Hello Monday, the Christmas week edition

 

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a great weekend! I can't wait to hear from you at the end of today's post. I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. I'll jump right in! 

The last day of school was pajama day or comfy/cozy day; I wore my typical outfit that I'd wear at home if I were in for the night: leggings and my "this is my Hallmark Christmas movie watching" hoodie. I went with bright red lipstick for the day, obviously! I love being comfy at work.

I collected so many gifts at work! Mostly gift cards to places like Starbucks, Chick Fil A, Ulta, Amazon, and Target; these are my favorite and I can't wait to use them. I was also gifted these beautiful gold bow earrings from my friend Heather! I put them on immediately after opening them.

I walked all over the building for the few hours we were there; I covered two third grade classes for thirty minutes each, then I witnessed an adorable choral performance with the first graders. My little friend B is the one you see sitting on her legs in the green red and white striped sweater. She saw me from way down the hall and yelled for me to come to see her, so I went. How can I resist this angel? She drug me down the hall with her and this is where I landed. The kids were dismissed by about twelve ten that day; we had a brief end of semester meeting in the library, then we were let go! I went to lunch with two friends, Karen and Lindsey. I came home after lunch and took a nap! This felt decadent.

I drove to Chris that afternoon.

I love a beautiful sunset! We had the best dinner at a barbecue place near him; he got ribs and I got the smoked chicken so we could share. It was so good! We didn't do a lot other than this, then we watched a show together. 

I didn't do much on Saturday since someone needed to be home with Chloe. Jonah asked if I'd mind being with her for part of that day since he went to ride four wheelers with friends. I didn't mind at all, and she is extra pitiful right now because her paw is hurting her. She won't walk on it at all after messing with it a little on Friday; this is why she has to be supervised 24/7. She's also still a little loopy because of the medicines she's on. Chris came to me that afternoon, and I introduced him to my favorite taco food truck, Taco-N-Ganas. 

I had two with barbacoa, which is a slow roasted beef, and he had one shrimp and one chicken. It was delicious! I haven't been there since June of this year, but the weather was really mild, so we didn't mind sitting outside and eating. He's always cold, y'all; I don't know if it's going to last between us for this reason. 🤣 We watched a slightly terrible Christmas movie after this at my house, after we stopped for ice cream. The movie was from 2014 and had Robin Williams in it; we wondered if it was one of his last? It was A Merry Friggin' Christmas on Amazon Prime. It actually turned out to be pretty good by the end! 

I was at church bright and early Sunday morning!

I worked in the tech booth that morning. Drew came to church today, so I went to lunch with him, his girlfriend, and Jonah. Later that afternoon, Noah arrived home! It was so good to see him and squeeze him. 

He brought Rocket! 

Stella isn't too sure about him, especially since Rocket "talks" a lot. Chris came over that afternoon to meet Noah, and I was glad to see them getting along. I love that all my boys have now met him, and that they love him so much. They ended up leaving to go do a couple of things, so while they were gone, Chris and I went to grab dinner. We went to a Chinese buffet, which was delicious! The boys ended up coming home again for a few minutes before leaving again, then Chris left as well, since he has work tomorrow. 

We watched The Family Stone together for a while before he left; I loved introducing him to my favorite Christmas movie! What did you do that you loved this weekend? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn

Friday Favorites, 12.19.2025.

 

Happy Friday, friends! It's been a week; all of us at school are limping into the weekend like we've been around sugared up elementary school kids all week. Oh, wait; we have! I have a lot to catch you up on, so I'm going to jump right in, starting from last weekend.

I enjoyed reading for the first time in ages on Saturday morning! It was heavenly not having anywhere to be that morning. I got dressed after that and headed out to meet my mom and Trish for a day out together. 

We had breakfast at my favorite place, then we went to John Mark's so that I could see the holiday goods he has out in the shop. It's stunning! 

We ended our time together by stopping to see Dad's grave. I love it when the Christmas wreaths are out! This is one his wife put out, but I think it looks beautiful. 

I love spending my birthday with Mom! After this I came home to relax before having to be at church that night. Sunday was more of the same. 

I enjoyed a leisurely birthday morning spent drinking coffee, reading the many beautiful cards I received, and writing in my journal. I felt a little sad that day; I think it was discernment that something seemed off. 

I wore my birthday top to church that morning! It's my favorite Umgee boutique top from a few years ago. I met Mom and Bill for lunch after church, then came home for a nap before heading back to the church that night. In the midst of all that, Chris came over and showered me with birthday love. 

Monday was Grinch day at school, so I dressed in tacky clothing to celebrate. It's a favorite thing to have such a fun job! This week was a lot at school, but it really has been a blast. 

I

Freezing in the car line that morning was not my favorite, but...

...having a coffee truck at work was! 

My sister Lisa calls this activity "taking to the bed". It's become my favorite thing to do at night lately, and it's what I did Monday night. I barely slept a wink the night before, so I was beat. This was around eight o'clock; I read blogs, I shopped on Amazon for Christmas, and then I talked on the phone a lot before finally calling it a night. 

It was a favorite this week seeing what the naughty elves at school were up to each day. This was one day when 67 was posted all over the walls of the school. 

It was a tacky but favorite week of dressing at work. Yesterday I wore the brown leggings with the sweatshirt that says Jenny Lake. Debi bought me this for my birthday, when she was in Wyoming this fall. She's the only person in the world who's allowed to call me Jenny, and that's why she bought it for me. 

Something else that wasn't a favorite this week was Chloe being attacked by another dog. Our neighbor's dog bit her front paw Wednesday afternoon and just about tore off one of her "toes". Jonah had to rush her to the Vet after hours so they could stitch her up; they had to sedate her to do be able to do this, and sent her home with this cast and lots of medicines since she was bitten. I can never unsee this! Poor baby girl; blood was everywhere, and we're all traumatized. 

