Early Christmas

​Today this arrived in the mail. 

It’s an early Christmas for us, and I say us purposefully. We are all celebrating this gift.

Friendship

​When I arrived to Campbell in 2013, my first assignment was teaching third grade at Lincoln. These ladies were my co-workers; we were partnered together on the same grade-level team. They welcomed me from day one, and we quickly became friends. We no longer work together as our assignments have since changed, but we still meet once a month for dinner, to celebrate birthdays and catch up on life. 

We celebrated Christmas this month at a restaurant in Nash. In twelve years, this is the first time we have taken a picture with all four of us. 

In 2013, our children were babies, so we have watched them grow up together, celebrated graduations together, and lived through the angst of launching them into the real world. So much has transpired since our days at Lincoln, so much could have gotten in our way to keep us from staying in touch, and yet we make a point to keep the monthly dates. 

It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas

​The best part of the sun setting at 1700? 

This! 

I love the look of warm lights in a dark room. It looks like Christmas in my house! 

November

​November also included live music. Vikki and I scored $57 tickets to see Ernest at The Ryman. We couldn’t pass that up - even if was a school night. 

His opener was pretty good; I got no pics of the guy we were there to see, but it turned out ok. Two nights later I was back at The Ryman with Bella to see Ella. She brought out Ernest.

After two concerts in one week, I took my middle schoolers on a field trip to Nashville to tour the state capitol. But forget history! The real highlight of the trip was the hot chicken at the food court in The Farmers Market. Meanwhile I was so stressed worried about losing a 14 year old, making sure 14 year olds didn’t touch exhibits, and worried traffic would cause us to miss our scheduled tours. I was beyond relieved to get back on the bus headed back to school. I crashed Friday night and slept for twelve hours!

The Northern Lights made an appearance in The South. I grabbed a coat to throw over my pjs and stayed up past my bedtime to catch a few glimpses. 

The family gathered for Thanksgiving. It was really cold and the rolls were burning, so we didn’t get the best pics.

I popped in to Vikki’s house Friday night to watch football. I thought it was understood we were invited. As it turns out, our arrival was a complete surprise. 🤷‍♀️

Life in October

Life in October included live music. 

Lainey at Bridgestone

She brought out several guests, to include Ernest, Ella, and Jelly Roll.

NSC wrapped up its season.

We hosted Inter Miami in the playoffs. We were fortunate to see Messi, Suarez, Jordi Alba, and De Paul play again.

Wes and I saw one of the musicals in our season pass at TPAC.

Trevecca made it to the playoffs. 

The fam met up in Nashville to cheer the team on.

Renovation # ILostCount

​After five years, we finally tore down the painted on wood blue deck and rebuilt it with composite decking. This was an event that was supposed to take one week. It turned into almost three months after we learned our ceiling panels were damaged and new ones had to be bought. We lived like the Clampetts for longer than I care to admit. 

Before

After. Love the new stairs!

It’s skirted to keep the dog out of the red clay under the deck, and hopefully it will help control the weeds that grew under the deck and into the beds. 

Fall football never looked this good.

Toronto

We were up early for the free breakfast in the Club Lounge. Even though we might spend money on flights and concert tickets, we love our complimentary hotel food and drinks. We were sure to take advantage of the free happy hour drinks Friday night and had to go back this morning for the morning views from the breakfast lounge’s 46 floor vantage point.

Then we Chat GPT’ed an itinerary for the day. We walked from our hotel to the harbor and took a boat tour on Lake Ontario to the islands. I think you have to be crazy to live on the small islands - especially in winter. I really couldn’t imagine living anywhere that requires a boat just to buy groceries. But maybe their city skyline view is worth the hassle.

From here we made our way to Kensington Market to walk through the eclectic food stalls and restaurants. This neighborhood, on the cusp of the hood, was dotted with mural art and had a bohemian vibe. This was a microcosm of the United Nations - all kinds of people from all walks of life eating every imaginable food. I was glad I still can’t smell. We settled for a Colombian restaurant with guac and fried plantains.

After lunch we made our way to the super cute, (and more suited to my preferences and style) Distillery District. The cobblestone streets. The refurbished industrial buildings. The beautiful flowers. Live music. The weather was perfect for window shopping and sitting outside with a drink.

We found a bakery and had a treat with our aeperol spritzes. We took to the streets and walked back toward Old Town to see Saint Lawrence Market. We were overwhelmed by the number of mentally ill men living on the streets. Some were so high they had passed out on the sidewalks inches from the intersections.

Just like we started the day at the hotel’s club lounge, we ended it there too with our free dinner and drinks. And the view of the lake.

I can’t wait for Morgan to announce his next tour so we can explore a new city next year.