We made it through January...

Yay, January is over.  Even though it actually felt pretty fast to me this time around, it definitely still had its moments of feeling eternally long.  Probably because we had 10 straight days of high temperatures at 20 degrees or less, and we picked up a lot of snow over that time.  Monday was actually the first day that temperatures got into the 20s.  We might hit 30 this week, but then it's back into the deep freeze for a bit.  That snow isn't going anywhere.  It's been...a lot.  I miss my outdoor walks (even cold ones), and they won't be possible for a long time yet.  Then again, I guess we could be down south where areas got hit with horrible ice storms and significant snow in spots that don't normally get any.  At least we're used to it.  But I would love a day in the 40s right now, let alone the people that are escaping here for warmer spots.  Although, even Orlando got so cold this weekend that the fountains at Disney were freezing, so I guess I'm glad I wasn't one of the people who planned a trip there right now.  Can you imagine wanting to escape the cold and ending up needing your winter coat at Disney?  No thanks.  My parents are heading out soon for Florida and a cruise, so hopefully they have better luck.  But even 20s felt balmy the other day!  At least very cold weather typically comes from fewer clouds, so the sun has been helpful.

This was our patio after the initial snowfall, before we got another six inches over the course of the week.  I also think that indentation might be from a deer taking a break, but maybe they were just digging for food?

Some of that sun we've been getting, with an ice pillar/sundog happening to the right.

We've been getting through thanks to basketball, mostly.  Having a game every few days keeps the calendar moving.  I can't believe we're down to the last handful of games already.  It's been an interesting season, for sure, and within three weeks we should know just how good Jacob's team actually is, when playoffs hit.  I'm hoping for a strong rest of the season for him.  Even though he's played well, I feel like he still isn't quite where he wants to be.  Last week they played at his old school, which was oddly bittersweet.  It was weird being back over on the visitors' side after two years, but nice to see a couple familiar faces.  We pretty much dominated, which was fun--especially Jacob's three threes--but it was also hard to watch his old teammates struggle like that.  It was definitely a surreal experience.

Jacob's current school and his old school share a football team, so Jacob joined in a jersey swap with the football players after the game.

Lately we've been back on the prep school subject.  Jacob's old coach (from travel and his first year at RACS) is starting up a prep program at a school about two hours away.  He'd like Jacob to be part of it.  But of course, that means a hefty (although discounted) tuition, Jacob needing to move away and change schools (yet again), and likely do a post-grad year the following year before heading to college.  However, that extra year could be what secures him a nice college scholarship, too.  It's a lot to consider.  Of course, we'd still need to take a trip there and see the school, because I feel like that could be a deal-breaker for him.  I'm worried about his food options, and I don't think he realizes what dorm life might look like.  God knows he still hasn't shown me that he's prepared to run his own life in any meaningful way, whether we're talking about picking up after himself, feeding himself at proper times, or doing his homework without prompting.  Maybe he's one of those people that steps up when they need to, but I can't say I'm confident.  Nor do I love the idea of managing his health, diet, schoolwork, and life in general from afar.  On the other hand, maybe it's just what he needs, but I'm going to need to see a lot of excitement on his part before I give it my blessing, because there's really no getting out of this one if he doesn't like it.  I'm hoping we can get that tour done during February break coming up, just so we have a better idea of what we're working with.

In other news, Craig bought a new car.  His van, which had over 180,000 miles on it, was starting to have issues (like random stalling, for example).  So once he had finances figured out for a down payment, he made it his mission a couple Saturdays ago (a rare weekend off) to get it done.  He pretty much focused on a Subaru Forester (two steps up from my Crosstrek), which (thank goodness) had 0% financing.  I wish they had that when I was car shopping!  He ended up getting a hybrid, which is great for how much he drives.  He got it all done in a day, which was weird but efficient.  It was sort of a sudden, sad end for our van era, though.  It was fun while it lasted.  Now to hope the new one has enough cargo space for travel baseball.  If we could do Christmas in mine (barely), hopefully we'll be okay in his.  I think he's enjoying all the fancy features--and the better gas mileage.  I'm enjoying a less cramped garage.

On the Carter front, he's plugging along.  He's still dealing with constant cold-like congestion, so I'm going to start banging down doors to get an answer on that.  I'm guessing he might have a viral sinus infection that's just sort of stuck in there, which I've had happen before.  I've had ones that either needed full-on suction or steroids to improve.  I'm checking with his GI on whether steroids could complicate anything, and we already have an appointment with the pediatrician next week for his ADHD med check, so hopefully between the two we can figure out a solution.  Right now we're going to start Flonase and see if that helps, but we need to get him a solution.  But he's doing well otherwise.  We're getting back into baseball practices, and we've been mildly amused by the fact that all of his baseball pants are suddenly too small--I guess 30 pounds will do that!  

