Happy New Year

Cousins

Korra loves time with her cousins so much. They've been down at the creek with their new walkie talkies, playing with Lego, pretending to be spies or cats, drawing and occasionally arguing. I'm really glad she's been able to have time with almost all of her cousins over this Christmas break. 

Kindle

As much as I love to read, I've only recently decided I wanted an eReader. Nate got me one for Christmas and I've spent the past few days figuring it out and downloading LOTS of books. Thankfully, yesterday was Stuff Your Kindle Day and Amazon had hundreds of free ebooks available. AND 2 digital books I've had on hold at the library for months became available!  Yay for new books!

Less than 2 Hours

It makes me really happy that we can drive to the cabin in a little less than 2 hours. 

I'm a little bummed to have only slept in my own bed for 2 nights before traveling again, but I know we'll have a wonderful long weekend celebrating Christmas and New Year with Nate's family. 

100 Books

It's not QUITE the end of the year, so I think I'll finish one more, but GoodReads just put out their 2023 Year In Books and I've read 100 books this year.

My average book length was 371 pages.

My favorite books of the year were:

• Ship Wrecked
• House in the Cerulean Sea
• Thank you for Listening
• The Book of Flora
• Remarkably Bright Creatures
• The Measure
• The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennett

11 hours of sleep

I fell asleep by 8:30 last night and even though I woke up a few times, I slept 11 hours and woke up feeling so much better.  I'm pretty much recovered but Nate's still feeling rough. 

Fingers crossed he'll be on the mend tomorrow. 

Super Weird Dream

I just woke up from a dream where Nate and I were both pregnant. Our OBGYN was completely unconcerned about the "rare but totally normal male pregnancy" and kept insisting we'd discuss birth logistics "when things got closer to showtime." She wouldn't answer my questions about how Nate's pregnancy occurred (patient confidentiality?) and in typical Nate fashion, he wasn't concerned and didn't want to bother the doctor. Said doctor put on a puppet show to illustrate a point I don't remember and marked the fundal height of the babies with a sharpie on our shins instead of telling us things like due dates or weeks of gestation. Additionally, these appointments were occurring in a tent on our college campus during a reunion and I knew that very soon I'd need to tell a whole bunch of people we hadn't seen in years that Nate and I were both pregnant and we'd adding two babies to our family at an undetermined date.  

Nate Gives the Favorite Gift

Sick Christmas

Korra is over her cold but Nate and I woke up feeling absolutely awful. 

Being sick on Christmas sucks. 

Christmas, Day 3

 We had pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast. The weather was gorgeous and warm today (65 degrees). The kids spent time time playing at the park. The kids opened our Christmas Eve book gifts and spent some time reading. We watched Elf and had spaghetti (hold the maple syrup) for dinner and cupcake cones for dessert. 

Christmas, Day 2

Nate and Chris decided to head into town to meet a friend, go to a distillery, and play some games at an arcade. 

Laura and I took the kids to the park and did another Christmas craft. 

In the evening we had pizza and watched Home Alone before making ice cream sundaes. 

Christmas Celebration, Day 1

A picture of the cousins in their new matching jammies. 

Crafts

Even Great Grandpa enjoyed playing games. 

We watched A Christmas Story and had Chinese food for dinner and "oh fudge" brownies for dessert. 

6 Hour Drive

After working way to hard this morning and then scrambling to finish packing and getting the cats settled, we were able to leave by 2:00. Remarkably, the drive was really smooth. Very little bad traffic and even with 2 stops, we made it to my sister's house in just a little over 6 hours, which is really great time. 

Hoping we sleep well tonight and wake up feeling healthier in the morning. 

It got me

Korra's been sick since Friday night.  She's still feeling extra tired and snotty.  I've managed to avoid getting it until today.  I've been drinking extra water, doing sinus rinses, washing my hands, even taking some of those Emergen-C supplements- but today I woke up with a runny nose and cough.  I don't want to be sick over Christmas!

