brain dump #1

Random recent thoughts and happenings…

 

Lil Momma is finishing out her 2024 recital/show/competition year with back to back weekends of recitals. First up, we had a Christmas Parade that her dance school walks in followed by a dance showcase the competition teams perform in. The parade was FRIGID; last year we were in hoodies and this year one of the moms was handing out hand warmers like they were candy. I couldn’t walk with the group because of my ankle, so I saw the parade for the first time (aka I hung with the dads). After, we had an hour or so to do hair and makeup and then lined up for their dance showcase which was themed around National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It was so fun and cute! Lil Momma was in a hip hop dance with songs themed around money (the Mr. made the mix!) which entered the story when Clark Griswold was talking about his bonus and getting a pool. Her jazz dance was to Mele Kalikimaka (Marry Christmas) and LM was front and center for a lot of it just smiling her face off.

 

This week, we are gearing up for a bunch of added rehearsals for her musical theater school’s holiday concerts on Saturday. LM is in both the 12pm and 3pm shows and has to go to choir and dance rehearsals because they are opening the shows with the opening number of Elf Jr. We are so ready to hibernate until 2025, but I’m sure these will be fun holiday moments once we get through the hectic rehearsals.

 

Note, once we get through the concerts next weekend, she will have had 21 performance-like events in 2024 – WOW!

Harold and Midge are doing well this almost-Winter!

 

I start PT-part-two on Friday to see if we can get the swelling in my ankle to go down and get it to move. I have to admit, I haven’t been great about wearing the brace, the orthopedist gave me. I think part of it is that the swelling is the same no matter what I do however, I will have to fess up until the truth when I see the PT ha ha!

We lost my aunt at the end of last week. It’s been a lot on my heart and also knowing that I’m still kind of deep in the paperwork muck from losing and now I have to navigate this again from the beginning, but with a house and everything that is a couple hours away. Seeing the bright, creative, funny, and wonderfully spiky woman my aunt was slowly have her light dimmed by dementia and cancer has been hard, and I have some lot of guilt around not having been present enough beyond phone conversations. But I also have these wonderful memories of childhood Christmases in Maine where she’d ask me about what I was reading, visits when LM was younger and just the fun of watching my aunt watch her, and even recent phone calls where I’d try to make her laugh and her husky voice would always make me remember family. It’s such a harsh and beautiful reminder that we’re only here for a minute and life is meant to be lived. 

Oh my stars, what a sad note to end a brain dump on! Instead, I’ll drop that I have been reading like a boss and just really enjoying powering through cozy mysteries and trying out new series and just truly feeling like a reader again after so many years where it didn’t always feel as organic to me. I’ll be sharing some reviews in a few days and I’m excited to see where my reading goes in the new year!