![]() I love our neighborhood. We walk almost everywhere and the metro is just down the street for longer trips. The National Zoo is our neighbor. For the majority of the year, this is fine. Yeah there are tourists, but we can take side streets to avoid the worst of the crowds. But, a few times a year, the zoo hosts nighttime events and the streets turn feral. Right now, it's ZooLights season. The display is great and draws tons of people. This is good for the zoo and local businesses. I 100% support it. The downside is the traffic. The zoo charges a steep parking fee. People don't want to pay so they park in our neighborhood. During the day, we are zoned for a 2-hour limit unless you have a residental permit. That stops at 6pm. So, we (*cough mostlymyhusband cough*) are left circling and circling for spots if we don't luck in to one of our building's few lot spots. It's rather annoying. Now, if parking was the only problem, I would tolerate the inconvenience and move on with my life. But, it's not. Parking is so difficult that people park illegally all over the place. They park in front of hydrants, the park overlapping driveways and crosswalks, they park in our private spots, and they park in no-parking zones meant for busses and loading. It's like the rules no longer apply. If there is a space, a driver will cram a car in - no matter how poorly. On top of this, drivers are frustrated which makes them more aggressive. More people drive through red lights, unexpectedly change lanes or make turns, and slam on the gas when they break free from traffic or see an open spot. It's scary when you're in a nearby car. It's terrifying when you're walking with your preschooler. This year, we're going to try to pick up our kid by metro as much as we can simply to avoid the chaos. It's less convenient, requires one of us to leave work early, and takes longer - but at least we stay off the roads.
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![]() It boggles my mind that it is December already. We've been slowly decorating our home for the holidays all week. It's been fun watching the kiddo get more excited each day. This year, we're trying a countdown calendar. It's one we get to fill and we've got lots of goodies on hand. Here's what else was good this week:
I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently.
*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org
![]() Some private high schoolers in Michigan were assigned an essay on evaluating websites. Apparently, their teacher referred to a page on our website as a resource for them. This is great! The downside is that they are abusing our online chat support service. We get one or two actual questions and then it devolves in to juvenile antics. Today was not the first time this has happened. It's a mix of fun and aggravating. On top of dealing with teenagers, here's what I'm working on:
![]() I was out of town with my family and yesterday was a travel day. This is going to be a short issue. Have a great Sunday!
I will be on scattered hiatus until after the Thanksgiving holiday. I will share the usual Weekly Wrap, but all other posting will be paused.
Our normal schedule will resume on Monday, November 27. ![]() On Tuesday, we received the last delivery from our farm share. It was our first time doing this and it turned out to be a rather tasty experience. It also was an education. This week, I wanted to share some things we learned over the past few months:
Have you ever had a farm share? What did you learn?
![]() I love that our HVAC units are Wi-Fi connected. Today, while in a Zoom meeting, I was able to adjust the temperature without leaving my seat. Plus, this means we can reset temperatures when we're away. Such a little thing but it makes life so much easier. Here's what else was good this week:
I read a lot of books with my kiddo. Kid Reads is a biweekly look at what we've enjoyed recently. It's just been a lot of Fancy Nancy lately.
*Books shared here may be affiliate links for Bookshop.org
![]() At work, I tried something new today. I declared it a "loose ends" day. Instead of working on major projects, I just tackled all the little things I've had lingering on my to do list. It felt so good to finally get those off my plate. I think, if my schedule allows, I will try to do this once a month. Here's what else I'm working on:
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