I can’t believe I haven’t posted in 2022 yet. If the old adage “start as you mean to end” is true then I am well and truly screwed for this year.
So what’s been up? Well, the kiddo got Covid for the New Year so that’s how it all began. We’re all vaxxed and so it was a mild case that was really more like a bad cold. She quarantined for the period required by our school district and is fully recovered now. Omicron has cut a massive swathe, hasn’t it? I can’t believe how many people I know who have it or have had it since the holidays.
She tried out for a part in our local community theater production of Mary Poppins and was successful, so starting today I’m plunging into my first time Theater Mom role. (Actually the rehearsals are closed which is probably for the best.)
I’ve lost a pound and a half of the SIX I gained over the holidays and am working Dry January. It’s been grindingly cold in SE Michigan but not much snow to speak of yet so I am able to get out for some activity but sometimes I’m just too dang lazy.
So that’s the quick January briefing so far. I won’t let it go so long next time. I hope you are all enjoying 2022 so far and staying warm and healthy. xo
The kiddo had a minor ear surgery this week and although everything went well, she has still been my focus. Hence my lack of posting.
I took a long walk on the solstice and admired the low, hazy sun. I thought about the year that has passed and the year to come. I missed my dad and saw wild turkeys and several Eastern Bluebirds.
We finished a Harry Potter movie marathon (Brandon had never seen them) and I’m also very, very into the Witcher and Travel Man with Richard Ayoade. Before the kiddo’s surgery, we saw Kings Man in the theater (it was pretty empty because everyone was next door watching Spider Man) and tried a new-to-us local seafood restaurant. There have also been LOTS of Vlogmasses and although I am really enjoying them I’m heartily sick of the YouTube Christmas songs they all use.
I’ve been running just about every other day, and I finished two books (I started the Josie Quinn series at Steph’s recommendation via her blog) and hope to finish two more before the New Year to pad out my Goodreads total.
Also been knitting. Mostly small fiddly ornaments and although that always starts out fun, I’m about ready to call that quits for another year.
Although I’m feeling a bit disconnected and not very Christmassy, today is Christmas Eve and I’ll spend it with my little family in our cozy home. We’ll make something yummy and fun for dinner and play a board game and then eat cake. And I’ll wake up tomorrow to a bounty of gifts and food and Brandon’s birthday. I am so truly and thoroughly blessed. My love and best wishes for a peaceful and contented holiday go out to each of you and your families. xo
Friday flew by in a welter of activity, and I ran from my home office to the car to the middle school to the high school football field and then home again without missing a beat. The kiddo had school Halloween festivities and then a performance with the high school marching band at that night’s game and it went off without a hitch! Brandon and I were in the stands with a family friend and the other marching band & Scout as well as neighborhood parents and we were a proud cheering section.
The rest of the weekend was dedicated to meal planning and shopping, laundry, carving pumpkins and watching Charlie Brown. Brandon made an amazing beef tenderloin on Sunday and I crashed by 9. It’s another busy week ahead and I’m not mentally ready for it.
Life is good but there’s never enough time for all of the things that I want to do.
I hope you are all well and healthy and safe. Happy Monday.
To me, September has always felt like the true new year, when you buy new clothes and pencils and organize your stuff and have a new schedule to attend to. Even as a 48-year old grown woman, Labor Day to me is the time when I set new resolutions. And one of my resolutions for the true New Year is to get back to blogging on a more regular cadence. It’s been hard for me since my dad passed to find a lot of joy and comfort in self-reflection because the pain of missing him is always right near the surface. But although that has not changed, and probably will never change, because he was such a massive part of our lives, I’m ready to pick up this stitch and keep going.
So here’s a few recent photos from my camera roll to ease me back in.
I finished up my mom’s birthday socks! These took me forever because knitting also sort of fell by the wayside. These are Raveled but I’ll tell you that they are the Kia pattern by the wonderful Dawn Henderson (find her on Insta as knit.yarn.stuff) knit with Six and Seven Alfalfa base which is stunning.
