I know I talked all about Halloween and touched on some of the updates/work we've been doing around our house in my last couple posts, but I haven't done a true update on our family since September.
So, what have we been up to?
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I'll start with Briana.
I have to say, I feel like we've gone from 0 to 100 when it has come to Briana (in a good way). She went from being a teen dealing with a pandemic quietly in her house, having very little contact with anyone, to becoming a young lady who is learning to drive, going to school every day (and getting great grades), volunteering a ton and interacting with a lot of different people.
It's a bit of whiplash for me, but I'm happy that she is happy.
Here is my lovely tenth grader...
This is the picture that will be going into the yearbook. She looks so grown up, doesn't she? Last year, she didn't get a school picture taken and didn't buy a yearbook, so it's nice to have a new school picture.
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Bri likes all of her teachers and likes all of her classes, but she is particularly enjoying culinary class. We had to purchase a coat, hat and apron for the course...
Back in Sept, Briana's class was learning about different foods from around the world. She volunteered to make and bring in potato latkes - which is under the umbrella of "Jewish foods." She said Chinese food was taken by someone else pretty quickly (so she couldn't get that one), and since half our family is Jewish, she thought making latkes would be perfect. Potato latkes originated from eastern European countries such as Austria, Poland and Russia.
Now, I have eaten plenty of latkes in my life, but I had never made them from scratch before. There was no doubt B was going to need help with everything, so she basically volunteered my services too - heh. It was a lot of work, but she and I made them on a Sunday afternoon, froze them, heated them back up Monday morning and she brought them to school. The few latkes we tried for ourselves were really tasty. Not bad for our first try. Luckily, her class is first session and she said they survived going to school well enough - definitely not as crispy as when pulling them right from the skillet or oven, but she said they were still good.
She had so much fun making them...
She has also been cooking at school - which she really enjoys.
They made different kinds of cookies and fudge the other day...
They also made french fries and butter earlier in the semester (she said both were really good, but the fries were a bit peppery for her)...
One day, she made carrot muffins with her group and some other groups made cinnamon muffins. She said the carrot muffins didn't turn out so great (they looked yummy though)...
She has decided to take the next culinary class in the culinary sequence next year. She's looking forward to it!
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Briana has also been volunteering for beta club a lot - she's trying to rack up those points.
Over Labor Day weekend, she decorated classroom doors at her school to promote school spirit...
I mentioned in my Halloween post that she volunteered for the "Haunted Hallways" event in October. Here she was heading into the school to work on it one day...
And the great news...
The event was a huge success.
Bri also volunteered at her former elementary school at their fall festival with her friend Meredith...
She has also shadowed a tour at the art museum one afternoon (and drove home afterward)...
And she worked a family night event at the museum too.
She has done a couple of other events as well.
So, beta is definitely keeping her quite busy.
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Bri's school had homecoming spirit week a couple of weeks ago, and Bri decided to dress up each day. There was character day (Vanellope von Schweetz), decades day (flapper girl), favorite holiday day and class color day (10th was purple)...
Here she is all dressed up with her friend Jackson for character day...
I was honestly surprised Bri wanted to participate in all of these "spirit days," but she was really into it and it was fun to watch her go to school all dressed up each day.
She also attended her first high school pep rally...
I snapped this pic from car line. I was facing the band side, the students were sitting on the other side of the field.
And unfortunately, the school-sponsored homecoming dance was only for juniors and seniors this year. There are just SO many kids that attend Bri's school and there is still a risk of Covid spread, so Bri's school limited the number of students who could attend the dance. And no students from other schools (boyfriends or girlfriends from other schools) could attend the dance either.
There were two different parent-sponsored dances that ended up being planned for the same weekend, so freshman and sophomores wouldn't miss out on having a dance for themselves, but Bri just wasn't interested in going to a parent-sponsored dance at a random venue.
Hopefully, she will attend her homecoming dance next year when she can go to the school to participate.
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I mentioned above that Bri continues to learn to drive...
She is confident yet cautious about it all. I think know I am more nervous about her being on the road than she is.
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Briana continues to look super cute heading off to school each day...
Right now, she is still choosing to mask at school. Covid spread is very low, but she still wants to be safe than sorry. I told her she can take the mask off whenever she feels comfortable.
(On a side note, I still struggle with Bri's school. She getting a good education and she likes her teachers, but I still think things were handled so badly last year and the beginning of this year, and it all has left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm trying. Bri seems quite happy there, so I'm going with it. I know I will never have the immense school spirit that a lot of other parents have for the school though. It just won't happen.)