I can't quite wrap my brain around the fact that Carter will be a teenager in less than two weeks (or that we'll have TWO teenagers in the house).  I just looked back at the blog from those last couple weeks before he was born, and man, that was ROUGH.  I was barely functioning as my body prepared itself for labor weeks too early.  I barely snuck in all the baby prep, including getting the room painted (by someone else), washing baby clothes, getting last-minute supplies, and surviving Jacob's stomach bug, a double road trip for Craig, and a snowstorm all within the last week or two.  Yikes.  Makes now seem almost easy!  This morning when I went to wake Carter up and I sat on the bed, it really hit me that what used to be a tiny little body that I'd go in to cuddle is now just about as big as me.  It's so crazy.  I came across a couple old videos of him from the early talking phase, and oh man, I miss that little guy.  The big version is a cool kid, too, but that little boy just warmed my heart so much!  And now he's got this deeper voice and can look me straight in the eyes.  The changes from even just this summer are amazing.  Puberty is not for the weak--being in it or watching it!

As for me, my back is doing better.  It still has some soreness when I have to stand a lot, but no more of that crazy seizing it did the one night.  Sometimes I wonder if I just need to work out my core, or if there's a chance it had something to do with constipation or my internal lady parts, as there have been some crampy components to the aches.  But maybe that's a "shared nerves" thing, or just muscles trying to overcompensate for the weaknesses.  I have an ortho appointment next week and my annual OB/GYN appointment in a month, so if it's still hanging in there, hopefully between those two I should get answers.  I just sort of hate how that, plus my shoulder impingement, sore right elbow, and soreness between my hip and thigh, makes me feel like I'm about 70 years old some days.  I get up from my chair and feel every creak and ache for the first 10 seconds of the walk.  Reaching behind me with my right arm really hurts from the impingement, and I miss being able to lift weights and feel capable of being more active.  At least walking gave me the illusion, but right now I feel pretty stuck.  Add in some mental challenges--what I think is late-onset ADHD (we might know tomorrow!) plus the general weight of the world with all that's happening out there--and I'm pretty tired right now.  Hence why the return of sun and (relative) warmth would be helpful.  And, as mentioned before, having anything exciting to look forward to would be a big help, too.  

One day at a time, right?  Spring will get here...43 days and counting...

Not THAT Change of Scenery...

I guess we got a little January "excitement" after all.  An ER visit wasn't exactly the action I was hoping for, but it is what it is.

As I mentioned previously, early last week I started having some back issues.  My lower back just started to hurt.  I only remember sitting on my bed for a bit looking at my phone, and when I got up, I was like, "Oh, my back is a little stiff."  It wasn't debilitating or anything, but it was uncomfortable and I had to be careful how I sat or bent over.  I've had muscle pulls like that--though more often in my upper back--so I didn't think much of it.

By Tuesday it seemed to have mostly recovered.  But in the afternoon, I started feeling like I had back cramps, like period cramps or early labor that manifests in your back (which I had a lot of during labor).  But I wasn't at that point in my cycle, so I wasn't sure what it was, other than a return of the back pain...but why?  By the time I went to bed, there was no getting comfortable at all.  I finally gave up and took some ibuprofen, which I hadn't taken as I sort of wanted to keep track of what my body was doing.  The ibuprofen must have worked enough because I managed to fall asleep, but I woke up again at 2am, likely thanks to a dream.  I was in pain, but sometimes in that drowsy state I can be caught up in my dream or misread things, so I often get up to go to the bathroom to sort of reset myself.  Once I got there, I felt like I had to go #2, so I did, but then I realized that reaching to wipe was nearly impossible.  My back just hurt way too much when I tried to twist.  Thank goodness it wasn't a messy one, but I briefly thought I'd have to call to Craig to come in and help me, which I really didn't want to do (let's save that for our elderly years, shall we?).  Then my vision started getting spotty and I was worried I was going to pass out.  It got so bad I half expected to look in the toilet and see it full of blood or something--I was so uncomfortable and felt like my body was betraying me.  I eventually figured out how to carefully lower myself to the floor.  The cool tile felt good and helped my body relax a bit.  I was able to do any proper wiping as I laid there, and eventually got myself up and back to bed.  

But that was all the sleep I was going to get for the night.  I simply could not get comfortable.  Every position involved significant pain.  I just laid there, slowly and gingerly tossing and turning.  I thought many times about waking Craig up and having him take me to the ER, because I just could not figure out how to make this better.  After a couple hours I determined I would not be going to work, which had a big mid-year retreat and belated holiday celebration that day, because I would be way too sleep-deprived even if my back was okay.  Craig rolled over and snuggled me around 5am, at which point I told him that I thought I'd have to go in.  We got the kids off to school, but I could barely walk or stand so Craig had to handle more of the morning food prep than usual.  The only way I think I got myself up and out was that I grabbed one of those stick-on heat patches in the middle of the night, which seemed to take the edge off enough to attempt to move.  When Craig came back from dropping Jacob off, we headed out.  

