The Weekend Diary | September 24, 2023

 I took last Friday off work and it was just the "coming up for air" that I needed. 

In a real shift from the last few weeks, I'm here not to pour out my early 2000's song lyric posting angst, but instead, to say this was nice. 

As a side note though, I was a true convert of diligently listening for lyrics, writing down the real ravaging ones, and turning those babies into my AOL away message. "I'm just a girl, in the world. That's allllll that you'll let me beeeee" was a tried and true for me. God, the sound of the door opening and slamming shut can still turn my heart. 

Anyway, this weekend has been such a wonderful refresh. An extra day tacked on is key, but I have also enjoyed the good, warm weather, so many walks trailing behind Duke while he scooters about, and the luxury of being 50/50 productive and indulgent with myself. Long live Indian Summers and long weekends. 

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Friday

Duke had a half day on Friday, so I spent my morning puttering around the house catching up on chores that I never seem to get around to, before picking him up for the afternoon. 

We bounced around Benzie County for a bit, landing at the skatepark and indulging in some end-of-summer ice cream. 

I didn't plan properly, but we walked ourselves to Frankfort beach and Duke got in, fully clothed, and splashed around for a bit. It's a little cold for my liking, but I perched up on the beach and read for a while. He punctuated each sentence I tried to read with "hey Mama!" and "Mama look!" so I folded my page and put the book away. Someday I'll read uninterrupted at the beach and surely, I'll look wistfully at the moms with young sons and wish myself back. I'm trying to have the 20/20 hindsight vision in the present. It doesn't always work, but today, it did. 

We met up with some family at Esch Beach to watch the sunset. Duke found a tennis ball that we threw back and forth for a while. He's a great cheerleader, too. Regardless of toss or catch, he'd deligently shout out "good throw Mom!" and "nice try, Mom!" which I accepted as generous kindness. I'd like to nurture that. 

I have videos that I hope to enjoy someday at Duke's graduation party - we rounded out the evening at Ryan's garage with a dance party. Duke can get down to Usher and I'd like to nurture that too. 

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Saturday

Despite grand plans to be productive all day, my grandest achievement was in fact a nap I took in the afternoon. Duke slept in my bed that night which always results in a poor night of sleep, and then Ryan's alarm started going off at 6am for some early morning fishing. I slept like junk and then was up early - the nap was needed and deeply enjoyed. 

The early morning did give me a chance to spot this pretty sky. It was so pink and orange. 

After that indulgence, we packed up Duke's scooter for another scoot and ice cream trip to Frankfort. Biz as usual. 

Oh, and I did a wash in toner/glaze thing to my hair and it went fine, which is always a happy surprise. 

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Sunday 

Frankly, the day is early. I had a full, restful night of sleep, but naps are so wonderful, it's not off the agenda for the day. I'm also planning to make HalfBakedHarvest's Sunday Sauce for dinner tonight. 

Probably another scoot / walk combo for Duke and I and perhaps a short trip to the bookstore. I have to get out a reading rut I'm stuck in. 

Happy weekending - please last forever.