Unlike me, Pinot knows not to read work emails right before bed.
Category: January 2024
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January 15
Today didn’t quite go as planned. Too much responsibility and not enough fun. But Christina’s room is clean, which is always a bit miraculous, and I did some knitting for the first time in probably two months. Back to reality tomorrow.
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January 14
We wrapped up Christina’s birthday party this morning with french toast and bacon. I think the girls finally fell asleep around 5am. Then Robin went to a movie with a friend. I did some sewing and all in all it was a pretty good day.
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January 13
Today’s a busy day. The whole family went geocaching with friends from church this morning and it was super fun. Christina is an excellent snoop. She found almost all of the caches within seconds almost every time. We’ve got one near our house. We’ll have to find it. Robin finished this bag and it is super, super cute! It was fun making it with her, and I love that she wasn’t on her phone for like an hour. Tonight Christina’s having her birthday party – a slumber party with five of her friends. I’m charging my noise-canceling headphones as we speak. I kind of love busy days.
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January 12
This is a self portrait I made in middle school. A clock for my punctuality, a smile because, well, I smiled a lot (extra super hyper is really more accurate), a pencil because I like to write, a light bulb for intelligence, and a peanut because… I’m a nut. Not much changes after you turn 14. You just have more bills.
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January 11
Robin and I started making this bag tonight. We got as far as cutting the fabric and sewing one of the straps. I think I might have to make one for myself too.
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January 10
My office hasn’t been this organized in months, maybe longer. I finally rehung photos that fell off the wall months ago and cleaned out my yarn stash. You can see my coffee table, craft tray and desk again. I’ve trimmed all the dead leaves off my plant. You can open my closet doors. I’ve finished editing my photo shoot from last month and organizing my website. I am ripping through my to-dos like confetti. I’m going to need some new to-dos.
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January 9
The kids had the day off, thanks to the storms coming through. The storm wasn’t too bad by us, but it did rain pretty hard. The rest of the day was pretty low-key. I need some new projects to work on.
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January 8
Christina earned a manicure for letting her nails grow without picking them and I figured, I didn’t pick my nails either, so…
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January 7
Robin got her first Shein delivery today, a sanctioned buy with her new debit card. The anticipation got her through her first cheer practice in weeks, and she wasn’t disappointed. The stuff she got is cute and she has 33 cents left to spend in her account. If there is a way to spend 33 cents, Robin will find it.
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January 6
Christmas is 95% over. One ornament is in triage, the bins need to be put away, and the furniture needs to be moved back and then that’s a wrap. Also today: fully finished the Lego building, started and finished a jigsaw puzzle from Mount St. Helens that we couldn’t remember ever doing before, and ate a delicious lemon poppyseed cake made by a friend at church for Christina’s birthday.
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January 5
I finally replaced my tire. Had to drive 20 minutes to the dealership just to talk to someone, but they squeezed me in without an appointment and got it done at no charge. I still think they need to either disable their phone lines altogether or learn how to return calls, but once I did finally talk to someone, the service was excellent. We also instituted family game night and played Uno Attack and Exploding Kittens. Christina has a vendetta for Billy in Exploding Kittens and targets him exclusively. And then he targets her exclusively and I quietly win the game. It’s a good system.
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January 4
Jupiter. This week has been a test of patience. I have been trying for almost a week to get my tire replaced, but no one will acknowledge my existence when I call the dealership. I have been leaving unanswered voicemails for days. Our heat broke down at the coldest point of the winter so far, resulting in indoor temperatures in the low 60s for days while we waited for a technician to come. The problem? A tripped circuit breaker. No charge. Walgreens filled two prescriptions I never asked for and don’t need, but never bothered filling the one I did ask for and do need, which I didn’t find out until arriving to pick it up. And then there is the joy of dealing with people who simply cannot accept their own humanity and instead blame all their shortcomings on me and my team at work. Looking for bright spots like Jupiter, here, though, I see a really important process overhaul at work that came almost entirely from my own head and is coming together even better than I imagined it (with many sincere thanks to the people who understood my vision and brought it to life). I see Exploding Kittens and a ten-minute phone call with Siggi wherein we did nothing but complain and it felt amazing. And now we have heat. Slowly this week is coming back together.
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January 3
Probably today’s highlight was playing Exploding Kittens with Christina. Now that we understand the rules, it’s even more entertaining than we thought it was. Also, not today, but I finally got around to making the second project in our 3-in-1 pirate Lego set. It may have involved obsessively staying up until 2am to finish it.
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January 2
This little girl got another year bigger today. Ten years ago she shot out of my body like a bullet and she has been a blast ever since. No regrets!
Year in Photos 