Skip to main content

Staycation Recap

 

    Thanksgiving week staycation was a success! Even though we couldn't see family and there were limits due to the pandemic, it felt like a break from routine and like an actual vacation.

    I am so thankful to be a teacher. It is a job that gives me challenge, purpose, and opportunities for continued growth and connection. I am also grateful that the built-in breaks in the school calendar give me little pockets of stay at home parenting throughout the year. I am especially thankful that this week off coincided with what felt like an explosion of language development for Avi this week. Lots of new words like "up,"  "yes," "tita," (Aunt in tagalog for my friend who celebrated the holiday with us), "uh-oh" and "more." We also had a zoom get together of friends from my teacher graduate program, and it was so fun to reconnect with people and see how far we'd come since we all began teaching (eight years ago now!).

 



    Vacation highlights:



    -Avi's new words!

    -Lots of great food ranging from Thanksgiving classics like mashed potatoes, stuffing, and homemade bread to delicious takeout taco and sushi. 

    -Going hiking twice and on long nature walks. It's easy to forget how lucky we are to live in a place that has such incredible access to nature, and this week we took advantage of lots of local open spaces and trails.

    -Reading! I finished The Once and Future Witches, Refugee, Braiding Sweetgrass, and am in the middle of reading 168 House.

    -Seeing one of my best friends and celebrating the holiday together.

    -Making homemade playdough with Avi.

    -Daily trips to the park and very slow, toddler-led walks around the neighborhood with Avi. 

    -Lots of ideas! Time off from works always makes me feel creative and gives me lots of new ideas both personally and professionally.

    -Time with Joel playing Gloomhaven, wathing movies, and cooking together. 


    I hope everyone who celebrates had a very happy Thanksgiving and time with family! How was your holiday this strange year?

Labels:

Comments

  1. Grateful KaeNovember 30, 2020 at 5:16 AM

    Sounds like a wonderful week! My mom was a teacher and I LOVED having her around during breaks and especially during the summers! It was a bit of a rude awakening for me when I had kids and realized that I would have to work during the summer (I'm a nurse) :( Teaching is a tough, tough job and nothing is perfect (I know during the school year, it is very difficult to get days off besides those scheduled breaks!). But as a working parent goes, I think teaching is a pretty good gig! I'll always remember those special summers with my mom!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two November Experiments

  Avi as a strawberry for Halloween.     Since I'm feeling a bit more in a routine work and schedule wise, I've decided to try two experiments this month. I've been thinking about both of them for a while, and I think I have the bandwidth to try them out this month. Experiment #1: The Seven Minute Workout     I struggle to get into exercise routines. It's not my highest priority, but I always do feel more energetic on the days I exercise. I've decided to do the seven minute HIIT workout everyday in November to see how it feels. It definitely gets my heart rate up without feeling too hard, and it's easy to fit in right before I shower in the morning. Although I've done this workout intermittently,  I'm curious to see what it feels like to make this a daily habit.  Experiment #2: Time Block Planning at Work Attempt #1     I read Deep Work  by Cal Newport earlier this year, and I've also been listening to his podcast  recently. In both...
6 comments
Read more

What I Want to Remember (Avi at One Year)

     It's hard to keep up with our forever changing, on the move girl! Her first birthday was on Monday. I want to take a moment to capture what it's like to have a one-year-old, and what Avi is like at this age. In the midst of all that is uncertain in this moment, I want to hold on to some of these memories, especially because she changes so quickly!     I want to remember:    Avi's first word yesterday--Mama. ❤  how she loves to drum on everything and is constantly moving.  her love of all berries and the way she looks intently into your eyes when she signs "more."   the way she loves to take things out of containers (like drawers, boxes, cabinets etc.).  her love of the outdoors and fascination with pine cones, grass, and flowers.   her laugh and smile when she is on the swing.  the way she looks up to find airplanes and birds in the sky.   how much she loves to read, turn pages, and point to things...
4 comments
Read more

Some Favorite Reads of 2020

            Reading is a core part of my identity, and I'm glad that I was able to read a lot of great books this year. I also loved seeing reading through Avi's eyes as a way to make sense of the world and learn new words. All that being said, I thought I'd share a few favorites from this year:      My favorites:     * The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet. This book hooked me from the beginning. I'm a sucker for well-written books with multiples perspectives and timelines, and this was deserving of all the hype it got this year. I also gifted it to my mom for her birthday, and she devoured it too! It's the story of two identical twin sisters who go down two different paths in life and split directions when one of the sisters decides to pass for white and leaves her past behind. Bennet's other book The Mothers  is definitely on my to read list.      * The Ten Thousand Doors of January  by Alix E. Harrow. T...
4 comments
Read more