I had him just drop me off so he could go to work.  He offered to stay, but I didn't really want him putting himself at risk in the ER during a crazy flu season.  I got checked in and sat in the waiting room for probably 30-45 minutes.  Then they gathered a few of us up and ushered us to the "overflow" tent.  I don't know if it's the same one they had during COVID, but if I had to guess it probably was.  It's a large structured tent in the parking lot, and it probably has about 18 rooms in it, plus a couple spaces for procedures.  The bathrooms are out the back door in one of those (admittedly nicer) port-a-potty trailers.  My room literally just had one of those reclining hospital armchairs and a curtain.  No equipment, no bed.  It was...rustic.  At one point I heard the doctors talking to my neighbor, who seemed to have some ongoing stomach discomfort, about whether he had previously had syphilis...and the answer was yes.  Yikes.  Then, someone nearby had a really violent vomiting session.  They must have heaved about 15 times.  It was so loud.  I was very happy that I had a strong stomach and couldn't smell, because that could have done me in.  I kept trying to tell myself to think of it like an episode of "The Pitt", my new favorite show, which highlights life in the ER.  Romanticizing your life can be a helpful device sometimes.

I got seen by a nurse, a 4th year med student, and finally the attending with another student.  They were all really nice and very sweet, but I was a little surprised at how little they actually checked me.  They checked my spine and my reflexes, asked a bunch of questions, and that was about it.  I think they were primarily looking for some sort of spinal issue, which would have initiated some emergency treatment.  But they didn't find anything concerning, so they chalked it up to some sort of impingement.  They did end up hooking me up with a medical resident with an ultrasound machine.  She checked my kidneys for any sort of backup, and then poked around looking at other organs--partly to rule out other rare issues, but also to get practice.  My kidneys, gallbladder, bladder, and uterus were all looking good from her perspective, so at least I don't seem to have any kidney stones brewing, which would likely be courtesy of my genetics.

After hours of playing on my phone and reading a book on my tablet, I was given a prescription for a muscle relaxer, told to take ibuprofen and Tylenol (together if needed), and do some gentle walking.  I was also given a referral to ortho in case it's still bothering me in the next week or so.  Hopefully it resolves, but even still, I'd love to know what caused this.  It was awful in those overnight hours into the morning, and I'd like to avoid a redo.

It was better today.  I didn't take the muscle relaxer and I've only had one dose of ibuprofen.  I'm just sort of feeling it out at this point.  I don't want to take meds I don't need, but I also don't want to find out that I should have taken more because it can come back with a vengeance.  Hopefully it's done and I can move on with my life, but that was not a great 24 hours or so.

Oh, and Craig's off-weekend coming up that I wanted to plan something for?  Looks like we're getting yet another winter storm instead.  Yay.  Could be worse--we could be the ones getting the massive ice accumulation that's pretty much going to shut down the south for a bit.  I guess I'll take the snow.  Maybe his next bye weekend...

Okay, maybe ONE cool thing...

I said in my last post that we didn't have anything interesting going on right now, but that wasn't entirely true.  We did have one cool thing happen.  As you may recall, during the Toronto Blue Jays' World Series run, one of the players that came to prominence was actually a Rochester guy, Ernie Clement.  After the World Series was over and our thoughts turned to the approaching Knighthawks season, of course Craig had the thought that they should have Ernie out to a Knighthawks game.  Fortunately, one of Ernie's friends was friends with a Knighthawk, so the connection was made and a date was set.  Carter was predictably thrilled because, well, it pays to know people!  Craig didn't mind having a very important number in his phone, either!

The morning of the game, Ernie came out to the shootaround to meet the players...and Carter!  Carter even got to play catch with him on the turf!

How cool is that?  He also got his picture with him...

...and got a ball signed that was supposedly a game used ball that hit Ernie at one point.  The ball says, "Should've gotten out of the way of this one!"

Pretty cool core memory for Carter!  Jacob and I at least got to be in his presence postgame as he signed things for the players in the locker room hallway, but we didn't get the introduction.  He's so unassuming, though.  He just looks like a normal guy, not a (soon-to-be) multi-millionaire Major League Baseball player.  I pictured him being bigger, I guess? 

