Where to Begin

Marney, aged 96, former long-time resident of Columbia, died Thursday, February 27, 2020 in Johnson City, Tennessee. 

The Giles county native grew up on a dairy farm. She was a graduate of Bunker Hill High School in Giles County. She married the love of her life, James, on May 23, 1941, just before he joined the U. S. Army to serve in World War II. During the war, she worked at Woldridge Drug Store.

After the war, Marney assisted her husband in running several Stuckey’s stores, including the one in Columbia. Travelers stopped in to taste her homemade spreads including pimento cheese and ham salad, and to admire the cherry tomato plants growing in the planters in front of the store. She was a faithful member of Riverside United Methodist Church for over 60 years, and enjoyed working in the church kitchen to prepare meals for fellowship events. Mrs. Minatra made the best scratch yeast rolls in the South. She was a great mother to her children and friend to all, especially her church family and her neighbors. She was the first one to lend a helping hand in times of trouble, usually with a casserole dish in hand. She loved tending to her flowers and working in her garden.

Winter Fun 2020

• Zach was a GREAT traveler to upstate NY!
• He loved our dinner, a chicken and cheese quesadilla, at the New York travel plaza
• He had four+ instructors (Drew, Pat, Chris, and Karl); John kept him in snacks and hotcho with an ice cube! He was truly living his best life!
• He was up early and to bed late; he couldn't wait to ski. He LOVED speed. He also enjoyed snowball fights
• The daycare at Gore Mtn was not his thing
• Ski school was impressed that Zach could put on his boots by himself, zip his jacket, etc. The woman operating the greenway said, “He’s so smart; he can carry on an entire conversation!”
• Dinners out at Bolton Landing Brewing and Sticks and Stones. At S&S, we played with Paw Patrol and hid them all around the restaurant. Zach posed in the snow mobile and played in the snow.
• He did not nap from Sat - Tues, and he was a little bit of a piece of work b/c he also did no
  t sleep more at night. :(
• Frank and I had a great day of skiing on the second day at Garnet Hill Lodge, and a frozen lake!
• Check out our photos here!
• The weekend after our trip to the Adirondacks, Frank and Zach went to Whitetail (PA) to snow tube. They had a blast.

Zach - Of Note

• He got a new Paw Patrol book from the book fair
• Fun soccer pics from picture day
  
• Tossing animals on his bed and saving them from hot lava (all around his bed)
• On the way to school one day, Zach asked "Why is that man was walking"? I said, "Maybe he likes walking; then he might be my soulmate." Zach then told me he was my soulmate. Awww
• Mickey Mouse DVD was a brief hit
• On a warm day, we stopped at the pole park and he slid down the poll 8 times! He initially just asked to go down one time, but it ended up being eight. :) Teehee.
• Playing fire fighters
• I got so frustrated with the lights and traffic on Elden one Saturday. (Zach embraces my rants a little too readily!) The next weekend with Daddy Bob, we tried to turn around our attitude on the same stretch of road and celebrated with almost elbow bumps every green light we made!
• Spent all afternoon outside on the time change day. Sun and weather that was "just right" temperature-wise and no mosquitoes yet!
• Frank tripped on a toy at dinner and wiped out in the dining room. Zach cried and cried. So empathetic.
• He tied my shoes together and wandered around the house. He thought it was SO funny!
  
• We decorating his helmet with stickers, most notably Paw Patrol and Gore Mtn
• We are loving playing volleyball over the bed
• Playing with Logan and Cora has been great. Can we be a family of seven with Mike and Mary through these trying times?

Sleep Update

• Ongoing challenges staying in room for 10 hours, but doing really well in the grand scheme. I'm sure I obsess on this WAY too much
• He gets out of bed several times from 8:30-9 for hugs and kisses. :)
• Lately he's insistent to know that I'm nearby and comes to double check over and over and over and he says, "Mama," not "Mommy"
• A general bit of a regression in the last week or so. Is it because he's trying to understand what this virus means or is it that My Little Pony is a little scarier?

