End of December and early January

 We made the trek up to North Carolina and New Jersey over the Christmas Break.

We had a smooth trip up, thankfully - no traffic / no issues.  We hung out at my mom's house for a couple of days -- doing some stuff around her house and (I was) making / printing Christmas cards.  We played a board game one night.  We opened gifts one night.

The board game was called Hues and Cues - a color game that is harder than it looks -- you have to describe colors without using the name of the color.  Mom's clues were hard to guess.  "Shirt"  haha!  (um... there are hundreds of colors of shirts!)

We also passed back through North Carolina on our way back through after our trek to NJ.  (That trip wasn't as smooth, but... we made it safely)   she made LOTS and LOTS of waffles to eat chicken with!   mmm mmm.

We were surprised to see that my great-granny Moore's house (which had long been sold) was decorated with Christmas lights.   

We made it to NJ on Christmas Eve.  We hung out with the family that was there and the kids decorated cookies.  (whew - at least that got done!) but - wow - that's a LOT of icing!  

"Santa" came to the house that evening (after midnight - ugh)... and the festivities began of opening gifts.  More family members arrived on Christmas day.  

The day was filled with playing with (little) kids - for Mercer and hanging out in the barn to play with animals (for Isabella). 

We made a little bit of the food and hung out with Rose Marie. 

The best "toy" that made an appearance was a lighted loop toy - the older kids had a blast playing with them (that the little ones + our kids got)

Loved that cousin Nate asked him to play a game - where pigs are "dice" -- they played for quite awhile.

Isabella and I tried to make gingerbread (graham cracker) houses one day, but she walked away when hers collapsed and their dog, Beau, got it / pulled it off the table and ate it.... so.... that ended that.

Speaking of Beau, which one if the boy dressed in PJs... and which one is the dog?  ha!

One night, the 4 of us went to go watch a movie in the theater.  We also drove around a little historic town that was nearby to see some lights. 

More playing with kids time + more barn time. 

Then - games with the family.  (including the Hues and Cues game).  Tonia said "paint"  (um??)  and "room paint"  (um again!)  Kinda funny.

It is SO much driving.  But - we are always glad that we get to visit with all of the family - I know Todd enjoys seeing his brothers and sister.  Our kids like the craziness / the action of hanging out with the cousins too.

I can't remember if we documented these buildings before that always catch our eye on the drive to/ from Tonia's house. 

This is the ___ high school (great building!!)

And in a nearby town, an old bank building that turns the corner we've always liked.

Finally, this is an old ice cream factory that would make a great set for a zombie movie!)

We had 1 day to unpack (while Todd went to work). before ringing in the new year.  We were so low-key that night. We made it to midnight, but we didn't really do anything -- just played games (I bought the pig dice game) and we watched the ball drop in NYC.  There were fireworks all around us in the neighborhood so we could see some + hear them well into the night.

Out with 2024.  In with 2025!

Isabella got her hair cut (I was supposed to get mine cut too, but... I had a "staff meeting" to go to for a new teaching gig I was doing.  I had to cancel mine, but Todd took Isabella to her appointment.  I was surprised when I came home and it was so short... and she got bangs!   I am sad to see her long beautiful hair chopped off, but it is cute.

I went back to the retreat center (where I go hang out with the other adoptive moms).  Here's my room this time - This time, I did not meet my friends there - rather - I went to get away and focus on on-boarding for the new teaching gig + to "study" the material I was to teach. 

(I didn't get TOO far on it, as the ramping up of paperwork / online trainings was a lot..... still not finished with it (I technically only started a little over a week ago on January 2. I could have completed some of it before then if they had given access - but it unfortunately all gets compressed as to when your contract date is (which was only a few days before my 1st class on the 6th - yikes!)

One day, I snuck away to nearby Toccoa Falls.  (maybe gone a couple of hours total?)

The next day, I snuck away to go have brunch with the rest of the ladies - again - maybe a couple of hours? 

I did get to do yoga once too. How do I not make time for that when I'm here at home??!  I really enjoy it!  Oh well.

The rest of the time was reading up on my material.

Here are some of the "motivational" signs that are posted around the house.  

I came back and jumped into work at my "day job" and at the time of this writing, I've had 2 classes under my belt at the college - I'll be teaching there on Monday & Wednesday nights.   Here's my classroom - a lecture set-up.  And it's full of the 30 students that will fit there.

