2024 Goals

 These are my 24 goals for 2024. I write goals so that I can keep the things I wish to accomplish in focus. I don't expect to complete everything on this list. However, I am a "check off the list" person, so I like to have lots of long-term goals. 

Self

1) Read 30 Books ~ I read 25 books last year and I already have 29 on my shelf for this year. I really need to stay out of the used book store...lol. 

2) Walk 800 Miles ~ I barely completed this goal last year. I do hope to maybe pass it this year, but we shall see. We have a sidewalk going in on the street right next to ours which will open our world a bit. 

3) Strength and Stretch Rotation ~ I have to keep this goal on the list so that I will do it. Outside of walking, I don't really care to do any exercise. I will keep it up, because there are so many benefits that I see in my daily life. 

4) Take a Continuing Education Class ~  I am thinking of taking a florist class or interior decorating class at the community college sometime this year. I would like to take the class to expand my knowledge and to expand my social groups. 

5) Learn a Little Bit of French ~ We are going to try Babble and see if I can learn some French, despite my significant learning difference in foreign languages. I would like to know a bit of French, because we are hoping to go to French Canada this year. 

6) Widen and Maintain my Friend Group ~ I made one really nice new friend last year. I need to make sure to maintain that new friendship. Also, I am thinking of other ways to expand my friendships. I may host a party or two this year. I also am thinking of what group or organization I might want to join to find more kindred spirits. 

7) Convert My Blog into Books ~ This is another goal from last year. I did not complete this one and I am still several years behind. Maybe this will be the year I'll catch up. 

Home

This house knows I am earning two paychecks now and it fully intends to take every penny ~ LOL! This year's overall goal is to stay out of debt, which we accomplished becoming debt free last year (except for our mortgage). 

8) Renovate the Second Bathroom ~ This was on the list last year to do the floors. We discovered that the entire bathroom was in need of a full gut. The damage and condition of the cabinets, bathtub and floors were just too bad. We have been on a waiting list for six months. Hopefully, our turn will be next month. We are next in line. 

9) Buy and Have a Dishwasher Installed ~ This may sound simple, but it is not. Our house was built in three stages and the 1970's part is a never ending disaster zone. Unfortunately, our kitchen is in that section of the house. I have been without a dishwasher for 4 years and we were going to continue without it because of all the extensive plumbing work we had done last year between the kitchen sink, one bathroom and 20 feet of pipes that had to be replaced outside. However, the pipes behind the dishwasher have given way; and on further inspection, we discovered that the plumbing and electricity were not up to code and that the plumbing was failing and the electricity was dangerous. BIG SURPRISE...NOT. So $2,500 later, I should have a working dishwasher and safer kitchen by next week. Yikes. Can you feel blessed and distraught at the same time?

10) Buy a New Washing Machine ~ Before the dishwasher fiasco, we were planning to replace our washer this month. It is truly on its last leg. I was threatening it last week with a wrench and a  screwdriver.  It decided to behave for a few more weeks. Seriously, it is leaking a bit, the door hates to close (fixed it a bit with the screwdriver) and you have to beg it to start every time. It sometimes takes five attempts before it starts a cycle. Oh, the cycles also sometime last an hour longer than it should. All that said, I hope it survives until March. 

11) Paint the Rest of the Basement ~ Elijah painted the laundry room section of the basement last month. I hope to get the rest of it painted crisp white this year. The improvement is amazing. 

12) Paint the Kitchen Cabinets ~ We are thinking of keeping them blue but a color that would complement the dining room. 

13) Paint the Dining Room ~ We are also hoping to paint the dining room this year. The brown color needs touch up and we are just tired of it. We are thinking of a very light blue. 

14) Paint Stairwell and Add Victorian Dust Corners ~ Yep, I know my house was built between 1955 and 1975. I just don't care. If I am going to live here, I am going to give it as many Victorian and Edwardian touches as I can. I will keep taking the house back to when quality counted and craftsmanship was revered. 

Global Citizen

15) Monthly Charity ~ I want to return to doing monthly charity instead of a whole bunch at Christmastime. This is more fitting to the way I want to give and will allow me to spend more on any given charity than trying to spend all of the money at once. 