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And the really big news in Bri's world - she got braces last week!!!
We are a little late to this experience (many of B's friends have them off already), but she finally decided she wanted to go for it. They are clear braces, so they are a bit difficult to see. Hopefully in about 15 months she will get them off. Fingers crossed!!
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Now quickly on to Doug.
He's really good. He's always busy with work. The company he works for is growing a lot - and that is really good. He has a couple trips on his calendar now for work - which hasn't happened in a long time.
Doug is the main person teaching Briana to drive. He's done an amazing job so far. He's quite calm with her in the car and talks her through each trip.
He's also done a lot of wiring in the basement the last several months - getting things the way he really wants them.
Finally, Doug had been wanting forever to order a Franklin Barbecue brisket and he finally did. It arrived last week. All I had to do was warm it up. I have to admit, it was freaking delicious! Worth every penny!! (And it lasted us for several days)...
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A quick update on Mei...
She is still overly grooming herself. I give up. The vet had me give her antihistamine meds for a couple of weeks and they did nothing. I could try to give her anti-anxiety meds next, but I'm just not ready to do that yet. She drives me crazy.
But, she is still spoiled as ever and seems happy enough - even though she has numerous bald spots...
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As for me, I thought I would be able to do a whole blog post by now on how I'm improving myself, focusing on me, etc. But I'm still working on things, and I'm still not ready to write that post yet...
I'm not sure I've ever mentioned this on the blog before, maybe I have, but I am currently in therapy/counseling. I have been in therapy for a couple of years now for my anxiety. It helped me get through the pandemic (I had to do teletherapy for a year). It does help immensely - but in no way am I "fixed" yet. And I don't think I ever will be. I am learning to live with the anxiety and depression I feel - but it will never go away completely. It's hard to accept that sometimes, but I am wired a certain way and there's nothing I can really do about it.
I'm really trying to learn to live in a "post-pandemic" world. I am starting to go out and see my friends again. Doug, Bri and I have been going to art exhibits and eating in restaurants again. Holidays are going back to "normal." It all feels strange, but it feels nice at the same time. I don't feel the same about a number of things from before the pandemic, but I am trying to learn and accept a new normal as best as I can.
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I am still cooking a lot for my family - which is something I enjoy.
I made my first attempt and recreating my grandmother's chicken soup - which is now my mom's chicken soup. I think my first batch turned out pretty dang good. I still need to tweak some things, but I am excited about it.
I also make a mean buffalo chicken casserole, roasted vegetables and Philly cheesesteak...
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When Briana updated her room, she didn't want to hang up her medals again. So, I looked online and found a cool book that allows medals to be stored and displayed. Here is the finished product...
I put a medal on a card in the book and then on the back of the card, I put the corresponding picture and date of when she received the medal. I cannot tell you how much my blog helps me keep track of all these things.
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And I got my Cov!d booster shot last weekend...
I had a rough couple of days after the vaccine, but I feel totally fine now. I am very glad I did it. I have the holidays coming up, and I will be doing all sorts of activities with all sorts of different people, so I wanted the extra protection...
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And as for all of us, Doug, Bri and I have been hanging out together a bit lately.
We went to the "Banksy" exhibit at Underground Atlanta (I plan to do a separate post on this)...
We also went to the Van Gogh Immersion Experience (I'll do a separate post on this too)...
And we have been venturing to restaurants again.
We tried a delicious Mexican restaurant called "No Mas" after our visit to Banksy...
It was fun, vibrant and delicious! I highly recommend!
We tried a hot chicken place called Hattie B's after our Van Gogh experience...
Doug's (chicken breast and waffles) and Bri's (chicken tenders) meals were delish. My chicken sandwich was tough as shoe leather. I was pretty disappointed. I would definitely go back and just not get the sandwich - everything else was really good.
We finally got to go back to our favorite Cuban restaurant Papi's back in September...
And while Bri was shadowing at the museum one afternoon, Doug and I had a lunch date and tried this delicious restaurant called "Largos" which offers "wine country cuisine." We were seriously the only customers in the restaurant because we ate at an "off" time. The food was honestly amazing and the atmosphere was so cool...
It feels good to be back (still cautiously) in the world again.
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So that's my update. Sorry for all the food-related pictures - LOL! My Banksy and Van Gogh posts are coming soon. I have a lot of things to look forward to during the holidays - which is so different than last year. So, I'll be back soon. Thanks for reading this really long post!