While we were in that hallway, the Knighthawks' game production director stopped in with her son.  She and I go way back, as she was an Amerks intern when I worked there and then ended up working primarily for the Rhinos and Rattlers (although she definitely popped up among all the teams) for years.  They pulled her out of "retirement" this year.  Anyway, I looked at her and said, "Could you ever have pictured it 20+ years ago that we'd be back here again in this back hallway, but this time with our giant children?"  She agreed--we definitely could not have pictured that scenario, but life is funny like that.  Sports is particularly funny like that.  Sports have probably given me some of the most incredible and unexpected moments of my life--from fun moments as a teenage fan, to memorable moments as an employee and finding a husband, to ridiculous nights out with co-workers, overtime goals, championships, and even the Dominican trip.  I suppose Superbowl losses and playoff defeats and all of the challenges of working in sports or being a sports wife have balanced things out a bit, but I can't deny sports are powerful, emotional things.  Hence why another crushing Bills playoff loss this weekend stings like heck.  But we'll be back again cheering them on next year, no doubt.

So, now we're back to our regularly scheduled boring January with bonus subzero wind chills and random snow.  South of Buffalo is getting absolutely hammered, and periodically that band extends all the way to Rochester.  Yesterday afternoon Jacob had a game about 20 minutes south of the city, and we definitely hit some crazy bands with whiteouts and blowing snow on the roads, both on the way there and back.  Once I had to stop completely because I could see nothing but white for half a second.  The bright side of these cold days is that they're more likely to be sunny, which takes the edge off the cold a bit and helps my mood.  Now, if the wind could stop shaking the house, that would be great.  Ahh, winter in Western New York.

Speaking of winter, I had a sort of mind-blowing realization this morning that it's officially been 30 years since my high school trip to Quebec City.  We went over MLK weekend my senior year, a combo trip of the upper level French classes and the National Honor Society.  It was an uncomfortable, mostly sleepless overnight bus trip there, but when I woke up from my few hours of sleep and saw Montreal--its lights, familiar buildings, and French signs--I was spellbound.  I made it through that first day on total adrenaline, getting through a very cold walking tour, chocolate croissants, dinner (where we grilled our own garlic bread!), and an IMAX movie that turned into a bit of a mess.  One poor kid fell asleep, had his face drawn on as a joke, got laughed at, and promptly tried to be the "cool guy" after by latching on to the group sneaking out to a club.  The Quebec drinking age is 18 (he wasn't, but others were), but it was a school trip so it wasn't allowed.  To make matters worse, he got drunk and sick, and it definitely put a damper on the rest of the weekend because those kids were in trouble.  I conked out really early after watching Hockey Night in Canada in French (with my beloved Pierre!).  Our next day was super fun (but VERY cold) snow tubing and a beautiful basilica, then on to a sugar shack for a traditional French Canadian dinner.  The only highlights of our last day, which mostly featured a very long bus ride back, were finding a French newspaper in the parking garage with an article about one of my group of "cute-designated" hockey players and getting my plush hockey-adorned Kermit the Frog, an exclusive to Canadian McDonald's (despite the language barrier).  It was such a dream come true, and I am in denial that it could be 30 years ago.  I was a senior in high school, for Pete's sake...I can't be that old that it's been 30 years!  It's absolutely crazy to me.  Here are some of my pictures.

Parliament

The only walled city in North America

This view was so cool, with all these old buildings.

I had long been captivated by the Chateau Frontenac, so seeing it like this was amazing.

We did go in to the Chateau for a bit.  It was predictably gorgeous.

This street was memorable for having a sex shop on it, which obviously amused the gaggle of teenagers.

The Funiculaire was pretty cool.  I had only done an incline railway in Niagara Falls once, which I loved, so I was very excited to do this one--also, because the alternative stairs were snowy and are called "Breakneck Stairs" for a reason.

Walking around Old Quebec was magical.

This is Ste-Anne de Beaupre, a basilica and shrine.  It was beautiful inside, full of mosaics (and people's crutches and braces).

We stopped at this sugar shack briefly, and I was obsessed with their hockey wall.  This was one of those experiences that solidified that I should be Canadian.

The view from our hotel on our last day

It was such a memorable trip, and someday I'll get back--although I know even less French now than I did then, so it's a little more intimidating.  But someday.

Anyway, I can get in a Quebec state of mind when the weather here does its best Quebec impersonation over the coming weeks.  Too bad the scenery isn't quite as good, no?  But back to trying to plan some other change of scenery, though...

News & Notes, January Lull Edition

I've barely taken any pictures since the ones in my last post.  It's definitely that time of year, where January isn't particularly inspiring or exciting.  When your highlight of the week is getting out for a couple walks because the temperature is above freezing, you know it's been a bit of a blah stretch.  Basketball is pretty much the only excitement we have right now, and maybe a Knighthawks game here and there.  I realized the other day that if I was asked about my hobbies, I'd likely say, "Visiting Wegmans to feed two growing boys" because that's how I seem to spend most of my non-work time these days.  Among all of us, we're probably there about every other day.  Both kids eat through their stashes so fast and I have lost my ability to plan dinner ahead, so I usually need a last-minute run for ingredients.  It's pretty exhausting, to be honest, so I guess it's good we don't have a lot else going on.  