Zach's Words & Songs

• His language is AMAZING! He's just slightly getting word ordering wrong. For example, Zach says, I'll fill up her, rather than I'll fill her up. Lately also we’ve talked about growed, flyed, etc. No, it’s grew and flew. Also, he told me this morning: I’m going to cool down you, rather than cool you down. (He was talking about Emmy’s fan.)
• He said, "I love walking." I love it every time he says that!
• Fox in Socks
• "Punching the face off" the virus
• The Mr. Butt song and choreography

Good Food

• Potter's cider and tempura cauliflower from Local VA
• AWESOME black beans (Auntie Em), live kale and cabbage salad with ginger and garlic, sweet potatoes, rice, and salsas/hot sauce.
• It was Kari's birthday and we all had lunch together from Bar Taco (Yum) and cheesecake
• Thai Luang has been added to the rotation for dinners out (sadly those are ending)
• Delicious homemade banana muffin at Gore Mtn
• Scones from Great Harvest
• Rick and Susan gave us scallions and ramps!

Family Time

The Zoo - it was probably my best visit to the zoo ever. Zach and I took a carousel ride. The lion roared, the tiger vocalized. Pandas, lemurs, and orangutans on the ropes in the sky! 37 turtles! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Photos here.

Visits with

• Auntie Em - so many great walks
• Dress shopping with Katheen and a great walk around Reston; we tried out Local VA
• Walks with Katie
• Walk with Emily R and dinner with her and Andrew
• Krista's goodbye lunch at Enyate for Ethiopian
• Grandad and some great Hot Wheels racing
  
• Frank - a couple nice walks
• Auntie Em and Mom and Dad after Emily's mastectomy
• Check-ins from Virginia

Fun and Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• SICK - I had a cold or was recovering for almost an entire month!
• Leadership Institute for Feb; Ben's mini-MBA was really impactful!
• AMP program and the financial module - Judie helped me!
• I really love the DiSC Jockeys. I have a great group of amazingly grounded colleagues
• Eva and I talked about agile philosophy and decision making
• It reminds me that if I have aspirations, it would be in organizational development. I would love to learn how to administer the assessments like DiSC, Myers-Briggs, etc.
• Volunteered with GoCanvas at Women Giving Back
• Spawned Parenting Podcast's episodes on coronavirus and discipline (Thanks, Amanda)
• Finished Anne with an "E"
• Zumba, zumba, zumba - I love Kate, Tammy, and Corrina and I got to go to a 90-minute Zumba-a-thon!
• TAL and The Moth stories on 2/22/20
• Drinking less b/c of Lynch Syndrome
• The Heartbreaker! Man, I love that movie.
• Enjoying the book, Women Walking North!
• Signed up for CSA with Potomac Vegetable Farms
• Laura Friend reminded us that Mama Pepper said, "It takes a lot to keep a strong woman down."

  

  A fave quote
  that has made
  its way from
  SCORE to
  GoCanvas

Sleep Success, Zich and Zach, and More

Zach - Of Note

• Zach remembers to wash his hands and clears his dishes. We're trying to make both a habit. The hand washing is almost there.
• He always closes the car door and puts himself in his car seat. Every time.
• A couple mornings we walked to school, and since it's so cold, Zach is not always a fan. Those mornings we told him that the building management needed us to check on the gate and the sign and that we also needed to make sure the red light/walk signal was working.
• Zach went to two parents nights out and Merrick was at both. What a blast!
• Zach's dance recital
  
• Spending the night with Grandad
• We took Zach out for Thai!
• Valentine's Day and the heart-shaped cake from Trader Joe's
• He picks at his nails all the time.
• Still a lot of playing with the neighborhood kids!

Sleep Update

• He did great, but it took time. I used the "walk back" or mantra method, but also tried checking back on him. In the end that didn't work, and we went with mantra method: "It's time for sleeping. You need to stay in your room/bed." Frank and I split things up at first, but before I was about to leave on my trip and as Zach really seemed to get the hang of it, I handled all nights for the last week or so. 
• I did research and talked a lot with fellow parents at GoCanvas. We bonded around our kids' sleep challenges. I listened to the Parenting Beyond Discipline podcast. It took from January 16 - Feb 1, but he really had things down in two weeks. 
• We tried having music on as he fell asleep since they do that at school, but that was distracting. 
• He got many rewards for his hard work: a trip to Peets with me and visiting my work, multiple visits to the water park at the St. James, and in fact, the afternoon after he went to the water park for the first time, he fell asleep while I was reading to him, which has NEVER happened. He got to go to a Paw Patrol show. There were too many toys, and a Paw Patrol book with a blond-haired, brown-eyed Zach as the hero. 
• He sleeps with his light on (dimmed). We watched the Daniel Tiger about "See what it is, you might feel better." Before the sleep training, I started talking with him about "Sleep Rules." Lay down, close your eyes, be still. We also always used to go to sleep "on our tummy." 
• He needed strategies for what he would do when he woke up and was scared. 1. Hug spider man 2. Try to go to sleep w/ sleep rules 3. Read a book. 4. Try to go to sleep w/ sleep rules 5. Read a second book. 6. Try to go to sleep w/ sleep rules. That seemed to work!
• The goal is in his room from 8:30pm-6:30am. The 8:30-9pm is still a lot of popping up, but the morning works pretty well. 
• His training now works for his naps, and he spends 2-ish hours in his room either playing by himself, reading, or napping. It's pretty great. 
• We are so proud of him!

