It felt like we were barely home in September and that’s because we were. After finishing up our 3D trip at the start of September, we closed out the month thousands of miles apart from California to Amsterdam. It was quite the month, but an exhausting one.

RECAP OF THE MONTH

The start of September had Jenn and I flying from Dubrovnik to Copenhagen, the last stop on our 3D Trip (Dublin, Dubrovnik, Denmark). I can’t even begin to describe how great it felt to travel with Jenn again. We’ve been doing so much solo business travel that flying together and traveling the world felt extra special. I already wrote up each day of the trip and even though we ended it a day early with Jenn’s COVID rash returning it was an incredible journey filled with great food, amazing cities, and memories I’ll never forget.

Jenn went to the doctor when we arrived home and Frasier returned home from Far Fetched. Unfortunately, we were never able to diagnose what was happening to Jenn fully, all her blood results came back perfect, and the rash which wasn’t nearly as bad as it was in London in July began to go away as the week went by. A few days after arriving back I went to my second Yankee game of the season, this time for work in a luxury suite.

Easily one of the best moments of the month for both Jenn and me was the weekend before our anniversary. We had no big plan and started the weekend by walking Frasier at Central Park. We’ve gotten into the habit of bringing a ball with us to the park and he goes nuts to retrieve it in these massive grass fields. The rest of the weekend was doing everything we could to rest and relax before we hit the road again. We caught up on two amazing fantasy shows (House of the Dragon & Rings of Power) and watched both the men’s and women’s finals in the US Open. There was nothing overly fancy about it but it was time for us as a family to spend time together.

But sadly that came to an end quite a few days later when Jenn jumped on a Jet Blue flight to San Francisco to meet Amy to have a few days in Napa Valley enjoying quite a few beautiful wineries. That left Frasier and me to hang out together and have a good Father/Son experience before driving him back to Far Fetch in Chatham, NY, and boarding an Air France plane to Paris for work.

This is my fifth international work trip of the year (with two more to go) and although I’m still not used to it yet, the ebbs and flows of these weeks are starting to get more familiar. With Jenn in Napa, I left a day early and got to enjoy a day in Paris before a jam-packed work week began. I arrived in Paris a little after 10 AM on Sunday, September 18th and my room wasn’t ready so I spent the next couple of hours walking through one of my favorite places in the world. By the time the day ended I had amassed about 30,000 steps, had visited the Eiffel Tower and the Rodin Museum, and snagged a fresh baguette to enjoy with a bottle of wine the hotel gave me. That evening I treated myself to a beautiful five-course tasting menu at the one-Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Christine and finished the evening with a brief walk by the Notre Dame.

I had two more days in Paris before hopping on the Eurostar to London where I spent the next few days working before Jake joined me in London for a brother's extended weekend trip in Europe. I won’t recap the trip here (already wrote it up) but needless to say Jake and I had an unbelievable trip, even with some rough patches of weather. We began our trip in London and from there took the train to Brussels and Amsterdam and enjoyed our way through it all. After Iceland last year and these three cities this year, it’s starting to feel like this might have to become an annual tradition.

Jenn arrived home from San Diego after visiting Dad and having a very successful leadership offsite in San Francisco on Sunday the 25th and I came home a few days later on the 27th. Through all of our travel and being the furthest apart, we’ve ever been we also celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary. I hope this is the only one we ever have to celebrate apart, it was challenging and never felt right. When we arrived home we had thought about trying to go out and celebrate but were exhausted from the trip. We closed out September lacking sleep, over-traveled, and looking forward to months when we could spend more time together.

TV WE WATCHED

Although we weren’t home much, when we were we watched a lot of great TV. The highlights were obviously House of Dragons and Rings of Power. But the less obvious ones were the second season of Only Murders in the Building and the third season of Trying.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

Not a great month of reading for me, especially with how much traveling I was doing. Both A Fire Sparkling and Career of Evil were fine books, maybe even good books but nothing great. A Fire Sparkling was a nice although somewhat forgettable WWII book and Career of Evil although a very fun murder mystery might have been a bit too over the top for my taste.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

It might be the first time in a long time but we didn’t watch any movies this month. Between travel and a plethora of incredible television, we didn’t sit down and watch any movies this month.

THEATER WE SAW

It felt like we were barely home this month, so we didn’t see any shows together. Jenn did see Six for the second time and loved it even more the second time.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

One new game in August (Madden 23) and now another in September (NBA 2K23). It’s nice to be playing new games again, albeit only sports games.

2022 GOAL TRACKING

Goal #1: Read 35 Books: I've read 26 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: 9 for 12.

A Look Back - September 2022