Hey what’s up?

Okay, here we are. It’s a new year. But I’m not going to talk about newness. I’m going to tell you what’s new-ish.

This past week:

This past Friday I went to visit my family in DC. (Actually, we got down there Thursday and saw my cousins, spending time in Georgetown having ramen at Oki and the coffee at Compass while our kids did an escape room.) It was quiet at my dad’s. Not a lot going on. We went to lunch, a very standard type place in Bethesda called Matchbox. Pizza is kind of their thing but DC pizza has a really hard time competing with the pizza where we live—NY and Philly-adjacent pizza. DC pizza can’t feel good about itself so I try not to bring it up. I ordered fish and chips. My dad got a breaded chicken sandwich with egg salad on top which I didn’t know was a thing. My son got a burger with an egg on it… (what’s with all the eggs on top of meats?) …which he didn’t know if he wanted or would like but he really did. My daughter and husband each got pizzas. There was a quick trip to Target, a drive by my old ballet studio which is now a dispensary, (boo!) and then some chillin’ at my dad’s, watching tv shows like the new Hawaii 5-0 and the new Magnum PI. My dad loves a crime drama, so that’s probably where I get it. We lounged around until my brother got off work and we all went to sushi. Now the sushi in DC “slaps” as the teens say, or did up until a couple days ago. At least the sushi at the place we go in Tenleytown, named Yosaku, is really good. The kids had been off since the previous Friday and even with all the time available, it was a real effort to get everyone together and squeeze in a visit to my family. I’m so glad we did.

We drove home Saturday in rain and dense fog, and then spent the evening recovering.

Sunday I went to my favorite yoga class, saw my favorite yoga teacher, Lisa who had been gone for a few weeks helping on her family’s Christmas tree farm. It was so good to be back. I had missed a bunch of Sundays because I decided Christmas would be more Christmassy and I’d feel more grounded if I went to all four weeks of Advent and i was right, but I do wish church wasn’t the same day as my favorite yoga class.

At some point this week i started every conversation with a confirmation of what day of the week it was so that I would know.

Monday we were STILL on vacation and it involved a lot of doing nothing in particular. Monday night I hung out with some girlfriends and we got pizza (PIZZA!) at the Colonial in Easton PA. Amazing. Also when we split the bill it was $11 per person. With tip. When does that happen?

It’s starting to look like I’m writing a food review blog. And I would be happy to.

Tuesday/New Year’s Wve was super quiet and involved ordering Chinese food and watching the last episode of Ted Lasso season 3. I spent time finishing up a website job for my friend and artist Glenn Harren.

Wednesday was New Year’s Day and we went to my in-laws to eat pork and sauerkraut. It’s not my favorite but it’s good luck. also my mother-in-law’s cheese cake is the absolute best in the whole world and I can get the recipe for you if you want it. She put raspberry sauce (?) on top and for the next two hours I tried to get the raspberry seeds out of the raspberry-seed-shaped fissures in my molars. I finally did with a sewing needle.

Thursday we all went back to our jobs and it was uneventful. my husband had a massage. I submitted a short story to www.thesunmagazine.org. I set a goal to publish the collection of stories i recently finished and someone suggested getting them published in an online magazine. I feel really good about sending something off. I also made some design updates to my website and committed to weekly posts.

And today in Friday again. My daughter had her last dermatology appointment after doing Accutane for most of the year. (last year) and i’m really going to miss her doctor. She is the best. Tonight, the husband and I are going on a date.