12-31-21

 

New Years Eve, time to reflect on this past year.  As I brace myself on the icy sidewalks.

Brace was my word for 2021, partially because I had an inkling that 2021 could be more difficult that 2020.  What an understatement.  What a dumpster fire of a year!

Reviewing my goals, I fell short on weight loss (again!) building a strong community (although our expanded small group has been a blessing) or find new routines coming out of pandemic (the pandemic ending was a pipedream) and Tanuia did not get early release.  But I was able to read 60 books (a good variety with the summer bingo and various book clubs), I completed the Sesame Street 500 miles early, made improvements in wellness (focus on sleep, joined Peloton) and spent a lot of time supporting the family.

I felt like I was stuck in molasses this year, that even easy things were hard, but I do feel like I made some progress in being patient and ready for whatever came next.  I’ve come through this year stronger in a lot of ways, and that is a win.

12-30-21

 

Day two of spending a few hours helping Alexa move from the retail core to Belltown.  At least we have a bigger vehicle today.  But we also have bigger boxes, a mattress, and a huge bean bag chair.  And falling snowflakes.

12-28-21

 

Normally the Christmas decorations would be packed up again by now, but this year is different.  I love this quiet week between Christmas and New Years.  The work is done, now to read and write and reflect.

12-27-21

 

First we were cooped up with Covid isolation, then for snow.  What a fun way to wrap up the year... not!  It's really pretty, but it is really treacherous to navigate the frozen sidewalks downtown.

12-26-21

 

We didn't have a white Christmas as was forecasted, but this snow did come 24 hours later.  And baby, it's cold outside!

12-25-21

 

With our negative tests, all but Xander were able to have Christmas dinner with the Carasas.  It was a nice afternoon of games and laughs, it feels like it has been a long time.  Merry Christmas!

12-24-21

 

Happy Christmas Eve!  It's a quiet one this year, with Xander's Covid.  But we got to start with yummy coffee from Victrola.  I did not get enough peppermint mochas this season, maybe next year.

12-23-21

 

Bruce knew, I didn't, that we'd be giving up coffee soon to do a Body for Life challenge.  I've been wanting to go to Moore Coffee to get animal art for awhile, today was the special day.

12-22-21

Wednesday night is traditionally yoga night, so did a Peleton Christmas party yoga session tonight.  Yeah, no party has this much downward dog, I'm not buying it...

12-21-21

 

Ginger ale and meds in the bathroom is never a good sign.

I've been trying to think of how to re-write the 12 days of Christmas to fit our week, but have a few gaps and a few exaggerations:

12 extra hours of sleep,

11

10 NyQuils taken,

9 movies watched,

8 books read,

7 Covid tests,

6 cancelled outings,

5 households impacted,

4 packs of Ramen,

3 days of booster illness,

2

And all the gifts still under the tree…

12-20-21

 

Bruce is down for the count.  His booster shot knocked him out.  My 4pm decompress walk is always quiet and reflective, but even more so today after having no interaction with other humans all day long.

12-19-21

 

Faith, hope, love, the real themes of this season.  As Covid crashes down on us, I have faith that our vaccines and boosters will help, hope that we don't get sick, and love for everyone facing hard choices and situations.  So thankful the party at the Cove was postponed and Xander didn't visit there.

12-18-21

 

Ho, ho, ho!  I don't have a lot of Santas on our tree, I gravitate toward the animals, angels, and location based ornaments, but the two Santa's we have I really really like.

12-17-21

 

It started with Xander and I making plans to go to Cafe Nordo.  Then we invited Joan.  Then Anastasia & Jacob.  This was a more immersive experience, travelling to adjacent rooms for two of our courses.  Great entertainment, fun vibe, unique food presentation, fabulous company.

12-16-21

 

I enjoy my morning quiet, getting coffee on the roof before most of Viktoria is awake.  The roof is dark, the tree is bright.  I'll enjoy sleeping in next week even more.

12-15-21

 

Baby it's cold outside!  Snow in the lowlands in the forecast, but so far just wet.  Great excuse to cosy up by the tree instead.

12-14-21

 

What do you do when your body decides to be awake at night?  Read a book.  Wrapped up Freakonimics for our MAVen book club, they ended with a deep dive into 1990 baby names by income level and race.  Pretty interesting.  Alexander (and Sander!) was on the list (as white and higher income) but Anastasia was not.  It feels like so long ago when we named them!  We thought of a lot of things when choosing names, but not the financial prospects.

12-13-21

 

Small batch wrapping for high impact. 82% done with wrapping, 15 gifts to go!

12-12-21

 

Family cookie baking day resumed, this year at Anastasia and Jacob's house.  We made a few cookies.  I tried to make creamsicle instead of lemon but ended up making both.  I worked on highly technical rice krispy treats while Uncle Pat worked on super simple Santa iced cookies, ha ha!

12-11-21

 

We went with Xander to Candycane Lane tonight.  Not what I was expecting, and croweded as heck, but fun.