Zach's Words & Songs

• Driving to meet Mary Kay and Hance, he noticed the Mormon Church off the Beltway for the first time. He said, "My wish came true. I wanted to see a castle."
• We are loving Story Pirates and Eat Your Spanish. One day I could hear him repeating the words: “mama,” “papa,” “abuelo,” and “abuela.” Teehee! 
• The Bippolo Stories are great! Zach is loving the story of “Todd and Tadd,” so this morning, we decided his alter ego version would be Zach and Zich.
• We read the story of Pinocchio after Zach saw a Geico commercial at Dogfish Head with Pinocchio on it.

Good Food

• Mushroom ravioli at Maggiano's and a visit with Kathleen
• Sunday morning with Auntie Em - I took her to a Rake's Progress to celebrate the end of chemo, and we went to the Dupont Circle farmer's market. Fun!
• The heart-shaped cake from Trader Joe's
• Great brunch in Woodstock with Gamma and Daddy Bob
  

Visits with

• So may walks with Auntie Em
• Walks with Katie
• Bowling with Katie, Suji, and Veronica
• Dinner with Rae
• Lunch with Emily R.
• Dinner with Jenifer and her family (Dennis, Jason, Zac) and Katie and Suji. There were no phones at all!
• To Vanish with Merrick's parents
• Mom and Dad
• Mary Kay and Hance
  

Fun (and Not So Fun) Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• Marcus Buckingham: Which bit of your day flew by recently?
• Bonding over Richard Marx and Vertical Horizon with Judie and Kiersten
• I led two, great small-group sessions on inclusive leadership!
• Bourne movies (Supremacy and Legacy)
• AMP Kickoff, Sales & Marketing Summit
• Runs along the Pacific Ocean
• Karaoke to Dancin' Queen and 70's costumes!
  
• Watched Miss Americana
• Marney, Jim, Virginia :(
• Hiking at Seven Bends State Park
• Some great changes with Amanda: walking daily check-ins and white board sessions for her 1:1
• The Good Place continues and enjoying Spinning Out
• One-year anniversary at GoCanvas!
  

The Holidays & More

His new monster hat

Zach - Of Note

• We have special nights and watch/listen to a concert DVD. That is in addition to "special dinner" where we eat at the dining room table. We watched Matchbox Twenty twice, and he now is a devotee of Rob Thomas.
• In the middle of breakfast one morning, he got up to "tell Daddy something." Turns out he had to tell him about the new MOD Pizza opening by MOM's. Teehee!
• Zach got balloon art that was supposed to be a sword, but he called it his leaf blower.
• We had a blast at the U.S. Botanic Gardens and National Air and Space museum! Zach loved seeing Thomas the Train, wandering in the tropical areas, making a paper airplane for a competition, and visiting a space capsule!
  
  
  
  
• We've had several afternoons of all the neighborhood kids out playing together. Awesome!
• Zach assigned us all a coaster at special dinner. I got the snowy scene (Lake Ohara in Yoho NP), Zach the mountains (Paintbrush Canyon at Grand Teton, and Frank the "beautiful" lake (Grinnell Lake at Glacier). 

Zach's Books: 

• Loving Dr. Seuss. We dug out the books that Charlotte gave us a long time ago!
• Loving Curious George!
• I bought him a new book, "Don't Lick This Book," but he doesn't love it as much!

