Field Trip Continues, Hobbies & Holiday Fun Addendum

Field Trip Continues . . .

I know better than post pix of A and her friends without permission . . . but I think I’m allowed to share this one:

It sounds like they are having fun and VERY packed days (though somehow A managed to use her Greenlight card at “SEPHORA PENTAGON” which cracked me up).

I can’t wait to get more details from the trip — she comes home tomorrow!

So, that went fast.

(LIFE I think goes fast after you get into mid-40s! There has been a noticeable sense of life passing really quickly lately and I’m not sure what to do about it.)

HOBBIES: A Follow Up

1- I started my TS piano journey! I can play reasonably well by ear (leftover mostly useless skill from days of yore) BUT having the books and actual music I can tell the chords are more nuanced than my hack versions. I have been playing for a bit after G practices and Track 1 (Ophelia) is shaping up! I think my goal (I mean, I need a goal because . . .I just do) is to be able to play each song confidently with all the actual RIGHT chords and rhythms in the book. This is definitely within my grasp.

2- I ordered fountain pens!

I followed advice on YouTube and started with a Pilot Kakuno and simple ink cartridges (easier than using a converter and syringe to fill with bottled ink, though I want to try that too). The Extra Fine one worked really nicely and I liked writing with it! MAYBE even more than my usual gel pans.

But, I put a cartridge into the Fine one that didn’t come with it (this one) and . . . it was kinda skippy and inconsistent and annoying to write with (see above). Not sure what I’m doing wrong, or maybe the Fine point is just less lefty friendly!?

(Paper shown there is the back page of my 2026 Hobonichi weeks. I figured it would be fun to test it out! TRP = Tomoe River Paper, and the little weather drawings are from a Pocchito stamp set).

SEE, I HAVE HOBBIES.

(On a related note, I think HOBBIES are trending. Which — I mean, great! Good trend! I think this is pushback to everyone realizing the phone was sucking time away into oblivion. How convenient for me, since I lost my last one in a fiery blaze in March. This was a fun hobby related episode: Under the Influence: Do I Need a Hobby?)

Holiday Fun: An Addendum

FIRST: Holiday music. I did not get specific, and SESB reminded me of how awesome Kacey Musgraves’s album is (holiday masterpiece). I also can get into some Aimee Mann (album is One More Drifter In the Snow), but it’s a bit of a darker vibe. AND, of course Vince Guaraldi’s jazz from Charlie Brown Christmas.

But look there are more! Shall we listen to the Top 21 Christmas Albums of the 21st Century, as proclaimed by Billboard? I think . . . maybe! I probably need to start now . . .

SECOND: Laura posted her holiday fun list. Inspired, I feel like I might need to add to mine a) baking some cutout cookies (good winter break activity!) and b) we might need pajamas.

As for the cookies, my mom made these awesome shortbread Hanukkah cookies and I bet I could replicate them with the kids. And re: pajamas, I remember we had red checkered pajamas for all 3 kids when G was a baby and they were SO CUTE.

(And they would still be cute, lol. Just in a different way.)