Man, that break really threw me for a loop! The kids were off forever and a day (they still don’t go back until Weds), I didn’t have any online classes going on past mid-month, and it was a weird vortex of time suck. But I’m back and feeling pretty good; requirements will do that: two of my online venues begin today and the other two start Wednesday.

Last week was a rush of activity: my parents stayed through Monday morning and then on Tuesday, our new furniture arrived. The chair is what replaced my old recliner that was nearly 17 years old. Ash saw it in the store and thought it matched but it looked like a light tan; it turns out to match entirely! The sleeper sofa my parents got so they can stay without kicking a kid out of their room. I like it more than our old beat up couch from 2007.

We had plans to do a NYE thing but in the end, no one felt like getting together so we watched Wicked with the kids and then sort of drifted off prior to the ball drop. Oh well!

I felt pretty motivated on Wednesday; got Christmas stuff put away. I finished that up on Thursday and then my son and I got sushi while the other two got Chik-Fil-A; that was Dakota’s choice for having done the runs with me. She and I also went into Beall’s and got a new soap dispenser and this cool decorative coral for the bathroom.

Friday was pretty productive: Ash and I – with her help – built the vanity my daughter got for Christmas. It took probably about 2-3 hours but we got it done! The best part about it is that it made her clean the room.

That evening, we went out to Shula’s 347 to celebrate Ash’s fantasy football win. Didn’t take any food pics but here’s what we did get:

Isaac was hangry so he looks mad but in the end, everyone really liked their food. I had the filet with mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts in a tomato chutney. SO good!

On Saturday, Isaac started his city job reffing soccer. I took him a little before 9 and he signed in, etc. Not our first rodeo, since Elliot also did this at 14. I recall having to pick him up around 2 but they ran games all the way until 4 so he spent the entire day out there! We were there by 11 for Dakota’s game so I brought him a snack but he was pretty hungry when I picked him up later!

Koda’s team lost but they did perform better than I anticipated; this sport is rough because of the start time: practices in and around the holidays are hard. But I think they have potential.

Yesterday, I got a run in and started laundry, went to the store. I felt really good about healthy choices even: drank my apple cider vinegar, had a big low carb salad. Go me! Last week, Ash and I replaced the hardware on the front door. It had been wonky for a while but then it started to be dysfunctional: you could open it to go out but if you closed it entirely and tried to get back in, it simply wouldn’t open, even if unlocked. So once that was done, we saw the next step: painting. The new hardware left a gap that never was painted. So we found the old door paint and got that done. Well, I painted it. Ash helped with cleaning and sanding and taking off the lock and I did the paint. It looks pretty good, I must say. Here it is, in a state of drying, as you can see from various colors.

Glad that got done, that’s for sure. Nice little afternoon project and not a bad day for it, weather-wise. That evening, we made a fire and sat outside. It’s rainy today so it was nice; it’s supposed to be COLD tomorrow and on. Nevermind the background: we are still working on the surround so we can pour a concrete pad and tearing out the shrubs so we can build more firewood storage.

That about does it! I have to go craft an announcement for one of my online classes and probably go to the store. My parents are coming back through town to pick up some stuff they left and other than that, I just have to get my mind back into work mode!