Category: work

2025 in review

It was a year of highs and lows, but never have I been so ready for a year to be over.

(I’m not even going to touch politics or the state of our country but if you know me at all, you know which of the two that falls under.)

January

The year started by waking up on New Year’s Day to hear about a horrific attack just across the river in the French Quarter. Lovely.

A few days later, my friends took me to brunch to celebrate my 50th birthday a few days earlier. And the best part was Kiki came in and surprised me! I burst into tears when I saw her at the table. (In a good way.) It was such a fun day, even though I don’t remember the end of it.

And then, the day before my birthday, the fires in Altadena destroyed my brother’s house. He and my sister-in-law and niece lost everything. I spent my actual birthday mostly crying. We did have a yummy dinner at an Indian restaurant at least. I got to get as many books as I could carry from Barnes & Noble. Well, my back hurt that day so I couldn’t carry as many as usual. Boo.

My sister and I set up a GoFundMe for our brother and his family, and that at least restored a tiny bit of faith in humanity.

We took family pictures.

And then, on January 21, the most magical thing happened, something that brought everyone* in New Orleans immeasurable joy. It snowed. A lot.

* I mean, sure, probably there were some people who didn’t like it, but I don’t know who they are. Grinches, I suppose.

February

The boys were extras in a movie (that will be released in a few months.) I made a quilt for my brother and SIL. I got a new desk and new ink.

March

Mardi Gras. It was fine. I dressed as Sally O’Malley and kicked and stretched my way through the French Quarter. Went to Kiki’s for her 50th. George got mugged outside our house (no pics of that.)

April

I went on a cruise with a lovely friend and had a wonderful, relaxing time. Until George called me to tell me his father had passed away that morning. I’m grateful we had visited him a few days before. Meanwhile, I missed my uncle’s funeral which also happened while I was on the cruise.

I went to the orthopedist because my shoulder was still hurting, and he informed me I’d need surgery and gave me orders for an MRI. But first I’d need to do 6 weeks of physical therapy. Fun.

Ren turned 50 and there was a clown party! I got another tattoo.

May

The boys finished their junior year. One year left of high school?! I’m not ready for this. Start physical therapy. I don’t have many pictures from this month. Ziggy was cute. I made George a shirt. We ate Indian for Mother’s Day. I convinced Miles to donate blood.

June

Made another quilt. We went to Virginia for Emily’s graduation, and visited some colleges while we were there. Noticed a weird thing on my arm. Got it checked out.

July

Kiki and I meet up in London after my work thing. (At least I documented that already.)

Finally get MRI. Made another quilt, for a friend’s baby. Volunteered at the SPCA and played with kittens. Got weird thing removed from arm (fortuitously, was hidden within new tattoo.) Participated in first speed-puzzling competition. Realized I’m not as good at puzzling as I thought. Boys took senior pictures.

August

Take the boys to University of Alabama for a visit. I go to Portland for work. Doctor says I will need surgery on my shoulder. We schedule it. I buy lots of things. Katrina was 20 years ago.

September

Went to Virginia for a Pulp concert. Found out a favorite coworker died. (Enough with the deaths already!) A week before my surgery, I get bloodwork done and it comes back all weird. Platelets super low, weird! Other weird things! Surgery is pushed back a week and goes ahead when platelets return to normal. Mystery. I finish the month in excruciating pain (post-surgery). Shoulders hurt, yo! Kiki visits to help me recover. I spend a lot of time in my new power recliner.

PS I didn’t really get a robot arm. Don’t tell my mom.

October

Spend the month recovering, not working. Evan came for work so hung out with him. Couldn’t pull my own hair back. Couldn’t drive for most of the month. That sucked. Visited LSU.

November

Went back to work. Visited Tulane. College application crunch time! Soccer season started. The boys got their first suits, wore them to Homecoming. George and I celebrated 20 years of marriage! God, we’re old. I got an emerald ring and we had lunch at the place we went for our first date.

December

The boys turned 18. Went to LSU for another visit. I went to Edmonton for work. So much snow! College acceptances (and not) start rolling in. I saw one of my favorite movies on the big screen. Christmas was lovely.

