January 2026 Update
We rang in the new year with our game night crew, wearing pajamas, and eating grapes under the table. It was perfect!
January is usually pretty boring but work is always a little chaotic at the start of the year. With the weather being so cold, pickleball was rare except for Wednesdays at PBK on our off day and some random sunny days. I have no major goals for 2026 other than to let the universe surprise me. However, I am working on building some habits. Each day, I need to check at least one thing off this list: read, walk, pickleball or something from my joy list.
Skylar made it back from visiting Philadelphia and we headed straight to the hospital to meet my first great niece. She’s sooooo cute! We also finished up the bar area in the kitchen by adding some plant shelves. It turned out so great and we use this area every day!
Skylar turned 19 this month. It was the first birthday we’ve been apart but she did come back home over the weekend and I made her favorite mac-n-cheese gnocchi bowl and cheesecake. We spent the last part of her winter break figuring out how to fund a $20K flight lab but we did it. I’m so excited to see her earn her private pilot’s license this semester!
We finally made it to Zoolumination. This is one of my most favorite Nashville activities. I hate winter but I love seeing twinkly lights in the darkness. Every year, they change it up a bit so it always feels fresh and new. This was my 4th year to go and I still love it just as much. It’s even better with friends. I still remember going by myself the very first time back in 2022. Learning to do things on my own was good for me, but it also makes me appreciate having friends even more.
For Book Club this month, we read The Academy by Elin Hildenbrand. I can’t wait for the sequel. Instead of meeting up at a restaurant, we gathered to make 2026 vision boards instead. That was so much fun and an opportunity to be creative.
And then came the ice storm. We were prepared with a generator but lucked out and only lost power for a few hours at a time. Thankfully we have MTE but the rest of Nashville who has NES wasn’t so lucky. Some areas took 10-14 days to get power back. Once the roads were clear, Jason was able to bring his parents here for a few days. They were ultimately without power for 5 days. I’m just fine being a homebody, so I didn’t leave the house for a week. First stop, Pickleball Kingdom. LOL.
That’s about it for January. I’m very much looking forward to the days getting longer and warmer. The first six weeks of the year are my least favorite, but we are almost at the end of the bitter cold season and it gets much better from here.
