Go, Go, Goers!

So THAT is what it's like to be able to focus full-time on a job. Amazing! I had a great week of work...very productive, got myself more organized, provided statuses that were top notch (not a humble brag...this is an outright brag, ha!), and my video with the CIO was posted for the entire IT organization to see...and I got lots of love from the team(s) in the comments. It was a great ending to a super awesome week! This was G's first full week back at school. He loves seeing his friends and teachers, and I think he likes eating the different food that's not available to him for lunches. His favorite meal is the cheese omelet, so he was really happy when that was the option for lunch on Thursday. He's doing well enough at school that he was able to meet his "prize time" goal here at home, so he picked out a new squishy. This one is an octopus that he has named Amy. That kid...love his creativity! Ava also had a nice week...her grades are still high, and she

What a great week! I was able to tackle a new project at work, which forced my brain to focus on a different part of our business. More data, less content. It's always good to stretch yourself a bit beyond the comfort zone. Plus, I squeezed in a shopping trip while Ava was at her baton class on Tuesday night, so that brought its own level of joy that only Target can give. Ha! Besides twirling this week, Ava has been working hard on mastering her accelerated algebra class. She has begun to ask for more help with her target checks, and so far it's been easy, but I'm looking ahead to when she moves on to even more advanced math. It has been a long time since I've done calculus or trig, so we'll see how it goes when she gets to that point. This coming week she'll register for her 8th grade classes, and then she happily reminded me that after that, she goes to high school. Nope. Not yet. Our little 12 year old isn't ready for that. Gah. But, our little 7 year old

I think this week was good? I mean, there was a lot that happened in the government, but it was a little less chaotic in our house in comparison. In this case, I think that's a good thing. A really good thing. Ava went back to meeting up, in person, for her baton class. It had been a few months since she had been able to practice with her instructors and teammates...they try hard over Zoom but it's just not the same thing. It's good for her to get out and see people once a week! Parents can't go in with the kids, so I've claimed my spot in the parking lot, underneath the streetlight, so I can get an hour's worth of reading in while I wait. I'm working on reading a book for work, as well as two other books for fun and I need to make more progress on them. It's nice to have an hour on Tuesdays where I know I can focus on the words and not have any distractions. G had his very last (for now) day of Zooms with his teacher on Friday. They are off of school M

So much for 2021 being potentially better than 2020. I'm pretty sure that kicking off the year with a failed coup kinda takes it up a notch.  It's been a week. By Friday, we were all tired and exhausted. It was hard work being back to school (distance learning still) and working, five days a week. The events from Wednesday in DC drained me for the rest of the week, and had kept me locked to news coverage. I'm relieved it's the weekend and we can take a break from being online. Last night we watched Uncle Buck and Cool Runnings ...a little John Candy marathon helped to lighten the mood. :) One silver lining to this crazy kickoff of 2021 (and 2020, for that matter) is that it's given us the chance to talk to our kids more about real world issues. Things like racism, the pandemic, and apparently what it means to have an attempted overthrow of democracy. These all feel like "once in a lifetime" events and we're just being super efficient and condensing th

We survived 2020! What.a.year, amirite? But, as I've been saying all throughout the last loooong nine months, there were really good things that happened, like more family time, or proving that working from home full-time can be a real thing, or...saving a lot of money because we aren't going out as much? I don't know about that...Door Dash has become our new best friend this year. At least we're buying local to support nearby restaurants/our economy. We really enjoyed this week off of work and school. We tackled some pretty big projects (Ava cleared out all of her Barbies, so now two neighbor girls have lots of new dolls/accessories to play with) and my "vacation to-do" list is in a great place for when we all go back to school and work on Monday. Scott has been hard at work on the cabinets/doors for the bar...they look great, so far! Ava and I made chicken dumpling soup one night this week...we love the Raddish kids cooking kits that we get each month. I esp