2026, you can be chill. We don’t need the ups and downs of 2025, thanks. A less exciting year would be juuuuust fine.

(I realize I wrote real sentences for January but gave up after that. Seems appropriate.)

London, 2025

Better late than never, eh?

I just want to document the trip to London Kiki and I went on. Our first trip together I think since 2000 or so. Pre-blog!

I had a conference for work (the same one I went to last summer) and so the plan was for her to meet me afterwards and we would stay on for another several days.

The trip didn’t start out promisingly – I was supposed to arrive the day before the conference so I could get some sleep beforehand, but my flights were an unholy mess and I didn’t arrive until the morning of the conference, and I was a wreck. I’d had to get a hotel room in Miami for a few hours during the day just so I could get some sleep. A little. But otherwise I’d been awake for two and a half days on maybe 5 hours of sleep total. Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. But I made it through, got to see my coworkers, had a great conference.

Karen and I went into London together, then met Kiki at Paddington. We had lunch at a cute pub near the station. I had bangers and mash. Yum.

After lunch, Karen went to her hostel and Kiki and I found our airbnb, which was fantastic. It was across the street from Battersea Power Station, and even though it was south of the river, it was quite convenient and easy to get around from.

That evening, we got some groceries and stayed in, since Kiki was pretty tired.

Saturday

Took a walk to Camden. Went to see a play with Ewan McGregor (play was meh, but we breathed the same air as him so it was worth it.) Had dinner at a Michelin star restaurant. Forced Karen to come meet us one more time.

Sunday

Walked across the river, stopped by our old flat, met a friend for tea at Liberty. Bought some fabric. Bought some shoes because my feet were killing me.

Monday

Took boat to Greenwhich, explored the o2, took gondola across river. had lunch at Seven Dials Market (featuring the cheese conveyer belt), went to bookbinding store (thank you Kiki!)

Tuesday

Went to Kensington, walked a bunch, did pedal boats, got lunch at Harrod’s, ate at park, Kiki let me go back to book store (THANKS KIKI!) Dinner at Dishoom.

Wednesday (home)

Borough Market, ate a bunch. Walked around a bit, went to airport.

And some more pictures from various days (I can’t remember which, exactly. I know I could figure it out, but if I don’t finish this now, I never will.)

Hopefully it won’t be 20+ years before we do this again!

Junior year, over and out

Last day
First day

Just like that, junior year is over. They’ve gotten taller, their hair has gotten messier.

It was an eventful year for our family, and since I have neglected to post much, I’ll just go over it all now.

I was on sabbatical August through October, which was fun. I traveled a bunch. To Canada, Florida, Virginia, and Chicago. My friend had a baby. My mom and Larry moved to The Villages. I redid the upstairs bathroom. The boys turned 17 while I was in Turkey for work. Oliver got his driver’s license. We went to Florida for Christmas. In January my brother’s house burned down in the wildfires. I turned 50. Kiki came to visit. We took family pictures. It snowed here. A lot. The boys did some extras work on a movie. I went to Virginia for Kiki’s 50th. George got mugged. I went on a cruise. George’s dad died. I got some new tattoos. I learned I’m probably going to need shoulder surgery.

So while a lot of good things happened, a lot of terrible things happened as well. I am hopeful for the next year, even if the world is a dumpster fire. We are going to Virginia next week for Emily’s high school graduation and we’re going to visit some colleges. I am going to England for work in July and Kiki is meeting me there. It’ll be our first time there together in almost 25 years. Maybe Linus will get his driver’s license (no rush!) In September we’re seeing Pulp again. In October I’m going back to Singapore for work. Somewhere in there I’m likely going to have that shoulder surgery. The boys will apply to colleges. They’ll decide where to go.

And then the house will be empty. Okay, I’m done thinking about the next year!

Istanbul (not Constantinople)

Earlier this month I went to Istanbul for a work trip and I swore to myself I’d blog about it because it was such a memorable place.

When we weren’t working, we were walking around a lot. We ate delicious food. We petted cats. We shopped. We probably didn’t haggle as much as we should have.

We visited very old buildings. We drank tea and coffee and people tried hard to sell us rugs. We stayed in Europe but visited Asia.

Did I mention there were a lot of cats?