The classes so far went well.  The kids seem pretty good overall and interested (so far) and engaged / talkative when I ask questions. I just have a LOT of prep work to get materials made to teach... I mean to "profess."  haha

There are 2 big things that happened this week - one national / local and one local:

President Jimmy Carter passed away between Christmas and New Year's.  He was 100 years old.  His burial was on Thursday after almost a week of processions.  (Plains, GA --> Atlanta, GA --> Washington DC --> back to Georgia .... where he was finally laid to rest next to Rosalynn at their home in Plains)

I remember as a kid being proud that Carter was a president of the United States.... from Georgia!  I don't remember anything about his presidency, but I learned a lot when going to the Carter Center the summer before last.  I had taken Isabella to a day camp in Buckhead and then got to explore the museum at my pace / take in ALL the photos... read ALL the captions.  (I don't remember this picture, but saw it this week & thought it was funny - barefoot and bell-bottom jeans.  Just a regular guy!)

I learned that he did a BUNCH of really great things in office (even though he bucked the system and there were not a lot of fans of his administration??) .... and he did a bunch of really great things out of office.  (I was there on 7/7 (of the summer of 2023) which happened to be their 77th wedding anniversary!!  I know I blogged / posted about that almost a year and a half ago.

I suppose one thing that really dawned on me especially this last week hearing the efforts that he and Rosalynn did across oceans in impoverished countries.  I knew (and participated) in Habitat for Humanity which was / is pretty spectacular too.  But - I learned more about his peace-making this past week... and just what a down-to-earth human being he was.  He wanted to talk to the servers and cook staff at dinner parties -- not just the esteemed guests.  It really says a lot about a person. I wish that more of our politicians were like this. 

They played Georgia on my Mind at the funeral.  His heart was really in his community -- instead of being buried in one of the most honorable cemeteries as past president, he always knew he wanted to be back in the south.  Hopefully he's dancing in heaven with his wife.

What a life well-lived.  Thank you for your service to this country and to the world.

We were watching the funeral processions AND the weather report.  It's been a good 7 - 8 years since we've had a memorable snow event in Georgia... and we were got another one on Friday.   (here's a shot out of our front door looking at our neighbor's house as the sun was coming up.)

and - here's a photo a neighbor sent to me of our house from about an hour later!  :) 

I talked to our superintendent (he was in our building on Wednesday ahead of the storm) - he did not want another "snowmageddon" (the winter storm that hit Atlanta in January 2014 - 11 years ago). He said he was a principal at a local school and he got STUCK for 36 hours at his school until the last student could be picked up!   Thankfully, school was cancelled ahead of time!   

(I remember vividly that Isabella was not yet 2 months old. A sweet neighbor "demanded" that I stay home / not try to drive my car up to get Mercer at the school - he was in Kinder.  She walked her children and him back to our neighborhood.... and I remember when I met him at the door he was crying - they said he was a trooper / stoic while walking 'til he saw me, then let loose because his little feet and hands were frozen solid.)  sigh. I will always remember that... poor kid!

Above are photos of Mercer's car's "1st snow" and my car's "1st snow" - yes - I read up that you could charge it in the snow!  

The kids and the dogs had fun!  Here's what the day consisted of:

- snow ball fights

- watching the kids play in the back yard - wanting to go out

- letting Hip Hop go off-leash in our back yard to run around in the snow

- watching Saffy EAT the snow and ice (she has always loved ice cubes from the freezer, so, I guess it's not that different!)

- making snowballs & throwing into the pond to watch them float!

- building a "snow thing" (not really a snowman??)

- and watching (some of it) from the warmth of indoors with some cocoa bombs and hot milk.

- also, there was some snuggling with the dogs.

Todd went to work -- he walked to his office, but his boss drove him back home, as it was raining a little bit at the end of the day.  

The snow was not very long-lived, but it was a good morning & afternoon enjoying the powdery white stuff.

Yesterday, Mercer had his dual-enrollment college orientation (virtual instead of in-person at the campus nearly an hour away) I guess he's officially a college student!  (he can get a college ID if we go to the office in person... he can go to their gym... use their library... park on their campus!)

He's taking his 1st college course starting Monday - but online while he's in a "digital learning lab" at our school!  He will get BOTH high school credit and college credit for this.  He's starting with a history course.  And he's already talking about taking some classes this summer... and more next fall...  I think he realizes the benefit now of these FREE classes that will transfer to any GA state-funded college!  yippee!

And- last night we had a soup night for my "Valley Girls" book club.  (There's another neighborhood book club that I go to sometimes + the teacher book club where we don't read books any more.... I can only participate in any of these if I can listen to the book online.)  At any rate, it was my turn to host (this one ASSIGNS hosting on a rotation!  My turn was 2nd Thursday in December.  I said NOPE.  I have absolutely no bandwidth in December!  So, the 2nd Saturday in January it was.  whew.  It went well.  We deep cleaned our front few rooms -- which it really needed... and contained the dogs / kids / husband behind the baby gate in the lower part of the house.   

The ladies walked over / said the sidewalks were clear.  It went well.  I won't be on rotation again for at least another year!  whew.

These 2 photos are of the textures that the frozen rain made on Mercer's & Todd's windshields.  Pretty cool and why would they be different?!  Nature / science is amazing.