All things considered--knock on wood--we're also in a bit of a lull for medical stuff.  Carter picked up a cold late last week, and missed both Friday and Monday at school.  We never tested him, but he never had a fever and nothing seemed to escalate quite like my flu did.  And with him being immunocompromised, I think it would probably be pretty obvious if he had something more.  The colds are annoying enough, particularly in their duration, but he's a good sport.  I wish it would ease up sooner, but no signs of a flare this time around, thankfully.  We will hopefully go soon to test his med levels and antibodies as we're at the midpoint of his infusion interval.  They're hoping his levels are higher than they were last time, after upping his dose.  I feel fortunate he seems to respond well to the drugs, after seeing so many people online dealing with side effects and failures.  That could change at any time, but I'm savoring this bit of "easy".  

Jacob is doing well, too.  His leg has been cooperative and he's playing well.  We're still dealing with some team drama, but the main source of the drama was academically ineligible for the last two games, so that took care of itself a bit.  Jacob had 14 points in the Buffalo game, which was fun for all the grandparents and Craig's uncle to see.  They won, but it was closer than would have been ideal--not by the fault of the players, but more because their coach has a tendency to put in the bench guys too early.  We'll be up like 10-15 points at any point in the game and suddenly have 3-5 bench players go in.  Usually that's reserved for being up closer to 20+, so we're unclear why that keeps happening.  I guess it's nice to get those players out there with a little pressure, just in case they get called on in a big game due to injuries or something, but they're just not quite good enough to hold smaller leads.  We almost lost this one as a result, which never should have happened, and wouldn't have with the better players in.  But I will say that when the top 6-7 guys were out there, they played team ball so much more consistently, and the scoring was nicely spread across the top few guys.  It just felt better than watching one guy constantly try to bust through and lose the ball.  It was more of the same for Friday's game, but they pulled out a tough win and Jacob had 16 points.  It's still a little hard to understand some of the decisions being made with the team, but it still feels better than losing every game or not having him play like last year.  Speaking of which, we just passed the 10th anniversary of his original bone cyst surgery.  Crazy.

Otherwise, I'm just dealing with a whacked-out lower back for no apparent reason.  Heat seems to be the only thing that helps.  I miss bending over without pain.  Today was the first day I felt like I had some relief, but even that came with a few pain spikes during the day.  I have no idea how it happened, but I guess the 40s are wild like that.  Last week I started the process to be evaluated for ADHD.  It may not be much of a stretch since I have two kids with it, but if I have it, it's likely ADD instead...I think.  But in talking to my therapist (who I've been officially released from for now), I decided that my biggest mental struggle lately has been in the executive function area--the aforementioned dinner planning issues, keeping my house clean, organizing my thoughts enough to do my work, losing focus, just generally struggling with starting projects, especially when time is limited or it's something I don't feel like doing.  It's like analysis paralysis, but so much worse than I've really ever dealt with.  I tend to think it's a hormone fluctuation issue, or maybe just brain changes since COVID, which also happened to be around the time I got an iPhone and my general phone use increased.  I may have had flashes of it as a kid and was able to manage it, but it's just gotten to a point where it's impacting a lot of areas of my life and I'm struggling to work against it like I used to.  Not sure how it will turn out, but maybe I'll get some coping skills out of the deal regardless that could help both me and the kids.

The boys were thrilled to have a snow day Thursday.  We got about 3-4 inches overnight and and a few more during the day.  I don't think we got as hammered as they thought, mostly because it took longer to change over from rain the prior night, and also because the later bands we got weren't bad.  Even still, the 6+ inches in one shot was livable but still relatively rare here.  We're honestly in a pretty good spot--we don't get the same kind of lake effect Buffalo or Syracuse often do, and we don't get the nor'easters like Binghamton does.  I can probably count on one hand the storms we've had over a foot in my adult life.  Buffalo is going to get hit again over the next few days, too, but it looks like we'll avoid nearly all of it.  At least we have a snowblower now, and thank goodness since my back would absolutely not have been able to survive this.  Starting today, we're going into a deep freeze that will last the rest of the month, at least.  The extended forecast is all below freezing, including double-digit, sub-zero wind chills on Tuesday, and possibly worse next weekend.  It's giving me shades of February 2015, honestly.  That was the month after I lost my job and it was only above freezing once, for a couple hours in the middle of the night.  We had so much snow, so much cold, and it lasted an entire month.  Hopefully this is not that, but it looks close.  The big bummer for me is that it means the sidewalks likely won't be clear for weeks again.  They almost got clear on Saturday when it warmed into the upper 30s and anything on pavement melted pretty good, but then it got cold Saturday night and any remnants turned into black ice.  So, probably not the safest, but I miss my walks when I can't take them and may get desperate enough to bundle up.  The bike and elliptical just don't hit the same.  I've been eyeing up low-profile treadmills on Amazon, the ones that literally take up a small patch of floor and can be stored under a bed or couch, just to get me through winter.  

