Wow - it's been over a month since I last wrote a post on my blog. It's definitely time for another update.
Life the last month has thrown our family a couple of curve balls. It's been a mix of good and not so good. Some things I can share with you now and some things I'll share at another time. Just know that Doug, Bri and I are fine.
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Let's start with some good stuff that's happened...
I left off with you all last time right before Briana had her winter break.
Instead of going somewhere for winter break in February, we decided just to staycation this year. We have had some awesome winter break vacations in the past though...
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Next year, we hope to go back to Disney World for winter break. That is the plan for now anyway unless another pandemic hits us! Ack! Our last visit was 2014 and it's time to head back!
That Monday of winter break, Briana got her bottom braces put on as well as her very back upper braces and everything was tightened. So, I am very glad she had the whole week to recover. She was pretty uncomfortable. There was lots of eating of very soft foods.
She finally felt well enough to head to the mall on Thursday of that week for a mother/daughter mall date...
See the lower left picture, that is Mei Mei very upset that I was sitting outside on our patio enjoying the weather. Whenever she is sad, she grabs a "baby." So a couple days later, I sat on the porch with her instead, so she wouldn't be so sad...
She is such a diva baby sweet furry gal. :)
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Briana returned back to school after winter break and we found out she was one of the top 40 students in her grade for GPA for the fall semester of her sophomore year. She ranked 37 out of 727 students. I was (am) so stinking proud of her. After not attending school in person the end of 8th grade and all of 9th grade, she went into the first semester of sophomore year very nervous and timid but came out like a boss! She has adjusted amazingly well in a school of close to 3000 kids. She is very resilient and I admire that about her so much.
Her accomplishment earned her a Varsity lunch at school and she has her name currently hanging in the school main hallway...
As I have mentioned before, Briana is now taking theater class as one of her electives (my shy, introverted Briana!) and she is loving it. Yesterday, she went on her very first high school field trip with her theater class to see a play to the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. She dressed super cute for the occasion...
You don't even know how happy I am so see my girl with normalcy in her life again. She finally felt comfortable taking her mask off at school (we haven't had any cases of covid in several weeks) and if the need arises to put it back on, she will with no hesitation. But, we are both happy she is mask free for now.
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March of course brings St. Patrick's Day.
I put a few decorations out and made corned beef and cabbage for the occasion...
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We've had some wacky weather here in Georgia. It felt colder in the beginning of March than toward the end of February. We even had some snow showers on March 12...
I woke up around 4 in the morning to this...
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I have eaten some really good meals out lately. It's nice being able to eat out again. Doug, Bri and I are still a bit selective about where we eat and at what time, but overall, we are starting to let our guards down.
Doug and I had another delicious meal at the new restaurant we discovered a few months ago. Bri was volunteering at the art museum, so we decided to go eat while she was working. We had a crab cake appetizer and a pulled pork appetizer (we couldn't choose so we got both!) and I had a delicious creamy gnocchi for my main course. It was pretty rich, so I am not sure I'd get it again - but I can't say it wasn't yummy because it really was...
Bri and I both had bulgogi (I had the pork and she had beef) - so good, Doug had a Korean chicken sandwich, and we got some kimchi (which was a bit too spicy for me and Bri!).
I had a girl's night out dinner with some of my besties at Huey Luey's a couple of weeks ago. I got Korean bbq tacos (they are so delish) and a pineapple margarita. Oh-my-gosh - the margarita was CRAZY good. Dangerously good if you get my drift. Like you can't really tell there's alcohol in it. It was difficult just ordering one!
And finally I had a delicious lunch with my high school bestie Julie at McAlister's Deli the other day. I didn't take pictures of my meal, but here are some go@gle images...
I love the horseradish beef and cheddar sandwich. They also serve a delicious club sandwich. Julie and I talked for hours - we had a lot of catching up to do!
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I finally watched the movie "Encanto" (Bri had already watched it a few times but watched with me again) and I loved it. It was really cute...
And we finally had our good friends over that we had not seen in almost two years because of the pandemic. It was so good to see Kira and her family again!
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And now for some of the not so happy stuff that has happened lately.
I found out last Saturday that my one of my junior high best friends passed away from cancer. She was only sick for 8 months. She was only a month younger than me. This is what I posted on FB...
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And of course the war in Ukr@ine weighs heavily on my mind every day...
I try not to think about it, but it is so difficult sometimes. I am sad for the Ukrainians who have lost their lives and their homes in a senseless war, angry at the people who put Put!n on a pedestal and who are still pushing pro-Russi@ talking points, scared for what this means for the U.S. and other European countries, overwhelmed by all the hatred in the world and tired because I am still processing and recuperating from a two year pandemic that I took very seriously.
And as I said before, there are a few other upsetting things going on right now that I am not at liberty to discuss. But as I said before, Doug, Bri and I are happy and healthy - we are good. Promise.
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It is getting close to April now and that means spring break is upon us soon. Doug and I had some plans that ended up having to be changed. Kind of a long story. But, Briana is definitely excited to have another break coming up.
Hopefully it won't take me another month to blog - but we will see what happens. Hope you are all doing well. Be back soon.
