30 Day Project - FUN! (recap)

What my 30 days of fun looks like all together. Basically it's a lot of Nate, cooking, reading, and time to myself. Funny enough, those are the most fun things in my life. So it seems that even when I'm trying, thinking about it consciously, what I find fun is what it is... and I'm okay with that.

But I did learn that I need to consciously remember these things so I don't take them for granted and remember the joy they bring to my life... and I also realized that I need to look for the fun elsewhere, because it's there - like the day I tried on shoes at Target. Instead of having a pity party because I can't afford a shopping spree right now, I appreciated the simple fun that just trying on shoes is.

Fun never needs to be complicated and require tons of planning. Sometimes it does, but it doesn't have to. Fun can be is in your every day.

Day 1: A long-awaited Covert Affairs episode

Day 2: A rare Starbucks treat

Day 3: Ooh, sparkly shoes

Day 4: Target shopping... by myself!

Day 5: Sprinkler time with Nate and my niece and nephew

Day 6: First attempt at making Indian food

Day 7: Being a go-getter at work (and, bonus, playing blocks with Nate!)

Day 8: Making zuccini muffins

Day 9: Eating and reading outside

Day 10: Relaxing with some alone time after work

Day 11: A haircut! (no picture, boo, I know)

Day 12: Enjoying pictures of Nate

Day 13: Coloring with crayons

Day 14: Watching a video at work

Day 15: Silly bathtime fun with Nate

Day 16: Finishing a book I've been meaning to read for a long time

Day 17: Reading during my lunch break at work

Day 18: Making Nate laugh

Day 19: Taking Nate and Buster for a long morning walk

Day 20: Trying on shoes at Target

Day 21: Stealing some quiet time in the sun

Day 22: A classic toddler dinner for Nate

Day 23: Reading a stack of magazines

Day 24: Taking Nate to the pediatrician (no, really)

Day 25: Making homemade soft pretzels and other yummy things

Day 26: Dinner and a play in NYC!

Day 27: Lasagna rollatini

Day 28: Trying a new chocolate chip cookie recipe

Day 29: Taping students together at a leadership activity at work

Day 30: My birthday - with a zoo, a carousel, cupcakes and pizza!

Day 30 - Fun and done

Day 30

My "30 days of fun" project ended on Wednesday, my birthday.

Just having a birthday is fun, so there was that. But that was not all, oh no.

We took Nate to the zoo.

 

And for his first carousel ride. (Okay, he didn't find that fun but I had fun riding the horse next to him.)

My parents came by later and brought me half a dozen cupcakes from my favorite local cupcake place. (No picture, too busy eating.)

That night, we ordered pizza for dinner. Why is that fun, you're probably asking yourself. Because we NEVER order pizza and it's one of my favorite foods. (This is what happens when your husband spent years and years working at pizzerias - he never wants pizza. But it was my birthday, so pizza it was.)

This 30 day project was interesting. Some days were definitely harder than others and some days I truly stretched to find something in the day that was fun (on days I didn't have an opportunity to go out of my way to make something fun happen). But every day, I found myself trying to think of fun things that happened, which forced me to remember good parts of my day and recognize that no matter how awful a day was, there was something fun about it (even if it was as simple as relaxing at the end of the day and finding some peace).

Now I'm thinking about what my next 30 day project should be. Hmm...

Not quite done with the fun...

Day 27

I tried a new recipe: lasagna rollatini (no pictures because it just doesn't photograph well, but trust me it is yummy). This is my weekend thing now - Nate naps, I bake/cook for the next couple of days. It works out well. This recipe was particularly fun because I wasn't sure I could successfully roll lasagna without having it all break or having the cheese ooze out the sides - but I made it work!

Day 28

I tried a new (to me) chocolate chip cookie recipe. It involves a little more work than any other recipe I've tried (there's a whole "whisk and wait three times" part) but, man, are they delicious. I can see why this recipe is so popular. AND it uses melted (browned) butter, which means if you're like me and always forget to leave the butter out to soften, it doesn't matter!

Day 29

I taped students together for a "human caterpillar" leadership exercise. Nothing quite gets any educator work-related tension out like taping students together and then laughing at them for half an hour.

Tomorrow... Day 30!!!

Early birthday fun

Day 26

For my birthday, my brother bought tickets for us (he and I) to go see a play in NYC. It wasn't just any play, though - it was a play, Bella and the Pool Boy, written by his former college roommate and being shown as a part of the NYC Fringe Festival. HOW FUN, right?

And, not only did we go to the play, but we went to dinner at a favorite restaurant first: Republic.

oh heavenly beef skewers with peanuts, noodles, and veggies...

