The Rest Of January (Including CNY)

Our family had a number of things going on during the month of January. I already posted that it was Doug's birthday and my parents' 55th wedding anniversary. Briana also started back to school for winter quarter and has come home to visit twice since returning back (once for MLK weekend and once for CNY). It was also Mei's 10 year gotcha day anniversary.

 Now let me preface, despite having a number of happy moments in January, it was a ROUGH month for me. Between the political environment which has me crazy mad and frazzled, I have also been struggling health-wise with a couple of new and exciting health issues that have now entered my life. I have already made a trip to urgent care and the emergency room. Nothing I have is terminal, it just adds to the many chronic issues that I already deal with. And even though Briana comes home on the weekend once in a while, I miss her like crazy when she is it at school.

I'm trying to keep my chin up, but it is difficult. I do know things could be so much worse and I do count my blessings, but I can't keep comparing the severity or lack of severity (depends on how you look at it) of my problems against other people. It is hard living in my body sometimes and I am trying to remind myself that it is ok feel sad about it.

Now on to recapping the good stuff.

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, we brought Briana's things back to school and dropped off her car in early January. We brought her back home to spend a couple more nights at home. Then Sunday morning arrived and we took her to brunch at OK Cafe before dropping her off at school...

 

I ordered the fried chicken and it was seriously some of the best fried chicken I have ever had in my life. 5 stars!

Then that evening, I sent Briana a picture of what she was missing at home...

You can see I had undecorated my tree but hadn't put it away yet.

 

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Briana really wanted to come home to celebrate Doug's birthday, but she couldn't because of the snow. It was ok though, Doug and I celebrated his birthday quietly - just the two of us...

 

I decorated the kitchen...

 

I made him birthday cookies so we wouldn't have a big cake sitting around the house...

 I gave him gifts - I got him Legos and an album for his record player and Briana drew him a Looney Toons picture...

Then Doug and I went out for a delicious dinner...

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A few days later, Briana came home for MLK weekend and to join in the celebration dinner for my parents' 55th wedding anniversary. My family and my sister's family took my parents to a fancy steakhouse and the food was so good...

I'm so happy we were able to celebrate my parents' accomplishment properly this anniversary. Their 50th celebration dinner ended up never happening. Around their 50th anniversary, my mom got sick unfortunately. So, we simply decided to push a celebration dinner off for a few weeks until she felt better, but we had no way of knowing that the pandemic was lurking around the corner. 

 

While Bri was home MLK weekend, she had to go to Blick Art Supply to get some much needed art supplies for school...

 

Doug decided to drive Bri to and from school MLK weekend because the weather was looking wonky again (possible snow). He took B to lunch before taking her back to school (and she got back right before it started snowing at school)...

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Then it was Mei's 10 year gotcha anniversary on the 24th. I don't know what we would do without this furry bundle of love...

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In January, I also had a lovely dinner with my besties one evening...

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And then Briana came home for CNY (and I decorated the house)...

Before Bri came home, she stopped at the nearby shopping area and saw this...

SCAD also posted this on FB...

Here are my decorations...

 

My newest CNY addition...

And we went out to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant (which happened on Feb 1st, but I'm still including it here!)...

 

So that was January. I'm very grateful for the times I felt well enough to participate in "life stuff."

It is now February and this month is filled to the rim with all sorts of doctors appointments for me. 

Please say a prayer for me or send me some good karma because I am so worn out. I want to feel better and get my life back. I also have to figure out how to navigate living in this new authoritarian landscape that I did not ask (or vote) for. It's definitely a learning curve.

 

 Thanks for reading. I'll be back soon.

Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year!

Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year 2025! Year of the snake.

I am hoping that Briana will be able to come home this weekend to visit and we can celebrate the holiday together (it is looking promising).

Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!

Georgia Snow

Despite all the chaos that is going on in the nation right now, life hasn't stopped obviously. So, our family has still managed to have had some enjoyable moments in January.

 

There hasn't been much snow in Georgia the last few years, so when Georgians heard that we were getting snow a couple of weeks ago, we were all pretty excited. The only downside was the Briana had intentions of coming home the weekend of Doug's birthday (it was on a Monday and we were going out to celebrate on the Saturday before) and she couldn't because Georgia isn't equipped well to handle snowy roads. She had to stay put.

