Tea-A-Tea!

Carrie wanted to try out a chai tea latte mix. It's tea and sugar, so why not? Her plan was to add it to her coffee, but I wanted to try it once by the directions. 

I grabbed the mix, a mason jar to measure, and my mug (I love it, because it's big!).

First thing I noticed is a "cup" isn't what I define as a cup.

"What is this!" I asked. "Are these European cups? Because they aren't American sized!"

Bigger isn't always better, but when it's about the quantity of my caffeinated beverages? Yes. 

1 cup of chai made a sad looking morning mug to my eyes.

So I brewed another cup of tea with my current favorite wake-up brew to splash in.

Turns out when I tell people I drink "a cup of tea" in the morning, it's really two cups by the Imperial standard! I like big cups and I cannot lie, tea tastes great and helps me wake!

Goals 2022

New year, new goals.

The short list:

1 - Make more phone calls. Talk to people! Stay connected!

2 - Make a commitment to learning a language. 

3 - Survive four years at my current position

4 - Get Shane started in a Youth Group

5 - Get Shane involved in stuff!

6 - Stay healthy

7 - Survive foaling with Carrie

8 - Write?

The details:

1 - Make more phone calls - It takes work to keep in touch with people. I used to be better at this. I'd call Grandma, MomMom, or other people while driving home from work. Then my commute got too short to call anyone when we moved to Cville. My current commute has poor reception, so I rarely even call home from the road. And then when I get home, I don't typically call people for "no reason." All that leads to not calling anymore. I was thinking I should try and make at least a couple calls a week to random people. 

2 - I've learned some odds and ends over the year, but if I want to progress a commitment seems necessary. Should I sign up for an iTalki partner? Should it be Spanish? I can speak some in that already. Or should it be Japanese? I could converse with Shane. I can somewhat read katakana and hiragana, because of helping him (not that I know the vocabulary of what I'm reading!). 

3 - Four years at a high school makes you seem like a permanent structure to the freshmen who started at the same time as you. Next year is my 4th year. 

4 - I'm looking forward to Shane being in 6th grade! No, I'm not looking forward to Middle School (those are rough times!). I am looking forward to him being old enough for "Student Life" at our church. Shane is all about the social, so a Christian social group seems like a fantastic opportunity! The church that we go to VBS at each year has a fantastic youth program, as well, but they don't start until 7th grade. When Shane's old enough I plan to take him to both and see which one sticks. BONUS: This will be the last summer Shane can do VBS. I've enjoyed going to that with him.

5 - Shane will be trying out volleyball in 2022! I was trying to think of a winter activity to meet more kids and stay busy. He's seen an anime with volleyball in it, so he has some prior knowledge. I plan on signing him up for soccer in Spring, but it'll be a drive. The local league only operates in the Fall (which I plan on signing him up for again, too!). 

6 - I was healthier for a while. I exercised! And then I got injured. So I stopped and I haven't started back up again.....yet. I want to. Then there's the need to keep up with the dental check-ups, get my foot pain looked at, and the dreaded physical for men at 40 years old (where my doctor and I will really get to know each other...). 

7 - Eowyn is due this summer. Carrie's going to be obsessed, but hopefully not over-stressed. I imagine I'll be helping a lot with the baby and supporting her. Hopefully, I'll be taking pictures and documenting the joys of it all, too.

8 - I haven't totally given up on the idea of writing. I failed to write a book, but at least I kept up with the blog! I hope my posts will be a legacy for Shane to look at one day much like I looked at the scrapbooks my parents made.

Reflection from last year:

The short list:

1 - Survive virtual school and have a job for next school year.

2 - Plug in more with the local faith community.

3 - Write a book.

4 - Keep learning.

5 - Have a sleepover with a LOCAL Shane friend.

6 - Install a pull-up bar somewhere and actually exercise again.

7 - Keep Carrie sane.

The details:

1. Done! This year has been rough, but the halfway point is less than a month away.

2. Meh. Shane and I have stared going to church in person again on the regular. There are no small groups in Scottsville, though. I'd still like to find one of those that involves the whole family. 

3. Didn't happen. I wrote a chapter....in January. I finally sat down to do a second chapter in August, but it never got read. I've learned that I need to be alone and in the quiet to write fiction. I can write blogs and emails around noise, because they're all rooted in the real world. Trying to make up a new one takes more concentration and every time someone or something distracts me it breaks the spell.

4. I feel okay about this one. I can read (slowly) Japanese written in hiragana and katakana. I know more about Japanese due to Shane's studies, but I haven't made a concentrated effort to learn the language. I've just kept track of what I need to help Shane and keep him accountable. I've been reading the New Testament in Spanish. My speaking ability hasn't improved, but I read better than I used to.

 

5. Failed. No local sleepovers for Shane :(

6. I did pull-ups! I got up to 18 reps as a max. However, I got hurt around Labor day and haven't used it since. I got to feel in shape for the start of school, at least.

7. Mostly. She's still sane, but her energy level is way down. Most of the time she falls asleep early on the couch. Some days Carrie shows project level energy. Most of the time she does not. She does morning chores (mostly) and then I do night chores. On the weekend I catch up with anything she let slip and I didn't immediately tackle at night.  

Carrie and Shane had goals, too.

Shane's was a fail. He didn't learn how to type. It would've been good for him, but I do think there's a limit to how much kids should be forced to do in a day.

Carrie is sort of healthier? I guess that's a pass. She had a dental emergency (crown) and has been back several times. It's all mostly fixed now. She had knee surgery, but after a recent follow-up the doctor gave her another cortisone shot. I feel like we made the right moves, but Carrie's knee is at where it's at. At least I can say it's a victory she got (and recovered from) her vaccine shots and booster.

