January Wrap-Up

January ended well. Kara made the Varsity lacrosse team and Jack is doing distance for track again. They are both very busy with after school practices. It is so incredibly nice having Jack drive and not having to go to the school every day for pickup.

We bought a new couch and a new tv. Between that and the cruise, January was a very expensive month. We are going to have to live lean for a while to make up for it. We bought our last couch right before Luke was born, so 11 years ago. It held up relatively well, but had some weak spots, separating cushions, and was making creaking noises; I was ready for a new one. We found one we liked, but it was way over budget. Then, I found it online for a much better price and the store price-matched. We like to support brick-and-mortar stores and are willing to pay a bit more, but this was not an insignificant difference. Anyway, we have a new, non-creaky couch to enjoy.

Our old couch, looking good in its final picture from our living room. We gave it away on freecycle, where another family was thrilled to get it (even in its much used condition). 

New couch and rug. It is more cream colored than it looks in this picture, but I don't want to wait until morning to take a picture with better lighting.

We probably could have got some more time out of our tv, but the one we have in our bedroom has been black-and-white for close to a year now. We don't use it very often, but it is nice for occasional use. And, our main tv has some minor image issues. Plus, there is a lot of speculation that electronics are going to increase in price with the new tariffs. So, we bought a new tv and will move the old tv to our bedroom and get rid of the black-and-white.

Luke had two baseball tournaments this month. His team has gone 2-5, so not a great start, but they moved up a division, so it is not unexpected. At school, he got an award for exhibiting the Cambridge trait of "Innovative". Last quarter he got the "Responsible" award, so we were not expecting that he would get anything this quarter (each class has three awards for 3 quarters). And, he was the only kid in his class to get straight As. All the kids did very well the first semester. 

Luke and his teacher, Ms. Carter-Mello.

Kara spent the day at Universal yesterday (Saturday) with two friends. Anna and I went up around 4, rode a few rides, had dinner at Burger King in City Walk, and then met up with Kara and friends to watch the parade (then drive people home). It was incredibly crowded. People were lining up for the parade 90 minutes before it started! It was Mardi Gras opening day and a T-Pain concert, so maybe that is why? We are used to lighter crowds in January.

We had fun sitting up here and people watching.

I mentioned in my first blog of the month that we went to Fort Christmas and to lunch at Steak-n-Shake. I was going to write in more detail later, but obviously that didn't happen. It was a really fun day and a great way to spend the last day of winter break. We played tennis, looked around the houses and fort, then had a nice lunch (and milkshakes) at Steak-n-Shake.

I'm sure I am leaving something out, but that is a good enough summary. Thomas and I got new glasses. We had some really cold days, which was fun. There was lots of school and work and Thomas and I enjoying what are likely our last weeks of telework.

One random picture to end. When we took down our tree, I snapped this picture of my snowmen ornament collection. I love them.