The little one is back to school in-person for the first time since the pandemic. And not so little anymore. She’s vaxxed and they wear masks. (And seriously, adults – neither she or any of her friends have lodged a single complaint about full day masking. Quit your bitching. If my 13-year old can wear one without issue, SO CAN YOU.) She’s very happy to be back, and is expanding her fashion sense now that she can see all the different “lewks” at the morning bus stop. (So far she is heavily favoring a ‘90s throwback, with ripped boyfriend jeans, t-shirts of bands she probably has never listened to, combat boots and oversized flannels, with a sk8ter boi undercut for her glossy red locks.)
Watching a lot of stuff lately – a very mixed bag. A pretty bad Heidi Fleiss doc, ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’, and ‘Val’, which Brandon and I highly recommend. Heartbreaking and interesting and nostalgic and ultimately uplifting.
And lastly- shame, shame, shame on Texas. For my friends not in the US, this state has recently enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the country, banning abortion after the sixth week,when many women don’t even yet know they are pregnant. Moreover, the Texas law deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who performs an abortion or aids an abortion. So yeah, think – Uber driver. Friend. Any plaintiff unconnected to the patient or the provider can bring a (frivolous) lawsuit, collect attorney fees and a $10k bounty. As you may expect, this law disproportionately affects vulnerable populations- teens, and low-income populations who can’t afford to travel to obtain safe healthcare. As well as allowing a bunch of self righteous Karens and Bubbas to clog up an already taxed legal system.
Withholding critical healthcare, without ramifications for the young men who participate in insemination, without aid or assistance after that baby is born, no carveouts for rape or incest, taking choice away when this is the ultimate choice of the woman and the woman alone – nothing good can come of that. And don’t ever tell me you are “pro-life” if you don’t care what happens after that baby is born. It’s the most nonsensical and cruel virtue signaling.
Abortions will continue to occur – now they will just occur in more highly risky conditions under more barbaric and traumatic circumstances.
1 in 4 women
I hope everyone out there in the US has a fantastic Labor Day and in other areas a great end of your weekend / beginning of your week.
As expected this week has been a doozy, even if I wasn’t at work for 2 days. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to realize that sometimes a nice normal 40-hour workweek can be far easier than an abbreviated 3-day workweek full of “life stuff”.
The camp dropoff went well and I won’t see or hear from Miss L for over a week. She has entered the stage where she wanted no pictures taken and the sooner I left and stopped cramping her style, the better, ha. I hope she has a great time and meets a lot of nice kids. She’s been a trooper during this last year and a half and she deserves a summer of fun and friends. I already miss her, though, and am thinking about her all the time.
Upon arrival home in Suburban Elysia I was greeted by a storm cell of intense magnitude. It swept through my area with torrential rains, high straight-line winds, and hail. There were loud booms, pops, and cracks and when the rain and gale abated the damage was shocking. Trees uprooted, downed lines and branches, and flooding.
thankfully missed the neighbor’s house by inches
We are still without power in my neighborhood. Which I could look at and be super annoyed by. Instead, I’m choosing to be grateful that I had no property damage; that no one was hurt in the storm; and that it is cool at night and we are perfectly comfortable with no A/C and the windows open.
I am, however, entirely sick of the racket of generators all the time (we don’t have one – YET).
lunch break at a park near my office
The power outage at the home office pushed up my return to my actual office. We are still hybrid, so the office isn’t full, but I did see lots of familiar faces. Everyone looks perky and tanned and fit, as though they experienced major glow-up during isolation. By contrast, I trailed in pale, puffy and unwashed with a bad attitude and very little sleep from the generator racket all night. But I had French press coffee and was able to do my work and recharge all my devices. I’m trying to look for silver linings.
So I’m limping into the homestretch of the week. I’ve survived but not thrived. And that’s okay.
Just a quick check-in today as this week has been a doozy at work and I have meetings right up until 5pm today that will likely run over.
1. The red squirrel has moved into the deluxe birdhouse thankyouverymuch.
2. The weather here in Southeast Michigan this week has been really nice. It’s hit the 50’s several days with copious sunshine, and we’ve lost most of our snowpack. It’s still cold at night so I am loving the humidifier and fuzzy sheets but the break in the winter weather has been enjoyable for everything except for my sinuses and allergies.