Sleep Update

Spider Man on the
Metro

• Sleep Training. It's hard. It'll be fine. We're on day five. The goal is that he is on his own in his room from 8:30pm-6:30am. 
• I got him a large, soft Spider Man doll, and it's supposed to keep him safe. The jury is still out on whether that was effective.... Zach did thank you me over and over and over for getting it for him, though. 
• The dimmed lamp on all night seems to be the ticket. 
• He is reading by himself when he gets up before 6:30am and waits in his room until his clock glows green. That's new.
• Frank took him to the indoor water park at the St. James as a reward for being so brave and starting sleep on his own. He had a blast!

Zach's Words & Songs (and Spanish, dance, music etc.)

• Interview with Zachary Dammann about the book Auntie Claus. "It's odd, but not too odd."
• Zach says, I get to "spend the day" and he means, "I get to spend the day with Mommy and Daddy!"
• He has said, "It's incredibly warm," and "I just realized Logan and Cora are outside." Also, "We're the most marvelous Mommy and Daddy!"
• One night at special dinner with just the two of us, I asked him what was challenging in his day, and he originally said nothing, and I said, “Well, did you cry today?” and he said, “Yes, I fell off the rock wall and hurt my leg, and I cried, but now it’s better. I’m sure it will be fine." He’s so funny. 
• One night Frank and Zach were playing a game where they’d turn off the lights and use flashlights to find “elusive” things, and at one point, they searched for me, “the elusive Mommy.” Zach said, “I’ve met her before, she is so nice.”
• Dance and music continue. Soccer just restarted. Spanish is a little less consistent than I'd like, but we do like the "Z" words: zapatos and zanahoria. 

Empathy Corner

• Since it's winter, and it was a cold Nov & Dec, we've been walking to/from school less, but one day this month when we walked to school, Zach said, “Mommy, I love walking with you.” 
• He said lots of nice things about being grateful for me, loving his Taco Truck (if only it had a back door that opened, a moving steering wheel, and a chef Basir). The menu on the side: surprisingly detailed and has tongue on it. Ewww.
  
• Zach took his robot (from Grandad at Christmas) to show and share because he thought Merrick would really like playing with it!
• Heart ornament, which made me realize I'm missing my family necklace. :(

Christmas: 

• We sang Christmas songs some: Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and the Twelve Days of Christmas.
• The teachers at Zach's school appreciated his soaps, and Staci said the hall smelled so good with all the soaps in the stockings!
• We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day with the FoDamKo families!
• Zach loved his Paw Patrol "rocket ship"/"flyer." 
• He also loved his fire trucks, and now he has six!
• Curious George from Uncle Jeff - a huge hit!
• We had Christmas with Jeff on January 1, and I got Zach a Taco Truck. He initially loved it, but 3 weeks later, I have no idea where it is! 

Susan & Frank

• Trip to Harrisburg, PA. We started with dinner at Millstone (very yummy and Woodberry Kitchen-like. Cozy). We walked around downtown Harrisburg, and it was so festive. There was an Amish market and music. We explored the state Capitol grounds by driving around looking for parking and then eventually having to park fairly far away! The show was only Jason Isbell and his guitarist, Sandler Vaden. Jason Isbell was chatty, and it was a great show. He played a lot of my fave songs including Alabama Pines and Relatively Easy. When he came out for his encore, he asked, "Are you not sufficiently saddened?" 
• Dinner at Finn Thai

Good Food

• Wonderful Christmas Eve Nosh and Frank made brisket for Christmas dinner
• The Kelly's Central American feast
• Emily's cookies fresh and hot from the oven at Aliana and Nathan's (b/c I froze them). TY, Auntie Em!
• Zach and I made fruit salad for breakfast at Michael and Leah's and took cream cheese and jelly danishes. Leah made great egg muffins and Michael made bacon. Delicious. 
• We have a lot of chicken and cheese quesadillas from Tacos and More/Taco Zocalo and Senor Ramon's. See above!
• An excursion to House 6 Brewery and FireWorks pizza.

Visits with

Zach, Frank, Tristan,
neighborhood families

• Auntie Em
• Kathleen and Brian at Vanish. She asked me to be her "best person" at her wedding. I'm so touched!
• Great time with Katie, Suji, and Veronica and their delicious Central America feast.
• Penni, Tommy, and Jennifer for our annual New Year's Day dinner. 
• Aliana and Nathan and family
• Emily and Emily and Andrew at Crooked Run
• Kate and Tristan
• Michael and Leah and the cousins - tennis!