10 PM Work Call

I got a call from an unknown number at 10PM.  Obviously, I didn't answer, but they left me a voicemail so I decided to check it,.  Good thing I did because it was the hotel in California, where I had booked 3 hotel rooms for coworkers this evening,  calling to tell me that they needed a credit card authorization form filled out since I wouldn't be the one staying. I booked the sites and put in my credit card information through their website but apparently that wasn't good enough?  I've booked a handful of hotel rooms for staff before and never had this issue- and when I mentioned that to the hotel worker who was on the phone, she assured me this is standard policy for all hotels and clearly I was the one who was out of line for being annoyed and frustrated.  Ugh.  And apparently my coworkers came to check-in during the 5 minutes I was filling out the form and so she had them all pay for their own rooms. And now I'm all riled up instead of being ready to go to sleep. Grrr. 

Stupid Cats

Mrs Reynolds pooped and puked in our room.  Alex knocked down the Christmas tree and broke 3 ornaments.  

Christmas Pizzas

Even though Korra still has a terrible cough and Nate and I both had to work today, we managed to be a little fun and festive with dinner. 

Christmas pizzas (snowman and Christmas tree in case you couldn't tell). 

Illuminights

We decided to skip the Botanical Gardens this year and try the Christmas lights at the zoo instead. Korra felt well enough after resting all day (and a healthy dose of cold medicine) to walk the whole route and really enjoy it all.

Snuggly Alex

I love it when Alex snuggles with us. Mostly because then I know where he is and that he's not causing trouble for a few minutes. 

Sick Korra

Poor Korra. She woke up at 3 am with a 101 degree fever, headache, and throwing up. We had lots of plans for today- hanging out with new friends, a sleepover for Korra, and a graduation party for me and Nate. 

Plans are now to stay home and hope no one else gets sick and that we're all healthy by Christmas. 

Dinner and Dessert

Nate and I made a special Christmas themed dinner (thanks to Hello Fresh)

And I made caramel apple cheesecake pie for dessert. 

Delicious, but both recipes were pretty time consuming. 

Rewards, Please

I would love for the hotels I book for staff to go through my rewards programs so I can rack up free stuff.  I don't go on the trips, but I do book them.  Who should be getting the rewards points?  I think the person who gets paid the least amount of money in the situation. That would be me.  I might be biased.

Korra's Sense of Humor

Korra: don't toss my things into my room!

Me: you can't tell me what to do. You're not my mom. 

Korra: but I am your mom!  Plot-twist!

The Boy and the Heron

We went to see the new Studio Ghibli movie at our favorite local theater tonight. 

Bathroom Etiquette

There is a lady who works at another office on my floor who I sometimes chat with as we pass in the bathroom.  Today she started talking to me when I walked in, but didn't stop after I closed the stall door.  She kept talking, telling me a story, and even asking me questions.  I don't have a shy bladder by any means, but I could not pee while she was chatting me up. A closed stall door clearly means we're done talking, right?

Snowflakes

Korra and I cut out paper snowflakes, as is our tradition. We both get better every year!

Aquarium

13 years ago this month, Nate and I took our 6th grade foster son, Austin, to the Georgia Aquarium. 

Today we took our 6th grade daughter. 

I know I have a picture somewhere of him standing in the same spot...

Time flies. 

Socks!

Korra's school is doing a sock drive. Using money my grandpa sent me (for the purpose of supporting us in giving to unhoused people we meet), Korra and I purchased 72 pairs of new socks!

Thanks, Grandpa!  Korra can't wait to walk into school tomorrow with all these socks to donate!

Saturday Recap

This morning Korra and I ran a few errands and then she went to climbing practice. After lunch at home, we walked around a neighborhood winter festival. From there we met our friends at a brewery before grabbing Mexican for dinner and then going to their house to hang out for a while. 

Migraine

Today was a haze of laying in bed, wishing my head would just go ahead and explode, and begging my stomach not to barf. 