Not a clue. But no complaints!

The street where our coworking spot was located was full of lighting stores. It was really interesting. Lamps and neon and parts and bulbs and everything you could possibly need to provide light. That was every store. There was another street that was all power tools. Another that was shops selling screws and nails and nuts and bolts. I loved that.

It took a long, long time to get there and a long, long time to get home, but it was worth it.

Back to work! (Sabbatical recap)

I will not say the past three months flew by, because they didn’t. They passed at a reasonable speed. I feel like I’ve been away for a long time, and I’m actually ready to go back. Or, at least, I’m not sad to be going back. No matter how much one might love one’s job, not working is still infinitely better. Especially if you’re still getting paid.

(Background: we get 3 months off paid every five years. My last sabbatical was Dec 2018-March 2019.)

First, we went to Baton Rouge where I discovered how good I am at golf and we had dinner with my aunt.

Then, I took a short trip to Canada to hang out with friends. We went to Schitt’s Creek!

My flights were all forked up getting home, but I got to spend a night with Kiki in Virginia!

Which made me a bit late taking the boys’ 200th monthly pic, but we got there.

Then I spent some time getting the boys’ car from their grandparents. (They very generously gave it to them.) I had to transfer the title, get it towed to a mechanic, etc etc.) And now I don’t have to drive to school to pick them up every afternoon! Yay!

I got another tattoo.

I spent some time with Kiki in Virginia. We went to a little town called Sperryville and went on a foggy hike and ate at a fancy restaurant.

Then we went on a quick trip to Chicago to see Pulp (again.)

There was a hurricane threat, and then I went to Florida with my mom and stepdad. I drove a U-Haul. I got to experience The Villages as well as see their new house. And sit on a lot of sofas.

I organized and got rid of stuff and did other random things around the house.

I made things. I got an iPad so I could learn to draw. Still working on that, but there are lots of fun Procreate tutorials out there.

I took the boys to an LSU game for an early birthday present (courtesy of Grandee and Larry)

I saw Johnny Marr in concert with friends.

I snuggled my friend’s new baby.

The boys started in another vaccine trial. I saw friends. I went on walks. Ziggy was cute. I made ice cream. Got a heated jacket for soccer. I sent 200 postcards. I early voted.

I painted my bathroom.

So. I can comfortably say I packed my sabbatical with fun things, but I also didn’t stress about much and relaxed quite a lot. Now. Back to work!

Wherein I ramble about my trip to England

When I was given the opportunity to attend a work event in the UK, can you guess how long it took me to say yes? About half that. Even though my sabbatical was supposed to start on July 1. I pushed that baby back until the end of the month, and on July 8 hopped on a flight to London.

I arrived a day early so I wouldn’t have to attend the event all jet-lagged, and since it wasn’t in London, I decided to spend that first night in Oxford (much cheaper than London anyway. Look at me saving the company money!) As it turned out, my niece Emily was going to be in Oxford for a month for a program, so my plan was to hang out with her a bit before meeting up with my colleagues.

A friend picked me up from the airport (look at me saving the company money again) and we went and had lunch in Windsor. I’d never been! It was adorable, and we even got to see the Changing of the Guards from our table.

After lunch I headed to Oxford and Emily and I got some food and walked around a bit. I stayed in a super cute B&B (well, minus the B) and saw some of the sights. I was exhausted though, and had to allow myself a nap at 5:30pm so I could make it to sleep at a somewhat reasonable hour. It all worked out, I got a decent night’s sleep and then woke up, unsure what to do. I had to check out by 10:30 but couldn’t meet up with my coworkers until 4.

I realized I could store my luggage in London, so that’s what I did. I used this app called Stasher and paid about $8 to have a random hotel store my bags. Very handy. I took a bus through just ridiculously adorable countryside to get to a train station which took me to the city. Then I spent some time wandering around London. I’d be back at the end of the week, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to tick some things off my list so I’d have more time at the weekend.

So I went to Borough Market and had some lunch (if a cup of strawberries drowned with chocolate counts and I think it does) and then I went to the Peloton store to get a shirt for my class on Friday (sound familiar?) I rode a bunch of buses, which was great. I love buses.

