Merry Christmas 2019

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from We5! Like you, our year was busy. January/February/March brought 7 snow days plus a smattering of two hour delays, a new fireplace and stone work, and a freshly painted library/living room which we'd originally had no intention of changing. We removed the wallpaper from the longest wall in the entire house in May and then I painted the kitchen and sunroom during the last few days of school. Remind me to never attempt any large project during the end of school again! Dada spent some time in Mexico City in March, in June the two of us spent 10 business and pleasure days in Bogota, Colombia while Pap watched the kids, and in July we joined some of my family for our annual trip to the Outer Banks, NC.

The kids started fourth, eighth, and eleventh grades in 2019 and the school year is half over already! Thing1 continues to love working at the karate academy part time and has created a niche for herself in digital art, having thousands of followers and having only started this autumn. Thing2 can be found with his nose in a book in just about every situation except the shower. He is still incredibly creative with all things Lego, to the point where we are wondering if we need an intervention. Thing3 still curls up in whatever rocking chair he is closest to despite the fact that his humungous legs and feet don't fit anymore. He is obsessed with all things Nerf and  I find blasters and foam bullets in the oddest places. The tide of Pokemon cards ebbs and flows as well, much to my dismay as I wasn't a fan 20 years ago and I can't fathom why it's still a thing. 

Honey, the Great Pyrenees we rescued in October, continues to give us a run for our money. We were told she was crate trained; she is a complete Houdini who has yet to meet the crate or the baby gate that can defeat her. Bosley, our two and a half year old shepherd/hound/whatever mix, is thrilled to have a live-in buddy to play with and is secretly pleased to be in his kennel and thus not blamed for whatever havoc Honey is wreaking from the aforementioned potato incident and Halloween candy fiasco to the Christmas Eve eve's decorating the sunroom with seeds for the garden. Damon would send her back in a heartbeat as she also most often wants to show her affection directly after having gotten a big drink and thus being adorned with strings of drool. The rest of us sense quite a bit of potential and are trying to keep calm and carry on...

Dada spent a lot of the fall traveling for work to Streator, Mexico, Canada, and Zanesville. While he's excited to be off the rest of the year, we're saying the same thing we say every year: we need to be better about taking time off throughout the year so we don't have a million days at the end! He spent quite a few early Saturday mornings joining some other guys for rucking, which is hiking with weighted backpacks or "rucksacks" but then his travel schedule got a bit crazy and that fell by the wayside. 

Our home group sort of dissolved over football season so we decided to start hosting Friday Night Games to make better use of all the board games and outdoor toys we've accumulated over the years. To be honest, we've been a bit disappointed by the turnout as we'd hoped to be another safe place for kids to come and hang out, but between football and band and kiddos going to a different parent's house for the weekend, we've ended up alone watching movies or playing games ourselves more than we anticipated. I guess that's just the way life goes sometimes. Maybe winter will provide a better turnout as people want to have something warm indoors to do, but I can also see it going the other way where people finally make it home after a long week and have no intention of leaving the house, choosing jammies instead. Time will tell. If you're around on a Friday night, come on down! We'd love your company!

Healthwise, it's been a year this week since I finished radiation and began taking Tamoxifen. I no longer get infusions of any kind having finished my year regimen of Herceptin and Perjeta in May. Once I finished those I began a single year regimen of oral Nerlynx so I'm over halfway done with that. I saw one of my oncologists right before Thanksgiving and he declared me "perfect", haha. I'll take it!

We've already had two snow days this school year, one even before Thanksgiving, and if you count weekends our Christmas break is 17 days long. It seems we don't start off the New Year with terrific weather and add more delays at least right off the bat to extend that break even longer. It gives one plenty of opportunities to practice one's resolutions of patience, if one were foolish crazy ridiculous going that route for self improvement. Heh.

We wish all of you the very best of the holidays with the friends, family, food, fellowship, and fun that you all deserve to be showered with. Please be safe and have a very merry holiday season and a fantastic 2020!

Photo credits go to the lovely Amy Fowler Shores at Seaside Topsail Photography who drove hours to come play with us while we were at the beach! Thank you so much for a terrific evening!

On duty

I came downstairs this morning just after six and ended up face to face with a certain Resident Middle Schooler with an oatmeal cream pie cookie in each hand, one partially eaten. He gazed at me a minute, maybe the slightest bit sheepishly, then held up the unopened cookie as he asked, "can I take this one in my lunch?" 

Maybe I'm hard hearted, but I looked him in the eye and replied, "It looks like you're already having dessert. I'd have said 'yes' if you weren't already having cookies for breakfast."

Wonder of wonders, he didn't complain, but put the unopened one back and didn't even finish the half eaten one until after he'd finished his cereal. Granted, I didn't check the pockets of his pajama pants so there's a possibility that there are other snacks stuffed away, but overall I was relieved with the amount of drama I didn't have to deal with before I'd even made coffee.

I'm pretty sure that my guardian angel was on duty and HAD had their coffee because I came to a full stop before I poured Damon's Cheerios into my full mug of coffee. Full stop. "Wait. That would be bad." As though my angel had slapped a hand over the top of my mug. 

Bos's angel was undoubtedly on duty this morning. We walk Damon out to the bus on leash, then once the bus is gone and we're turned around facing the house, I take the leash off and he runs a bit before we head in to give him his breakfast. I had him sit, like every time, and I turned his head towards the house and towards me three times. Then I unhooked him and he took off sideways, which was fine, but then stopped as if he was trying to decide if he should roll in something. I headed for him, and Cottonballs-For-Brains heads straight for the road.

Our stretch of road is at the very edge of the city limits, so the speed limit is 50 mph. This dumbhead dog ignored me calling him and circled right up to the edge of the road. The car that was coming was just slow enough that it didn't have to swerve as he finished his circle, or perhaps it didn't even see him, but either way he headed towards me with no apparent remorse. I clicked that leash back on and told him his morning run out front privileges have been revoked, which is a shame as he's too fat, but this dog just can not be trusted. I know he's not even two yet, but goodness, I sure hope he grows a brain! Fool. 

In other news, Thing1 has an art show tonight, so eventually there will be pictures of that extravaganza. Have a great day!

Some special kind of goober

And I'm not talking about the awesome Goober that is peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. That stuff is super when you're pressed for time or craving "let's go hiking at camp" food. You add it to your pack with apples and Capri Suns and cookies and head on out. 

No, I'm talking about this goober:

What kinda dummy takes a selfie with a phone that isn't hers in a bed which also isn't hers? This ding dong is in our bed and documented it. Clearly she has much to learn about stealth, evidence, and takin' it to the grave.