Book 4

I finished book four this morning:

 It's the last of the Daindraith's Assassin books, and it might be my favorite. It centers around two side characters in the main series, and I loved how it tied the series together without putting the whole thing in a bow. 

At a time when the real world has been so insane, I've loved escaping to this one. I will miss these characters so much...

So Productive

I had a hyper-productive weekend.

Saturday, I was the campus contact for an NCAE Conference on campus. I was super busy with set-up and clean-up, but I had huge chunks of time in my office to work. The most important thing was decorating for Valentine's Day:

The world is a lot right now, and a little happy is necessary. I also wrote some reports, did the fall schedule, and generally got ahead for the first time in forever.

Yesterday, I had big plans to do nothing. But...it is false spring down here, so I packed up all of the snowmen and loaded everything back into the attic. We are all decorated for Valentine's at home, and I love how it feels more like spring.

As much as I love a restful weekend, it also feels really good to get so much accomplished. It means this week will be so much easier, which is lovely.
 

First Star

On New Year's Eve, Issa lead us all in making BINGO boards for the year:

We put goals, dreams, and aspirations for the year on it. It was fun to create these, and it's nice to have it hanging as a reminder of what I want to be and do in 2025.

Yesterday, I got to put my first star on my board! I have been diligently lifting since right after Christmas. When I started, six reps of many of the exercises tapped me out. Yesterday, I brought the last exercise to reps of 8 in each set! I know for a lot of lifters that doesn't seem like much, but in December if felt daunting. I'm getting stronger, and that's worth celebrating.
 

Finding Joy

Last week was a bit of a dumpster fire. All of 45's executive orders have hit hard. Both Brad and I have had our work lives turned upside down--especially him--and I don't remember the last time I have been that tired on a Friday.

So...we set out this weekend to find joy. My cousin Monica and my sister were visiting, and it was fun to catch up and go through some family memories.

I also leaned very heavily into the arts, which have always been a place I can go to restore my soul. Saturday, Brad and I ditched a lot of things we should have been doing to go to the art museum. They have a samurai exhibit that leaves this weekend, and we finally made the time to see it. It was also good to just have a little mini-date in the midst of all the crazy.

Sunday morning, I squeezed in a little time at the pottery studio:

And I finished book 3:

This one ended even better than I had hoped, and I still have one more book in the series. I appreciate the complicated relationships and that everything did end happily ever after. 

And yesterday, Issa and I went back to see her studio's debut of the season. All of the alumni were there:

I really needed a box of tissues. All of the girls have grown so much in six months--both as dancers and humans. And in a week where everything felt so very wrong, seeing these young artists take the stage and share their gifts and their love, well, the future is looking so bright. 

My heart and my soul are in a much better place this week. We have some loose plans. We have a mission. Onward...

 

What a Week

Last year, the College asked me to apply to the HERS Institute. It is an intensive leadership conference for women in higher education. I takes place over three long weekends on a historic farm in Virginia.

When I arrived Wednesday, this was my welcoming crew:

I saw many deer over the weekend, but this is the first time I have even seen a heron in the snow.

My room as in the lodge, and I appreciated it's lack of internet:

Room time was truly rest and recharge time, which was so needed. The days were packed 7:30am to 8:00pm. I learned so much about the logistics of higher ed, but it was also a chance to do a lot of reflection and think about what might be next for me.

I also met a lot of new friends. The conference is really more of an experience, and this network will be something I am part of forever. It reminds me so much of HOBY for adult women.

I had another small victory while I was there. I got up and went to the gym every morning:

We got weights for Christmas, and Brad's brother designed a plan for us. It's been almost a month of me lifting now, and I didn't let the conference break my rhythm! 
 

Book 2

I finished book 2 this morning:

I'm already sad there is only one more book in this series. The villain in the story is becoming harder to loathe, and the main characters just keep growing, which I love. I truly have no idea how this story is going to end, but I can't wait to find out!
 

Last Break Hurrah

As one last hurrah before we all returned to reality, we made a family zoo trip last weekend:

The weather was perfect! It was in the fifties, and the sun was beautiful. For the first time in a long time, we did the whole zoo, including the dessert where we were all tickled by the sand cat:

My otters were out for the first time in forever:

But the chimps were the absolute highlight:

Watching the baby play was so cute, and they were close enough we could really see their faces:

It was one of those times when you really see how we share 98% of our DNA. I swear I've made the same faces playing with my own toddlers.

I love our zoo. All of the animals were active, and it was amazing to watch them. The rhinos were running across the plain, which was really something to see, and we got to see several of the herds of antelope run, too. 

It was a fun last day trip of the break, and I'm so glad it's such an easy day trip for us.
 

Book 1

I finished book one of the year this morning:

 It's the third in the series, and it did not end at all where I thought it would! I really appreciate how this story is developing, and I'm anxious to see where it goes!

A Holiday Wrap-Up and Book 31

We had a fabulous end to 2024. For the first time in my career at Meredith, I took my work email off my phone and didn't open my laptop the entire time the campus was closed. That left some extra time for holiday fun.

The week before Christmas, we made cookies to take to the neighbors. We learned a double batch of Grandma Rhodes's sugar cookies is the absolute capacity of the mixer:

Issa believes that it actually exceeds the limit, but we got the job done. And I had the best delivery crew in town:

I also learned that the kids used to eat sprinkles when they were home alone, complete with a reenactment:

The Monday before Christmas we made another batch of cookies at Nana's:

Christmas Eve found us back at Nana's in the most cozy Christmas pjs:

We did the now traditional mashed potato bar and played a new kind of Uno that is a different kind of complicated.

Christmas morning Santa visited our house:

The kids are almost as tall as the tree now:

Evan was thrilled by some new gear for his VR set:

And Issa got some new luggage for her study abroad this summer:

Santa also brought Buddy a new toy:

It last ten minutes:

I was particularly proud of my oven organization this year:

We tried a new Christmas afternoon activity this year. Inspired by a commercial, we built a pretzel gingerbread house:

We discovered candy melts are the much-preferred glue:

And we learned Brad is a shockingly good pretzel whittler: 

The end result was pretty impressive! It's hard to see, but Brad shaped gum drops into little ducks for Issa's gummy worm pond:

A big part of the reason that we did the traditional Christmas turkey dinner was so that we could attempt leftover sushi:

We used the mashed potatoes and stuffing as the outside. Once it was rolled, we froze it for a bit and then crisped it up in the pan:

It was shockingly good, but it also took a lot of time and fuss for a few bites. It was fun, but I'm not sure we will do it again.

In the midst of all of that, I finished book 31:

This is the second book in series, and I still really like the characters. I'm not quite sure where the story is headed, but I'm excited to find out!

We have one more weekend with Issa home, and we are trying to squeeze in a little bit more run before reality hits Monday!