Fun and Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• Ocelot where we had Smiling Tummy Thai and beers. Zach enjoyed pinball and golf. I played Ms. Pacman. 
• This American Life Christmas improv episode and lots of good Story Pirates episodes!
• Took Emily to third round of chemo. She found out via PET scan that there is no other cancer, and she had her last chemo on 1/17//20.
• Watched Bourne Identity and peeled grapefruit
• My cohort groups are SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! We're practiced nonviolent communication (minimize, deny, interrogate, console, educate, sympathize re: headaches and toothaches)!
• Chris was really appreciative of my constructive and thoughtful feedback re: product training. :)
• Two Zumba classes on Saturdays came to end. Tammy and Kate teach at the same time. Really! :( I hit an all time high on 1/18/20, burning 518 calories at Kate's class. Wow!

Zumba caliente

• Really enjoyed Born a Crime and 32 Yolks; currently reading Life from Scratch, which is surprisingly relevant as was Born a Crime in terms of my empathy education!
• Frank and I watched Unbelievable, which was quite good, and I'm still watching The Good Place and enjoying it. Just started Season 3
• Got to see the movie, Knives Out, and it was really fun!
• Thanks to my sister, who is the best! She just keeps listening. 
• Word for 2020: growth

What a Month?!

Zach - Of Note

• We've been leaving things at restaurants a lot. The last two times we've gone to Tacos and More we've left something! They need our phone #!
• We've played several games of football basketball at the park.
• I cut Zach's hair this month. It had been three months, so it was a big change!
• At dinner at Dogfish, another table talked about how well-behaved Zach was. Awww...
• Zach and Frank play a robotchen game in the car and make robot sounds. 
• Zach wanted me to tell him a story/tell him something silly. We haven't done that for a while. 
• Frank makes his car "sling shot" and Zach loves it!
• Zach got a ram ornament from Sigga, and it's hanging in the window. Sometimes we remember to say, "Good morning, ram."
• Zach and friends at school pretend to be baby animals, and he loves to try and play this at home. When I play with him, we always have to "get in our pouch.” Doesn't really make sense, but I roll with it. 
• A lot of good family walks to and mostly from CT!
• Zach is enjoying "Rescue Dragons," "Richard Scarry," and "Noddy, the Toy Detective."
• One afternoon, Zach put out several fires in my black shoes. He used the ladder truck to get in there! Tee hee. 
• He thought peaches were giving him scratches....
• Zach wore his Paw Patrol PJs from Auntie Em last night and he was SO EXCITED! (See pic at top.)
• I got Zach dinosaur bottoms and a “Chillin’ with my Gnomies” as Xmas festive! Merrick had the same shirt!

  

  Zach's boat design for Lego camp, and the boat.
  Also, his "hanging with my gnomies" shirt.

• Ms. Kausar said that Zachary is interested in everything, he tries everything! It's great.
• We told Santa about our need for another fire truck. The doors must open. 
  

Zach's Birthday = Amazingly fun!

• Some of his presents had been delivered, so we had to tell him about the birthday fairy who takes your gifts and keeps them safe from the birthday gnomes.
• Birthday cupcakes and party at school
• Zach opened his present from Emmy and she sent him the sweetest card. He also loved his Fireman Sam utility belt
• Emily and Andrew sent Zach PJ masks toys. So thoughtful!
  
• He got a present before breakfast (Chase's police car with Paw Patrol characters) and he barely ate breakfast! At one point, he said "Rocky, do you want to come? No, ok, well go without you!" 
• We took him to Super, Awesome, and Amazing, and he was the only kid there at 9 am. He got in some good play time on his own/with us because it filled up at 10 am! We went on the trampoline, ninja course, and climbing structure in addition to enclosed climbing structure and slides. 
• After about 1.5 hours, he wanted to go home and play with the his Paw Patrol police vehicle. He played in the car. No shows either way! We got back at 11:15 am and got set for the party. Rick, Sigga, and Mike, Mary, Logan, and Cora came in addition to Mom and Dad and Emily and Jeff. Very fun. We had the second St. Ambrose Mead (Wild Ginger) and shared the Antrim Cider. Zach, Logan, and Cora played and played and eventually found themselves outside. Nap and a trip to Vanish. We had grapefruit cider, the wee heavy, and Peruvian chicken items! Very fun and festive! Legos were a hit!!!!! See the empire! 