HOWEVER. My knee was twinging weirdly in the morning, and by the afternoon I was almost in tears. I could barely walk. It didn’t help that I got on a bus going the wrong direction at one point and had to find the right stop. It was agony. I have no idea what was wrong with it. I’ve never had knee pain like it.

But I had to get to Luton, where we were staying, so I hobbled my ass to pick up my luggage, then hobbled my ass to a train station, nearly in tears, and managed to get to Luton. Bringing my bag up the stairs at the station was truly pathetic, but finally I got to the house and was able to meet up with my coworkers and ice my knee. That helped a bit.

We ordered in Nando’s (my first time!) and tried to watch the semifinals of the Euros, but we were stuffing our faces with chicken when the game ended so we missed all of the excitement.

The next day, we went and had breakfast at the most British cafe you can imagine and I was able to get a knee brace from Boots. Then we headed to the festival grounds for this event.

It’s the strangest thing, a conference disguised as a festival, but it was pretty great. It was for people in talent acquisition (which I am, as an operations manager for our Talent division, that’s what I do now) and there were a lot of interesting talks (in tents) and booths for vendors, and a ferris wheel, and food trucks, and portapotties, and really, it was very similar to the music festivals I’ve been to, only less music. And cleaner.

Afterwards, a few of us went to another coworker’s house for dinner (he’s on parental leave) and I was VERY excited to play with their baby but she was asleep, which was devastating, but we were fed well, and had a wonderful time hanging out. Got back to the house after midnight, like the party animals we are, then passed out.

Friday a few of us took the train into London for lunch, then we parted ways and it was time for phase 3 of my trip: Pam Takes London 2024.

I have dreamt of taking a solo trip to London for literally half my life. (I was going to do it for my 25th birthday, but I moved to New Orleans instead.) And it was everything I could have hoped for.

I checked into my very tiny airbnb, then headed to the Peloton studio for my first class. My knee was doing fine, but there was no way I was going to let that stop me anyway. Fortunately, I felt zero pain during the class (or after.) I won’t go into great detail about the Peloton classes I did, it really wasn’t that different from the New York classes. (But I will say that the showers in London were waaaay better.)

After class, I had dinner at a little French place in Covent Garden, then got gelato, then went back to the airbnb.

Saturday was my big day.

I woke up too early, no coffee shops were open yet, but once one did, I left to get some breakfast. Nothing else was open except one Waterstone’s, so I went there to browse. I still had time to kill so I went back to the airbnb and hung out until I could actually go somewhere.

And that somewhere was Liberty. Which you can read all about here.

My airbnb was very well situated, more than I would have imagined. It was close to the Russell Square underground station, and there were plenty of buses. So it was never a big deal to go back to drop things off or just rest for a bit.

After Liberty, since I wasn’t too far from Soho, I decided to wander aimlessly a bit. I ended up walking by some old sights from our stay in 1997.

Then I went in search of lunch. I couldn’t figure out where to go, so I decided to get the tube to High Street Kensington, where I grabbed a sandwich and pastry from a little cafe and walked down to Kensington Gardens to eat it.

After that, I decided to hop on a bus to go to a bookbinding supply shop that was near Victoria. After perusing and buying some goodies, I went to get on a bus to drop everything off at my room. I cursed my lack of directional sense because it took me forever to find the right bus. But eventually I did, and I dropped everything off while I tried to figure out what to do next.

It was mid-afternoon, so I decided to check out one of the (free!) museums in South Kensington. The V&A won out. After spending so much to go to museums in NYC, it was a nice change to be able to just walk in to this one without spending a dime.

I just wandered around, really, and looked at whatever caught my eye.

It wasn’t open for too long, so I then decided to go for a walk by our old flat. I was tempted to have a drink in the pub we used to go to (not that it’s the same or anything) but I was a weenie and just wanted to get some dinner. I really wanted this pizza/salad thing from Pizza Express, which is, like, everywhere. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal to get a table alone, but the location in Covent Garden can bite me because they just did not seem to want to seat me.

So I went to friggin Shake Shack instead. Oh well.

I was pretty tired after that, so I went back to the good ol’ airbnb.