16) Compost ~ I am signed up with the city compost program and started doing it a few months ago. We still are struggling to get the scraps delivered to the bins outside the library. It is less than a mile, but it isn't a habit yet. I hope to make it so this year. 

17) Reduce Plastic Bags ~ We made great gains last year in reducing plastic bags. My quandary is curbside pick up of groceries at Target and the many, many bread bags. I have reduced my Target curbside pick up to once a month, but I don't want to give it up completely. Also, what to do about the bread bags. I will have to keep thinking. 

Travel

18) Visit Another Country ~ We are getting pretty close to making reservations for a trip to Montreal and Quebec City. It is the most likely thing we are doing for Spring Break...but a few things need to fall into place first. 

19) Visit a New to us City or State ~ We don't have any plans right now for travel to a new state or city...but I like to keep them on my wish list. 

20) Visit a Different City or Place at Christmastime ~ I would love to go to Newport, Rhode Island for Christmas, but I am not sure that is in the cards for this year. I love to see how different places decorate and what fun events they have. I am sure we will find somewhere even if it is much closer to home. 

21) Explore, Explore, Explore ~ This one is just a reminder to take advantage of new experiences. Rebekah and I have an annual pass to the Biltmore this year. We hope to go a minimum of once each month. Also, there are just little wonderful things to see, hear and experience all the time. My motto is to do something fun, even when on a trip that is primarily for doctor appointments or auditions. 

Family

22) Do Another Breakout Room ~ This was a huge hit and I want to make sure we do it again. 

23) Go out to Dinner as a Family (monthly) ~ This is one of the best ways to get Elijah out and about with the family. We will be doing this on non-travel months. 

24) Try Some Activities with Arms Around ASD ~ This is an organization in our area that has classes, game nights, health screenings, massages for clients and caregivers and other support services for caregivers of people with autism. I want to see if any of the activities are a good fit for any members of our family.

Happy New Year everyone!

Blessings, Dawn

What a Wonderful October!

It was a very busy month, but we had a delightful October. Rebekah didn't have a single day off without some kind of out-of-the-home commitment (work, dance or school). We were a bit worried about squeezing in all of the celebrating that we generally do in October, but it all worked out. Rebekah had a lovely birthday. She chose a tart for her birthday "cake". We went out on the Blue Ridge Parkway and enjoyed the fall leaves. Rebekah also enjoyed a charcuterie board.

It was also my husband's birthday this month. We decorated the table and he had his traditional steak dinner with chocolate peanut butter cake. I must admit, I think his traditional birthday cake is my favorite each year. 

We squeezed in pumpkin carving during movie night. I was glad that Elijah decided to join in the fun. He has been a bit down lately...growing pains primarily. 

We (all but Elijah) went on the LaZoom haunted bus tour on Halloween night. It was fun, but a bit off color for our taste. We were glad to be out and about. There aren't tons of things to do as an adult for Halloween. We don't get trick or treaters in our neighborhood.

Rebekah wore a devil outfit to dance one day. She enjoyed getting to dress up. They also had spirit week at her work, but I never got any photos  of her very low key costumes. 

My nanny job is going great. I love it so much. My little guy is just a joy to work with. He is smart as can be and mostly easy going. He spent the entire month loving all things Halloween and fall. We had so much fun making leaf piles, jumping and kicking balls, taking long walks and generally drinking up the last of the warm weather. He loves to be read to, and we read at least a dozen books a day. I made him a ghost bowling set for Halloween day. He really preferred stacking them rather than knocking them down.  I also made him purple rice this month. He loves this activity so much, but we are struggling to keep the rice in the bucket. He understands the concept, but he loves to throw it and watch me sweep it up. I think it is time for a mini broom and dust pan for him. 

My blog going forward- I do intend to keep blogging, but I think it will remain a once a month catch-up post and I will be adding a preschool post each month. My little guy and I are getting ready to start some very gentle preschool curriculum. I will be drawing from Montessori, Charlotte Mason and the Before Five in a Row curricula. I am delighted I have found a way to continue teaching. This job really fell in my lap, and I am so grateful. 

