Tuesday, January 31, 2023

The Adventures of Plié and Popeye: Mischief Managed

When we traveled to Wisconsin for Christmas, our friends took care of Plié and Popeye. Pleeps and Pops received at least one visit a day, and some days they received two visits, because both friends/families wanted to spend time with our sweet babies. 

It seems, however, that our babies aren't quite as sweet when we're out of town as they are when we're at home...here are just a few of the photos our friends sent me during our absence.

They (likely working as a team) pulled out this festive
garland and destroyed a few of the felted wool balls.

They (Plié, since Popeye can't reach the counter) knocked
their food Tupperware from the counter onto the floor...

...and quickly learned that when it hits the ground,
at least some of the time the lid will come off.

This happened almost every day. (To be clear, Pleeps
and Pops had PLENTY to eat. This seemed like more of
an activity than an effort to commandeer more food.)

This was their treat container, made of SOLID plastic that
wouldn't crack or break when it hit the ground. I can only
imagine how long it took Popeye to shred it to pieces...
(We're pretty sure that while Plié  knocked the treats off the
counter, Popeye is the true culprit here. He LOVES treats,
and has more "stamina" than Plié does - she gets bored and
finds something else to do, while he will keep battling.)

Most days our stockings and stocking holders had been
knocked off the mantle and were either on the ground...

...or in the fireplace.


Plié in particular is incredibly smart - she's the brains behind their mischievous operations, and she knows both exactly what the rules are and how to get around them. An example? She knows she's not allowed to be on the counters, but she is allowed to be on the chairs...so as soon as the chairs go onto the counters for me to run the Roomba, she makes herself comfortable. 




Sometimes, however, Little Miss Mischief gets in a little over her head...




I saved her from this mishap as soon as I'd taken these photos. She had her head in the box for less than 20 seconds.

Plié may be made of mischief, but she has Tom wrapped around her little finger and so as long as he's around, she'll continue doing pretty much whatever she wants, whenever she wants.

Friday, January 27, 2023

High Five for Friday (1.27.23)

 

One

Last Thursday we celebrated Mandi's birthday with brunch at The Village Downtown. It had been ages since I'd been to this fun and quirky local establishment, and I was reminded when I walked through the door how perfect it is for reading, working, brunching, and/or lunching. The food - and seasonal cranberry mimosas - were delicious, and the company even better.


Two

Thursday was the day for good food...that afternoon I took Hallie to Smoosh for a school spirit night. That place certainly knows how to do sweet treats!


Three

On Saturday morning, Hallie and I got up at 5am (?!?!) so she could board the school bus headed to Region Choir auditions a couple of hours away. Because she and I needed to be back in College Station earlier than the bus would arrive home that evening, I followed the bus in my car and then chaperoned the choir kids until Hallie had finished her audition. 

Hallie was nervous going in, but felt afterwards like she had done a good job on one of the songs and an "OK" job on the other song. Later that night, her choir teacher messaged me to let me know that Hallie had made Region Choir! She'll go to Killeen on February 4th for a day of rehearsals followed by a concert that we'll all attend. 


Four

The GOOD: on Saturday evening, I joined a few of my fellow Tiger soccer moms for an "instrument decorating party" ahead of the Lads' first district game on Tuesday night. We've been getting increasingly louder, prouder, and rowdier (and more musical) since the start of the season, and we're excited to keep it up as the next stage of the season gets underway.

The BAD: later on Saturday evening, Plié and Popeye popped and then shredded all four of my boom sticks. 

Flat as pancakes thanks to lots
of little - but very sharp - claws.


The GOOD: thankfully, Plié and Popeye weren't able get their paws and claws on my light up tambourine.


The GOOD: the lads played their first district game on Tuesday night. The night before, a few of us moms decorated The Dungeon (the space they use as their locker room) and set out treats for them to enjoy before - and then another round for them to enjoy after - the game. It looked awesome, the Lads loved it all, and the Lads added a tally to their win column!






The BAD: Will sprained his ankle (thankfully it was much milder this time than last time) at practice on Saturday, so he didn't play at all on Tuesday night.

The GOOD: Will and his coach were "twinning" for the game, and Will expects to get back on the field tonight!

Oh look, he CAN smile!

Five

I've spent quite a bit of time this week working on a special project with special friends. I'm not going to go into detail except to say - because I think we all understand this feeling - that I was reminded that while it's wonderful to be invited to share in the joyful, celebratory moments of friends' lives, it is a true gift to be invited to share in the moments that are heart-wrenching and painful. 

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

2022 in Pictures

The paragraphs and statistics (from last week's post) are no doubt valuable, but as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are about 52,000 words worth of pictures - one picture for each week of the year - and a non-chronological glimpse back on 2022 through the lens of my camera.


















































































Ok, it's 80,000 words (80 pictures) - that's the best I can do. I hope 2022 was good to you and yours.