Weekly Update 12/24/21 -- Merry Christmas

 Firedrake drove all the way home from college all by herself.  We had booked her plane tickets but her classes and finals ended sooner than we anticipated and she wanted to get home and not wait as her roommates had all left already.  I was a nervous wreck all day waiting for her to arrive, but she managed it and is very proud of herself.  Her Dad and I are too although I know I grew a few more gray hairs worrying the entire day for her to arrive.

I threw out our large artificial Christmas tree last year because all the lights were starting to go out and every time I fixed one strand and then decorated the tree another strand would go out.  It drove me bonkers so I pitched it with the plan to buy a new one this year.  Well my plans have been put on hold due to the increase in cost of trees this year (I will wait until the prices come down). I am determined to get a 7 foot LED lite Christmas tree.  

So for this year I pulled out our very small table top tree and we only put up the kids Christmas ornaments.  I buy them a new ornament every year to put on the tree.  MarioFan ornament is a car (because he is learning to drive) and Firedrake got a driver license ornament (I never bought her a car one when she got her license). Both kiddos loved the ornaments and added it to the tree. They weren't  too upset about the smallish tree because it still had all their decorations on it.  The kids love looking back at past ornaments that they have been given for Christmas, brings back so many memories.

tree looks slanted here but it isn't lol

I am taking a week off blogging so I can enjoy the holidays with my family.  See you next year

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Weekly Wrap UP 12/17/21-- Van Gogh interactive exhibition

While my Mother was visiting over the Thanksgiving holiday we went to the Van Gogh interactive exhibit in town.  It was expensive (I thought it was overpriced to be honest).  As a family we have been fortunate to visit the Van Gogh museum while we lived in Europe.  He was one of the painters my kids loved when they were little.  

Luckily it was a pretty nice night to attend as it was held in a very large tent 

First room was filled with various quotes Van Gogh  had said about his paintings to his brother in his many letters

 

Second room was an exhibit called the waterfall of lights.  It was pretty to see all the various colors floating down the walls and floors of the room 

The last room held a 35 minutes interactive show  of Van Gogh paintings.  This was the best part of the show.  If was almost like watching the paintings be done on huge screens it filled up the walls and floors.  (Not somewhere to go if you can't handle flashing colors or lights)

Best part when the paintings changed and the screens would changed ever so slowly or the painting would move (like seeing the birds fly across the sky)

They ended with a starry night and watching the room change as the screen slowly added each piece of the picture.  

Of course after the show you were taken through the very expensive gift shop but there were a few more photo opportunities:)

Everyone thought it was good but way over priced.  However it was nice evening out and not to crowded.  

Weekly Update 12/10/21-- Weekend away and saying goodbye

 Since I was on my way to pick up my Mother to visit over the thanksgiving holiday, my husband and I decided to do a quick visit to Williamsburg!  My husband grew up not too far from there and attended college at William and Mary so it has always been home to him.  However we haven't been back to visited in several years so we thought we would go for a quick visit before heading to my Moms to bring her home over the holidays

Whenever we visit Williamsburg, we have to visit 3 restaurants that my Husband remembers from College and luckily are still in business.  According to my husband Pierces barbecue, the cheese shop and Sal's pizza are the holy trinity of cuisine from his college days.:)

After visiting Williamsburg we were to drive to my Mother place and she was going to drive back to our place however, we got the unfortunate news that my Uncle was very ill.  My mother flew out to Iowa to see him but had to leave her dog Jack behind.  So my husband and I drove to my sister's and pick up Jack and drove him to our house.  

Isn't Jack a cutie, he was so good in the car!

While on the way home it started to snow, yikes, this was mid November, we were not at all prepared for this.  Luckily it didn't really last long.

Once home, we got the news that my Uncle passed away.  I was only home for a day before I headed to Iowa to attend a funeral and pick up my mother and bring her home for thanksgiving.  

Rest In Peace Uncle Jerry, and say HELLO to my Dad.

Weekly Wrap UP 12/3/21-- family update and head set repair

 Finally got the school room painted and put back together again.  It looks very different and I miss the bright yellow sunflower walls that we did have.

Neutral wall color and I rearranged the space.  Got rid of a few desks that are no longer needed.

I had 7 book cases filled with book and I have weeded it down to just two, not bad.  I may still get rid of  a few more.  one book shelf is for supplies that I still need but eventually will get rid of.

My teachers bookcase is nearly empty just the stuff I need for MarioFan's senior year and a few things I still need to get rid of. 

I can't believe we have empty bookcases!  Not sure yet what we will do with them 

MarioFan decided to try to fix his third gamers headphones. These headphones never seem last!  MarioFan investigated how to fix them and decided to give it a try. 

First he watched this video:

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He watched a video on it and gathered up the materials. 

It seemed like a strange fix but since he did find several videos on this technique he figured he had nothing to lose but to try it. otherwise he has to buy yet another headset and at $50 a pop they really should be sturdier and last longer than 6 months.   

it called for superglue and baking soda applied in several layers and then wrapped with black tape.  After 24 hours they did feel sturdier.