One last favorite was hanging with my sons last weekend and Wednesday night. Drew and I did some Christmas shopping Wednesday night since I didn't have church, then we ended at the usual Rotolo's where he devoured his calzone and half of mine, plus an entire order of truffle fries. He loves food! 

I wasn't ready to go home after choir on Friday night, so after a failed attempt to get ahold of Kendra, when I talked to Jonah, he invited me up to where he was hanging out with friends. It was such a fun night! They bought me birthday drinks, then we had fun dancing a little. I cracked up over Jonah being out on the dance floor; turns out he's the life of the party once he's had a drink or two, and he can dance! Also, he willingly posed for pictures for me for the same reason. Graham joined us, and I made it back home by eleven. It was such a fun night, and I had one of those moments of awe when I realized how much I love hanging out with my grown-up sons. They're pretty amazing! 

As far as the start of my week, it was rough. I was glad to feel better with each passing day, but it was touch and go for a while. I learned some shocking news late Sunday night: my ex-husband is marrying the woman he left me for. I shouldn't have been so surprised, because I saw it coming and it's why I got rid of his name ASAP in my divorce; I knew that if he married her, there would have been a second Jennifer Goodwin (her name is Jennifer). I'm so thankful I did that, in hindsight! I didn't love finding out the way I did, and on my birthday no less, but it is what it is. I've always been an open book here, you know that. This is why my week started so badly. I said some things about this to him, let off some steam, and then I felt better with each passing day. 

All that to day, it's been a week, and I am more than ready for winter break! I need a break from everything: life, work, responsibilities, etc. Unfortunately I'll only get a break from work, but I'll take that with much gratitude. I am so ready for time with my family and some fun things that we'll do once we're all together. 

What's a favorite of yours from the week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn 

the Wednesday hodgepodge

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! I'm here with Joyce again today for the weekly hodgepodge...this is a post that I dearly love; thank you, Joyce, for your inspiring and thought provoking questions each and every week! I'll jump right in.

1. What's one thing on your to-do list that you need to get done, want to get done, or must get done before the year ends? I have a lot of things I want to get done while I'm on winter break from work. The thing I need to get done is the last of my Christmas shopping and the wrapping of all the things. Aside from that, I'd like to get some cleaning/organizing/purging/donating done. There are lots of trouble spots in my home that need to be sorted through. I'm on a mission to simplify! 

On that list of things to go through are the things in Dad's hutch and I want to go through all of my books. 

2. December 17th is National Maple Syrup day...are you a fan? Do you like maple in other food items such as candy, cookies, donuts, oatmeal, hot toddies, coffee? I like maple syrup, but I don't think I'm a fanatic about it or anything crazy. We have a local candy store that's been around Memphis for generations called Dinstuhl's; one thing I used to love getting from there were their maple creams. I think it sounds like it would be delicious in coffee! 

3. Time Magazine names a person of the year every year. The tradition started back in 1927 with a man of the year but has since changed not only to an individual, but also to consider the impact of a group, movement, or idea that influenced the year. The selection is not always someone or something good (think Hitler in 1938 and Stalin twice). This year, they've named the AI architects as their "person" of the year. Is this a good choice, a logical choice, an obvious choice? Who do you think should have been named person of the year? I can see how naming the AI architects the "person(s) of the year" would be a logical choice; even though we don't think of AI as human, someone had to start it up at some point, and the mastermind behind it is pretty brilliant. That's just my humble opinion. While AI is pretty scary, it's also something that is making life easier for a lot of people. I don't think it's good in the sense that it will eliminate jobs for people, but it's something that is around and not going anywhere for a long time. Like everything in life, there are pros and cons to this newer form of technology.

I'm still all for letting the big wigs at Chick Fil A running the country; why not let them be the people of the year? 

4. What's a city, state, or country that you've visited that you never care to visit again? Tell us why. I'm about to say something super controversial here, so I hope we can still be friends after today. I think Disney is overrated. I get the magic of it for young kids, but I've been there several times and don't really care to ever go back. I'd go back to Epcot, but even that seems far fetched. I realize that this isn't a city, state or country, but it's all I could think of. 

5. Next Sunday (December 21st) marks the first day of winter. What's one thing you love about this new season? I kind of love winter, friends. I love the early nights, the season of embracing all of the cozy vibes, the snow, the promise of an impending new year, and that magical week between Christmas and New Year's day. I love the thought of snow days and time spent snuggled up at home with nowhere to be. I don't necessarily dislike January, either, like most people. I'm told that February is the longest month at school, because it's the only month with no breaks. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. Thanks for being here for me this week, friends. I had a rough ending to my birthday/start of the new week. I received some shocking news and it literally almost took me down. I called Marilyn, because what else would I do? She was here within ten minutes, and came right upstairs to my bedroom and laid on top of it with me. She hugged me, encouraged me, let me cry, let me sit in silence, and just locked eyes with me while we talked. I will never ever take this kind of friendship for granted! I'm so thankful for her, and that she is so close to me these days. 

I'm also thankful for you and your kind words to help get me through a tough start to the week. I'm not sure if I'll be back here tomorrow, but I plan on being here Friday to celebrate the final day of school for me. I can't believe semester one is almost over! Time has flown, and I am still so grateful to have a job that I love. As I write this, I'm group texting the ladies I eat lunch with everyday. 

I spent some time at Dad's grave with my sister and mom for my birthday on Saturday. I'll share more about the weekend on Friday. Thanks for being here to read my blog today, friends. Love to all!

Jenn xoxo