Five Brown Kids

 I have a Valentine! Lucky me! Reading to kindergartners Blythe handed out Valentines at school (last elementary school valentines box for the Brown Fam) I went out for a fancy dinner and boutique hotel stay.  Blythe had the school family dance the next day.  Scotia senior swim photos.  New French bakery near by.  Scotia's swim team swims outdoors all year. This was a chilly morning. 

Blythe and I flew up to Carrie and John's house for a long weekend.  (Avelo Airlines has ridiculously cheap flights non-stop from RDU to Manchester) We were planning to drive over to Ottawa for their "Winter Fest" but it turned out the best winter fest was right there in New Hampshire.  Five inches of snow before we arrived and then another 8 inches Saturday eve.  Blythe was in absolute heaven!  She and Emery were busy playing outside the whole weekend.  We drove up into the mountains for an evening at the Ice Castles.  So much fun!  Explored the ice castles, took a sleigh ride and did some tube sledding down a hill.  John cleared a section of pond for the girls to skate (first time for Blythe skating outdoors) and then helped them make a big pile of snow to build a fort and they spent hours out there.  Blythe was in the flow... out doors with a friend doing something totally new.  On our final trek from the pond back up to the house she...

James and Eileen Martin, my dad's younger brother and wife, dropped by on the way home from a trip to the beach in SC.  I loved having some Martins visit me.  We talked about family stuff non-stop.  Me just getting to know all the stories and history more. What a lovely family to descend from, and also so much heartbreak that they weren't a part of my life growing up.  I really missed out... 

I learned so much about myself dating in 2024.   But wanted to just tell this one experience that changed the way I understood myself after 49 years!  I dated this cute man from late August to just before Christmas.  We were never officially exclusive but towards the end it just ended up that way. He was a talker for sure and just narrated life as it happened.  That meant I got lots of commentary on how I looked, how I was acting, things I said etc. And it was all really wonderful...  specifically I remember a comment on my wide leg pants outfit and how much he liked my style. And another time lying next to me noticing that I didn't have any makeup on and thinking I looked so good. Another time he described my look for a concert as "a vision". And so many comments on how good he felt around me and how much he enjoyed spending time with me. (These are all fluff, but you get the idea. An ongoing conversation about all the things he liked about me.) And then o...

 Scotia's swim team had a training trip to Charlotte over the long weekend.  Always a fun time! 

 We had our first snow day in three years and Blythe was so delighted to get to play in the snow!