Mercer said last night that Hip Hop barked at the snow thing (snow man).  This morning, um, he "disrespected it"  haha

(At this writing - Sunday).... it is melting & dripping.  Fingers crossed all of the ice that was on the trees evaporates into the sun and limbs don't start falling onto power lines!  

Looks like we're back at school on Monday!

December happenings

Nothing Christmas related happened AT our house 'til about a week before Christmas!  School really kicked in and my 4 biggest classes (out of 6) had projects ending the last week of school + presentations.  It was a lot... but - surprisingly - most of my "intro" students pulled it off!  They did a pretty good job designing Emergency Housing in shipping containers for Western NC hurricane (flood) victims!   So - I couldn't do anything until grading was done (which wrapped at 11:30 on Dec 20th!)

But there was some stuff that happened to help get us in the Christmas spirit around town even if we still had / have the Thanksgiving pumpkins on our front porch in December!

The 1st weekend of the month is always the Marietta Christmas house tour weekend. I was a docent again - but in a modern house.  (here's my main view of a metal surround for the fireplace - I talked about the living room / kitchen & dinging area / bar area.) I visited the rest of the houses throughout the weekend (and Todd got to tour the modern house on my ticket b/c they didn't mark that house off since I started there).  I wasn't sure how a modern house would go over since the house tours are usually historic, but everyone was happy and interested and wow-ed. I had fun "working" in that house. 

We did a little bit of birthday stuff that weekend too.  Friday night, we went to a cirque du soliel production at the Fox theater.  (well, Todd Isabella and I did) - Mercer didn't want to go.  I honestly think it was a good move for him to stay home and hang out with the dogs and a full pizza to himself! 

He wouldn't have liked the show.  Todd thought it was "meh" - Isabella and I liked it. 

Being in the historic Fox Theater, the stage was much smaller, so the acrobatics were not as grand... but they were good!

(Funny - the main character's name was Isabella -- and she was a teen who stopped believing in the magic of Christmas.  The production with the acrobatics and the storyline was to restore her faith in Christmas spirit - which by the end - it did)

Midtown was decorated.  

We parked a-ways away... we were parked at this cool office building... near the lobby was this elevated area that reminded Todd and me of the Johnson Wax buildings with these unique support columns.

We went to Cirque du Soliel on Friday for my birthday.... I suppose what we did Saturday could be considered birthday too:  ....I got a new car!  

My birthday was actually on Monday - we had such a big weekend, we didn't do much that specific day (it was a work & school day)  Todd and Isabella made me a cake though!

I've needed a new car for awhile.  This prius was not as good / not as reliable as my 1st one.  I really wanted a convertible.  I wanted a Volkswagen convertible that was like the one I had before the 1st prius.  They have one in Europe called t-Roc, but it's not sold in the US.  so, considering an alternate style of convertible led us to the Mini dealer.  On a whim, we decided to go test drive mini convertibles.  Um... they were way too small!  So, we looked at the other kinds that were there.  They were cool, but I wasn't really into just another sedan.  But -- they had an electric mini on the lot that had less than 800 miles that was about 6 months old.  Apparently, someone leased it for a short time while their custom mini was on order.  The price was drastically reduced from new -- it was priced as a used car, but it was basically new.

The "e" appealed to me. So... we went for it.  we now own an Electric Vehicle!  It drives weird -- like a go-cart at Andretti.  (you keep your foot on the gas the WHOLE time you drive. You take your foot off the gas - it almost stops. There is a brake pedal, but I don't have to use it often)  We may want to get a higher volt charging station installed at our house, but use of the regular outlet on our back porch works fine for now.

My car has an App!  I can lock the doors from my phone and check on the charging status.  I can map out a trip and find out where charging stations are. It's more of an around-town kind of car (like my prius was)... not so much an out-of-town car.

So - on my 1st out-of-town trip since I got it (next blog topic -- below), I traded cars with Todd!

The weekend after my birthday, I got to go on a trip away with some adoptive moms at the house in North Georgia called "A Mother's Rest" -- I've been before and met a couple of ladies that I have kept in touch with -- one from Tampa and one from Charlotte.  We've met up at this house a couple of times.  I thought only one of the ladies was going to be there, but the other one from Florida tried to surprise us by booking an extra room that was previously booked / the original person couldn't attend. 

(this is my room this trip - I stay in a different room each time!) 

It was a busy time to go up to the respite house (two of us were doing online shopping all weekend.  One of the ladies was writing her Christmas letter.)  I did a little bit of grading while there to try to catch up for the onslaught that I would experience during last week. 

 

And - we went into town (Helen GA) to go check out the lights / see the cute downtown area decorated. 