Thanksgiving

• Thanksgiving was a lot of fun too!
• Frank and I ran the Turkey day 5K and Mom and Dad brought Zach over and he won his tot trot.
• We headed down to Charlottesville. Zach napped in the car. He had a blast with his cousins, the go cart, the gator. He shared his toys. Paw Patrol and the fire truck are a big hit! Nolan and Zach got into major giggles saying the word "potato" over and over. It was their own language. Zach loved Juliana's food on Friday. He had her rice and beans and chocolate cake. Pretty great choices.
• On the way home, we played a great game driving through the countryside. Around every bend, we'd pick if we'd see silos, cows, farm equipment, etc. We saw a lot of silos!

Sleep Update
Because of major excitement over his birthday and seeing his cousins at Thanksgiving, Zach started waking up in the 5 o'clock hour this month. :(

Zach's Words & Songs (and Spanish, dance, music etc.)

• He sings: “Buenos dias, buenos dias, como estas, como estas. Muy bien, gracias, Muy bien, gracias, Y Usted, Y Usted.” 
• We listened to Stephen Kellogg this morning, and Zach was playing on his own nearby. After the 4th of July and Watch You Grow songs, he said, “I like that song. That was a good song.” So cute. 
• I had a physical this month and had to go in for bloodwork. I told Zach to remind me that I wasn’t supposed to eat. I started eating some rice from preparing my lunch, and he said, “Don’t eat. Don’t eat.” Thanks, Zach!
• Frank took a video of Zach dancing. It's great. He took a different dance camp in December too, and he's just a GREAT dancer. 
• Zach told me to bring my crown in since it’s “shiny and beautiful.” I'm not sure what he's talking about. 
• Zach loved Wacky Wednesday, and he also likes Gus and Sam
• Zach asks a lot about words or phrases and what they mean: soak, shape as in "we're in good shape."
• He is also saying, "it breaked" and assuming English make sense and has a pattern. Oh, no. It didn't "breaked," it "broke."
• We did a lot of rhyming one day corn, torn, worn.
• Zach and I have started doing almost daily Spanish. I've found podcasts and an app. He reminds me to "do Spanish" every day.
• Zach used the word "consent" today or something equally unexpected. He says, "that's a brilliant idea!"

Empathy Corner

• Zach asks about Auntie Em.
• Zach remembered that the cousins love cream cheese danish. He said, "Mommy, we need to get cream cheese," and I thought it was weird since neither he nor Frank like cream cheese. Then, I remembered that we'd talked about getting danishes (cream cheese and jelly) to take to Thanksgiving!
• At bedtime one night Zach thanked me for his police car and told me I was beautiful and lovely.
• Then, another day, he wanted to take Paw Patrol vehicle again to school, and he said, “Thank you, Mommy.” What kid does that? 
• Then, walking to the car, I slipped on an icy patch and totally wiped out. Totally. Zach was so concerned. He said, “I was so worried you’d hurt your ankle again.” Then, he laughed, and it was probably pretty funny, so fine. The next day, he held my hand so I wouldn't fall again and very deliberately made sure I didn't walk on the same patch of pavement where I'd fallen.  

Susan & Frank

• Frank's birthday. We tried out the Famous Toastery. Not impressed! Zach and I bought him cheesecake, which was very tasty! We had to search the house for matches to light his candle! 
• Frank and I went for a 6-mile hike on the Cross County Trail and that was super-fun!
• The Movember couple. Frank didn't shave (see above), and I won GoCanvas' biggest mover! 290+ miles in November
  
• We had a couple of nights at home to do our own thing and have dinner at home when Zach went to the parents night out at the Zumba gym.
• Lunch at Ethiopian with Frank
• Dinner out at Red's Table
• Frank shopped, bought beer and gluhwein, and made beef short ribs. Nice!

