Carol’s Weekly Roundup: December 1, 2024 – Thanksgiving

Snapshot of My Week

This week was all about transforming our rec room into a fun tiki room just in time for my family’s Thanksgiving gathering at our place.

• Monday

  • Began designing an open source photography textbook
  • Worked on Tulsa case notes
  • Spent way too much $ on groceries and gifts at Walmart
  • Ordered a chicken nugget happy meal from McDonalds and couldn’t eat it because all I could taste was grease.

• Tuesday

  • Began transforming our drab rec room into a fun tiki room. 
    • Prepped the walls
    • Supply run to Lowes
    • Painted first coat on walls
  • Alex returned from Florida
  • Brainstormed name for my webhosting and design business (Zion1010) It’s the antithesis of the grid from Tron but a sphere.

• Wednesday

  • Black Friday Shopping
  • Karl drove down from Ohio so we could do Thanksgiving with our families.

• Thursday, Thanksgiving Day

  • Everything hurts! (Arthritis)
  • Worked on a new web project www.theknightslantern.com
  • Painted the Tiki Room

• Friday

  • Finished painting the Tiki Room at 7am and cleaned up so the house would look nice for the family gathering
  • Thanksgiving with our Families
    • My family and Karl’s family joined us at our place in Anniston for Thanksgiving. I think we had at least 25 people and it was so great catching up and spending time with our loved ones since it’s so rare we get to spend time together. The food was great. I said the blessing (my first time) and felt my grandmothers presence with me. Several people stayed late into the evening so it was a very full and long day but it was a good one.

• Saturday

  • Slept in to recover from all the sleep I missed. I woke up to a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses at my door. I was a bit groggy so I invited them in. It was interesting to hear some of their beliefs and they seemed nice. I enjoy talking about spiritual stuff with others but not when it feels like they’re trying to push their agenda on you. 
  • Worked on blog templates and Karl and I coworked on Blackwater stuff for several hours.
  • I bit the bullet and upgraded my hosting plan to a reseller package so I can expand my web services.

• Sunday

  • Continued work on my open source photo textbook
  • Updated UIU master shell for my photo class
  • Made some dance videos around the house and videos with Karl and Alex.

Creative Corner

• Painted the Tiki Room
• Dance Videos showing off work around the house

Moments That Mattered

Finally painting the rec room and transforming the drab blue gray walls into a fun Tiki room was the last major project for the inside of the house so that felt amazing.

Staying in town to spend Thanksgiving with our families was nice. We didn’t know we would be in town until 5 days before. Karl hadn’t wanted to but when I let him know that I wanted to he agreed to drive down, surprisingly without any fuss, and that meant a lot to me.

Questions for Reflection

• What’s one thing you’re grateful for?
  • I’m grateful for the opportunity to reconnect and spend time with my family. I had forgotten how much I enjoy family get togethers under the right conditions. It was a pleasure to see and speak with everyone and it gave me the extra motivation to paint the tiki room and make the house fun and inviting for all.

Looking Forward

• Sleep!