Sidebar: Don’t Throw Away Your Shot

Um, it’s already November (i.e. Sidebar time). That’s cray. October was so much fun though!

First, work has been pretty steady so that’s always good. It’s immigration New Year, meaning visas are being issued now that it’s their new fiscal year and I’m waiting for approval notices to trickle in…so slowly. The backlog is a mess, but at least I am getting some approvals.

We also celebrated Latinx History Month at work, which is super fun! My mom visited and she helped me work on making our own Loteria. I don’t think she expected to draw and color while she came up for the weekend, but quality time is quality time, right?

I ended up having two four-day work weeks, so that always means that some weekends are going to be full of work. One Saturday, I compiled a five person U visa (!), but on the bright side I got to order in some of Chicago’s best pizza so I can’t complain:

One of reasons for a short work week was because  I took off a few days to go to Tampa to visit my cousins. I love going there because it’s always so much fun. We had lunch with my friend who just moved back to Tampa, then we basically were in water for the rest of the weekend. Pool on Friday, beach on Saturday, pool on Sunday. We actually were still damp from the pool when we got on the plane on Sunday.  It was super refreshing to be in the water and enjoying the warm sun that has sadly left for the remainder of the year.

And then–you guys–just two days after getting back from Tampa, I saw Hamilton! Like, that is crazy! I was lucky enough to buy tickets the day they went on sale here in Chicago. It must have been dumb luck because the prices were pretty reasonable (they’ve definitely gone up since June). I randomly selected a Tuesday, and had been waiting for this since the summer.

It was incredible.  Like of course. But the audience was also electric. Everyone was so excited to get to see something so magical. The Chicago actors are phenomenal too! I wish I could see it again, but for now I’m just replaying the soundtrack over and over again.

Then it was Halloween weekend, which was pretty busy for us. I ran a 5k Saturday morning. I usually run the Day of the Dead 5k every year (this was my 5th time) and my husband thinks it’s hilarious because I don’t train.  And that’s because I actually hate running. I’ve tried to get into it, but it’s just not my thing. But this 5k is so fun. We lucked out with great weather too, so it was the perfect day.

Then that evening, after a super long nap/lounge day, we went to a local restaurant that was having a mojito tasting contest. It was a costume party as well so I dressed up as a Putin Puppet! I don’t think a lot of people got the reference, but I thought it was cute.

So it was a super packed month! Now I’m just holding my breath and bracing myself for next Tuesday…

Bring on the holidays, I guess.