Thankfully it's downgraded to a normal headache. Also thankful for sick leave so I didn't have to worry about work today. 

Alex's New Favorite Toys

Alex enjoys playing with some Halloween spider rings.  He especially enjoys dropping them on one side of the bathroom door and then walking around to the other side so he can bat at them from under the door. The result is that he often closes himself in the bathroom.  He's a real dufus.  

Holiday Party

Tonight was my work's holiday party. This year we had dinner at Antica Posta, a fancy Italian restaurant. Our wonderful friend Hannah came to "hang out" with Korra (obviously she's too old for a babysitter). I wore my new jumpsuit (thanks, Gail!) and felt quite pretty. 

We really enjoyed the food and I enjoyed chatting with my coworkers and their spouses. 

COVID Booster

I woke up at 5 am with a headache.  I think it was because I got my COVID booster yesterday.  I decided to come home at lunchtime and take a little nap... and ended up sleeping for 2 hours.  Whoops.  Guess I was feeling yuckier than I thought!  The good news is, it was easy enough to catch up on work and I feel much better!

CD player saga

I really want to listen to my Sufjan Stevens Christmas albums. The problem is, we only have them on CD and we don't own anything that plays CDs. Nate suggested buying a CD burner for our computer so we can save the music digitally. The issue with that is that I want to listen to my music NOW and I'd have to rip the CDs to the computer and then plug my phone into the computer to put them on my phone. 

My solution was to buy myself an inexpensive CD player. It arrived and I was ready to listen to my CDs. I dove under our bed to pull out the giant CD binder. I looked through the while thing twice and couldn't find the Christmas CDs I was looking for. I swear we had a second CD binder. I looked all over the house and I can't find it. 

I just want to listen to my favorite Christmas album. 

Korra’s Band Concert

This evening Korra had her first band concert. My parents were able to come down from Asheville and my brother Todd and his wife Sarah came, too. 

It was a (blessedly) short concert- 3 songs for the 6th grade band and another 3 for the combined 7th and 8th grade band. They did a really good job considering what a short time they've been playing their instruments. The venue (the cafeteria) was lacking but the parent support made up for it. 

After, we walked to Ladybird for dinner (delicious food but very loud) before heading home. I'm so thankful family was able to visit and support Korra. 

Stay Home

One of my coworkers walked into work coughing and looking ROUGH. I asked if she was feeling ok and she said, "I've been really under the weather.  I think I have that cold that everybody has."  Um, no. Everyone does NOT have it.  I do not want it.  Our company has an excellent work-from-home policy AND generous sick leave. GO HOME.  Do not share those nasty germs with me and everyone else. 

Under the Tree

He knows he's not supposed to bite or play with the tree, but he lays close so he can try to get away with it. 

Zoo

A coworker gave us zoo tickets so we went this afternoon. The weather was perfect. We saw the anaconda and the gorillas being fed and got to hear and see the lions roaring. Plus most of the other animals were visible, active, and it wasn't crowded!

Sleepy Heads

It's 10:30. Korra and Nate are both still sleeping. I've already made a batch of cranberry orange muffins and finished my book. 

Girl Scouts and Board Games

Yesterday Korra went to an all-day Girl Scout event (Think Like an Engineer journey at Camp Timber Ridge).  In the afternoon our friend Kyle came over to hang out and join us for dinner (Nate made flautas) and board games. 

Pickle Accident

I dropped a full jar of pickles on the carpeted dining room floor. The lid wasn't securely on, grabbed it wrong, and the next thing I knew, there was a huge puddle of pickle juice seeping into the carpet. I cleaned it the best I could, but I am so incredibly happy we're getting new flooring the next few weeks. Not only will it rid us of the lingering pickle smell, but the new dining room floor won't be carpet and thus easier to clean when situations like this inevitably occur again. 

Christmas Tree

Listened to a Christmas record and decorated the tree this evening. 