12-10-21

 

Christmas Ships cruise on Lake Union tonight!  It was cold, it was wet, but it was very pretty.

12-09-21

 

I like to walk to SAM and back right after work, to transition to the evening and get some steps.  I went the opposite direction tongiht and enjoyed this view of Hammering Man.

12-08-21

 

Woot-woot, knocking it our of the park with Peleton.  Would be nice to have a holiday season where the scale went down instead of up!

12-07-21

 

My attempt at Standard the Fox, our teams mascot.  Getting a white elephant gift package ready for our H3 gift exchange, my theme is that everything is 16 ounces.  With some fox fun.

12-06-21

 

We saw a lot of interesting trees on our trip, but it is really nice to be back to the white glow of our own tree too.  Hello rain, hello grindstone, hello cozy life.

12-05-21

 

Love boutique hotels, they always have such fun decor.

Our last day in California...

Recap of movements:

Thursday, airport and trail hiking: 8.4 miles

Friday, trail hiking: 7.4 miles

Saturday, trail in morning, urban later: 9.2 miles

Sunday, urban and airport walking: 6.9 miles

12-04-21

 

Apples, apples, everything apples in Julian.  Bruce had his fill of cider and we enjoyed a few slices of apple pie.  Adorable little town, too bad it is completely closed at 6pm!

12-03-21

 

When we decided to visit Anza-Borrego again, I knew I wanted to do the Palm Canyon Trail again.  It was a bit disappointing to see the oasis trees charred due to a fire last year, but it is still a lovely hike with a great surprise at the end.  Our hikes are less than 4 miles each this week, but they are warm weather and steep terrain.

12-02-21

 

Hello sunshine!  Left the house at 6:15, landed in San Diego for lunchtime, and made it to Julian in time for a sunset hike.  Love revisiting beloved vacation spots as much as exploring new ones.

12-01-21

 Added another stocking to the "mantle" and bird to the flock.  Who knew that the four birds I had to have at Target several years ago would be something that could keep expanding.  Had to buy $35 of toilet paper to get the new Madeline likeness shipped, but hey!

11-30-21

Love the vegetable lights at the market, and love that I didn't not get caught in the rain on any of my walks today.

11-29-21

 

MAVen book club night.  The guys and gals had different dinner plans, then met up to enjoy the mild evening with glass blowing, wild see-saws, and art installations.

11-28-21

 

Every year Montreal has a festival of lights to celebrate making it through another cold dark winter.  This year they loaned their stuff to Seattle for us to enjoy in SLU.

11-27-21

 

The weather was terrible all day, we finally ventured out for the lighting ceremony at Pike Place Market.  How crowded would it be if it wasn't cold and wet?!?

11-26-21

 

We found ourselves at the Armory today, and the big Christmas train display is back!  There is a new addition, a Kraken, and the artist is even painting the pond with the Kraken in it...  feels like a bit of Christmas normal...

11-25-21

 

Thanksgiving!  I am thankful that Aunt Liz volunteered to host.  I am thankful that we got to meet in person and enjoy each others company.  I am thankful that Amy joined us this year.  I am thankful thankful that Mom was there too, even if Xander skipped to be with Madeline.  I  am thankful for both Jacob's homemade cranberry sauce and Shanna's cranberry tart.  I am thankful that I didn't eat myself sick like I normally do.

11-24-21

Spent the morning with Grampa, still enjoying his coloring pages, spent the afternoon on food prep, and spent the evening getting my hair done.
 

11-23-21

 

Did I mention I'm on vacation?!?  Enjoying my morning coffee in no particular hurry.

11-22-21

 

Mom, Uncle Pat, and I went to MOHAI today.  This was in the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.  Mom is learning about how he had a stint as a party planner and Uncle Pat is looking at a spotlight made with a candle.  That guy sure had a lot of ideas!

11-21-21

 

Game night with the kids.

11-19-21

 

Walking along Redondo Beach.  Lot's of memories here, like when I went into labor with Xander.

11-18-21

 

My morning walk to visit the dogs at daycare.  Not sure how they decide who gets to be king of the ladder.

11-17-21

 

Refreshed hair.  My new Wednesday night Capital Hill ritual.

11-16-21

 

It isn't Thanksgiving, but its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... thrilled it is dry enough to get a morning walk in.

11-15-21

 

Monday night, Thai this week.  Gluten free and plant based was difficult.  Now it is gluten free, plant based, indoors, and not too spicy or too weird... not a lot of options, it seems!

11-14-21

 

I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down...

Those song lyrics have been stuck in my head.  The wind knocks down all the rentables but they don't stay down.  The vaccines knockme down but I keep chugging.

11-12-21

 

It finally stopped raining and we were gifted with a gorgeous sunset.  TGIF!  Girls night with Joan...

11-11-21

 

Happy Veterans Day!  I went to the office, Bruce had a day off, he met me for lunch.  I've never been to Damn the Weather, so fried cauliflower it was...

11-10-21

 

Now that's a lot of irons!  Fun store window display.

11-07-21

 Good morning, church!