95 Books

In 2024 I read 95 books. Upon review, every single one of them was fiction. Historical, fantasy, science fiction, young adult, romance, mystery, and realistic... but 100% novels.

Here are a few of my absolute favorites:

James by Percival Everett

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

The Sign for Home by Blair Fell

Starter Villian by Jon Scalzi

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett 

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

NYE

We made egg rolls (as it's our tradition) and then I made Nutella cheesecake egg rolls for dessert from the leftover wrappers (they were pretty amazing). 

Fancy Hot Cocoa

The Fort at the Cabin

I got sick

It started last Sunday with a little bit of sinus drainage and by Christmas evening, it was a terrible cough all night and very low energy during the day. It's not the worst cold over ever had but it's unpleasant and lingering. I feel a bit better today and I'm hoping this is the upswing. 

Boxing Day

Today Korra, Julie and I went to two book stores (including an all romance book store that had its own sassy cat!) and then on a ClueTown scavenger hunt in Kirkwood. 

In the evening, Korra had climbing practice and then we played some new board games. It has been absolutely lovely to have Julie visiting the last few days. 

Merry Christmas!

Last night we went to the church Nate works at for Christmas Eve service. 

This morning we opened presents and spent most of the day building a new puzzle and lounging. We went for a walk in the afternoon to show Julie a bit of the city before it was back to lounging. 

Julie

My cousin Julie arrived late last night bringing the total in the house to 12!  We took Lily back to her parents in the morning and then Nate and I headed home in the afternoon. Julie will come to Atlanta with Korra tomorrow. 

Pickle Tree

My mom and the kids made a pickle tree for our celebration!

Dresdow Family Christmas

 We're spending a long weekend at my parents' house with my sister and her family. We saw some snow flurries on the drive up but I think that's as close to a white Christmas as we're going to get.  The kids are really enjoying time with cousins. 

Another New Appliance

 Today we got a new washing machine (the old one stopped spinning so our clothes were all soaking wet). In the past year and a half of our two year lease, our homeowners have had to replace the HVAC, hot water heater, refrigerator, all the carpet, and now the washing machine. I'm thankful we haven't had to pay for all of that, but worry we'll end up paying via a big rent hikw starting in June. 

Gift from a Student

Look at this beautiful original art a 1st grader and her mom made for me!!

Torched Hop

For the last 8 years, Torched Hop has been our go-to restaurant/brewery. It's a mile our house.  All the drinks and food are solid. It's welcoming and comfortable. There's plentiful free parking. We've gotten to know a couple of the staff. We take everyone there- both visitors and friends from town.  It's become a pretty special place for our family. We learned earlier this week that they're closing at the end of the month. All 3 of us are having some strong feelings off loss over it. We went tonight for a final dinner. Some tears may have been shed on the walk back home. 

Lean on Me

This week's morning meeting song has been Lean on Me.  Takes me right back to Young Life with all of the motions to every line.

Potluck Lunch AND Cookie Swap

Today is the school's holiday potluck lunch.  I baked pumpkin bread and I won't even be offended if no one has any because a) there is SO MUCH food and b) it's delicious and freezes well so I'll happily take it home

At 2 this afternoon, my team (the related arts/specials team) is having a cookie swap.  It's feeling like a very festive day.  

Canadian Library

This week I found a book in our return bin that wasn't ours.  It said "Nelson Municipal Library" on the barcode, so I did a little Googling and... it's in British Columbia, Canada.  I gave them a phone call and they confirmed it was their book and that it wasn't expensive enough to justify mailing it to them, especially since their postal service is on strike at the moment.  Their librarian and I had a good chuckle and enjoyed speculating how this book made it all the way across North America.  

Bike Accident

Korra fell off her bike on the way to school this morning (hit a broken bit in the sidewalk).  Thankfully she was on a small side street with almost no traffic and wasn't hurt much.  She was pretty rattled though and scraped her hands and knee and ripped a hole in her pants.  She called me on her watch and I talked with her until she finished walking her bike to school.  The school nurse called me a few minutes later to tell me she patched Korra up and Korra felt ok to stay and do her finals today.  My poor baby.

The Plague

COVID, pneumonia, a stomach bug, the flu... they're all going around the school.  Using so much hand sanitizer and wearing a mask all week but it feels like running a gauntlet. 

New Books!

I got in an order of 86 new books that are mostly graphic novels.  I have a display set up and the kids are so excited (especially since a lot of the books are ones they put in the suggestion box).  Really makes me feel like I'm winning at being an elementary school librarian.

Everything hurts

My hips are feeling better than they were a few weeks ago, but so many other things hurt. My neck hurts from sleeping on my stomach (still working on sleeping on my back). My right elbow hurts- I think from carrying my bike up and down the stairs every day. My stomach hurts pretty much all the time and it's still another 6 weeks until my preliminary appointment at the gastroenterologist. There's this spot in my back that hurts when I move certain ways or breathe deeply (no idea that caused that!)