Blessings, Dawn

Spring Show

 Rebekah had a lovely show to wrap up the school year.  Rebekah was the Lilac Fairy and danced an excerpt from Sleeping Beauty. She also performed Peasant Pas from Giselle. Lastly, she performed two original contemporary pieces which were choregraphed by her teachers. They performed two shows back to back on Saturday. 

This concludes her school year with the Pre Professional Program she has been in this year. It was a crazy year with tons of outside drama that influenced the year. The directors of the program ended up filing for divorce in the middle of the year. Much of the year was much more disorganized and fly by the seat of your pants then we are used to. However, Rebekah feels that it was not a wasted year. She feels that the male director is the best teacher she ever had and she did end up getting many, many hours of one on one training from him because her class was so small and there were multiple injuries that the other students experienced during the year (so they were often present in class but forced to sit out). She feels like she needed that intense training to help catch up her ballet skills. 

We do not know for sure what the plan is for next school year. We are unsure if this program will even survive to exist next year and if she would want to stay even if it did. The performance quality (stage design, organization back stage, choreography) was much poorer quality than she is used to.  We are looking at another local program that she will audition for in August. Until then, she leaves in two weeks for her first of three summer intensives. The first one is two weeks long and we hope will be a wonderful learning opportunity. 

Blessings, 

Dawn

Thumbalisa!

 Finally, Thumbalisa has been released on film to the internet. Rebekah's last character role was Thumbalisa at her former dance studio (ACDT). She enjoyed the role which was filmed both inside the studio and outside in a field at the local university. 

She found having the main character role to be exciting and she was in almost every dance, either dancing with the other characters or interacting with them is some way.

rehearsals

It was a fantastic show and we really enjoyed watching it (over and over again). LOL. Rebekah had so many experience over the years at ACDT.  She missed performing for a live audience, but is grateful to have such a cool film to show for her senior year.

Blessings, Dawn

A Quick Update

 We are 10 days into July already. Time just flies along. 

Rebekah just completed a three week online ballet intensive with the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. It was an emotional three weeks for her. It is a hard transition going from a contemporary dancer with some ballet to a ballet dancer with contemporary training. She has been struggling with lots of doubts about her capabilities and as to whether she'll be good enough to get into a ballet company in some capacity in the next year or two. 

I will say, she held her own and enjoyed many of her classes. She is so excited to start her next summer ballet intensive next week which will be in person with her new dance academy and the professional training program she has been accepted too.

Elijah is in the hiring process with Target. If all goes well and he successfully jumps through a few more hoops he has the job. He goes for his orientation on July 23rd and will most likely be put into the toy department. He is relieved, excited and anxious all at the same time. He handled the entire process on his own. We are very proud of him. His starting pay is $15 an hour which is more than we prepared him to make in the beginning. 

We had a nice fourth of July. We checked out some fireworks in a neighboring town. They were just as good as what our city usually produces and without the huge crowds. We much preferred them. We wrapped the holiday weekend up with an backyard campout complete with a fire pit and movie (Independence Day) under the stars.

We are looking forward to some quality family time this weekend.

Blessings, Dawn

The Best and Most Notable of June

All around, we really had a nice June with lots of exciting events. The month felt almost normal, as concerns COVID. The month went by in a blink of the eye, and now we are here on the last day of June. Rebekah is deep into an online ballet intensive with UNCSA, and Elijah applied for a job at Target and was called back for an online interview. Now we wait to see if he got the job. I am preparing for a yard sale in the coming weeks, and Tim is going to his brain injury program on a limited basis. He really wants it to return to normal, so that they can return to field trips. Dear Husband keeps keeping on at work. 

We enjoyed an evening at a rooftop eatery one night. The views of the city were lovely.

My husband and I enjoyed a lovely dinner out for our 23rd wedding anniversary.
These mocktails were so good.

 

I only got a picture of the three of us, but Tim, Elijah, my stepmother
and her boyfriend were there, too. We had so much fun on the haunted trolley ride
around our city.

Rebekah graduated! She is wearing the honor cords that she earned from
the National Honor Society of Dance Arts and from the North Carolina Home Education
for graduating with a cumma sum laude GPA. I am so proud of my girl.

Her graduation party was a great success.

Medieval sword play has returned every weekend. Tim and Elijah are delighted.

