Sunday Night Review

Hey!  Happy 2015!

I had the loveliest New Year’s Eve and Day.  On New Year’s Eve, a bunch of our friends came over.  We ate delicious snacks, had a few drinks, and cozied up for an evening of Cards Against Humanity and Bananagrams and counting down to the start of the new year.  The next day, we had a lazy, rainy, stay-at-home-in-your-pajamas celebration, with burritos from Super Burrito and more Bananagrams.  Austin has been chilly lately, and our house has been really cold too.  So in the living room, we’ve had the fireplace and/or the space heater going, and we’ve dragged Courtney’s floor pillows into the room.  The vibe is very cozy and warm, a space to share with your favorite people (some of whom happen to be my housemates).

It’s been a wonderful, slow winter break.  I really needed it

My winter break ended abruptly on Friday, as I’ve had billable hours with students, lots of prep work, and a rocket launch on Saturday morning with some of the students at Acton Academy.  We drove far north to a cornfield outside of Austin to launch the rockets that our students built earlier this year.  Have you ever been to an model rocket launch?  It was so much fun—I was surprised at how much fun I had out in that muddy, chilly field.  It was so muddy that one of our students lost both his shoes in the mud, and a dad retrieved the launched rockets by strapping reusable grocery bags on his feet and clomping his way into the fields.  We were able to do eight launches, and it was just amazing to see how high those little rockets were able to go.  As they came back down to Earth, their little parachutes deployed, and they floated ever so gently into the mud.  I loved being able to share that experience with Paul and our students.

In other news, my friend Emily fixed my hat!  I’m so excited to be wearing it again.

And even though I’m sad that winter break is ending, I’m excited about some good stuff coming up soon.  I’m working on a post about perfectionism for Austin Writing Shop, and it’s got me thinking about perfectionism versus the pursuit of excellence.  I want to try my hand at making homemade tortillas.  I’ve got paid work this week, which my wallet is happy about.  Life is good.

Have a great week, friends!