasty sausage from the store down here to freeze and take home with us
• Getting to sleep an extra hour (or more) every day this week
• Kiddo was a big fan of her travel toddler bed (and napped almost every day)

The husband has been out of town for work since Wednesday. Thankfully, our kiddo has been both kind to me and healthy. It's a lot easier to solo parent when you get to keep access to childcare. 

Here's what else was good in my week:

• Actually being invested in a game of Monday Night Football
• Our internal work chat
• Powered through the backlog of my scanning
• Kiddo duetting "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with me
• Lucked into a lot parking spot at our building a few times
• Tasty leftovers for lunch
• Being able to stash the kiddo's Christmas presents away before she sees them
• Bed was super cozy and warm every morning

We are on a group chat with the other daycare parents. It's a great way to make plans and share stories. Today, I got to let them know that, instead of napping, our kiddo was singing happy birthday to all her classmates.

Here are the other things that were good this week:

• On Thursday, everyone who scheduled a session showed up for their usability test
• Zipped hoodies
• Snickering while watching the new Grand Tour 
• Watching ND manhandle Clemson
• Using the local parent list-serv to give our old kid stuff new life
• Kiddo "washed" dishes while I made dinner
• Still nibbling Halloween candy
• Enjoying a clean home that I didn't have to scrub

I hop on a plane later today to head home from my conference. I could have slept in a little today but I chose not to. Instead, I got up at my usual weekday time, made coffee, and enjoy it while I listened to podcasts. It was all unhurried and a rather pleasant way to start the day.

Here's what else was good in my week:

• My presentation drew a lot of attendees and I was happy to see that my content was something people wanted to hear
• Finding something applicable to my job in every single conference session
• Panera's You Pick Two 
• Dipping pieces of baguette in soup
• My kiddo trying to feed me snacks through the phone
• Watching a stellar sunset from my hotel window
• Meeting some of the celebrities in my working world
• Kiddo adoring the process of getting candy on Halloween
• Seeing my uncle for the first time since our wedding

I had to turn the heat on to work in my home office area today. I try to avoid that for as long as possible, but I was just too cold. Happily, our wall units made my space nice and warm quickly and I was able it turn it off after a half hour.  Between the warm air, warm sweater jacket I'm wearing, and fuzzy lap blanket, I am content and cozy.

Here's what else made me smile this week:

• Our kiddo's daycare is doing spirit week leading up to Halloween. Today was 80s throwback. She rocked a side pony - but only after I did it to myself first. I got a really cute picture of the two of us.
• Having pasta and meatballs for lunch
• When I got stuck in Dallas for a night unexpectedly, the airline put me up in the hotel attached to the airport.
• No one in the middle seat on my final flight home
• Taking a nap on the couch in an effort to even out my jet lag
• Having the perfect noodles in the pantry for when I needed to add something else to dinner
• Mini pumpkins
• Kiddo starting to help with dinner AND clean up her snack stuff on her own
• Having a burst of an insight for my personal brand

The conference I'm attending ended yesterday. Right now, I'm sitting in my hotel room enjoying the final few hours of quiet before the long trip home. This is the longest I've had time to myself since our kiddo was born. It has been refreshing.

Here's what made my week so great:

• Made might (very) tight flight connection in Phoenix
• Visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium
• Seeing sea lions in the wild
• Taking several walks along the waterfront pedestrian trail
• Enjoying a huge and rather tasty falafel wrap for dinner
• Indulging in few sheet masks
• That salty, sweet, somewhat seaweedy scent that comes from walking along a commercial boardwalk over the water
• Rewatching Bridgerton
• Waking up early every day without an alarm
• Starbucks via making for decent hotel room coffee
• FaceTiming my kiddo between afternoon conference sessions

My COVID test just came up negative. Hopefully that remains the case over the next few days. I'm supposed to fly out to California for a conference on Monday and I'm convinced, for some reason, that I'm going to test positive right before I need to leave. So, keeping my fingers cross, but happy this one came out negative.

Here's what else was good in my week:

• Tasty breakfast sandwich
• My brother was in town for a quick visit
• Still windows open kind of weather
• How cozy the bed feels in the morning
• Taking over first place in our Fantasy Football league
• Spending a little more time with friends
• Listening to podcasts while baking
• Visited an open house in our building and got great ideas for our own unit
• Perfectly underbaked cookies
• Sangria

I want to shout out to the babysitting CPR course I took in high school. It's 20 years later and things I learned then still come in handy.

Today, our daycare was closed for parent-teacher conferences. Our kiddo, who normally doesn't do these things, stuck a small bead up her nose. I was able to save us a trip to urgent care by doing the close the other nostril, blow in the mouth trick I learned. What could have been an awful few hours was over in five seconds with no pain or tears for anyone. My husband was all, "Where the heck did you learn that?!?!!?" 

Here's what else has made this week good:

• Listening to the birds sing while enjoying a hot cup off coffee when I got up earlier than planned
• Hearing how much our kid's teachers like her
• New sheets on the bed
• My awesome new black jeans
• Seeing the renovations in the condo down the hall 
• Kiddo running around in her fluffy Disney dress
• Surf and turf for dinner
• Having more volunteers than I need for a work project
• Being productive during kiddo's nap time

Hurricane Ian is awful. As a former resident of Florida, I keep half an eye on all hurricanes when they happen. This one, I watched more closely. My parents retired to Florida and I have a lot of extended family there. My in-laws live in South Carolina. I am thankful that everyone is okay and, so far, the main issue anyone has had to deal with is power loss and simple yard clean up.

Here's what was good in my week:

• DC's very accessible COVID centers helped us all get our flu shots and boosters
• I got to sleep in until 10am last weekend
• Rode a carousel with my kiddo for the first time
• Making dinner plans with a friend
• Sandwich crackers
• Hoodies with pockets
• Spying on kiddo reading some of her books at our dining room table
• Lap blankets
• Pumpkin beer season!