Is this my life from now on?  

Why so early?

Monday through Friday: my alarm goes off at 6 am and I think, please just a little more time to sleep. 

Saturday: 4 am and I'm wide awake even though I have no alarm set. 

Not a mind reader

Today a kindergarten cried for 10 minutes straight (I'm talking a full out temper tantrum) because I didn't know what book she was describing. She said, "no one ever knows what I'm talking about and I never get what I want!" 

Dragging

I love my job, but I did not want to get up this morning.  I am so very tired.  

Winter Wonderland

This evening was my school's winter concert. Each grade sang a song (with props they made in art) and then the chorus led everyone in a sing-along. I helped prep for it most of the day (mostly decorations for the field) and then went back to the school at 5:00. They told me it was a big event but I was still surprised. Not only was the field completely decorated with lights and lanterns, but there were easily 2000 people in attendance. It was chilly, but really beautiful and special.

No Bananas

The Savannah Bananas' tickets sold out before my time slot.  I'm bummed.

Band Concert

Korra had her winter band concert this evening. It was actually a combination band, orchestra, chorus, and dance concert for all 3 grades of the school, so the auditorium was packed. They did a good job of keeping it moving (only an hour and 15 minutes!) but it was still a lot to sit through for our kid's 6 minute performance. 

Todd joined us (it's so nice that he and Sarah are close enough to make events like this) and we went to Torched Hop for dinner afterwards. 

Random Stuff

Korra didn't make All State band but she's determined to try again next year. 

The cat knocked down the Christmas tree. 

I got some adorable handmade cards from 3rd graders. 

I did Blackout Poetry with the 5th graders and they really liked it. 

Massage

While Korra was at Girl Scouts today, I treated myself to a massage at a place one of my coworkers recommended.  It was fantastic.  30 minutes on my calves/ankles/feet and then 30 minutes on my back/shoulders.  It was relaxing and peaceful and felt good and not terribly expensive.  I will definitely be going back.  

Stone Mountain Christmas: A Review

Last night we went to the Stone Mountain Christmas experience with Nate's parents.  We absolutely loved the Botanical Gardens lights, but it's so expensive ($60-70 per person) and parking is a nightmare.  Last year we did the zoo's lights and it was good but not amazing, so we decided to try Stone Mountain's light show this year.  It was still pricey ($40 per ticket) but we already have a parking pass (and parking is plentiful), plus we loved the dinosaur laser show we went to in the summer.  

Overall, the Stone Mountain Christmas experience was a total bust.  The sound system was broken on the train so the promised sing-along didn't happen.  The voices of the actors (or was it also a sound system issue?) for the Christmas Carol play were so grating that it was painful.  The line for the cinnamon bread/hot drinks was 30 minutes long AND it turned out there were separate lines for hot drinks and cinnamon bread (you had to go all the way back to the end) AND they were out of hot cocoa and decaf coffee (who's getting espresso at 8 pm?!).  We all held out hope that the drone/laser show would save the day.  The drones were very cool.  If it was just that I'd give it 5 out of 5 stars, but it was short and then the laser portion started.  1) The lasers/projectors were not in focus so it looked really bad and 2) the animations were like a creepy fever dream.  It made no sense and wasn't enjoyable at all.  

I enjoyed spending time with my family but I think there are less expensive, more enjoyable ways to celebrate the holidays together- and I will be seeking them out next year.

All State Band Auditions

We drove to a middle school 30 minutes away for Korra's All State band audition this morning. She didn't feel particularly good about how it went, but I think it was a good experience for her either way. 

23 Degrees

A new record for lowest temperature when biking to school!  Still haven't crossed the line from uncomfortably cold to miserably cold.

Improvement?

The good news? I didn't sleep on my side!  The bad news? I slept on my stomach and now my neck hurts. 

PT

Yesterday I went to see a physical therapist about my hips (they hurt whenever I am sitting or laying down for more than a few minutes).  She confirmed that it is indeed hip bursitis and that I have weak hip muscles.  I've got hip strengthening exercises to do plus I need to attempt the impossible task of teaching myself to sleep on my back.  I've tried multiple times in the past few years and I just can't manage it.  Lastly, she said I might need to see an orthopedist for cortisone shots.  At this point, I think I'm ready to do it, but the hurdles of getting my doctor to write me a referral and then seeing the orthopedist for a consult and THEN finally getting the shot... it's just a lot.  Suggestions for how to make myself sleep on my back would be appreciated.

I'm a winner!

Today I got emails that I won a $25 gift card AND that I made it to the next round to get Savannah Banana tickets!

Feeling Christmas-y

We decorated the tree last night, I have my apple cinnamon tea, it's cold outside (it was 26 degrees on my ride to work!)  I think I might play some instrumental Christmas music in the library.  

29 Degrees

Biked to work in the lowest temperatures so far.  I might need a ski mask, but otherwise it was good!