A Very Busy Weekend

We had another busy weekend! Saturday night, we all went to see RENT:

Evan was not super enthused by it, but the rest of us really enjoyed it! We did have a lot of swings, and you could tell the energy and the cast was a bit off. Such is theatre in Covid, though, and I'm thrilled the kids got to see the farewell tour.

Before the show, Issa, Brad, and I drove down to Charlotte for an IKEA run. Her old dresser was too small and falling apart. We got home and started building:

We didn't get very far before the play, but Issa and I came home wide awake and decided to finish:

It was a questionable decision, but at 2am it was finished:

She has much more space, and it one happy kid! I've almost recovered from staying up that late.

 

Not a Bad Day at the Office

Yesterday, a colleague asked if we could do a walking meeting. I have to admit, I was not amused since the high yesterday was 36, but I bundled up and I'm so glad we did! We walked down to our newly restored pond:

The ice was beautiful:

And this guy decided to join us:

Herons are one of my favorite birds, and It was so lovely to see one at the office.
 

An Unlikely Friendship

After years of ignoring each other, this is happening:

Inks and Buddy are becoming friends. Buddy is still a little nervous about the situation, but Inks just keeps snuggling up to him! Of course, she still occasionally chases him out of Issa's room, but we'll take the progress.
 

It's Finally Here!

When Evan was training for his black belt, we told him we would celebrate with his own katana. They don't use them at the dojo daily, but they do use them at the big events. It finally arrived yesterday:

I think Brad was just as excited as Evan:

Brad actually designed the sword and had it custom made. He incorporated a lot of wind symbols since that is Evan's favorite element, and I think Evan thinks it is just perfect:

It was so fun to watch the two of them explore the sword last night:

He was one very happy ninja last night:

And now we have a new mantle piece:

 

New Adventures

 This semester, I am only teaching one course, which feels so much better. I technically taught my year's load last semester, but I still needed to teach one course in the spring, and I would have missed teaching if I hadn't. 

This is a brand new course for me: Assessment and Technology. We needed to redesign the course, and I've seen where our student teachers struggle with assessment, so I volunteered. It's always overwhelming and thrilling to redesign a class. This one is particularly fun, though, because I love assessment.

We met for the first time last night, and it's a cool class. Half of them are brand new, the rest are only a semester in. They come to us from all over, and the varying perspectives are going to be fun. I really, really like them individual, but as a class it's going to be a challenge. I feel a lot of differentiation in my future! I can't wait to see where this semester takes us...

Another Weekend Adventure

This weekend, we made another trek to Biltmore! They had a special Van Gogh Exhibit we were all anxious to see, and this was one of the very few clear weekends we had. We literally made it there and back between snows, but we are so glad we did!

We drove up Friday afternoon and got there in time to settle in and have dinner at Cedric's Tavern. It is our favorite restaurant on the estate, and it was nice to have a slow start to the weekend.

Saturday was our busy day! After breakfast, we went to see the Van Gogh exhibit. You began in a room that had signs explaining each phase of his life and art before you saw the life-size version of his bedroom painting:

From there, you walked in a hug room with a series of screens with projections displaying his paintings, photographs, and excerpts from his letters. They moved chronologically through his life, and it was so powerful to see his words against the painting. 

The final piece was a sunflower room that made Issa very happy:

From there, we headed to the House. We did a little shopping and had lunch in the carriage house. We even found time to explore the Conservatory before our house tour:

They had updated the tour again, and we all found something new to learn. They also still had some of the Christmas decorations up, which was fun:

Issa managed to capture the house:

and the conservatory:

and Brad:

The shuttles weren't running, so I did the driving this time. We did a little more shopping before a final dinner at Cedric's. After breakfast Sunday, we drove home and had time to settle back in before the week. Brad made pizza, and Nana joined us for that, which was nice.

It was a great weekend away, and we had so much fun at one of our favorite places.

I'm back in the office this week, but the kids are remote today. We will see what tomorrow brings!

 

I'm Losing My Mind

 This week has been a week.