I think the struggle right now is that we don't really have anything super exciting to look forward to.  We're hoping for a good run in sectionals (and maybe beyond) for Jacob, but we can't really rely on much just yet.  We have Carter's birthday in a month, which is always a nice target, but I don't have too many gifts to get excited about just yet.  We know we have modified baseball and both travel sports in the spring/early summer, but there's really too many practices and other lead-up stuff to get through first before we can really start getting excited about destinations or anything like that.  I feel like we need to plan a trip or something.  I've talked about going on Craig's Las Vegas road trip, but the logistics and cost might be tough.  And the kids wouldn't like that much, either.  Maybe we need a trip up to Toronto or something?  We just need something to look forward to that's not months away, otherwise winter seems like it's going to last forever!

Thank goodness for a long weekend and no Sunday scaries this week.  Jacob has his only game this week tomorrow.  I've done a lot of relaxing this weekend, so hopefully I can be a bit more productive tomorrow.  And Craig has next weekend off, so let's see if we can get something to look forward to, shall we?

Back to the Land of the Living...In a Big Way

After spending a full week on the basement couch, by Friday I was ready for some action.  The good news is that I felt mostly fine for most of that week.  After the one really bad day, I felt significantly better the following day, the congestion got progressively better day by day, and by Friday it was just a few noseblowings to feel normal.  Thankfully, that was just in time for a rescheduled day with Heather, Peter, and Mason at Strong Museum!  We had wanted to do it a couple days after Christmas, but obviously the flu got in the way.  We wanted to do it this week because they had a dollhouse exhibit that was ending soon, and that was meaningful because Heather's dad built dollhouses when we were younger and they were a big part of our childhood playtime.  We figured it was a good excuse to get together and introduce Mason to the museum!

We met up at the museum mid-morning and I was delighted to see my little buddy!  We got right to it, heading toward his first priority, the mini Wegmans!  He has something similar at a children's museum near him, but this is definitely a bigger one!  He wanted to be a worker for a bit...

Then he moved on to shopping, but there is an item limit (it's low but I totally get why, since you need to put all your things back and I can see kids tiring of that fast) and that did not go over very well!  At one point he said something like, "I'm never coming back to THIS Wegmans again!"  It was pretty funny.  He still checked out some of the other sections, like the bakery, and then it was off to the next thing!  He did some dress-up on stage...

And then he crawled in one of the crawl and climb structures nearby, while Heather and I chatted with an older employee who was clearly feeling the weight of break week!  She said she barely ever works break week, so this chaos was a bit of a rude awakening!  She'd already been up in the structure three times that morning to "rescue" kids!  We had a nice chat, though.  

This wasn't in the dollhouse exhibit itself, but this gorgeous Christmas house was on display.  Heather and I agreed that about a third of this was the size of her dollhouse that we played in for hours.  The rooms in this one were so pretty, all decorated, and very detailed.  It was amazing!

Mason went on the Sesame Street stairs, and the smile was because he saw himself on the TV screen they have so you can see how you look on the steps, as if you were on the show!

We headed up to the second floor and checked out some of the imaginary play area where Mason liked pretending to drive some of the vehicles they have.  Then we headed over to the video game area.  We figured the interactive video games section was probably a bit beyond him, so we just took a quick swing through the Video Game Hall of Fame, since us older folks remember so much of the items on display.  Heather and I took a selfie in front of one of our favorites from our days playing on my Apple II GS and her Commodore 64!

Carmen Sandiego is the best!

We went through the arcade section, which I think Peter liked exploring!  Mason wanted to play foosball and bubble hockey, which obviously I am VERY used to with my boys!  

We headed back downstairs for lunch, with a quick stop at the area where you can draw a fish, scan it, and have it pop onto the fish tank video screen.  He just did a quickie, writing his dad's name on a fish, but he was pretty tickled by it popping out into the tank!

We refueled with lunch--and although the food was good, it was a little pricey and it made me miss the days of fun foods like Subway, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell being in their food court!