New Floors

The contractor is here to fix a shower leak.  He's also the guy who is redoing our floors.  He said the homeowner told him to choose the flooring, so he asked if I'd like to pick it!  Pretty excited that I get to have a say.  Now it has me thinking about painting the walls...

Leftovers

There was an office party last night.  I didn't stay much after I set it up, but I did go into the office this morning to do a bit of clean-up.  It got left in a pretty rough state (cups and cans left everywhere, dishwasher full but not run).  After I finished cleaning, I checked on the state of the leftovers and decided to take some home.  Now I have BBQ, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and coleslaw for dinner tonight!  Not a bad trade-off. 

Sick Kid, Bad Mom

Korra was being extra whiney this morning while getting ready for school.  I was annoyed with her and told her to stop dragging her feet and complaining and just get ready for school.  Seconds later she threw up.  So she's actually sick and not just being a grump and I'm a terrible mother for not being compassionate.

Wisconsin Cheese!

I forgot one other interesting thing happened at work!  One of our members sent us a Christmas gift- a huge box of Wisconsin cheese including absolutely delicious squeaky cheese curds!

Fireplace

My work week has been busy enough to not be boring but not so busy as to be stressful. It really is a sweet spot. 

The only interesting thing I've done all week is buy and then put up this fireplace decoration. 

Eating well

The last few nights we've continued to have delicious diners. I made carnitas last night and Nate made bourbon brown sugar pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. Yum!

11 Year Check-Up

Korra had her annual doctor's appointment this afternoon.  She got FOUR vaccines (poor kid) and biggest news- she's gone up in the percentiles!  3rd percentile for height (up from 2nd last year, and the highest it's been since she was a year old) and 9th percentile in weight (up from 5th last year- also the highest percentile in 10 years)!  

Christmas Decorations

I crocheted snowflake garland and made a couple of pillow covers!

Tiny Updates

I reached an 800 day streak on Duolingo.

I figured out how to sew an envelope pillow case last night and made the first of 3 Christmas pillow covers for the couch.

I made lasagna last night and BBQ pot roast over cheddar ranch grits the night before.

We went to Goodwill on Sunday afternoon and had a little shopping spree.  We all got several items of new clothes and only spent $75.

Visit from Danny

Danny texted us yes that he is in town and asked to meet us. We had him over for a short visit (over fresh from the oven apple crisp) and he seems to be doing well. It's hard to believe he's 26. He's still working all over the country installing and repairing conveyor belts and has been promoted to foreman. 

Snuggles from Alex

Alex is a very social kitty. This week without us while we were at the cabin was hard for him. He's been glued to one of us since we got home this afternoon. 

Thanksgiving with Uncle Nate

Korra and Dixie

The contractor that is working on one of the bathrooms in the cabin brings his dog Dixie with him while he works. Korra has enjoyed playing with Dixie (fetch and soccer) the past two days. 

Shopping Trip

For my Christmas gift from my in-laws, I got to go on a shopping trip with my MIL today. We drove about an hour to a big shopping center where we went to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Ross, Bealles, and Belk and went out to lunch.  I got some cute new clothes and shoes and some craft supplies and had a lovely time leisurely browsing and chatting. 

Cabin Time!

Yesterday afternoon we packed up the car and got the cats settled and then met the Sniders for a birthday dinner at Emmy Squared Pizza. From there we drove straight to the cabin, arriving at about 9:00. Now we have a full week of relaxing, reading, board games, and good food ahead of us. Sure, I need to work a little on Monday through Wednesday, but I anticipate it'll be light and plus, everything is better at the cabin. 

What does Mrs want?

Last night Mrs Reynolds started meowing at 4:30 am. This is unusual for her so I got up. I checked her food, water, litter box. I carried her to all those things. I followed her around to see if she was hurt or would lead me to something. Nope. She continued meowing until 6am when Nate, who fell asleep on the couch last night, got up and came to the bed. Mrs immediately stopped meowing, hopped onto the bed between us, and started purring loudly. The only logical conclusion is that she just wanted Nate to come to bed. Adorable, but so annoying as I haven't been able to go back to sleep. 