Family Time!

I left Shane in good hands. 

And I even have photo proof of it. Ka started uploading pictures to WhatsApp.

I was even in a couple!

But the real star of the post is all the cousins.

They spent a ton of time together.

Rooms were trashed and trash baskets were worn.

Whether they played as a group or not, all of the kids just like being around each other!

Everyone split their time between Nana's and Ka's.

The fun moved fast, so if you didn't keep up you'd be left behind!

There were unicorn princess tea parties that Tenley asked Kathleen NOT to photograph (You can guess how that worked).

Ka's backyard is filled with all sorts of things for high-energy kids to do!

I don't know when these pictures were taken, but they could've been any day of the week. The weather was highly unseasonal.

Ka didn't limit the kids to the backyard, though.

She took them to three different creeks (and even brought other friends along, too!).

Shane had an epic tale of "falling in" one creek. He got his pants wet!

The cousins spent a ton of time together.....with occasional breaks. When Shane and Cole had sleepovers they'd stay up way late and tired kids can by cranky kids! And Shane's such an extrovert that around the cousins he's running on 150% his normal energy level and wearing everyone out! Nana spent one afternoon texting me that she'd make him exercise every time she caught him not using a Kleenex. 

Shane's missed the ability to visit everyone as much as he did during Virtual School.

He's fantastic with younger kids.....especially if they like to run while he roars!

While the kids (especially the boys) all love their electronics, Nana encouraged them to do lots of analog games, too. Here, they're playing Pictionary!

Cole likes arts and crafts type activities, too. He's good at them.

Shane's less interested, but he wants to be doing what everyone else is so he'll go with the flow!

Shane and Cole both like building things. 

They have mathematical minds, so maybe future engineers? Ka's one!

Nana and Pop took Shane and Cole with them to pick up Aunt Dot from the airport New Year's Eve. Dot had been visiting Patti and her side of the family in Texas. 

"There is something about a long car ride and a rest stop that moves Shane's bowels," Nana texted!

She said that she quizzed the boys on their states on the way home. "We pay 10 cents for each correct state just like we did when you and your siblings were kids. No inflation, lol."

Shane's geography could use some practice. He only earned $2.20.

Kathleen gave the girls haircuts while it was quiet.

She said she messed up a little on Tenley's bangs, but kid hair grows fast.

Which is a good thing if there's ever any oopsies. Nana had wanted to take Shane to a barber, but held off because he was a snot faucet. New Year's Day came and everywhere was closed! She and her friend Li gave it a go. 

I was just happy it's shorter. Carrie and I could always find a barber to fix things up once Shane got home if needed.

Nana and I talked and I asked to pick up Shane Sunday, Jan 2nd. Shane was eavesdropping, so I mentioned the possibility of picking him up earlier. Nana said he was incensed. He didn't see why he'd have to give up his "special cousin time" for anything! 

I'm glad Shane got to spend so much time with family. I wish we all lived closer together and we could do it more often. 

Date Days!

With Shane visiting family, it was going to be a fulltime honeymoon for Carrie and I, right?

Sorta.

We still had lots of animals to take care of!

Often, I'd wake up and find Carrie looking at fish. She and Shane are both fans (and I've managed to only feed them a handful of times in a year!).

Then Loki has his morning "patrol."

He used to refuse to go outside without someone with him. If you did trick him to go out, he'd sit and stare longingly at the door for companionship.

Loki's leveled up. There are some days he'll run up the stairs after doing his business, but most days he does a lap.

We can see his progress on the security cameras!

It wasn't something we explicitly taught so much as it evolved.

The first time Carrie noticed it she made sure to reward Lokes! It happened a few more times and now he knows the drill! He loves the chicken-sausage treats he gets for keeping us all safe.

Not that he works so hard when we're at the barn. Horses are scary! He normally parks in the barn or on the driveway and watches me from afar.

It's been dry, but we got lots of cold rain at the end of the week. If we'd gotten this level of rain during the summer we'd still have grass out in the fields!

If you thought that only pigs liked to roll in the mud, you were wrong. Lane put on his pony play war paint and looked like a new horse!

Have you ever bought white shoes and worried about them getting dirty? The same concept applies to horses.

Lane and Eddy are a perfect example of this. The mud actually made Eddy lighter.

Lane was curious why I was taking pictures, so he came up to say hi and show off his dirty side.

Carrie developed a splitting headache that continued off and on for the whole week. That meant I got to do barn chores for the week (She cooked a few meals to show her thanks!).

Wednesday was special, though. Lilly had a chiropractor tune up. 

And the vet brought her dog. Loki was excited!

However, Loki's new friend was more interested in looking for mice in the barn than in running in the yard. Loki would bark and run of and turn around to see he wasn't being followed.

 But back to the chiropractic tune up in session. 

Lilly's in good shape, so Carrie didn't think there'd be any big issues. 

I know how to crack backs on humans, but horses are a different beast.

And Lilly's mind is always on one thing: food. She NEVER stops looking and hoping!

We did do some fun activities. Monday, the wrestling couch, Brian, came over for dinner and cards. Tuesday, we rented Spider-Man: Far From Home, because I'd never seen it. Wednesday, we were thinking about going to see Spider-Man:No Way Home in theaters, but between Carrie's headaches and the seats being filled (and sometimes full!) we never did.

Other than that, we did a lot of our normal activities, but low key. When Carrie doesn't feel way, she likes to watch lots of TV. I took some breaks to blog, but there were at least several hours of being parked on the couch each day.

Which is where Carrie and her cats frequently fell asleep.

We got stuff done, but it was a slow week overall and that's fine. Once Shane gets home, school will start up and I'll have to shift back into work mode. I'll be much better rested after having all the time off from Winter Break.