We had beautiful weather this weekend, even though there was a hint of Fall in the air. It was the first and last time this year that I got a little bit of a sunburn!

Friday after work, Pete met up with me and my coworkers for a game of flag football. I chilled on the sidelines with Hannah and Gamy and two girls from another department. It was fun to relax and talk to people I don’t interact with much during the week. Pete had a blast playing and was sore for two days. Hopefully they’ll play again before it gets too cold to be a spectator.

Saturday was our first Buddy Walk experience! We carpooled with Pete’s mom and met up my parents, my friends Meghan, Steph and JP, and their son Lucas. As soon as we arrived I realized how underprepared we were. Teams were setting up their tents, grills, tables of food and we had blankets and chips & dip. It was amazing to see how large some of the teams were and how many supporters there are in a smaller state like Connecticut. The top team raised over $10,000 for the CDSC and our little team managed to raise $1150!

Hannah fell asleep during the actual walk and continued to nap through lunch time. We ended up sitting on the far end of the field, away from everyone else, because we had no chairs and the picnic area provided some much needed shade. After my parents and our friends left, Pete, Grandma, Hannah, and I went for another walk to enjoy the sunshine, then did a lap around the field to check out the bounce houses.

Unfortunately the Buddy Walk wasn’t all I wanted it to be. I had a bad morning and was in a really crappy mood by the time we arrived. I already have a hard enough time meeting new people and couldn’t work up the strength to introduce myself while I was fighting my own negativity. I wanted the day to be about Hannah and meeting members of the community but instead I was focused on outside distractions.

On Sunday Pete went fishing and I stayed home with the sick Banana. After spending a week trying to fight off her first cold, Hannah finally surrendered and has been sick since Wednesday. Last week was the worst, with congestion that was affecting her ability to drink a bottle, a temperature just under 100*, and a couple restless nights. I’ve noticed a big difference since we put a humidifier in her room but the new cough she has makes her sound worse. I hope I’m not under reacting to Hannah’s cold but she seems to be handling it just fine. She still wakes up with a smile, still wants to play and roll around, and still sings to me after school. She’s fighting it like the little warrior that I know she is.