Lottafrutta

Nate and I tried out the sandwiches and smoothies at Lottafrutta today for lunch. They were good (but not amazing), but the walk there and the outdoor seating was especially enjoyable thanks to the 68 degrees and sunny weather we have today.

Planning Ahead

I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but I'm already starting to make summer plans- which week is Korra going to Girl Scout camp, when and where should we do family vacation. 

I know it's hypocritical when I'm judging people who have already put their Christmas decorations up and I'm over here thinking about June. 

So Grown Up

Today after school, Korra and her friend walked to Krog Street Market. They got ice cream and hung out and then Korra came home. It's like the 2023 version of going to the mall with your friends (and without your parents). It feels like a right of passage. I can't believe how grown up she is. 

Visit with GG & PopPop

Nate's parents are visiting for a bit on their way up to the cabin. Last night we took them to Krog Street Market where we had dinner at Fred's Meat and Bread (one of the recent winners of Michelin's Bib Gourmand award). Yum!  

While they're here, Nate and I are sleeping on the bottom bunk in Korra's room. Alex is an extremely annoying roommate. He woke me up a few minutes ago (the third time he's woken me up in the early hours today), by licking the lampshade. He does all sorts of bad and crazy things just to get our attention. 

Greenville Meet-Up

My brother Brian reminded me that he's less than 2 hours away from Greenville, so they joined us for breakfast and a very chilly walk along the river!  It was so nice to see them!

After a quick stop for a coffee and a hot cookie, we drove back home. I don't know about Korra and Nate, but I had a fantastic time in Greenville!

More Greenville!

After breakfast yesterday morning we had team presentations (for which I got a very nice compliment on my part), we had lunch and then got to go on a 2.5 hour, 20 mile electric bike tour. It was amazing!  Despite a little light rain at the beginning, the temperature was perfect, there was hardly anyone else out on the bike path, the sites were gorgeous, and the electric bikes were so fun. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much by the end of the ride. 

Not long after we got back from the bike ride, Nate and Korra arrived!  We went for a walk down Main Street where we kept an eye out for the little bronze mice that are hidden throughout downtown, caught up with each other about the past week, and did a little shopping. We had a delicious dinner at The Trapp Door, which served Belgian food and beer before heading back to the hotel for bed. 

Greenville

Yesterday I carpooled to Greenville, the site of our staff retreat, with my work friend Maggie. After arriving, we went on a tour of the Proterra electric bus factory, which was not nearly as interesting to me as it was for my nerdy engineer coworkers, but was good all the same. I then went on a very brisk walk through the Falls Park with one of my coworkers from the St Paul office. It was lovely to get to know him better, stretch my legs, and explore beautiful park. We all had dinner at the hotel's very pretty rooftop terrace and I really enjoyed laughing and talking with my coworkers. They are such an incredibly weird, funny, kind, smart group of people. 

This morning I went on another walk through the park with some coworker friends. 

Downtown Greenville really is adorable and fun. 

We had a good, productive DEI session in the morning, lunch, and then some team work before I got to take yet another walk along the river with another coworker friends. The weather has been a perfect 75 degrees and partly sunny. 

For dinner we went to this place called Group Therapy. It's part bar, part mini golf/arcade. I played the most ridiculous and amazingly creative movie themed mini golf, got to throw an axe, and had some delicious cocktails. 

It was so much fun. Once the group headed back to the hotel to play games and talk in the lobby, I decided to head to bed. I'm having a little FOMO about the fun they're having but I'm also people-ed out for the moment. I enjoyed a long shower and now I'm on my nice bed and ready to relax and sleep. 

Fun End to the Evening

Our dinner reception ending up being really wonderful. It was at my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Torched Hop, and then I sat with some amazing coworkers and played Pictionary. Because it was so close to home, I didn't have to wait for a shuttle and I was able to enjoy an evening walk home. A very wonderful end to a long day. 