Sunday morning was a set of two short Peloton classes, after which I met up with a friend. We had a truly Instagram-worthy lunch after doing a little shopping (I wanted to get a baby gift for a friend while I was in London.) Then we had a pint in a pub (so I could tell George I did) then I headed over to Buckingham Palace for the tour I’d booked months ago.

It was pretty cool, I guess. I was most excited about the garden tour. It was to take place after going through a bunch of rooms in the palace. (No pics allowed.) So I go outside for the tour, but decide to get some tea and cake before. After eating, I follow what I assume is the garden tour path, but I am unimpressed. Where are the famed English gardens?

Well, after this path shunted me unceremoniously onto a busy street, I decided that was the worst “garden tour” ever. Only YESTERDAY did I realize I missed the whole friggin thing. I saw zero signs directing me to this alleged garden tour, so the 15 extra pounds I paid for that were completely wasted. I’m so mad. Hmmph.

So. I had time to do things, so I took a bus to Piccadilly Circus to go to some shops (a giant Waterstones as well as Fortnum & Mason to pick up tea for a friend.) Got a few books and the tea, then got on a bus to go back to the airbnb.

Decided I’d try again for the pizza/salad, and this time, I was far more lucky. It was a lovely evening and the restaurant was empty (thanks to the Euro finals, everyone was at pubs instead) and I had my pizza/salad and some wine.

It was a lovely evening, and so I went back to my room to read and relax, and I could hear people yelling during the game, so I really didn’t have to watch it at all.

Monday morning I woke up early again, so I got coffee and sat in a little square with it, and just tried to really enjoy my last few moments in London. It was heavenly, and I really just did not want to leave. Sigh.

Went to airport, had bangers and mash, got on plane, made it home after a million hours of flying and no sleep.

I need to do that again.

Books, books, books

You may have noticed that I haven’t made any clothes in a while. (That’s a joke because I haven’t blogged about anything, much less sewing so how would you know?) Anyway, it’s partly because I have a new hobby I’m hyperfixated on…bookbinding!

I took it up last summer after being intrigued by it for years and years. (I designed a book right before the boys were born that was published by a local museum.) I enjoy all of it, from typesetting the words to making it into a physical book.

Earlier this year, a “club” was started at work for those who create, and I decided to make a book. There was an “art show” today (on Google Meet) and everyone showed what they made. There were paintings and music and fun sculptures and drawings (and a book.)

All of this to say, here’s my book! It’s a photo book documenting the past ten years of work travel since I’ve been at Automattic.

But this is the real fun part…a sped up video of the making of the book!

September recap

Well, that was a month.

Started off nicely with a work trip to Ireland that really deserves a post of its own. But let’s face it, I’ll never get to it if I don’t post about it now, so let me post about it now.

I arrived in Dublin around lunchtime on Saturday, and met up with my coworker Tiffany, who also arrived that day. Everyone else was getting there on Sunday. I went a day early so that I could meet up with Alicia, but for reasons, she was unexpectedly in Louisiana. So Tiffany and I met up with her husband Mat instead, and it was a fun night. Maybe too fun. I did not feel well the next day, let’s just put it that way.

The next day, we picked up the rest of the team and made our way to Kilranleigh Lodge, a house a bit over an hour outside of Dublin, the location of our meetup.

It was gorgeous, but somewhat rustic. The wifi wasn’t great, the heat wasn’t on yet so I was freezing the whole time, and it took a while to get anywhere, but the scenery made it worth it. And the dogs.

We spent one day in Dublin, and I did finally get to see Alicia, so that was fantastic. And then we went on a little Irish music pub crawl, which was very entertaining.

My trip home was not uneventful. Due to my flight being delayed, I missed my connection in DC so I got to see my sister and her family, and I got to stay with Kiki that night! Bonus!

And the other bonus I got from the trip:

After 3.5 years, it finally got me. Thankfully, it was mild, just like a cold, but I tested positive for over a week, so I only just got out of isolation. It was nice to get to hug the boys again!

So that’s about it, really. Ireland and Covid. What a September!

March recap

March was obviously kind of low-key, because I haven’t felt the need to post anything since the monthly picture.

Today they had their 15 year well visits, and I was excited to see how tall they were. I assumed Oliver and I were the same height, 5’10”.