I took my brother to Republic years ago. Or maybe he wanted a Thai restaurant recommendation and I just directed him to it? I don't even remember anymore. For both of us, though, it's our default go-to restaurant in NYC. The food is incredibly delicious, the service is amazingly fast, the location is great (Union Square), the prices are surprisingly reasonable, the decor is super fun (huge photos of people covered with noodles), the waitstaff is always fantastic, and it has communal seating. If you show up with fewer than six or eight people, you will undoubtedly end up sharing a long table and benches with people you've never met before (which I love).

Following dinner, we made our way over to the theater. The cast wasn't allowed in until a certain time, so we actually got to see them outside - which means my brother got to hang out with his former roommate and some other college friends for a bit. It was their opening night, so most of the people in the audience were friends and family (and the show was sold out).

The play itself was great - highly enjoyable. I found the directing to be particularly superb. There's one scene that happens in slow motion that was really incredible. I'm laughing to myself right now just picturing it.

And, coincidence of all coincidences? One of the guys in the play is good friends with my brother-in-law (the hubby's brother). He went to the same Rutgers school as my brother's friends, just a few years later, and they run in the same work circles, basically. So here I was, going to see my brother's friends, and there was someone else that I've seen at parties at my brother-in-law's a bunch of times. I love a small world.

The play was not just enjoyable, but good. You know my barometer for that? I was still thinking about it today - about the themes, the ideas, the jokes, the way it was staged. It was all so good. I really hope - and expect! - to see my brother's former roommate become a big star one day.

The best fun mixed with the hardest moments

Days 24 and 25 of my 30 days of fun project included some of the best fun yet, but also what were probably the saddest moments.

Day 24

Thankfully, it was a great day at work. I was feeling better, got a lot done, had a lot of great interactions with coworkers and students - everything that makes for a good day at work. This was a relief because I was still somewhat reeling from the awful Tuesday.

What was most fun about that day, though, was that it was Nate's 15 month pediatrician appointment. Do those of you with kids look forward to your child's well-visits? I get SO excited about them because I just can't wait to see how much he's grown and how he's doing with all of his milestones.

From his one year appointment, Nate gained two pounds and grew one and a half inches. He continues to be in the 75th percentile for height and his weight is still in the 95th percentile, so that's something for us to continue to keep an eye on. Also, I asked about his legs because he seems more bowlegged than other kids his age. The doctor agreed that he is and said that if at his 18 month appointment (3 months from now) he's still overly bowlegged, she'll refer us to an orthopedist.

Those were the only concerns, though. She was amazed that he has all his teeth except his two year molars, and was very happy with all the things he can do, including his vocabulary. He also had to get two shots, but was such a little champ with them, as always. He didn't even cry after the first one and then only cried for half a minute after the second one. He's just SO good. Having a great well-visit is always so much fun and makes my day great.

Day 25

Day 25 was Nate's last day at daycare, so I had a difficult time concentrating on anything all day. I held it together okay when I dropped him off in the morning until one of his teachers told me she was going to miss him and hoped he'd be back soon. I couldn't even choke out a goodbye after that. 

So, needless to say, I spent a lot of the day thinking about how hard it was going to be to pick him up later. I knew I had to do something fun to make myself feel better.

One thing I knew I wanted to do was make a peanut butter pie. This lovely blogger, Jennie, recently lost her dear husband, Mikey, to a sudden heart attack. In a stunningly beautiful and strong post, she asked people to make a peanut butter pie on Friday, the day of Mikey's memorial service, and share it with someone they love.

I didn't follow Jennie's recipe, though, because I had some other things I wanted to do so I made a shorter, but still yummy, version. The recipe makes two, so I kept one for us and gave the other to my sister.

My husband isn't a big sweets eater, though, and the spirit here is to make something someone loves and share it with them. So, regardless of the fact that it's summer, I made beef stew (following PW's recipe, but without the beer).

And, because I also wanted to make something new that was slightly challenging but a possible favorite (to get my mind on something other than daycare), I made Shutterbean's homemade soft pretzels.

mmmm cheese pretzels!

yummy salt pretzels (my fave!)

I thought I'd be standing around, crying over the pretzel dough, but I wasn't. For some reason, cooking and baking always makes me feel better - the methodical measuring, mixing, chopping, dicing - it just feels good.

It was hard to pick up Nate at the end of the day, and most difficult of all to watch him excitedly get his lunch bag out of the cabinet (one of his favorite things to do) for the last time for the foreseeable future. But my sister came over with her kids to pick up her pie after we got home and it was great fun watching them all play together. At that point, I knew the hardest parts were over and actually felt relief. I made it through what I knew would be an unreasonably difficult day.

And I had a great dinner and dessert to eat with my family, and the big takeaway from yesterday was to cherish the ones you love, which I do. The rest can be irrelevant sometimes.