In Between

Hey friends!  I'm sitting here in my super-cozy home office eating Nerds Gummy Clusters (random, but they sounded good when I was checking out at the store) and blogging.  I got all my work boxes stored and hung up the final bedlam game pic this morning.  Love how this space is shaping up!

Okay, so I've seen this a couple times on Facebook lately - they keep showing me NYC Christmas pics and videos, including this Louis Vuitton building!  I thought it was probably AI at first, but other commenters asked and people assured them it was real.  I then assumed it was an art installation they added this year... and when I was showing it to Rachael, Triston pulled up a pic of this on his phone that he took during the tour on our January trip! lol   He had the window seat, and I for sure missed this part - very cool building, though!!

This space from Christmas to New Years is always a little odd - in between two big holidays, preparing for the end of one year and beginning of another, and in between two jobs in my case this year.  I feel this deeply, so I appreciated Elyse's post:  "I just wanted you to know you aren't alone if this week typically brings up feelings you can't quite explain... I'm so grateful to be here, and I'm also confused as to what tomorrow means for me pretty much every single day of the year. ❤" 

I spent most of Friday and Saturday helping Mom (and Dad) take down Christmas decor.  We had a catastrophe of sorts while I was trying to pry off the J (still sitting right there, held firmly by nano tape)... a line of loose bricks fell down, hitting their countertop below and shattering to the floor... unexpected and very jarring!  Thankfully, Mom had just stepped out of the room.

It also shattered their stovetop, which then cut Mom's hand... sadness!

We will rebuild. lol  (And her hand is fine - I was definitely more concerned with it than she was.)

Mom and I were very productive and made loads of progress through Friday and Saturday.  Dad was at work off and on, but he brought us dinner both days and helped with garland takedown, putting up high/heavy boxes, and pulling nails out of the woodwork!

This is very much on my heart as we step toward another new year... hard is not always worth the effort.

I still have ambitions and dreams, but watching some of them die a slow and painful death makes it decidedly harder to keep pursuing the others.  On a lighter note, I'm also a classic Enneagram 9, so I'm psyched about working from home and strongly relate with Melanie's post here! lol

Rach wanted a cute pic of K drinking from her bearista mug, but we got this extra-blinky gif that brings me lots of joy instead! lol  Her whole personality and sense of humor are so fun to me, and she's one of my favorite people on the planet!

Jesus is Lord. ❤

Mom and Dad's Christmas house as a Thomas Kinkade painting (courtesy of ChatGPT). ❤ I love it - the 2025 decor was awesome, and their backyard view is naturally picturesque... the only change from the real pic I'm noticing is lighting the candles to make it feel extra warm.

Thomas Kinkade-style Wilson tree - so bright and lovely this year! ❤

And a Norman Rockwell-style painting of Tate showing me their gingerbread village - I love this one, too! ❤

Mmkay, I'm very much enjoying this side of AI, but trying to rein it in. lol

Hmm, still working on this one. lol

A fun fact I learned in our fam Christmas Trivia game is that Santa Claus was typically dressed in green before Coca-Cola popularized the images of Santa dressed in red and white!  Well played, Coke marketing team!!  Could not care less about the soft drink, but I love their polar bear ads and color scheme and have bought lots of merch at Coca-Cola World... and believe it or not, the longer version of this random '90s commercial jingle below was one of my Top 10 most played songs on iTunes for several years. lol  It just brings me real joy!  (I'd invite you to sing along, but I'd be kinda stunned if anyone else knew the words. lol)

One more quick post ahead.  Happy Sunday!

❤ ❤ ❤