Good Food & Drink

• Frank’s chicken in wine was delicious and Zach LOVED it. I love that he see his daddy cooking! 
• Cooking at Emily's before Thanksgiving and then she made breakfast for dinner. Yum!
• Emily's waffles!
• Tour de breweries: Old Ox, Vanish, Crooked Run, Ocelot, Solace. At Ocelot, we had pizza from Coal Fired Pizza and we all agreed it was really good! Lots of fun with games too!
• Pumpkin cinnamon scones at Weird Brothers
• Cheese Advent calendar
• Jesse’s red beans and rice with sausage
• Azteca latte from Weird Brothers

Visits with

• Katie x 2 
• Gamma and Bob - Zach had a great time!
• Pre and post chemo walks with Auntie Em
• Emily & Andrew
• Calls with Mary Kay and Kathleen
• Kathleen and Kate sat Golden West and Mary Kay and Hance (Aquarium, Clemyjontri)
• Fantastic cookie party with Rachel, Teddy, and Jewell and neighborhood fire pit, cheer, and gluhwein
• Brunch and a Christmas movie at Auntie Em's
• Zach's friends and parents at Viya's party and AMAZING food, mostly Indian. Yum!
  

Fun Stuff and Not So Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• A visit to the National Gallery of Art and National Portrait Gallery
• Peter Bradley Adams! He kept thinking it was Tuesday instead of Wednesday and it made for a funny bit.
• I bought Jonas The Snowy Day, and we had a fun time at his party at Old Ox! Jesse actually stopped me before we left and thanked me for making work such a great place for Amanda! Her in-laws knew me too (in a good way) and said, "Oh, you're Susan!" It felt very good! 
• Lots of walking and running and some Wednesday Zumba classes and Tammy's class at Lifetime! :)
• Very flattered to be nominated for K1's AMP (Adv Mngmt Program)
• I was very moved by this video: https://www.marcusbuckingham.com/rwtb/the-speech-i-never-intended/?unapproved=14852&moderation-hash=cb959e4b89fac15d45f75b1f5dbd494b#comment-14852 
• I keep running into GoCanvasers; Anya at the office park by Tacos and More and Eric at Weird Brothers
• Finished Trapped. I've been watching The Good Place. Enjoyed Brittany Runs a Marathon
• Great December Leadership Institute on inclusive leadership
• Did the nonviolent communication exercise in my strengths cohort and it went well. I do love Megan, Anya, and Felipe.
• Fun Mission to Bars and cookie exchange
• Ice skating! See above.
• People Team Christmas festivities
• Love Factually at the Kennedy Center; I was tapped for audience be participation. Kansas (Kansas City). Where do I hang in case Kansas (windmills)?
• PMS2 - it's not for the weak as my shirt says
• Regular gratitude: Gratitude to the universe for going down to Tennessee and having Zach make memories with Jim and Terri that he remembers! Thank you to my body for serving me so well. Thank you to my body for giving me strength. Thank you for handling everything. Thank you to my boss for being so caring. Thank you to my sister for also be so caring. My parents are wonderful and helpful and glad to be there for us. Yay. Thanks to Jordan for listening at work one day. Thank you to Katie and Emily R.
  

Enjoying the Beauty of Fall

In the orchard
at Great Country

Zach - Of Note

• A windy walk home with Zach. “Do it again, Windy!” 
• We put my watch to bed every night now. 
• Still playing "eye spy with my little eye," and "Tell me something silly." 
• One morning, Zach played nicely at home as a “work man.” I called him a “handyman,” but he corrected me. He used his toolbox to put screws in the bathroom door and used his hammer as well. Too funny!
• One night while Zach was dishing out fruit for everyone, he didn't have as many bowls as he needed, so he walked over with a full spoon to the cabinet and got out a bowl. A miracle that he didn't spill any!
• Zach got two hugs one week: 1 from Merrick and 1 from Jack!
• So many birthday parties!

• New babysitter, Lauren. After her first session, Zach said, "I miss her." Before she came the second time, he said, "I love her," and after that second visit, "We should invite her to sleep over." 
• Zach woke up on Halloween and said, “This is going to be the best day ever!” He trick or treated as Gekko with Christian. 

• A warm day trip on the Metro and ice cream! Zach said, "let's go to a coffee shop and get hot chocolate," and I said, "It's more of an ice cream/milk shake day." He agreed.
• Zach prefers the cheeseburger at Dogfish, but the fries at Red's Table. 
• We drove past a cemetery and Zach remarked on the beautiful flowers and how he wanted to go there. 
• Zach is loving pretending to be an animal. He is the baby and I'm the mommy or vice versa. We've done cheetahs, kitties, and dogs.
• We all went to the polls together on Election Day. See his sticker!