Annual Member Meeting

Today I'm in a meeting from 8:30-5:30 with a required dinner afterwards. Almost every staff member is presenting on their projects or what the organization has accomplished in the past year. This is mostly for our members, but even those of us who are not presenting are here for support and to learn more about other areas of the organization. I really wish I was interested. My colleagues are so smart and the work they are doing is so important and good. It's just not interesting to me at all. Also not interesting- networking with our members. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow when the staff retreat brings. Much less boring. 

Busy office

This is a big week at work. Today was our board and policy meeting, tomorrow is our annual member meeting, and Wednesday through Friday is our staff retreat. That means all my coworkers from the other offices (about 30 people) joined our office today. It was really fun to have so many people in and to see people in person I haven't seen in a year. I order lunch for everyone (subs and Little Debbie snack cakes), we finished the office puzzle, and I set up for Happy Hour (though I ducked out before it really got going because I'd like to see Korra a bit this week). 

11 lbs of chocolate

On of my organization's members is from Belgium.  He stopped by the office today and brought us an 11 pound bar of Belgian chocolate. 

Date Night and Sleepover

Korra had a sleepover at a friends' house last night so Nate and I had a double date with our friends Kathryn and Rachel. We ate delicious Italian food in Decatur and had a wonderful time catching up. Korra had so much fun at the sleepover and diabetes walk this morning with her friends. 

Farewell Fiesta

This afternoon we had a farewell party for a colleague who has been with the organization for 19 years. There were some last minute adjustments to the plans (like changing the menu from pizza to tacos after I'd already ordered the pizza) but it all worked out well. In addition to the very delicious tacos, there were daiquiris and beer pong at the request of the guest of honor. I left after 2 hours, but I have a feeling some people will be hanging out much later. They certainly make a fun and cohesive company culture a priority. 

Trick or Treating

We went trick or treating with the Sniders in their neighborhood tonight

Korra’s Dragon Costume

While we were in Belgium, my mom made a dragon costume to match Korra's description of a specific dragon in Korra's second favorite book series

Happy Halloween

A bunch of people at work dressed up for Halloween!

I crocheted my hat and shawl. 

Pajama Pants

I sewed Korra a pair of pj pants from scrap fabric!  They're not perfect but I'm pretty pleased with the results. 

Busy City

There is a huge music festival in Piedmont Park this weekend. I've had to drive past the park a few times the traffic (both pedestrian and car) was horrible. This afternoon, Korra's Girl Scout troop was supposedly to meet at the botanical gardens, which is in/part of the park. It took us double the usual time to get there and just as we finally made it to the gate, we were turned away because the parking lot was full. I tried 2 other nearby parking areas and one was also full and the other, over a mile and a half away, was charging $45. So we went home. Ugh. Sometimes it's annoying living in a big, busy city that has subpar public transit. 

Social Butterflies

Last night, we dropped Korra off at a Halloween party and then went with our friend Kyle to Pontoon- a brewery Nate really likes which is sadly closing. We enjoyed sitting at a picnic table, eating pizza, talking, and playing board games in the beautiful weather. Korra had a fantastic time with the sweet and silly group of girls from school. 

Girl Scouts 5K

This morning Korra and I did a 5K with her friend from school (and Girl Scouts) and her mom and sister. Korra and I got a dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme on the way over. I had so much fun talking and getting to know the other mom and we stopped several times during the race to look for cool acorns. This lead to us finishing dead last in the race with a time of an hour and 15 minutes. Oh well. We had a good time, supported the Girl Scouts, and got a box of cookies out of it!

Productive Morning

This morning I took the car to get an oil change. While I was waiting, I answered all my emails, walked a mile and a half to the library to vote, and then walked back. 

Date night

We went out for a date night with the Sniders! We got babysitter to watch all 3 kids and then went out for dinner at Bold Monk. After, we went for drinks at Monday Night where we snagged prime seats around their fire. It was a fantastic evening.