Week In The Life™ 2022 | Ali's Saturday

I'm a fan of weekends with no plans and lots of time to just putter around the house and let my day simply evolve based on what I feel like doing. 

For today's journaling I'm thinking about what the weekend means to me and what are the things that are "normal" weekend activities around here. 

As I start looking back at my words + photos from this past week I can't underestimate how much some of my/our previous routines have changed since Betty joining us just over a week and a half ago. It's been pretty cool to have captured us right at the beginning of the start of new rhythms + routines. So much is the same and so much is different. Again, it's what is real for us right now. 

Today I let myself get what I get without any pressure to capture more. 

Here's a look at my Saturday: 

Right now my weekend mornings are very similar to my weekday mornings. Up early with Betty often followed by a little nap for both of us. I want to remember how she sits and listens and watches and sniffs when she sits on the back porch. Sleeping in is over for awhile and I'm okay with that. 

On some Saturday's I do a little work in the morning before the rest of the house wakes up (whether the kids are here or it's just Aaron). Today I worked on my words + photos blog post and continued to work on some kit designs for next year. Betty's been taking a two hour nap in the morning (after our little mini couch snooze) which is giving me a good chunk of time to get a few things done. 

Most Saturday's I try to stay out of my office, it just depends on deadlines and what's happening around here. 

I'm pretty sure I took this same photo each day this week and I love that she's in different positions each time. This time she's got her little nose tucked under her stuffed fox (the fox stays in this crate). 

Sam's very interested in Betty when she's in her crate. Betty's still way too wiggly with too much puppy energy for them to get to know each other beyond monitored interactions. Sam is super tolerant and knows where to go to avoid her. 

On Saturday I cut my pinkie toe and nail on the bottom of a door. It hurt. Expletives were spoken. Not a fan. The entire nail and some of the skin on the top of my toe ended up coming off. 

Simon's working at the local baseball stadium this summer and has been working for a number of days in a row and he's really tired. He's also really wanting to play his Star Wars roll playing game again with Aaron and I so we are figuring out a time to make that happen this week. 

On Saturday's, especially at the end of a week when we've had a full house, I often do some bigger clean up. With Betty here we've been vacuuming a lot more daily with all the in + out into the backyard. 

Four teenagers and a twenty-year-old use a lot of towels. And these are just the ones that actually get hung up in the bathroom. On Saturday's like this I collect all the towels and take them down to the laundry room. 

Today we took Betty for a drive in our camper van over to visit her Mama + brother. We are excited to take her in some overnights in the camper later this summer. I also want to get her a lifejacket so I can take her out on my paddle board. 

Betty loved getting to hang out for about an hour with her Mama + brother while we chatted with Kim (my friend from college + the person who introduced Aaron and I just about ten years ago). They jumped and wrestled and played and played and played. 

Betty was seriously tuckered out when we got back home. 

During Betty's big afternoon nap after all that serious play I got to have some chill time with my book. 

I'm currently reading a book called Aurora by David Koepp (recommended recently by Stephanie Howell). On a pre-Betty Saturday I probably would have finished the book (it's good so far). Right now reading has taken a bit of a back seat as we settle into new routines. 

The weather this week has been amazing and HOT. We got our sprinklers turned on (this is probably the latest I can remember turning them on for the summer) but I still love going out and hand watering and lingering in the yard. The dahlias are all growing like crazy and I can't wait for the blooms to begin. 

I took a few photos using the .5 option on my iPhone for a super wide angle. I think these will be fun to add into those 10 inch x 4 inch pockets in my album. When I start putting everything together I might need to take a few more shots like this if I feel like I'm missing some aspects of my story. 

Simon and Isaac have both been staying here more lately (for lots of reasons) - it's another change to our "regular" routines that we are all adapting to especially knowing that they will both be moving out in the fall. Savoring this time. 

Before work today Simon rewatched some episodes of the Loki series with Kramer watching over him. 

Simon's highlight today was getting to serve food to two of his favorite teachers from elementary school. These two women made a tremendous impact on Simon's education - one as the coordinator of the autism program at Simon's elementary school and the other as his Kindergarten teacher. They were two of his biggest cheerleaders and advocates in those early years.

In the evening Aaron and I ate dinner in bed and watched the new Chernobyl documentary on HBO: Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes. It was super interesting and fascinating storytelling. 

Betty starts her evening in bed with us and then goes into her crate when we go to sleep and that routine has been working well so far.