• Zach got a catalog from Amazon, and he loves to read his "recipes." We've told him it's a catalog. He has a lot of wishes for his birthday. 
• He's been having a great time with his trains, and when he got three new Hot Wheels, we got his track back out.
• Baking soda baths and cream continue!

  

  Just because

Grateful for
Felipe: he remembered to ask about Emily

Sleep Update
No changes!

Zach's Words & Songs, Dancing, Music, Soccer, and Spanish

• Zach has been singing the "999, gonna be there on time" and he loves to sing the PJ Masks song, "I can't think of a rhyme."
• He's been rocking out with Frank in his car, and he has been loving the Counting Crows, especially Mrs. Potter and Mr. Jones. He sings! He asked why Adam Duritz was crying at the end of one of the songs. I think Anthony would agree since he always thought they sounded whiny. :)
• Zach said how much he loved the “meat Daddy made.” “It was really good,” he said! 
• We have fun imitating the GPS and how it says “Fairfax County Parkway”! 

Susan & Frank

• Making time for each other
• Date night at Two Silos. They had the late 90's early '00's music going strong and an outdoor fireplace!
• Coffee dates at Weird Brothers and Amphora
• The Wailin' Jennys!

The makings of special dinners

Good Food

• Special dinners! On 10/15/19, we started having special dinners 2-3 nights/week. What is it: 
• We all eat together at the table.
• Zach picks our seats and napkins. We use our name cards from Emily and Andrew's wedding.
• The "best behaved" person from the last dinner gets the red chicken.
• Some surprises show up like gourds, Zach's magical fruit salad, or cinnamon apple straws.
• We often pick songs to listen to. 
• Sometimes Frank and I will stay at the table to chat while Zach watches his shows. 
• Emily's waffles and baba ganoush
• Stops for lattes at Bikelane Brewing
• Emily's faro grain bowl!
• Saturday lunches at Crooked Run/Senor Ramon's/Daybreak. Zach loves his cheese quesadilla. He enjoyed playing with Lucas. 
• Sprinkle cookies from Rachel, Teddy, Jewell and Erik
• Frank's chicken in wine, his rice, and my veggies. Yum!

Visits with

• Auntie Em (We burned sage to cleanse on one visit.)
• Mary Kay
• Kathleen
• Mom & Dad
• Bettie and Van and Hot Wheels cars for Zach!
• Katie

Fun Stuff (Personal and Professional)

• Reading Insight and worked on "my life story." Shared Tasha Eurich's TED Talk on LinkedIn and MKC appreciated it. Joined Tasha's Beta class. 
• Many wonderful walks and runs! I love Lake Fairfax Park! A really beautiful Oct/Nov 
• Watching "Trapped" and loved "Northern Rescue," set on the Georgian Bay
• Kate and Tammy's Zumba class! 2 in one day! Corrina's class!

• Magical day at Great Country Farms. Zach had a blast. We picked apples and ate the Fujis in the orchard. We went to Henway Cider and had an awesome lunch. Fire pits, fall color, sunshine! I then took the Metro and listened to Second City Works, “Get to Yes, And…” with Lydia Slaby and her book, “Wait It Gets Worse.” Kathleen and I met at the National Gallery of Art, and we had dinner at Jaleo. Awesome!

Henway Ciders

• A beautiful sunrise on a run. The sky was pink and with all the reds, yellows, and oranges, it was beautiful!
• We went back to Great Country Farm two Sundays in a row! We played and had lunch at Henway. I then took Zach to Woodstock, and I went hiking to Tibbet Knob at Wolf Gap. Awesome!

At Tibbet Knob

• In the quest for more fun and funny things in our life, my colleague Lindsey found this gif for me. Tee hee!
  

Not So Fun Stuff: 

• A sick month, though it doesn't feel that way to think back on it. As I read through my journal, though, it was! Zach was sick with a stomach bug and gave it to all of us. Then, we all got a cold, and I got a cough that lingered and lingered!
• The news about Jim. Some great Jim memories: magical fruit salad, peanuts and blue jays, growing lettuce, his drinks, generosity - Grandad’s truck and Seabring. Carpet picnics in college. Texas Instruments gifts.
• Genetics appointment with Mom and Dad and my own results :(