We did not use the formal dining room this trip, but I saw the "door" to the sun porch closed.  (the window you can crawl through -- or you can open the bottom part if you don't want to crawl & just want to walk. 

It's never closed!  But I thought it was cool to see it how it was intended to be.

Here's a photo with the window part open (the coffee machine is out on the sun porch, so it was "required" to head out there!)

Mostly, we just talked in the living room and chilled out.  

We talked about kids. 

We talked about adoption stuff. 

We talked about election stuff.  

We talked about the essential Christmas gifts this year.

We talked about getting together again in the summer when it was warm and we could use the pool at the Inn!

We visited Santa who was sitting for pictures with dogs at Mostly Mutts.  He and Ms. Claus were so cute!  They both had great energy and the best smiles!  Apparently, they do this every year as a fund raiser for Mostly Mutts (a dog rescue organization).  

Hip-Hop was not thrilled, but he wasn't bad.  Saffy was just chill.  Mercer wouldn't jump into the photo, but this picture with Isabella is cute!

We told Isabella about Santa before she entered 6th grade - middle school can be tough and we didn't want any teasing.  (She said she already knew... unlike Mercer who we shocked him when we told him about Santa right before 6th grade!!)  

Here is the official picture from our photo shoot on the Mostly Mutts website.

This is not our (beautiful) "real" Santa from our Marietta Square Santa visits ("Santa Lamar"), but this Santa and Ms. Claus were lovely!   

It was a bit of work to get the dogs there and to pose.... but I'm glad we did it!

Isabella had a band concert before school ended.  She's been playing the euphonium.  She said not to expect too much... that she was one of the better players -- and many of the kids had no idea what they were doing!  (so - we went in with low expectations)  But... they did great!

I thought the band as a whole sounded good.  (It was broken into 3 parts -- a drumline that did one part. The band with wind and brass instruments -- who normally don't have classes together.  AND - a strings section which was directed by a different teacher.) 

Isabella is hard to see - but she's the one right in front of the poinsettia plant in the back row. 

I had another after school club meeting also the last week of school with my Architecture club.  We did one more Christmas related thing -- we had the club meeting they all love: making "architectural" graham cracker houses. (instead of gingerbread) 

Mercer got in on the meeting activities again this month b/c he had to wait 'til I could take him home. Plus, I have a club member who is very outgoing and drags him into doing the activities instead of sitting on the side of my classroom!  :)  He has graphic design classes with 2 of my student members, so does he does know some of the kids that are there.  

(Why not?!  - it drags him out of his shell a bit!)  :)

This is the favorite AIAS meeting of the school year. (because the students like to eat while they build!)

Some of the houses were pretty good.  Some, well, ... :)  

Mercer & Raphael's house turned out to just be a house "construction site."  haha 

Next month are the club elections and we will need to do something with community service instead of "crafty" things all year.  We'll see what the new year brings for my AIAS club.

Mercer drove himself to a hair cut appointment in preparation for the Christmas holiday. Which is nice that we could do some things around the house that we needed to without stopping to take him on an errand.

He also drove himself + Isabella to Youth on the Sunday before the break to go to the middle school / high school Christmas party up at the church + white elephant gift exchange.  

Yes - scary that he's driving, but... some things are nice about it!!  

Isabella and I made sugar cookies. She, Todd & I decorated them.  Not many - but some.  I guess we got into the Christmas spirit a LITTLE before the holiday, but.... we did not have a tree 'til the laundry room renovation was completed. 

(what's the correlation?!) 

Todd took out the rotted / molded base cabinets that were in our laundry room that had suffered water damage.  

He had to re-do the gypsum board behind the cabinets AND add tile to the floor (the tile did not run under the cabinets, rather up to the toe kick). 

Thankfully we had extra tile in the garage that we could use.  THEN, he could install the laundry sink + move in the Hoosier cabinet I had repainted over Thanksgiving break.  

(The cabinet has been in our living room ever since re-doing Isabella's room this summer!)  The corner where the cabinet was being stored... is where our Christmas tree goes.  It was a long process, but once the Hoosier was moved, a Christmas tree could be put in place!

It was late in the season + we had a new dog (we did not know how she would do with a real tree).  So, we got a small fake tree instead this year.  It's not the same, but it just didn't make sense to cut one down and only enjoy it for a week or so before our trip up north.

On the Sunday before Christmas, we opened gifts as our small family unit of 4 + we opened gifts for the dogs and got to play with them for a bit....

Saffy's new hat!  (if her body gets cold - so does her head an ears, right?!  She's got an alien hat on now with green ears.  haha

A game Isabella really wanted....

And make-up related stuff....

Not pictured - Mercer's car seat cover and the car safety kit that he got.  Promise -- he got stuff too!

We finished packing up and hit the road for a road trip to North Carolina and New Jersey...  That will be "part 2" of the blog post since none of the photos are synching up!