I turned 49! Wow, time just flies by.

We had a berry tart instead of birthday cake.

For my birthday, I got four books, including Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel (for my children's 

picture book collection). I also received hand towels, bath bombs, and comfortable sandals. 

In addition, my Mother paid for the some of the ceilings to be professionally painted, 

since painting them by myself was causing me a lot of pain.

Rebekah and I volunteered at the concessions stand, so that we could attend the summer dance

performance put on by Terpsicorps. It was stunning! I am so glad Rebekah gets to study with

their professional training program next school year.

My husband and I squeezed in a short dessert date downtown
with a slice of lovely berry torte and this gorgeous view.

My stepmother wanted to celebrate Elijah in some way while they were here, since were in lockdown during his graduation. They settled on going to Pack Tavern for dinner. It was fun to eat out! 

We are looking forward to July and all that it brings!

Blessings, Dawn

Coming Out of the Pandemic Thriving ...

I do realize that some of the news predicts that we may have a very rough fall/winter with COVID, but for now, I see great hope that the end is within sight. We are planning a vacation (not cross country or international, as we had hoped during Rebekah's senior year), but a vacation nonetheless! We are planning a graduation party and a few folks coming from out-of-state. It all feels so exciting and normal!

However, the pandemic was not all bad for us. We learned so much about ourselves. We grew even stronger as a family. 

Elijah had a perfect excuse to shelter in place and wait out the pandemic before looking for a job. He needed this year plus to rest, grow, mature, take a break from some of the negative forces/people in the outside world and to just be. He has turned into a much sweeter person with the pressures of life taken off his back. He is more focused on doing whatever he does do better and with less complaint because he has the margin to deal with it. We don't plan on making massive changes to his daily life just yet. We have added more cooking to his life, and he is still working with Grandma several days a week. His medieval sword play has returned, but it is more community-based instead of being run by one person. Elijah has stepped into one of the roles of running the program and is doing a fine job as a herald (referee) with some of the kid battles.

Rebekah kept the busiest schedule of all of us during the pandemic, but it was still less than her usual. She needed the break to have more time to think about what she truly wanted to do with her life. She was generally so laser focused on her goals and busy pursuing them that there was little time to evaluate if anything (even tiny things) had changed. She did realize that dance was the most important thing to her above all else. She basically new this, but thought that being a sign language interpreter was a close second. She has realized that it really isn't, especially when she realized how difficult and unwelcoming  the deaf community is to hearing people. So, going to college to be a sign language interpreter is on the back burner for now. She is only going to focus on contemporary ballet for now and just have a job to make ends meet. She can worry about college, careers and other future plans later.

Tim has also enjoyed his year plus at home. He starts back to his brain injury day program one day a week in the middle of this month after his siblings are fully vaccinated. He may increase his days there after a few weeks or try something new. He has realized that he may prefer doing something more purposeful with his time than going to a day program for entertainment and stress because of all the unique relationships. He had his physical yesterday and told the doctor that being home this year had been less stressful than his normal life. He felt that, overall, he had thrived during the pandemic because he has gotten back into making and painting models, become closer with his brother and feels less stress in his daily life. His doctor said that his experience was unusual, but she was very happy to hear it.  

As for me, I am so glad I concentrated so much on the house. I got a cleaning routine down that can be completed in about 25 minutes, not including meals. I have reduced our belongings a great deal and have much more understanding of what we would need/want to help us pass our days if we were stuck at home for a long time again. Let's just say, I was hanging on to lots of things for a rainy day and when that rainy year came, we didn't use hardly any of the things. I have even become cutthroat with books. If I read them and don't love them...they are gone. We are down to three well-stocked bookcases, and I am adding and subtracting books as I read them. I will keep our beautiful collection of children's books. I do intend to have young children in my life in the future, whether that be through grandchildren or providing childcare. I also got so much painting done and feel like I caught up a bit on home care.

So as we rejoin the world, I feel refreshed and ready to find our new normal. There are so many exciting things coming for Rebekah, and I do hope we find the perfect fits for Tim and Elijah. But I also see that they are content and growing just where they are. My little "garden" is growing strong. It is just some of my seedlings are meant to be mighty trees and most trees grow slowly and steadily. 

