Goodbye 2024

 Anybody else find that 2024 flew by?

This is a time of reflection. As I thought about this year, I couldn’t remember much. I think I have spent a lot of my time sitting and staring after I’ve been emotionally drained and have been trying to just muddle through exhausting times. 

I want 2025 to be different. I have not made any resolutions. Read all about my attitude on resolutions HERE!

I am thinking about having a word of the year as suggested by a friend, but I have a hard time making decisions of any kind, so I may end up with six or even 12(one for each month!). 

The three front runners for my word are: Warrior, Consistent, and Progress. Maybe this will just be my new title: Alice the Consistent Progress Warrior. I like it.

Thoughts?

How Much Does My Dog Love Me?

 My dog is amazing. We really have lucked out in the dog department. Seriously, if you’re looking to get a dog anytime soon, please consider adopting one from a shelter or rescue. Rozz has been the best dog for our family!

And here is proof that he loves me so much because he tolerates me putting him in cute clothes. What a good boy!

Frosty

It snowed the day after Christmas. My kiddos were so excited. Even though E was so sick, he ventured out and built a very cute snowman. 

Unfortunately, the snow didn’t last long. And the cute snowman was very short lived. Will we ever really get winter around these parts?

 

Real Pants Are Optional on Holiday

 I put real pants on today. This may seem weird to hear. I do wear pants everyday, but they are in the form of sweatpants as I enjoy pretending that I don’t have a full time job. Today we ventured out to get a burger at Chubby’s, one of our favorite local eats. The burger was great. Worth the real pants?…The jury is still out. 

Today nobody was bored. I think that’s a win. We played Skyjo. It’s a fun little card game. 

More time with my kiddos is bliss. Less time in real pants is priceless!

Time Well Spent

 My very bored daughter desperately wanted to go and do something. When asked what she wanted to do, she would say: “I don’t know.”

I little later she came to me with a suggestion to go walk by the lights near “The Fresh Market,” one of our favorite local grocers. 

I was the only one in the family who wanted to venture out. I’m glad I did. Time with my girl is time well spent.

Um..A Day Late…

We did not get a white Christmas. It has been really weird to be in December with warmer weather and no snow. Christmas seems like it needs snow. I guess that is the Wisconsin girl in me. 

Today we finally got snow. Z came to me while I was still enjoying the warmth of my bed and declared: “It snowed three inches!”

It did indeed snow. It was, in fact, not three inches:

 It was a very wet a little-more-than-a-dusting kind of snowfall. 

It was enough for a snowman though, which is E’s favorite thing in the world to do with snow. It made him exhausted seeing he had a bit of a cold of late. 

Christmas

Santa is always good to my kiddos. E only wanted a kayak. I think he has learned to ask for one big thing like I did when I was a kid. This almost always assures you’ll get that one big thing along with other little things. 

Z had a long list. From jump ropes to a fingerling, to Taylor Swift Merch, she has big plans and wishes. She got lots off her list but not all of it. But…she did get a surprise: tickets to Dancing with The Stars Live. She just has to wait until March. 

We played Mario Cart a million times today. And we also played catch with her new flying orb ball a million times. Somehow, she was still bored all day. I was not!

 I hope your Christmas was rich with memories and good food. Ours was!

Christmas Eve

I have been really glad to just chill this holiday. Rozz pretty much sums up the mood I’m looking for:

We just stayed home today. We did venture out after dinner to a candlelight organ recital at our church across the street. It’s one of our newest family traditions. Older ones are leaving things for Santa: 

And Santa being really good to us!

Cookies

The annual cookie party. I’m glad for this because then it’s a big mess with more hands to clean up and then I don’t have to make any. Thanks to those who organized, helped and hosted! We love our adopted family!!!

 

Stop Growing

 This boy got a new suit in the past few weeks. I cannot believe how grown up he looks. Any of you have a hack to slow down the growing process? I keep telling him to stop and he keeps not listening…

A feeling…

 Being on break feels a lot like this:

Thanks to Archie for portraying it so well. 

Break…finally.

One of the best days of the school year…the one right before winter break. Only had students half of the day. Got to have faculty lunch out with a white elephant gift(the first time ever one of the gifts was actually a 3D printed white elephant). 

Also got a gift from a student. First time in years. Delicious. 

 

“High Impact Days”

 Teaching is the only profession that you have to make a detailed plan for somebody else to do your job. I also think it is the only job where you can be dictated which days you cannot miss. The two days before or after any break are such days. I felt horrible but didn’t stay home. I could have stayed home sick, you just can’t take off for fun. I also didn’t want to make a sub plan. It is often more work than worth it. 

I was exhausted at the end of the day. I was also glad for an hour to nap with my new fancy blanket. I have really nice friends. 

Am I the Only One…

 …that sends texts to themselves?

Random Haiku

I find solace here

Gazing at your name and years

Cemetery peace

Special Club

 I am not sure if you know about the special club I am a part of. To join you must go through one of the hardest things you will ever go through, the death of a parent. It is a very select club and nobody ever really wants to join it, but the support that comes from other members of the group is unparalleled. 

One of my friends recently joined the group. Her dad passed away shortly before Thanksgiving, while visiting her family. Another one of my friends, who is like the OG of the club among my friends, Janette, joined me to bring some support and cheer a couple weeks back. 

