Living in Munchkinland

We are about to finish the semester. This part-time gig I have teaching theater is not part time. It is full time plus. I love it. I'm invested. I care so much about the students and I work so hard. I'm the head of the theater department and I am writing all the curriculum and building the entire program. There is no guideline. They just trust me to make it great. I make tons of mistakes. I hate making mistakes. I try to move forward from these learning lessons, but sometimes they get me down. I'm creating constantly though and I get tons of support from my administration and co-workers. I've just finished writing the basic curriculum for theater 2 and theater 3 which will be offered next year and I've chartered a Jr. Thespian troupe and on Friday I produced our first ever immersive murder mystery. We even got written up in the Denver Post. I've signed up for a broadway teacher workshop in NYC this summer and I'm probably going to run a camp at the school....

Last weekend we went to the Georgetown Christmas Market. I was really looking forward to this as Georgetown is a very picturesque and I have heard great things. It's about an hour away and we enjoyed the drive out even though Denver and Colorado is so very dry. We'd had only one snow this year and it was back in October. It's been unseasonably warm and so dry. That means the mountains and the trees are brown. But the sky is always beautiful here and the evergreens were still pretty. We got to Georgetown and saw a little children's parade and ate roasted chestnuts and strudel and bratwurst. We walked along the street and looked in shops. And that was it. It was really disappointing. The kids were bored and so we loaded back into the car and came home. I always like festivals and exploring our new state and being with family, but this particular outing was a bit of a let down. It might have been more fun with snow.

Last weekend, we booked a suite using an upgrade at the Hyatt downtown. We got an amazing room! The hotel was hosting a 1940's White Christmas Ball and it was so fun to see all these people dressed up for it! We walked around downtown and let the kids go ice skating. Then we went over to the German Christmas market for hot cider and a little shopping. As the sun set, we ran back to the hotel to get our warmer clothes and then headed to Civic Center Park where we had tickets in the Grandstand for the Denver Parade of Lights. The parade was so fun! The weather was very comfortable and the kids got light up swords and we got front row seats! We cheered and cheered and when the parade was over, we made our way back to our hotel. Our fancy suite was up on the 26th floor and had amazing views of the parade snaking through the streets below us so we got to see the parade from two different views. We ordered room service and put on jammies and cracked open a bottle of wine before settlin...

After the Broadmoor, Mom and Michael and the boys and I said goodbye to Tiff and her family and then we drove down to Taos for the weekend. It was an easy drive. It was so wonderful to be in Taos again! I've missed it. Our friends from the neighborhood, Kara and Ben, and their kiddos joined us. We ate good food and played lots of mexican train. We visited Twirl's Christmas party, but it was way too crowded so we walked around the plaza instead and visited our favorite shops. The next day, we drove out to the gorge and had lunch at Taos Mesa Brewery. That afternoon we hiked Manzanita. The weather was amazing and warm. The last day, mama and I took a wonderful walk through the sage brush and then we had lunch at Common Fire before saying goodbye and driving home. It was too short, but still wonderful. Taos is a magical place and I am so glad I get to visit there often.

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving at the Broadmoor. Mom flew in on Monday and on Tuesday we loaded the car and drove the hour to Colorado Springs and into an entirely different world. The Broadmoor is luxurious and beautiful. Our rooms were elegant and spacious. We had an adjoining room with mom which was wonderful. We ate amazing food and enjoyed the grounds. We hiked seven falls and then went back in the evening for the Christmas Lights. Sam celebrated his birthday there and enjoyed the rock shop and several deserts. We went bowling at Play and took a pickle ball lesson. We had a family pickle ball game the next day. We saw a falcon demonstration. We explored and loved the library. We played bingo and all won prizes. We smelled and admired the giant gingerbread house. We watched Peanuts Thanksgiving on the in house movie theater. Mom and I had a pedicure in the spa. It was a glorious three days with my family.