I pray you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Blessings, Dawn

One Year Later ...

If you had told me on March 13, 2020, what the next year would hold, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Yes, I was aware that there was a pandemic brewing, and I was actively stockpiling food and toilet paper along with the rest of America. But I never would have predicted that it would change our lives so much. I had never heard of Zoom anything. I never thought that my adult son's brain injury day program would be closed for most of a year or that my daughter would spend hours and hours taking dance classes on Zoom in our small 9 foot by 8.5 foot guest bedroom. She has very long legs and I can't tell you how often she kicks the walls...lol. That my sons' medieval sword play group would be cancelled for a year. It is held outside, so I thought it would be back in session quickly; but it still hasn't officially returned. (One parent started a small group outside last weekend with mandatory mask wearing at all times. We were there and my guys loved every minute of it.) Oh, and the physical separation from friends -- I so miss the sound of teenager laughter ringing through my home. However, it truly hasn't been all bad. Life is a journey and there are different chapters in it. This chapter has been quieter and centered around home.

We have learned so much from this experience. My family is resilient, more flexible than I thought, and strongly bonded. We have a pretty good time all on our own. We renewed our enjoyment of nature and hiking. We instituted family movie night on Fridays with takeout dinner most of those nights. It is anticipated all week and will probably continue even when the pandemic ends. We took up new hobbies and the adults read more books. We binge watched National Geographic shows, The Crown, any and all British murder mysteries and Call the Midwife. We got projects done, reduced our belongings dramatically (and are still working on this one) and started gardening. We adopted two cats, bringing our tiny clowder to THREE. We certainly didn't waste our time whining that life wasn't the way we had planned it would be. We adjusted and thrived. 

With the vaccines starting to roll out with some real speed, the world is starting to open back up. We are not ready to rush out into the streets just yet. We have worked way too hard to stay safe all this time to take unnecessary risks in the eleventh hour. But the end is in sight. My mother and stepmother got their vaccines this week. My husband has been fully vaccinated for more than a month. I am on the list for level 3 (because I am caregiver of a medically fragile adult), which is being processed now. Hopefully, I will have my shot in the next few weeks. Tim is level 4 and the rest of my crew is level 5. It is possible that we will all be vaccinated by the beginning of June. I can't wait!

This week, Tim and Elijah held a Zoom class at Tim's brain injury program. They taught everyone about medieval sword play and did lots of demonstrations. I was struck again by the realization that Elijah is a natural born teacher. He instantly figured out how to reach everyone through Zoom, answer their questions, explain everything on the appropriate level and make them feel included. It was a lovely thing to watch. I do hope in the coming years That he finds his place in the world. I know he will; it just is going to take lots of time, faith and a lot of pushing guidance.

Elijah has applied for a few jobs in the last two weeks. He is concentrating on high-end grocery stores right now (because he wants to work where masks are highly respected). He was rejected by a few, but one of his applications hasn't been kicked back yet. He is also working more for Grandma. She has lots of yard work for him to do. Lastly, he is starting to think about learning to drive. I am not sure he is there yet, but his mind is starting to think about it on a routine basis. I need to constantly remind myself that we do not have to follow the world's timeframe and expectations. I see so many sad stories about FASD young adults whose lives unravel into nightmares. I think so much of it happens because they and their families give in to the world's demands to grow up in a certain amount of time. Slow and steady, we will get him to adulthood and in one piece.

The bottom pictures are from a few months ago, but I don't think I ever posted them. This was a fun photo shoot in the River Arts District. There is a bit too much going on in the background, but it was an interesting location. 

I am going to reveal my daughter's first name today, since I need to start working on her transcript on my blog. I like to have their real names in those posts. Her name is Rebekah Anne.

Rebekah Anne is enjoying her college course (Art Appreciation). It is a bit more heavy in reading than she expected and she is a slow reader, but she is pulling an A in this online course. She is signing up for another online course this summer. She finishes her high school Sign Language on Tuesday, and her Latin and English IV courses are well on their way to completion.  

I can't believe my baby girl graduates at the end of May. What an incredible journey it has been. 

Blessings, Dawn