I got three random things I wanted to share and didn’t feel like separating them out over the next three weeks. So, you get them all today.
10/10/2025
On Friday, Nina and I celebrated 15th wedding anniversary. I took Nina to lunch at a “nice restaurant” on the lake near our house. Not the one that Niko and I frequent where he gets his “smash-burger with cheese”. Nina had walleye with green beans and jasmine rice, and I had lemon chicken with green beans and jasmine rice – and a cup of Minnesota wild rice soup. I like soups! I think so far, of all the restaurants we have dined at, that one is my favorite. Food is really good, and we can even dine on the open porch and see the lake. Niko and I did that one time and it was windy (which was fine), but as soon as we got our food, it started to rain. So, we grabbed our food and found a table inside.
On Tuesday morning and after I dropped Niko off at school, I ran to Target for roses and candy for Nina. A few weeks ago, we were planning on going somewhere for lunch on Saturday as well – Niko wanted a super expensive steakhouse, and I vetoed that. I looked at that area and there were other restaurants that looked good, and they would probably be a bit cheaper. But, last week, we changed our Saturday plans as Nina picked a nearby farm to pick apples and pet goats; Niko was actually excited for the goats. Well, not only did he enjoy the goats, but he really enjoyed picking apples off of trees – we ate one later in the day, and it was really delicious. We will go back to that apple orchard farm and the cool thing is, it was only 20 minutes from our house.
We did grab lunch at a place called Perkins (similar to IHOP, Jims, and Dennys). Niko and I went to another Perkins last week for lunch. That instance, Niko and I shared a trio of appetizers (mozzarella sticks, tater tots, and fries), Niko got a patty melt, and I got grilled pork chops and chicken noodle soup. At the checkout stand, there is a large assortment of bakery items, so we got some to go.
Yesterday, we got strawberry and cream cheese crispers, Niko got fish and chips with shrimp, Nina got a triple decker club sandwich, and I got French toast and chicken noodle soup. I had to eat quickly, and the N’s each had a small bite and took the rest home (we had to skedaddle because Niko was tired and was also ready to be done sitting in an uncomfortable chair). Both times were good, and I would go back.
KPop Demon Hunters
I had seen this in Netflix, but had no clue what it was about. Then, two weeks ago and while I was napping (thank goodness), Nina and Niko turned it on, and ever since, the soundtrack has been blaring out of Niko’s iPad – which means, I get to hear it a lot (especially, in the car on the way to school). He knows all the songs, the words, and most of the moves. Even when it’s not playing, I am silently humming the tunes. Please don’t tell anybody! And, I haven’t even seen the movie, just a few parts.
Niko’s Words
I was playing a silly game at school, and one of the things that happened was I promised to never watch KPop Demon Hunters (BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER!). It started after my mom and I put some baked goods in the oven (dad was napping). Mom was going to turn it on and knit. As soon as we finished, the next morning, I was obsessed (OH NO, someone help me!). I have already decided I want to be Jinu for Halloween. I’ll be in the dark robe from the end of the movie, and I am going to make my face pale and put the demon patterns on too. I have been scrolling on my dad’s Facebook and for KPop videos, and some of them are like “What is KPop Demon Hunters – 2 hours later they are in a Rumi costume dancing on their kitchen table.” I know that will be my dad soon if not now!
John Wick
Last month and this month, I watched all of the John Wick movies and Ballerina. I watch them with closed captioning on because I don’t want it to loud that it will scare Nina or wake up Niko. It was funny because the movies are very violent, and one of the closed captioning captions said: bones crunching! I actually liked them, mainly because Keanu as John Wick is a pretty awesome assassin! So, when he made an appearance as John Wick in Ballerina, I was like, oh yeah! Any new prequels or sequels or related movies, I will be watching them. My only beef with them is how many times can somebody get shot or stabbed and not die, because that happened a lot to everybody – John Wick included.
Bonus
Last Wednesday, we had somebody come over to help us find and turn on the water line for the fridge so we could have water and ice. Well, when we got the first batch of ice, I took some and told Niko let’s go on the back porch and throw some, and Niko thought that was coolest thing ever. I told him to wait till we have snow and we can make snowballs and throw them. Back to the ice throwing, he was aiming for the walking trail, and he got a quite a few pieces there. I threw one over the roof to the front and told Niko to watch the front window and he see it. We did ice throwing in the front as well, and while we were outside, Niko got to dive his plasma truck on the driveway. He also helped me recycle a large cardboard box a few days later while we were getting our sprinkler system de-winterized.