The last major snow at my house was in December of 2017, and Doug, Bri and I had weekend plans in Tennessee and managed to get out of Georgia before the hardcore snow hit. When we got back home, there were several inches of snow on the ground...

Then we got a small amount at one point in 2018...

I didn't even blog about snow in 2019 and then in 2020 (in Feb right before the pandemic), northern Georgia got some snow. Briana was at a sleepover birthday party that weekend and saw a nice amount of snow. Doug and I stopped at my parents' house while she was gone and they got a nice amount of snow at their house...

I am glad that Doug, Bri and I had traveled a short distance to see some snow, because at my house, it was just a trace.

I didn't blog about snow at all in 2021 and then in Jan of 2022, we got some snow but it melted quickly once it touched the ground...

And we had a weird little trace that happened in March of that year...

No snow in 2023 or 2024 - at least at my house.

Finally, in 2025 - it snowed once again!

I have to admit I was a bit miffed when I awoke very early on that Friday morning and there wasn't any snow on the ground. The radar showed snow in the atmosphere, but it was not reaching the ground. I was thinking it wasn't going to happen and my kid wasn't able to come home. I went back to bed after waiting a while and then when I officially got up about an hour and a half later, it was finally snowing...

Over in Briana's part of town, she got snow too...

She had fun hanging out with her friends that day...

 

 Someone made a fort on campus...

 

Mei was perfectly happy watching it all from indoors...

 

Fast forward about a week and a half, there is a threat of snow again, but south of us this time. Briana came home for the MLK weekend and luckily was able to get back to school on Tuesday before the snow hit Atlanta in the afternoon. We got nothing where I live. Some pics of her in the snow again...

It would be nice to see snow maybe one more time this winter season, but I have a feeling that is going to be it for us. I really hope we get some again next winter, but the weather patterns are so wacky nowadays, you just never know.

Difficult To Ignore

 

I know I said it several times -  I would try to ignore it. I've tried. It's difficult. So, so difficult.

This is what I posted on FB...

"It is so hard for me to shut my mind off and try to ignore what is happening in this nation - in this world. I am not wired to turn away from important things. Turning off the TV news in November was huge for me. I am often told I should go about my business and just live my life. It is so difficult. It feels wrong. It feels like I need to do something important, but I don't know what that is yet. As a person who struggles with anxiety (and chronic illness), I hate the feeling of not being in control of a situation (especially a bad one), so ingesting information is one way that makes me "feel" like I have some sense of control. Writing/voicing my thoughts is another. Right now, I feel like I am watching a national/global car crash in slow motion and I cannot stop it - even though I tried my best to do so. I am trying to find a balance of staying informed and yet remaining sane, but it is a huge struggle."

 

 I don't know how to post pictures of snow or my kitty or peppy stuff when I feel like it all seems so trivial in the scheme of things. Evil is running the show and I don't know how to counteract that right now.

 

And I feel very, very betrayed. Betrayal is the perfect word.

I hope I will be able to get back to my regular programming sometime soon. I still need time to process and figure some things out.

A Very Dark Day For Democracy

Half the country looks at today as a very dark day. It is a day that I hoped and prayed would never come again, but it is here.

The USA is inaugurating a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, slum lord, insurrectionist, racist, misogynist, dementia-ridden narcissist, pathological liar and grifter into the executive office today - for a freaking second time.

 

I'm scared. If you voted for this and are not scared, you will find out soon enough. FAFO is coming hard. The American oligarchy now has roots.

Dump plans to take so many rights away from anyone who isn't a Christian white male - well, except guns and oil. Oh - and now TikTok (which was such a disgusting political stunt). The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

So, I will mourn today. A nation that is now lost. I pray I can make it through the next 4 years of complete, utter insanity.

This is who I will think of and respect today - not Mango Mussolini...

It's a tough day for a lot of us. My heart is heavy...

Nothing life-altering or deeply negative better happen to my family during these next four years because this criminal was elected - especially when it comes to my naturalized Asian daughter. NOTHING. 

I will be stepping away from social media for a few days to try to compose myself. Be back to blogging soon.

My Parents' 55th Wedding Anniversary

My parents are celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary!

Wishing them lots of love today!!!

Happy Birthday Doug!

 

Happy Birthday to my best guy! He's been my rock for so many years and I am so blessed that is my soul mate and best friend.

I am one lucky lady!

