Book 11

I finished book 11 this morning! 

 This novel might be one of the best I've read in a long time. It's set in Victorian England, and it's part romance part mystery. It is well-written, and the characters unfold beautifully over the course of the novel. Even though I had an inkling of the ending about three-quarters of the way through the book, the ending itself had a lovely twist that tied everything up with a perfect little bow. Highly recommend!

Sleepy Babies

In typical North Carolina fashion, we went from the 80s last week to the 60s this week. This has meant our fur babies would like to hibernate.

As soon as I get out of bed, this happens:

He not only takes my spot but he also snuggles right into my pillow.

And as soon as Brad sits or lays down, this baby is on him:

I don't mind the extra snuggles, but I wouldn't mind just a bit more warmth before prom this weekend.
 

Another Weekend of Dance

This was another weekend full of dance!

Thankfully, we had an open Friday evening before all the crazy started. We were all just toast, so we had dinner at radius, did some shopping at the art council, and stopped to see Matthew and enjoy some chocolate. It was a fun evening out in our little town, and it was some nice family time before we started running!

Saturday, we had dance pictures:

This is the first time Issa completely prepped everything, so I was really just along to switch hair piece and snap hard to reach snaps. We had great music playing at the studio, and it was actually a fun--but exhausting--day.

Saturday, Issa and her team danced at the Dogwood Festival, where I took nary a picture. They did so well, though, and I always love watching them dance. We ended the weekend at Bach Burger and I was sound asleep by 9:30. This is another crazy busy week, but it should also be very full of fun.
 

A Milestone

This happened yesterday:

 I have officially done Duolingo 1,200 days in a row. I've been using the app since 2017, but this is my longest streak. I can now read anything in Italian, and I can write well in the present tense. I'm still working on the future, though!

Book 10!

This week I also finished book ten:

I've been reading Jen's books backwards, and I have to say I like where she ended much more than where she started. :-)
 

Artsy Weekend

I had another artsy weekend!

Saturday night, we went to see Beetlejuice at DPAC:

I was not prepared to love that show as much as I did! It was really well done, and the actors were all phenomenal! I'm not a huge fan of the movie, but I would see the show again.

Sunday morning I went to the pottery studio and had a sad start:

I think the handle dried faster than the dragon, and it just shattered. So...take two:

Hopefully the sponges will give it support and help it dry evenly. We'll see!

I also picked up Issa's mushroom mug:

The colors came out way differently than I expected, but she loves it, which is all that matters.
 

Book 9!

I finished book 9 of the year this week:

This was a pure fluff fun read. It picks up at Lizzie and Darcy's wedding and follows them through their honeymoon tour. I won't ruin the ending, but is a fabulous read if you loved Pride and Prejudice but are not precious about it. The author did a great job of capturing the characters and taking them on a distinctly non-Austen adventure that still remained true to the original world--except with vampires.
 

The First of the Lasts

And so it begins:

 This week I signed Issa's last ever high school registration form and she submitted her last Kaleidoscope application. It's all a little surreal...and so very exciting.

Happy Easter

We had a really fun Easter weekend! We kicked it off Saturday by giving Aunt Shannon her Christmas gift from two years ago:

It takes a really long time to make a blanket.

Then it was straight on to coloring eggs. I just wanted a picture of my kiddos dying eggs. This is the hilarious series I got:

We all had tears running down our faces, but we did end up with really pretty eggs for the rest of the decorating:

Issa made a butterfly egg:

I made a flower:

Nana made a fabrige egg:

Evan made a stegosaurus but gave me this pose:

He also made an egg throne:

And Aunt Shannon made her one perfect egg:

Sunday morning we had the traditional egg hunt:

The bunny was really tricky this year!

We also did a hunt for Hershey's kisses, played Monopoly, and took a walk when it finally stopped raining for the weekend.

We laughed so hard, and I just keep being reminded that big kids really are the best!

 

Tutus and Ties

This is Monarch spirit week, and per usual, Issa went all in. Yesterday was Tutus or Ties Day:

There was no or in her world. Please not the color coordination. I sure do love this kid!
 

What a Weekend

This weekend was super busy on the front half and blissfully quiet on Sunday.

I worked late Friday night judging Stunt. It's basically a field day that ends with a lip sync. This was the first full post-Covid stunt, and it was so fun to be back. The seniors won, and there was much celebrating.

Saturday, I attended a bridal shower for a former student. It was so fun to see so many of my former students. They also thought it was hysterical to make me the bride in the toilet paper bridal gown game:

Both Friday and Saturday were exhausting. It takes a lot of energy to be Dr. B. for extra hours, but it's also part of why I love my job--being with my students outside of the classroom and staying with them into their adult lives. It also meant I needed a very low-key Sunday.

Sunday morning, I finished book 8 of the year:

I can already hear my sister calling me a nerd, but I loved this biography of Emily Dickinson. It took me a long time to finish this over-600 volume. I wrote my first undergrad paper on Dickinson. A ton of research was happening at that time, and this book is the culmination of a lot of that research. It was fascinating--highly recommend.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxed. I did capture these sweet moments:

The kids are back to school this week, and I actually have a quieter week at work. Here we go...