After a great weekend in NYC, we are trying to settle back in to some kind of a routine, which is providing impossible.

Issa was not supposed to have school this week because she didn't have to take any more exams, but Evan has been doing remote learning due to ice around here. I'm working from home just to ensure I haven't picked anything up, and campus has been on weird schedules because of the weather any way. And...we are supposed to get a lot of snow starting tomorrow. Ugh.

I ran to the grocery this morning because I usually go on Fridays and we would need provisions. It was insane.

And we are having two tree removed from our backyard today, which is making the dogs insane.

Send help for my sanity.

A Fabulous Weekend

Issa and I had an absolutely fabulous weekend in NYC. It was bittersweet to see so much open and yet so much still closed. The city is hurting, but it felt really good to be there again and to share it with a much older Issa. 

Our adventure started Saturday morning:

We were one of the last flights to make it out before the snow started in NC! It was not the smoothest flight, and the gentleman near us with the egg sandwich didn't help. By the time we made it to NYC Issa was pretty queasy, but we sat in the airport and grabbed a snack before hailing a taxi. Unfortunately, Issa was not as solid as she thought she was and got carsick. Fortunately, we had an amazing cabby who was also a dad. He was so kind and traveled with paper towels. It's almost funny now.

We check into our super cute hotel: Row. It was right at 8th and 44th, so the location was perfect, and the room was cozy:

The hallways all had fun murals of the city:

We had big plans to just have lunch at the restaurant hotel or food court, but they have had to close it because of Covid. We went back up to the room to try to scout some other lunch options. We made a short list and ventured out, only to find them all closed. (We quickly learned not to trust websites. The situation is constantly changing up there, so hours and openings are in flux all the time.) We got a little turned around, and accidentally found Times Square and the Olive Garden there:

While it wasn't the local spot we had hoped for, it was food and we were starving at nearly 4:00. It was fun to sit and watch Times Square, and it gave us everything we needed for a first round of shopping!

We shopped Forever 21 and American Eagle before we ended up in the largest Sephora:

We had a blast and hit some great sales before taking in Times Square at night:

It was wild to see it so empty, but it has the same energy. We ended up going to a Whole Foods for dinner snacks and breakfast provisions before settling into the room for face masks:

Sunday morning we got up and explored Rockefeller Center:

We had brunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner:

And Issa learned she likes avocado toast! The talent at the Diner is incredible, and we had a blast!

From brunch we went to FAO Schwarz where we made Six inspired teddy bears:

Then it was the main event:

The theatre for Six is incredible:

And we had incredible seats:

The show itself was even better than I imagined, and Issa loved it! 

We went back to our room to change before hitting the big Macy's:

We had so much fun shopping for new outfits to wear to the next day's tea, and there were some awesome sales!

We ended day two at an Italian restaurant that is 100% gluten-free:

They actually have restaurants in Florence and Rome, too, and the waiter and I bonded. I had the risotto of the day:

Issa had the cacio e pepe:

The whole meal was incredible, and as we were eating it started to snow. It truly was perfection.

Our final day took us to tea at the Plaza:

It was gorgeous and incredible people watching:

We both agreed that you go for the experience--not the food. It was all so heavy! The space is incredible, though, and it was fun to look at many of the displays in the hallway. Issa is also thrilled because the waiter thought she made a far better tea selection than I did; she laughed every time he walked away because of his subtle shade in my direction.

We headed back to the hotel after tea to change. We arranged for a late checkout, which was awesome. We also decided to do Uber Eats to get some salad after all that heavy:

We got everything packed up with just one extra tote, which is a real tribute to our packing skills:

We made it to the airport in time to grab a snack and settle in before the flight home:

The flight itself was awful! We were one of the last out before the storms, and it was incredibly bumpy air. Fortunately, we made it safely and Issa decided she kind of likes turbulence.

Everything we did was phenomenal, but the uninterrupted time with my girl away was such a gift. We laughed so much, and these will be some of the core memories we hold onto forever.