Eagles versus Patriots: naming John's Jeep

A few weeks ago, I asked John if he ever gave his car a name. He told me he didn't and I said him he should! "Actually I was thinking about it the other day." he replied.

About a week ago, I asked him if he had come up with a name. He hadn't yet. "You should name it something patriotic! It is a Jeep Patriot after all." Then we came up with a bunch of patriotic names.

• Martha Washington
• Paul Revere (my personal favorite)
• George Washington
• Abraham Lincoln
• Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Paine
• And who knows what else!

Then Moriah "got an idea, a perfectly wonderful, awful idea!" I coerced John into saying yes to my plan. If the Patriots won the Super bowl, he could name his Jeep Patriot. And as I'm from the land of the Jordan-Elbridge Eagles, if the Eagles won, I would name the car.

So Sunday rolled around, and for the first time in my life, I watched a football game from start to finish. 😉

I was feeling pretty confident that I would get to name the car.

I mean look at the score! 

 Then John got happy, because the Patriots were ahead for the first time the entire game it seemed! That's when I thought to myself, wow....

Next thing I knew, the Eagles won!!! Wahoo! Little did John know, that I forgot my ideas for the car and were silently googling them towards the end of the game. 😂

As he drove me home, I asked if I could still name the car and he said yes. So I told him the 4 names I had for it. The Revolutionary War/Patriotic remained a theme.

• Uncle Sam
• Lexington (of Concord and Lexington fame)
• Remington
• Charleville (A musket the French gave us Patriots in the Revolutionary War)

And drumroll please....

...he picked...

Lexington!!!!

Coffee Shop #6

Rise and Grind is new in the scene! It opened up in November I believe.

Inside they have bookshelves, a fire place, cute places to gab, and of course, coffee! Here they serve Cafe Kubal. 

The crew working on some yummy drinks, and food!

Mom and I rose "early" on Saturday so we could do a little bit of belated Christmas/early Three Kings Day shopping without kiddos. 

She got a hot cocoa, and I got a cup of Guatemalan which is my faborite Kubal medium roast.

For breakfast they offer a few features that change. That day I had a delicious oatmeal topped with fruit and Mom had prosciutto toast. All in all, a great girls morning out!

Coffee Shop #5

Back at Christmas time, I needed to deliver a Christmas present to my friend. So en route, we stopped at the Farmington Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters.

As it was Dec 9th, we picked up some coffee!

Dad had stopped at this one before, but it was a first for me.

Standing in line, I decided we should try one of their holiday drinks! So we got an eggnog latte which was quite yummy! Although I burned my tongue. 😉

We decided to try their "White Christmas" coffee which was highly enjoyed through the Christmas season. I guess next year I shall have to try a few of their others!

Stage Confidence Lessons

Today I taught and learned one of the best dance lessons I can.

Yesterday and today I taught a two day dance class with the middle school kids. We had a blast as we danced to songs from Broadway musicals, talked about Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke, and learned to have fun with dance.

Last night, I found this quote: "It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer." ~ Shanna LeFleur

Hmm...I thought, I want to teach them that tomorrow. As I got ready for bed, I remembered I wanted to bring in some scarves for dancing with so I rounded them up. About halfway into class today, I pulled them out and had everyone pick one. Then I told them about this quote.

Every one of them did sports, gymnastics, dance, or some sort of athletic activity. I then asked how many considered themselves to be an artist. Only a few raised their hands. I reminded them to have confident in their abilities as an artist. Whether they were good at drawing or dancing or sports or a hobby, they had to give it everything.

That's when the scarves came in to play. I put on "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from Mary Poppins. Their mission? To go from one side to the other. Their own way. So one at a time they danced their way across. Some gave it their all with leaps and twirls. Some needed encouragement to just simply walk across. The next time around the bold relaxed and just enjoyed themselves, and the timid began to understand. We tried it one more time and everyone just went across with everything they had, including a grin. 😊

It was a great lesson for boosting stage confidence, in what they enjoy doing, and in themselves. All in all, it resonated with me. I'm going to keep that little lesson in my files for future dance teaching times.