We moved on to one of Carter's favorite spots, the crooked room!  I forgot to take a picture, but Mason loved it (especially the usual letting yourself slam into the padded wall), and he delighted in taking each one of us through it himself!  They also have this funky perspective room, and it was cute to see Heather and Mason looking like the same size!  (It will happen soon enough, but not quite yet!)

We played with the bouncy ball tracks (where you hoist balls up and they go through different tracks, marble run style) and the air cannon before moving on.  They just built a new, massive actual marble run outside this space.  It's not done yet, though it did appear to be testing.  I'm looking forward to hopefully going on our free Thrivent night in the spring and checking it out then!

We headed up to the National Toy Hall of Fame next.  We had fun trying to pop the bubbles on this screen, and I liked that this picture captured the three of us.

We went down through the Storybook area, where I showed Mason Carter's favorite secret passage in the mystery solving area.  He liked running around the big ship, went into the Jack and the Beanstalk climbing structure nearby, dressed up again, and then played for a bit in the fake-sand sandbox.  He checked out a couple things in the Berenstain Bears area before going back through the superhero hallway.  He did the photo op that looks like he's climbing the building, walked over the superhero city diorama, and did the super strength thing with that glowing green turbonium machine the boys have always loved.

Finally we worked our way to the dollhouse exhibit!  It was actually interesting because they seemed to focus more on the evolution of the architecture of dollhouses, highlighting the outsides more than the insides, as well as focusing on early kits that probably made dollhouses more accessible to less affluent families.  It was a little bit of a bummer because the insides are typically more interesting than anything, and there were only a few with much happening inside.  The craftsmanship on some of them also wasn't up to snuff compared to what Heather's dad did.  His stuff would have fit right in!  

I sort of loved the setup of this one, a mid-century modern split level house.  The craftsmanship and furnishings were pretty basic, but I liked the look of it.

This 80s one cracked us up because the furniture was the EXACT set Heather had in her house!  It was funny to see the same couches, kitchen, vanity, bed, etc.  When we walked into the exhibit, I said to Heather that there HAD to be something in there that she owned, and sure enough, this was it!

The craftsmanship of this one was incredible.  It was like a log cabin on the outside, but the inside also had amazing details carved in the wood.

I had seen this one on the internet somewhere not long ago and absolutely fell in love with it.  Each wall was a different color and it was so pretty!  You know me and color!  I loved the modern style, too.

I was looking around trying to find a dollhouse like my mom's, which was a 50s-era metal one with a bunch of molded plastic furniture.  I brought it home from my grandma's at one point and used my 80s Glamour Gals to play in it.  I loved it.  The closest I got was this one, which appeared to be metal and had similar furniture, but was a ranch instead of a standard two-story colonial.  

With that, we had to wrap things up.  Mason really wanted to ride the carousel on the way out.  It felt appropriate, as he is the child of one parent from the "Home of the Carrousel" and he lives in the "Carousel Capital of the World".  Binghamton has a ton of carousels in their public parks (many that originated in North Tonawanda), so he is a connoisseur!  

I somehow never realized that this one was a Herschell as well!  

After the ride, it was time to go.  Mason was so sad!  He wanted me to go with them, but I told him that I had to go watch Jacob play basketball.  But we will plan a weekend sometime soon.  I tried to get a selfie, and the first one was a full-on sad pout, and this was the best we got!

That face!

Saying goodbye was tough, but we'd had a very fun day!

Once I got home, it was just about time to leave for Jacob's basketball game.  I had to miss his first game after Christmas because of the flu (I was able to watch it via an app on TV, at least), and they had a long break before their last game before the holiday was canceled due to snow, so I was excited to see him play in person for the first time in weeks.  It was about an hour away in Attica, so we had a hike ahead of us!  Thankfully, the weather cooperated despite it seemingly snowing all day every day since Christmas, aside from some patches of blown snow on the country roads.  

Jacob didn't start the game particularly strong, but he finally stayed in the game long enough to get in a groove, and then the threes started.  By the time the game ended, he was the new school recordholder for threes in a game!  The record was low, only seven, so he'd been figuring he'd beat it one of these days since he'd had nine in a game before.  We got excited when he hit six, wondering if this would be it.  Then he got seven and eight in pretty quick succession, and BOOM...record set.  It was really exciting, and fun when some of the other parents and JV players got into it!

Sadly, the following game his teammates seemed to forget he was there, although we're not sure if that was on purpose or just how the game went.  He only had three shots and one three-pointer, which was a bit of a letdown after such a big night previously.  But it was enough to earn him all-tournament team honors with one of his teammates, and they did win the tournament, as well.  