The healing of the hurt happens as we remember our lost loved ones. The healing is quadrupled when you share the experience of loss with those who know what it is like to be a member of this exclusive club. We chatted about how you never know what it is like to lose a parent until you go through it yourself. I have realized just how clueless I was before I lost my dear mom. I’ve thought about how I wasn’t a good friend to those who joined the club before me, just because I was clueless.  

Luckily, you become a good friend to others in the club after you join it yourself. I’m very grateful for the good friends who have helped me transition into the club. 

One such friend gifted me a journal to write all the feelings I went through right after my mom passed. It was the best thing anybody did for me. Kristen also invited the hard talks out of me. She helped me realize that the grief will never go away but that I should embrace the moments and sit with that grief, accepting that it will be hard in many moments even if it gets a little better with time. 

I also gifted Shule a notebook to write down her feelings. Welcome to the group that you never want to join but the group that helps like no other thing will. 

The New Whip

 Well. The car drama is almost to the end. Reub went car shopping at Berge Auto. He know the peeps who own it. They are so nice and sell very reliable cars at a fair price. If you are local and ever need a car, check them out. They are in Orem on 800 North a few blocks east of State Street. 

Reuben found this gem, and convinced me it is our next car. I also felt it was his turn to choose, mainly because I am usually the pushy wife who finds the car and convinces him he found it, how the turntables have turned:

2018 Mazda CX-9. It has only 63,000 miles, heated leather seats(even in the back seat..the kids think it’s so cool!), Bose Speakers, a third row of seats giving lots of room, and lots of other bells and whistles. I feel spoiled until I think of having a car payment again which was inevitable even with a good appraisal of the totaled car. RIP Toyota Camry Hybrid. I miss you and your great gas mileage. I miss you also no car payment. Sigh! And hello Limo-Bean. The kids named it Limo because it’s so fancy and black. I added bean because of my love of puns! Smile!

Girl’s Date

 Z and I were alone because the boys had a church outing. I had the idea we should do a mommy and daughter date. When I asked Z what we should do she instantly said: “Mom, I know you’ve seen it already, but can we go see Wicked?”

Um…see Wicked again?…as a mom and daughter thing?…just like I saw the play with my mom?…twist my arm!

My mom in New York:

I am grateful for all the mom and daughter adventures I was able to have with my sweet mom. It is a huge blessing to have a wonderful mother. Now, I get to attempt to be that mom too!

Z’s Dance Recital

The dance recital was brilliant. Z is in three classes this year: ballet, hip hop and tap. She also was a part of the company’s nativity. I think she was most excited to dance for her 3rd grade teacher. Thank heavens for great teachers who care for their students. She is loving 3rd grade thanks to Miss Emilie. Also, thank heavens for amazing dance companies like Radiant Dance. Radiant is affordable and a special place. So glad we found this great dance community!

To see the recital click here. Ballet is at: 2:04, Hip hop is at 2:07:43, Tap is at 2:28:30, and the live nativity is 2:37:25. 

 

The week of busy

First big event: School Christmas Concert. 

Zarah sang and played violin, and Ellis sang. This year marks the last time the Grimm be at the same school until high school!

Car Shopping is for…

 …people who enjoy torture. The car hunt isn’t my favorite. What car will we get?

Random Picture

I need to plan a trip. Where should I go?

Vegas is always easy because it is so close. 

 

Lights

We took a little family drive down to Salem Ponds tonight. A very fun yearly tradition. We also stopped  at a few other gems. 

 

Getting into the Spirit

Christmas party: one angel, one shepherd. Mom heart touched. 

 

Don’t Waste!

Am I the only one that will use something until it is 100% gone? This stuff is just too good to waste!

 

30 Minutes

 Thirty minutes of waiting can turn into thirty minutes of creating. Enjoy these poems from that creative waiting:

#1:

My lack of focus

Mysterious daily tug

Why can’t I begin?

Is it depression?

The grasp of grief and sadness?

Or something different?

Am I exhausted?

The mental anguish of work

Drowning willpower?

My ADHD?

Look over there a squirrel!

What was I doing?

#2:

The teenager’s brain

A mysterious blank hole

Anybody home?

#3:

Laying in the ground

It cannot be comfortable

Teens are aliens. 👽 

Pause

 I had about 50 minutes between busy today. 

So, I paused:

Find some seasonal decorations, I promise it will be worth your while to pause and enjoy!

Midweek Mindfulness

Did you know that somewhere  in the universe there is a PE teacher that includes meditation in their curriculum? She must be a really cool person.  

An Interesting 12 hours

 Well. Reuben’s alright. Our sweet car is not:

It breaks my heart mainly because it was paid off. Ugh 😩 

Now, we wait for the appraisal and look for a car. We will have to decide how much we loved the bells and whistles and how much we want to go into debt for those bells. Sigh. 

The second in the series of unfortunate events is this:

In my frazzled moments as I processed the situation and started to go get to reuben, I ran into one of the cars in the parking lot at school. Well, there goes the deductible!

And the third moment was the next day when Reub went to drop off Z at school. He was pulling into the school and another parent wasn’t paying attention and ran right into the side of our truck. Luckily, the truck is a tank and there isn’t any damage. 

We may never drive again.