This post is brought to you by a federal holiday, a burgeoning email inbox I'm ignoring for 20 minutes, and weather that is too cold to go take a walk without putting on layers I don't feel like adding to my cozy blob of an outfit.
I still very much want to finish my Egypt posts. It was a magical trip, I feel so so lucky that we were able to go and see and experience all that we did, and it already feels a
lifetime away even though the calendar says we've only been back for 2.2 weeks. That can't be right.
When we first returned we all slept a lot, unpacked, and braced for an ice storm that hit just as everyone was supposed to go back to school. Also, the cats clearly missed us because even our skittish Mr. Moose CLIMBED ON MY LAP and acted like a normal cat for more than 30 minutes and it was amazing. I can't wait for our next long trip so he'll do it again.
We got multiples of inches of snow and everything shut down for a few days. I am so glad I have big kids now; I remember when that would have just blown up anything I had planned in my professional life and instead I just plowed forward from my study and almost wished someone would come bother me just so I could have company. (I got my wish later and it was honestly pretty lovely. Big kids are the best.)
I did get to watch Cora and a friend attempt a snowball fight with the boy who lives down the street and his friend. There was a lot of squealing and giggling. It was adorable.
My parents and brother, sister-in-law, and twin niece and nephew drove over from Houston that weekend so we could celebrate our third and final round of Christmas!
Our housekeeper canceled her visit on our normal day because of ice on the roads, so the kids got to do some extra house work on their day off school to prep for the family visit. It was nice to hear the vacuum noises coming from all around the house beyond my office door so I could mentally track what was done. James did all the food shopping, I did much working, and we were ready!
It was so wonderful to have them. We played at all the awesome parks near our house, heated up the hot tub for a swim, opened presents, ate great food, and just enjoyed each other.
The kids (and Maggie!) adore their toddler cousins and loved having them in the house for a weekend.
Milo does not and enjoyed very much when they were gone. (Moose, obviously, could not be found until everyone left.)
Speaking of Milo, when Landon got up for his 6 a.m. morning practice on Monday he heard Milo running down the stairs as he got ready. When he made it down the stairs himself, this is how he found Milo, presenting himself to be petted farewell. I adore this cat.
(Also that elephant is one of my very favorite things in our house. It was my Grandma and Grandpa's and I remember them so vividly in their house, always flanking their couch, and then in their retirement center apartment. My other grandparents also had two in their home, so it's a super special item that brings back the warmest and fuzziest of memories. Also, how handsome is he?)
Landon is
also handsome (transition sentence!), but at the moment I'm deeply amused by how he "sits" in every room, "on" every bed or couch, anywhere It cracks me up. I have about 20 pictures like this taken throughout our house and hotels in Egypt.
Last week I flew to Baltimore for work for a night and then came home in time to see Come from Away with my friend Shelly! I saw this play for the first time when the Fort Worth theater reopened in 2021 and it delighted me to my very core. It is deeply poignant, heartwarming, sad, clever, funny, and just wonderful. I laughed and cried so much the first time and I did it all again this time too. We had incredible seats that let you really see the facial expressions of the actors and I felt all the feelings through every song.
And crazy enough, THE Captain Beverly Bass (first female Captain at American Airlines!) was in the audience with us!! I got a picture with her as we were walking out and started crying telling her how much the story meant to me. She's seen it 185 times, all around the world.
On Saturday Landon and Claire had two different high school swim meets at different pools in Fort Worth that started at the same time, so we divided parental efforts for that while Cora hung out with a friend. Then, on Sunday morning, since it was REALLY a Saturday morning with today off, I decided to make
pumpkin pancakes. I never cook or bake anymore, so it was an adventure to find out we were out of nutmeg, brown sugar, and milk as I hit those steps along the way! Luckily I have a 17-year-old who was very excited about pumpkin pancakes and didn't seem to mind a quick dash to the store to make sure they happened.
The pumpkin pancakes was really my only accomplishment yesterday. The high was below freezing, so we hunkered down by the fire all day, watching movies and cooking shows. At one point when we were all gathered we watched Apollo 13 together and it really holds up! The kids loved it.
And now it's time for me to go back to work, so I will close with my favorite outfits from the past two weeks. Getting dressed based on my shared photo album is the best and keeps me from clicking on any clothing sale emails.
The bottom-right outfit was for a date night with James last night and it was the perfect "it's-25-degrees-out-but-we-need-to-leave-this-house-and-our-children" ensemble!
Back to the grind.
No comments:
Post a Comment