December was a blur of holiday busy-ness and fun, as it always is! We jumped right in with going back to work and school after Thanksgiving and had a busy first week of the month with school, work, and activities. Anna's basketball team beat St. Michael's on Thursday for their first (and only, so far) win of the season! Way to go!
I had a busy week helping extra at school between Santa's Secret Workshop which was back on after a covid-related hiatus in 2020 and covering in the cafeteria so another lady could help run SSW. It was a fun and busy week. Saturday the 4th, we started really getting in the holiday spirit with Anna and me going to watch Sarah, Ella, and Lily in the dance school's holiday cabaret, which was lots of fun.
Meanwhile, Bob took Erin to and from her piano holiday mock recital after some initial excitement of getting 2 birds out of the house that had somehow gotten in. Bob also fixed the oven that had a burned coil and also a fuse issue. I got my covid vaccine booster on Sunday the 5th - they're now recommending that people who got the vaccine more than 6 months ago get a booster shot to help protect them from the virus. The girls made a pretty gingerbread house that day as well.
We also had some landscaping done this week - removing most of the shrubs in the front yard, expanding some of the borders, redoing the border rocks, and planting new shrubs. It looks great!
The next week was Bob's last week at Red Hat after 6 great years there. He came across an opportunity at Google and decided to take it. It was a good time to make a change, and so far, he is settling in pretty well! Other than that, I had book club on Monday, we had the usual activities including 2 basketball games for Anna, I helped with the teacher cookie exchange, and Erin and I went to see the Nutcracker at Holly Springs High School for the first time on Friday evening. It was a modern spin on the ballet, and we really enjoyed it!
Saturday the 11th was a fun day - Erin went to Olivia's birthday sleepover, and the rest of us had a fun time at the Knowlands' party. It was so nice to see them and some other friends! The 12th was Finley's honorary 3rd birthday, which he celebrated with some presents and a whipped cream treat. Anna also had friends Sarah, Addie, and Madeleine over for cookie decorating and a gift exchange that they had done.
The rest of that week was the home stretch of school before the break, including a fun holiday event at school on Wednesday evening where Erin's chorus elective sang some songs and the band classes played for everyone, in addition to food trucks, sleigh rides, and crafts.
The 16th was Christmas Feast day in the cafeteria, which was plenty busy but successful. Erin's grade had a movie party with treats that afternoon as well as did a service project. Anna scored 2 points in her game on Thursday - 2 of the 10 for her team! Erin had parent observation at ballet on Thursday.
Then it was break time by Friday at noon, and we were ready!
Anna went back to the eye doctor on the afternoon of the 17th and got the green light for contacts. She's been wearing them full time ever since without any issues. It is so nice to see all of her face again without those dirty glasses! It will be good to not have glasses for basketball and soccer as well, plus it helps with the mask wearing as well, which continues. Both kids had to come home early on the half day due to Erin not feeling well, but they didn't complain about that!
Saturday the 18th, the parents had a few events - Bob went to the Eric Church concert in Greensboro with Chris and stayed overnight there, and Anna and I went to Ms. Karen's cookie swap in the afternoon which was lots of fun! I then went to a neighbor ladies' gathering at Stephanie Rook's house after that and had a great time. We ladies enjoyed takeout from Los Tres for dinner. Sunday, Anna altar served and then we all went to the NCSU women's basketball game that afternoon which was lots of fun!
Monday, Anna got her second dose of the covid vaccine and Erin had her 13-year checkup. Both went well and were uneventful. Erin was pleased to not have any vaccines due this time. I have learned to not promise either way because I am usually wrong! The next few days were full of Christmas prep - baking, wrapping, planning, etc. Bob had a farewell party with Red Hat friends on the 21st. We did a little last-minute shopping on the 22nd and had family PJ night.
Anna had Sarah over and we had a fun day with neighbor dog friend Ruby on the 23rd. We each took turns cooking dinner one night this week, which was lots of fun and very yummy!
Our porch project finally began this month! As of January 2nd, the footers are poured and have passed inspection (after 3 of them failing inspection the first time and needing to be dug deeper), the lumber has arrived, and we eagerly await framing to begin next week!
On Christmas Eve, we made a day trip to Concord for lots of family fun and a yummy lasagna lunch! It was a great time exchanging gifts and playing volleyball with Ansley's new set. We also got to facetime with Cole and family during the present-opening. Then we headed home and enjoyed the annual Elf Party at the Tierneys, which is always a great time!
Christmas morning, we opened presents, went to church, and enjoyed a very warm Christmas...too warm, according to some of us! It was really great and we had a nice pork dinner that evening in the dining room.
The next day was the biggest shopping day of the year for Santa's Secret Workshop 2022, which was a family affair. It was back after missing last year. Erin and I left the house at 6:30am and returned around 1pm with a car full of stuff, which Bob, Anna, and Erin then sorted, logged everything into the spreadsheet, and packed into the Suburban while I went to a few more stores that afternoon. Then, Erin and I paused shopping and went to Spanish mass at St. Bernadette that evening. It was a busy day!
Monday the 27th-Wednesday the 29th, Grandma and Ansley came up for a visit! We had a blast making more cookies, shopping, cooking, playing games, and unloading shopping stuff at school. Despite a quick stomach virus for Erin, Anna, and Bob, the rest of us avoided it and everyone had a great visit.
The 30th was the sad day of taking down Christmas decorations, which always goes faster than putting them up, but is still sad nonetheless. I had a nice dinner out with some mom friends from school that evening. We had a nice New Years Eve at home, playing board games, family basketball in the pool parking lot, enjoying a yummy Hello Fresh dinner (thanks for the gift, Bob!), and Anna, Bob, and I made it up until midnight!
So, that was December. It was busy and fun, and we were so happy to have more of our usual holiday events back this year that were missed in 2020. While things are still not back to normal, and the current drama is the spread of the "omicron variant" of the covid virus causing travel issues and general stress, we continue to hope that things will improve overall, though it's been a very slow process thus far. The question of the year from some of us is "why did I bother getting vaccinated?" because many things have not changed, but we are trying to hope for the end of this at some point in the near future. Hopefully this will just be a "funny" story some day!
