January 2024

January 1, 2024 - We spent the day cleaning the house.  Cooking Chinese food is always fun, but there is a lot of extra clean up in the kitchen due to all the frying.  There was a fine layer of grease over everything.  I got it all cleaned up though.  Steve spent the day doing odds and ends jobs.  Later in the day I got to Zoom with my mom and Kathy.  It was the perfect way to start the day.  

January 2 - I took all the Christmas decorations down.  In between packing things up, Avian and I tried to get on the new FAFSA site so we could fill out the forms.  There was a "waiting room" to help not overload the system.  I left it on while I finished putting Christmas away.  Two hours later Avian and I gave up and went to Kohls to waste some time.  When we got back to the house we were finally able to get on the site and finish up Steve's portion of the form.  

I also got to go on a walk and talk with Jeremy.  We walked around the mall and had a great time chatting.

Back at home we fixed soup for a sick Nick.  he still wasn't feeling much better.  Poor kid!

January 6 - Steve and I went to the church to help clean.  There were a lot of people and we got everything done in record time.    Back at home Steve asked me to make some mittens for him out of one of his old, wool Scout shirts.  They turned out pretty cool.  

Mittens out of an old Scout shirt.  We used the cuffs from the shirt to create the cuffs of the mittens.  They are also lined with fleece and really warm.  

Avian was at work all day and Nick packed up his room a little bit in preparation for his move.  Jeremy spent the day at an anime convention.  It was the perfect day for indoor activities as it poured rain all day long.

January 7 - Steve and I had just gone to bed when the doorbell rang at 11:45 p.m.  It was one of our neighbors who needed us to call 911 for him.  He had a fight with his girlfriend and ran out of the house without his phone.  His shirt was ripped and there was a bite mark on his face.  Steve stayed with him until the cops came.  Steve woke up the next morning feeling sick from being outside in the cold for so long.  Poor guy.  

January 8 - Avian is stressed about work because work is piling on the hours and having Avian close all by themself on their first week there.  They are also stressed out about not getting their homework done.  

January 9 - we had a remote learning day because there was a huge wind and rain storm headed our way which had caused a lot of problems on its way here. During all the down time, Avian decided they needed to resign from Lowes so they could concentrate on their school work and art portfolio.  The weight that came off when they officially resigned was visible.  They are back to their happy self again.  Avian had an appointment with the chiropractor later in the day and they wanted me to drive since the rain was really coming down.  On the way we saw how high the river had gotten.  At one point on the freeway, the river was almost coming onto the freeway.  On the way home we drove past UNCC and saw one of the popular walking bridges halfway under water.  The nearby soccer park, which was next to a wetland walkway, was under 5 feet of water.  It was a wild day!

January 10 - Nick is getting really antsy about moving out and having his own space.  Nick was using my blender to make a thick smoothie and used my nice blender.  Let's just say the blender made sounds it should not be making and there were heated words about showing respect for the things in the kitchen and using them appropriately.  The poor kid just wants his own space.  

January 15 - Avian wanted to get out of the house and go to Kohl's.  It is always fun to go there after the holidays and see what is on clearance.  We hit the jackpot this time.  Avian found a pair of roller skates in the shoes clearance section. They were ridiculously marked down and the right size.  YES!!!

January 19 - Steve is passing another kidney stone. This one was really tough.  

Later that night we had a Relief Society board dinner at our house.  All the presidency and board were there and we just had a good time chatting and planning and getting to know each other.  Blayke, Melissa and I knew we were being released, but we already had this night planned so we rolled with it.  Halfway through the dinner Steve called me out and told me that the stake secretary had called to schedule an appointment for us with the Stake President on Sunday morning.  Oh Boy!!

January 20 was too cold to walk so Sandra and I went to lunch instead.  The Cheesecake Factory had just opened up in Birkdale and we went to check it out.   It was nice and not as big as the one in South Charlotte.  I always love spending time with Sandra and just talking.

January 21 Steve and I got to church early so I could meet with a member of the stake before church.  They extended a calling to serve as the Stake Relief Society secretary.  I would get to work with an amazing group of ladies and get to know everyone in the stake.  It would be a good challenge.  During sacrament meeting I was released from the ward RS presidency and had a few minutes without a calling before being put in my new calling.  

Back at home, the kidney stone was still giving Steve a rough time.  Nick was packing up for a one-week training in Richmond.  He was excited to get to learn some new things.  

January 23 Steve went to see the urologist and found out that he was in the middle of passing a 7mm stone and that there is an 11 mm stone waiting in his left kidney.  That one will need to have some lithotripsy done.  

January 26 I needed to go to Mooresville to pick up some fabric for table cloths.  Our librarian is doing some "book tastings" for the student to sample new genres they may not have read before and she needed some red checked tablecloths to complete the cafe feel.  Steve went with me and we had an impromptu date night along the way.  There was a Mexican restaurant we have wanted to try for a bit and we finally had time to do it.  La Unica was really good and we will be going there again.  

The last week in January was especially nuts with the weather.  We started the week with 32 as a high and ended the week at 70.  WHAT!?!?!?

Just horsing around at work.  I love my coworkers. 

Avian's latest project for the portfolio.  This is done with oils.  

I had to take a picture of all the cats Avian had drawn while waiting for me after school last year before I erased them.  Time for a new project at work.  

January 27 - Steve had a creative streak and spent the day in the garage making himself a new clock for his office.  It turned out really cool.  

That night Nick wanted to have a pizza and movie night.  It was raining really hard outside and was a perfect night for a movie.  We watched Cars and had pizza and cream soda.  It was funny to watch Cars with the kids as adults because they caught all the adult humor this time.  Fun to watch.  

January 28 - Steve FINALLY passed the stone.  He is feeling MUCH better now.  

January 30 I got a text in all caps from Avian.  They had just found out they won three gold keys in the Scholastic Art competition.   One gold key was for their entire portfolio and the other two gold keys were for two pictures within their portfolio.  They also got an Honorable Mention for another picture.  One more thing, they were nominated for the American Visions Award.  The gold key winners go on to the national competition.  That was a great way to end the first month of the year!

Gold Key winner!

Gold Key winner!

Avian won this award as well.