A Look Back - October 2022
After months of traveling, we only had one trip this month and it was to California. Outside of that it was a month at home during one of the most beautiful times in NYC.
RECAP OF THE MONTH
Only a few days after I got back from Amsterdam with Jake, Jenn was boarding a JetBlue flight from JFK to Denver for her team’s offsite. That same day I made the 2-hour journey (each way) to Chatham, NY to drop off Frasier at Far Fetch to leave for California. I’ll never forget when Jenn and I walked around Copenhagen talking about the travel that remained for the rest of the year and how difficult it was going to be. Boarding my flight to Orange County early on the morning of October 6th I was absolutely feeling just that.
But by the time I landed at John Wayne Airport a little before 10 AM and grabbed my beat-up Corolla, I had caught a second wind. I stopped and grabbed In & Out right as they opened and a nearby coffee before going to Menifee to visit my parents and meet Abby for the very first time. There was a dual reason for this October visit to California, the first was for my mom’s 60th birthday, and the second was to meet Abby for the first time. When I first held Abby, I knew she was a sweetheart. It’s still crazy to me that both of my sisters now have kids but it was so great being able to spend an afternoon with her. Before we left my Grandma and Ron also stopped by and were able to spend time with them. That evening I drove back to Orange County, checked into the Renaissance, and had a delicious pizza dinner with Jake and Kayla at Folks.
The next day after grabbing Blk Dot, I went to visit Jake’s new apartment and spend some time with him before heading to lunch at Ra Sushi in the Tustin District. It’s funny, but I was only back for a few hours but felt like I had never left. Jake and I spent the afternoon together before driving from Orange County to Riverside. Unfortunately, when I landed in Orange County I got the news that Ryan had gotten COVID (a few days later so too did Amy), which meant I wasn’t going to be able to see Gracelyn and Cam. I dropped off some things I had brought for them and then made our way to Ontario airport to pick up Jenn from her flight from Denver. Originally the plan was for everyone to have dinner in Riverside at a KBBQ restaurant but with them getting COVID, those plans were canceled. Instead, we drove back to Orange County and had KBBQ in Irvine. It was like the hundreds of dinners we had in Orange County before we moved to New York.
Our last day in California was Saturday and it was the primary reason for the trip, celebrating my Mom’s 60th birthday at a winery in Temecula. After having breakfast at Champagnes and walking around Fashion Island we drove to Temecula and met the family (sans the Nordbecks) and had a wonderful brunch to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. We all ate and drank on a beautiful overcast Saturday morning before heading to my parent’s house and missing a torrential hail storm. We spent the rest of the day/evening with the entire family before having some pizza and heading back to Orange County to fly home the next morning.
That was actually the last travel for a few weeks for both Jenn and me which meant we would for the first time in a while be able to enjoy just being at home and with each other. The following week after a grueling work week we made a short hour drive to Fishkill Farms to do our new annual tradition of picking apples. We were a few weeks later this year and that made a massive difference because out of a few patches the trees had been picked clean. We were able to scrounge together nearly a full bag of apples and a few pumpkins for Halloween before packing them up with Frasier to head back to the city. Speaking of Frasier I think he enjoys all the new sights and smells of apple picking more than Jenn and I as he was grinning from ear to ear the entire time we were there.
The following Friday (October 21st) I went in to get 3 of my 4 wisdom teeth extracted. I was unreasonably nervous about it, but the procedure was pretty easy and outside of some bruising and slight pain the first few days, the hardest part was not being able to eat good food for a week. Jenn and Frasier did an excellent job taking care of me and I was able to watch a lot of great TV shows and play video games while eating jello and yogurt. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.
By the next weekend, I was back up and out again out with Jenn for a date day in the city. We dropped off Frasier at Camp Canine for his first trial at a potential new boarding option in the city. During his 4-hour trial, we had brunch at The Consulate and walked to The Met to enjoy their exquisite Tudor exhibit which we did the full audio tour of. By far the best part of the day though was walking through the foliage of Central Park on a beautiful fall New York day. Its moments like that make life worth living. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. The icing on the cake was enjoying La Traviata at The Met Opera that evening in a private box. Pinch me, is this real life?
TV WE WATCHED
It was an incredible month of TV. Between House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power, we are definitely in peak TV. That doesn’t include the very fun She-Hulk (my travel show) and another brilliant season of The Handmaid’s Tale.
BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)
Far and away the best book I read was the fantasy novel, Babel. I’ve actually struggled to get into much fantasy lately, fearing that I may have grown out of it. But outside of it being a bit longer than it needed to be, Babel was one of the best books I’ve read this year and maybe the most enjoyable. I didn’t love The Ten Thousand Doors of January at all and Next in Line by Jeffrey Archer was insanely enjoyable but as most of the books in this series a bit forgettable.
MOVIES WE WATCHED
If it wasn’t for my wisdom teeth extraction this would have been the second straight month of no movies. Really the only thing even slightly worth mentioning was The Grey Man which I found very watchable albeit forgettable. Vacation (reboot of prior movies) was fine and Hasan Minhaj’s The King’s Jester was a very mediocre stand-up special.
THEATER WE SAW
Two absolutely incredible shows this month. Although I wasn’t super excited for 1776 the all-female cast was magnificent. I’m not sure I’d rush out to go see it again but I enjoyed every minute of it. La Traviata at the Met Opera might have been one of my favorites we’ve seen, fun, easy to follow, and beautifully staged, it was a rare opera that even Jenn really enjoyed.
GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING
One day I’ll get back to playing games that don’t revolve around sports. The newest addition to this list was PGA Tour 2K23 which came out at the end of the month and was just as good as 2K21.
2022 GOAL TRACKING
Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I've read 29 books and am on track to hit my goal.
Goal #2: Keep Weight Under 140: I've yet to go over 140lbs
Goal #3: 12 Monthly Recaps: 10 for 12.
