January 2024

Post xmas vacation doings

We spent most of New Year’s Day undecorating from xmas and cleaning up the paper-shredder confetti avalanche — necessary, but lots less fun than putting it all up in the first place! The kids and I went out for breakfast on Petra's day, then spent some time in Barnes & Noble and Guitar Center. Annika spent an afternoon in the mall with friends; the kids and I went skating at Downtown Ice with Ami and Manir & Amira, and all of us got a little obsessed with Duolingo — Annika to shore up her Spanish class scores, R. and Lukas and I to get prepared for our trip to France this summer. 

Back in school again
—Castillero Colloquium: Lukas was chosen to present at Castillero Colloquium for both history and ELA. It’s a new thing they’re doing to showcase academic achievers for their work; Lukas was picked for his perfect score on the history test (by his favorite teacher, Mr. Wellington), and for the creativity of his original writing (by ELA Teacher Davis). 
—Portland ahoy: We spent an evening at the Patels’ for dinner and a Portland trip planning sesh at our house; we’re going on the February break.
—Teen stuff: Annika went to the mall to see the new Mean Girls musical with friends; also, she passed the written test at the DMV for her learner’s permit, so it’s about time for her to do the driving lessons!
—Burns Night: A highlight of the winter social season, this year’s Burns Night at the Grants’ was a great time. The Patels were invited, so we had some non-Scottish compatriots present, and Manir and I did well on the trivia contest — we won some Scottish candy bars! 

My 50th bday
We had a much more low-key situation for my 50th — I didn’t have it in me to plan another party, plus we’re going to New York and France this year, so those trips feel like celebration enough! We did have brunch with the Patels at Lazy Dog on the actual day, and R. spent the bulk of the day making his spaghetti sauce and polpette d’ovre (essentially breadcrumb meatballs, my very favorite thing he makes) while we FaceTimed with Kent & Kylie. I made out like a bandit, gift-wise — among other things, I got first editions of Rebecca (1938) and A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (1997), so I guess you could say I’m the luckiest gal around. :-)