Hi there. I am watching the Winter Olympics from my hotel room in Durham while I write this post. More on that later in the post but let’s catch up on my weekend in Charlotte with Finn.

WEEKEND WITH FINN

At this point, y’all know that I am a HUGE fan of low-key weekends close to home, especially when life is a bit crazy. We did a whole lot of snuggling and relaxing. One of Finn’s most-favorite phrases of all-time is, “Mommy, come snuggle me!”

We had two big outings on Saturday. The first was a walk with “Ginga” (Virginia) and “Dor-wee.” It was cold but felt so good to get out, move and catch up with two of my favorite people. Finn literally ran for the first mile of our walk and then told us he was tired and wanted to ride in the stroller (always give him the choice). He was literally asleep within two minutes of getting in the stroller and slept through the next two miles.

Our second outing was to Target for super fun things like toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, baby wash, etc. Finn is obsessed with color changing cars (hot and cold water) and we found these Hot Wheels Color Reveals. They are awesome! It’s a two-for-one because you get the thrill of the reveal of what Hot Wheels design it is when you first place it in water and the temporary paint soaks off and then it turns into a hot/cold color changer. 10/10 recommend!

Saturday night looked like a Whole Foods barbecue chicken frozen pizza + a movie on the couch after I got Finn down.

I watched 14 Peaks on Netflix and it definitely kept my attention. It’s about a Nepalese man who hikes all 14 of the world’s 8,000 meter peaks in seven months…setting a major record. This affirmed (again) my disinterest in ever participating in an extreme alpine climb but it sure is fascinating to watch others do it.

FYI: I had many people on Instagram recommend that I also watch The Alpinist. If these kinds of movies are your thing, you may also want to check out Free Solo. That one was bananas.

Sunday brought another slow-paced day. We took a quick trip to the grocery and got out for an afternoon walk.

We spent the late afternoon/evening in the kitchen. I reorganized the freezer on Saturday and pulled out some beef short ribs from Windy Hill to cook on Sunday. They seemed like the perfect slow-cooking, flavorful dinner for a cold Sunday. We also made a batch of s’mores brownies.

Finn asked to touch the “powder” so I gave him a cup of flour to play with. Y’all…he stood on a stool for an hour and fifteen minutes playing with one cup of flour. I had to pry him away to eat his dinner. Things got really fun for him when he decided to race his cars in the powder.

Here’s my dinner creation! Falling off the bone short ribs cooking in red wine served over mashed potatoes with roasted carrots and a side salad. Comfort food perfection. It was like pot roast but better because the short ribs cook on the bone. This is the recipe that I used. It was super easy. I didn’t have thyme or bay leaves and subbed chicken bone broth for the beef broth.

I had an early alarm set this morning to get up and pack for Durham but this snuggle bug kept me in bed until almost 8a. Luckily, I have packing down to a science so I was packed up and on the road by 10a.

BACK TO DURHAM

I have only the best news to share about being back in Durham…conversations started today about getting my mom discharged from the hospital within the next week! YAY! Also, we learned that she was transplant number 2,307 at Duke. It’s a significant thing among the transplantees to know your number so we were interested to find out hers.

My mom’s double lung transplant was on January 15 and I could see a marked improvement today over when I last saw her a little over a week ago. The most significant change is in her mental status. She is seeming so much more like herself. She’s also gaining energy, strength and mobility.

I’ll post a more technical update after my time here this week but god is good and we couldn’t ask for more at this point in the transplant process. (My mom would disagree as she really wants to eat something, haha.)

Okay, friends! Time to unpack, take a hot shower and get to bed.

QUESTIONS

In general, do you like to be out and about or are you more of a homebody?

Are you watching the Winter Olympics? What is your favorite event? 

Have you cooked any comfort food lately?