 

It also got him on a local players of the week list, although his teammate was #1 and he was #14, but it was still an accomplishment (and good for two free Chick-fil-A meals!).  We're so proud of him.  He was back at it Monday and got a few more shots and another five threes.  He still wasn't thrilled with how much he got used or that a super small former teammate of his scored 29 points against them.  He also is struggling to get a two-point shot to fall, but it was still good to see him show what he can do...and as a result we got to see exactly why he didn't pick that school, because that school's coach went OFF on his team as it became apparent they were going to lose.  Fun.  Wednesday night they took on a really, really good team, and it was even more sobering than we expected.  They lost by more than 60, their first loss of the season, and Jacob was held scoreless.  They could barely hold on to the ball or get anything going, and the few shots he had just didn't fall.  It was nightmarish, and I felt bad my parents came out (on my dad's birthday, no less) and saw that mess.  It's becoming pretty clear that one of his teammates doesn't like playing with him (I think he thinks Jacob stole his spot or something), and another teammate's dad is telling his kid not to pass to him (to maximize his own chances), so that seems to be why Jacob isn't getting as many shots as he should, given that he's shooting over 50%. The teammate that won't pass to him is so selfish with the ball, and it's hurting their play and their morale, to the entire team's detriment.  Unfortunately, no one seems to want to nip that in the bud, even though his teammates aren't happy with him.  We're trying to think through how to get some action there, without overstepping.  Jacob's a captain, but he can't seem to grasp that this could be something to talk to the coach about directly if it's impacting the team.  He plays in Buffalo Tuesday, which should be fun since we'll likely have some family.  Fortunately, they shouldn't play anyone else even remotely this good, at least until sectionals.

Now back to last weekend, though.  As Sunday approached, I was struggling a bit with how my Christmas break played out.  I mean, on one hand, I had a LOT of forced relaxation I wouldn't have had if I was healthy.  Not that being sick for part of it was great, but I definitely would have felt guilty just lounging on the couch watching TV for a week straight if I was healthy.  And sometimes we probably should just have a half-comatose Christmas break, right?  I may not have been disoriented and full of cheese like the memes indicate, but having a guilt-free chance to catch up on TV and be absolved of most cooking and cleaning duties?  I mean, there are worse things.  So, I did well on the Netflix-and-chill part of my break, but that also meant I didn't get the same family time I normally enjoy, I didn't work through the to-do list I was saving for that week, and I didn't get out and do any fun activities until Friday's museum trip.  Then Friday night and Saturday night were full of basketball, and the rest of the weekend felt like I was merely playing catch-up on all of the house cleanup and other things I didn't get to do while I was quarantined.

Sunday at 5pm Carter had his first travel baseball practice (I know, already), and I was on the hook for getting him there.  Craig and Jacob were off shooting hoops, but Carter said he wanted Craig there since he's been so involved in his baseball stuff, so they met us there when they were done.  That left me with about an hour or so alone, and I had realized earlier in the day that it was one of my last chances to do something I've been meaning to do for a couple years now.  The Lamberton Conservatory at Highland Park has been a spring destination of mine a couple times, but they do a holiday show at Christmas that only runs a couple evenings a week.  I finally remembered at the right time, and decided Sunday would be it.  

It was so beautiful and so magical.  I'll (mostly) let the pictures speak for themselves.

I've never seen a poinsettia like this!

These were actually moving lights (like a dance floor), but I love how they look on the cacti in a still photo.

This was a weird cactus!

Still a few flowers here and there!

I know Christmas lights on palm trees are a thing down south, but pretty rare to see one here!

An orchid!

It was so pretty I had to walk through twice to make sure I didn't miss anything!  The one downside to a night visit is that it makes it even harder to see the tiny quail that freely wander around.  I normally worry about stepping on them, but it's even scarier in the dark!  I was a little bummed that their central outdoor courtyard and pond didn't get in on the action, but I suppose it makes sense given the snow and ice out there.

Speaking of outside, even the outside view was lovely.

As I drove there, I noticed there was a lit tree on the Highland Bowl stage across the street.  It was a little chilly and we'd just gotten a bunch of snow, but I decided to take a little stroll to see if I could get a good picture of it.  It was a little challenging in the dark without any well-worn walking paths, but my boots did their job and it was still neat to see.

It was a nice way to end the official Christmas season and close out my break.  It's been a challenging week back between a couple basketball games and all that drama, a few work things, Craig being on the road yesterday and today (and having a home game tomorrow), and now Carter being home sick with (hopefully just) a cold.  The holiday hangover was a tough one for all of us, I think.  The good news is next weekend is a long weekend.  This weekend will primarily be spent de-Christmasing.  I'm looking forward to my cozy January decor, but it's always a long process to get there.  I've been walking around my house for the last few days wanting to start gathering up all of the Christmas stuff, but I've held off as it's easier to do the whole process at once and not have empty spaces and bins making things seem more chaotic than they already are.  Wish me luck for finding a good balance this weekend, somehow!