I was right and wrong. We are the same height, but we are 5’9″.

This has shaken me to my core. I’m actually fine with getting older and shrinking. I am not okay with the idea that I was never 5’10”. So we’re going to go with shrinking. It’s fine.

And Miles and Linus are only half and a quarter inch behind Oliver, and they’re all within a pound in weight, which is wild. I don’t think they’ve ever been this similar since they were born! (I was going to look to see how long they were at birth, and apparently this is not documented anywhere. Not on this blog, not in my medical records, not in any emails. Nowhere. Huh.)

My sister to the rescue: Her nephews were 16.5, 17, and 17 inches long. Which means, yes, they are (relatively) closer in height and weight now than they were at birth. Wild.

And boy, is it true that they just stretch out like taffy at this age. In the past two years, Linus gained almost 9 inches in height but less than a pound in weight. Crazy.

So let’s see, what else happened in May?

Let’s see. Ziggy was cute. No change there.

Oliver and Linus got haircuts. Zzz.

I made a pretty skirt! Oh that’s nice. It’s the Upton skirt by Cashmerette, this floral embroidered mesh came from Joann’s, of all places. I used a pale pink satin for the underlayer. (Thank you Ren for the runway photo from the hotel hallway.)

The most exciting part of the month was going up to Natchitoches for my 30th high school reunion. (Yes, I graduated at the tender age of 7.)

It was so much fun. Really nice to reconnect with friends I haven’t seen in a while. Bittersweet, though, because this is when the boys would be getting their acceptance letters if they’d applied. I mean, obviously I’m glad they’re not leaving me, but it’s hard not to want the same experience I had, when it was so life-changingly wonderful. And the new dorms are very nice.

There was lots of soccer too. A tournament in Baton Rouge where Oliver got the only goal for their team all weekend. Then another game last weekend where Oliver got the only goal. This weekend is another tournament, but I guess you’ll have to wait for the next monthly update to hear about it!

I also made a stuffed bunny for a mom in the neighborhood who lost her baby daughter earlier this year. I felt honored that she trusted me with the task. It came out cute, I think. She was happy, which is the important thing.

The jasmine is blooming, which is the only good thing about spring. Well, and daylight savings time (ending? beginning? I can never remember.) but I need to get a new grill because the one we had fell apart.

I read a good book, I recommend it.

I got to have lunch with a work friend.

The boys ate a lot of saltines.

Stephanie chopped off her hair for St. Baldrick’s. Tragically, I forgot to wear my giant medal.

24 years after graduating from LSU with a friggin general studies degree, I paid off my student loans! Wheeee!

And yeah, that’s about it.

Oh, except starting on April 3, I will be on a new team at work for three months, working on Tumblr support. I’m very excited for the change of scenery!

January in review

How on earth is it still January? I feel like this has been the longest month ever.

Started out flying home from the Dominican Republic, and finally getting Ziggy back home. We missed him a lot. He…did not seem to miss us very much at all. I guess he had fun. He was hoarse from all the barking (or something, maybe a mild case of kennel cough, the vet said, he’s all better now in any case.)

“You could have left me there.”

Soccer started right back up, and then on Sunday the 8th, we took the boys to their very first Saints game ever. It was also the first time they’d ever been inside the Superdome. It was a not-great game, but we had fun anyway. Except we walked to the dome from the ferry and it was sprinkling so by the time we actually got to the game, we were all kind of wet and cold. No big deal.

Later that evening, I flew to Austin for a work meetup. Got in close to midnight, just a few minutes before my birthday!

Woke up the next morning, said hello to my colleagues, picked up a chocolate croissant from the Whole Foods down the road, worked, was surprised (sort of, I mean, I kind of demanded it) by a beautiful cake, had a nice lunch and later a nice dinner. This was my fourth work meetup on a birthday!

The rest of the week was more working, yummy food, bonding with coworkers, getting a spur-of-the-moment tattoo with Vanessa, bowling, puzzle assembling, scooter riding, renting a Tesla with Beckett and Karen, driving a Tesla, visiting our friend Elizabeth and finally meeting her daughter. I gave her a quilt I made her with bees and she seemed to like it.