(I believe he was turning 19 in this photo!)

xoxoxoxoxo

Getting Back To A More Normal Routine

This will actually be a short post because I have a lot of things to do around the house this weekend. So, I will do a longer post in a few days. This is a picture of Doug and Bri on the day we brought her back to school. We took her to lunch first.

 

Honestly, I am posting this because I really just want to get the January 6th post off the top of my blog. I look at it and it gives me a knot in my stomach. And knowing that January 20th is looming...it just isn't easy.

Doug, Bri and I are trying to get back to a more normal routine again. The holidays just really throw everything off. Briana is back at school now for winter quarter, Doug is back to work and I am in PT and trying to get myself back to walking normally again. I see this taking a long while.

It snowed yesterday. I think we got about two inches in my neck of the woods...

 

 We hadn't seen snow since 2022 and it didn't stick to the ground at all at that time. Briana was going to come home this weekend to celebrate Doug's birthday early, but she decided to stay put at SCAD. The Atlanta area just isn't great at navigating snow and ice, so it was best she stayed where she was. She will be coming home next weekend though for the MLK long weekend, so it will be nice to see her.

 So that is the scoop for now. I will post about Bri getting back to school and all about the snow really soon!

Never Forget January 6th

To me, this day ranks up there with Sept 11th. It was a day of domestic terrorism led by our narcissistic president who was bitter about losing an election. 

It makes me SICK to think this horrible person has been allowed to run our country again.

These next four years will be a complete and utter crap show.

I won't partake in this. I will live my life trying to ignore it (if I can). I didn't ask for this. I proudly and loudly say I would never have asked for this.

It is just repulsive and shameful to me.

NYE Recap And The New Year

I cannot believe we are 4 days into 2025 already. The last few days have been a bit of a blur.

Doug and I had a lovely NYE with Briana - we had a delicious dinner at the Melting Pot, viewed Beetlejuice 2 on Max (quite entertaining) and then watched Andy and Anderson get sloshed on CNN. I asked Briana if she wanted to hang with us on NYE and she definitely wanted to. She is a true homebody - she will get thrust back into college life again soon enough. I told her I will totally accept when she wants to hang out with us because I do know in time, she will choose her friends or a significant other over us (which is totally fine)!

This was our evening...

The last few days have been trying to put away the Christmas decorations (it has been slow going for me) and getting Briana packed up for school again. I also had a PT session thrown in.

On the 2nd, Doug watched the Notre Dame/UGA game (if you have followed me long enough, you know we are ND fans in this house - Doug's dad graduated from ND), and they won the Sugar Bowl. Doug was SO happy...

He is looking forward to the ND/Penn State game now.

Mei has been decompressing from the craziness of the holidays...

Bri got her hair trimmed before heading back to school...

I forgot to mention that in December, Briana and I witnessed a fox running in our backyard...

It freaked me out just a little!

Briana's winter quarter classes start on Monday. Yesterday was the first day students were allowed to return to school. B brought a lot of stuff home with her during Christmas break because she was home for seven weeks. So, Doug and I helped her bring most of her stuff back to SCAD today. Bri wants to have two more sleeps at home, so she will return to school officially on Sunday. We left her car at school because finding parking in the parking garage nearest to her dorm can be tricky (we drove two cars to SCAD today). Her dorm room is now ready and waiting for her on Sunday. SCAD winter quarter is almost here!

After successfully dropping all her stuff off, we did have a nice lunch at La Parrilla...

Unfortunately, Briana's old Apple Watch started dying recently, so on the way home from SCAD, we decided to stop at an Apple Store to get a new one for her. I like knowing she wears it while at school.

So, D and I will take Briana to lunch tomorrow and then drop her off at SCAD. She will have a 20 week stretch of school winter/spring quarters (with just a week of spring break in between). She will come home for spring break in March.

I'm going to miss her so much. I know she can come home for weekends, but I did get used to her being at home every day again. 

Also, I spent 90 percent of Bri's first quarter stuck in bed or in a recliner very focused on recovering from my surgery. So, this will be the first time I will be experiencing her being at school while my life is a bit more "normal." I wonder how it will all feel.

Unfortunately, I think I have been doing too much between putting decorations away, PT and getting Bri situated at school because my body is feeling all sorts of pain right now - back, legs, knees and heel. I am 14 weeks post op, but I guess I am still not ready to go at his pace yet. I have to slow down.

So that is the scoop for now.

I hope you are all having a good January so far. Be back soon!