IYKYK

Back home, more soccer, then another tattoo the next week (that I had originally scheduled for my birthday, but the had to push back a week because of the work trip) and more soccer and more soccer.

pink hydrangea

This past weekend was the end of school soccer, and the very last game was between the freshmen and sophomores. Under Miles’s coaching, the freshmen won! And I got some great pics of Coach Miles.

maybe my favorite picture ever.

I did some sewing. Made some shorts, bought more fabric I don’t need, but that’s okay. We had a bit of an issue with mice, but I think we resolved it. I don’t ever need to see tiny mouse bodies stuck in traps ever again.

Also I have someone cleaning the house again and it’s wonderful and it really is good for my stress levels because, let’s face it, it’s not exactly my forte.

I wrapped up the month by making a king cake yesterday. On to February!

Goings on and whatnot

I never want the monthly pic to be the only thing I post on my blog, but it looks like October went by without anything else, so I am going to make up for that now. Buckle in.

Just kidding, it hasn’t been that eventful.

Let’s see, the last thing I posted about was my new coat, which I have had several opportunities to wear. Which brings us to topic #1, my first work trip since January 2020. Automattic has gotten very very large since our last Grand Meetup in late 2019, so they decided to have smaller division meetups instead. So I spent last week with almost 500 of my colleagues in Denver.

It was so nice to see them, but quite bittersweet not to see my other coworkers and friends who I might never see in person again! Don’t really like to think about that.

A truly random assortment of pics:

Let’s see, what else? Oliver went to homecoming, his brothers did not.

I made a hoodie dress. It’s exquisitely cozy.

I got another tattoo! Well, actually, I got two more since I last posted about tattoos. I hadn’t get posted about the one I got in August. I had been wanting one of star jasmine, because I love it, but I don’t really know a tattoo artist in New Orleans whose style I really wanted. Until someone I know posted a picture of a tattoo she’d gotten by Mecca at Hell or High Water Tattoo, and I immediately booked an appointment.

The inspiration/tattoo:

And I loved it so much I went back for a magnolia.

And I love that so much I made an appointment for my birthday, but I won’t spoil what I’m getting.

Everyone is asking “are you doing a sleeve” and I am a dorky middle aged soccer mom, I’m just getting flowers I like without much of a plan.

Speaking of flowers, the camellias started blooming again.

Ziggy remains cute.

Halloween was fun because I got to give out candy for the first time ever. I made a shirt to wear.

Well, I guess that’s it? School soccer has started, but the first two games happened while I was in Denver, so I’m looking forward to seeing them play this weekend. Linus scored a goal at their first game!

2020, don’t let the door hit you on the way out

This is going to be a weird year-end recap. Let’s see.

January

I got to go to Lisbon! Thank god we planned our meetup for January, or my only trip (outside of Louisiana, anyway) in 2020 never would have happened. Also I turned 45 there. (My third birthday meetup since I started at Automattic.)

The boys finished up their season playing soccer for the school team, which ended in winning the championship! I adore this picture of Linus.

February

Kiki came to visit! Thank god. I’m so glad I got to see her this year at least once. We ate a lot and took a road trip to Alexandria and Natchitoches for Linus’s archery tournament.

Later in the month was Mardi Gras! Where we were probably all spreading COVID like crazy! I made a fun Mardi Gras dress. Maybe I’ll get to wear it again in 2022.

Also I got a new wardrobe from IKEA. I love it.

March

Well it started out okay. I had raised over $2000 for St. Baldrick’s and I was so ready for my hair chop scheduled for the end of the month. Yeah, that still hasn’t happened. I did get a haircut, but nothing too drastic. (You can still donate, you know!)

Friendship day at the beginning of March. Probably we were all spreading COVID like crazy here too.

I took two days off to spend with Linus and Miles, just like I’d done the year before. We ate lunch and escaped from rooms.

Two days before Oliver and I were supposed to have our day off, I was sitting at soccer practice waiting for the boys when I got a message from the school. It was going to be closed for the next two days because there was a possible connection to a COVID case. You know what happened next.

The rest of March was a lot of sewing, cooking, and watching movies.

Click here for the fun part of 2020