3. Brandon & I got out for an afternoon of cross-country skiing last weekend, just on the cusp of the warmer weather. It was my first time so I spent a fair amount of time on my ass but at the end of it I’d sort of gotten the hang of it. And really enjoyed it. I would love to do more next winter. An afternoon of strenuous activity and sunshine after a period of cold and sloth was just what I needed.
4. My folks got their first Covid vaccine this week and I am so relieved. So far their aftereffects are minimal so fingers crossed that their second shot in a few weeks is as smooth.
I am happy it’s Friday and I am looking forward to Chinese takeout tonight and hopefully more nice temperatures and sunshine. What are you up to? Whatever it is, I hope you have an excellent weekend with your special ones.
We spent the end of the year quite pleasurably up north with my parents. I got out for a trail run and the Michigan lakeshore was like an alien landscape, empty, with high waves and wind and a low, pale sun.
“There are such a lot of things that have no place in summer and autumn and spring. Everything that’s a little shy and a little rum. Some kinds of night animals and people that don’t fit in with others and that nobody really believes in. They keep out of the way all the year. And then when everything’s quiet and white and the nights are long and most people are asleep—then they appear.” Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter
I got dug into a dense book from my dad’s bookshelf and we played a lot of poker.
My parents are wonderful and we love spending time with them. They are gentle, intelligent, funny, and generous. I have so much gratitude for their continued strong presence in our lives, their good health and safety.
However, their cats hate us – they’re rescue cats and they are accustomed to having a very quiet existence with my folks. I’m making inroads, though.
We left for home on a snowy morning that quickly turned to rain, and now we are home, in front of the fire with many blankets and food and wine, to ring in the New Year.
I love some statistics so here’s my 2020 Year in Books.
Thank you all for reading and following and sharing my ups and downs. There’s nothing else I can say about this year that hasn’t already been said, and said well. So I will end with deep gratitude for what I have and hope for the future. I truly value the connections I’ve made via this blog. Happy New Year to you all and we look forward to a blessed and better 2021.
I know this was a terrible year and sharing holiday cheer feels somehow wrong. But it is also right to express gratitude for what we have, and take pleasure in the little things when so many big things are very wrong. So here are a few things that brought me some joy this holiday.
The joy we find in our community. Running and walking in our neighborhood, enjoying the sled hill on a snowy morning and our Heritage Park trails and historic buildings, our local businesses and the friends we have here.
Being together. My daughter, Brandon and I spent so many enjoyable hours doing puzzles, art, taking walks, crafting, sledding, cooking and relaxing with each other- we had the gift of time.
Taking great joy in celebrating the holiday with pleasures like a nice meal and a table with a tablecloth and our nice dishes and some candles, even if it’s just the three of us.
Getting outside even on cold days to get some steps, fresh air, clear the cobwebs and do some birdwatching.
Enjoying our furry family.
I hope, even in this awful year, that you were all able to find some joy and peace in this season and if not, know that you are not alone and that things will be better. Until then, we will have to muddle through somehow.
(To quote Karl Pilkington, for any of my readers who are fans!)
Our second week of isolation is going well. I’m back into a good groove with my home office and Miss L has set up with me to do her online classwork. (Huge props to our school district for a quick move to online learning- they’re doing super cool things with Google Classroom assignments and keeping kids connected via Hangouts and video conferencing a couple times a week!) She has also been keeping us well supplied with baked goods from a cookbook for kids that my folks got her for Christmas- she’s made brownies from scratch and chocolate chip cookies this week.
Emmett has been our faithful home office companion and we call him out unpaid intern for as much time as he spends hanging out with us at our work table.
Although our governor has issued an official stay-home order, Brandon was deemed an essential employee by the company he is doing work for, so has to go into his workplace every day. He’s been a trooper about it but I know it causes him a lot of personal and ethical conflict and concern. We’re trying to take extra good care of him.
The weather has been nice (for Michigan) the last couple of days, with mild temperatures and sun. Brandon got Miss L’s bike out yesterday and we went for a walk while she rode. It was amazing how many people were out – hanging out in their driveways, on porches, doing some early yardwork, walking their dogs. Everyone maintained wide berth from each other but it was very reassuring to have some contact, waving and calling hello, sharing gratitude about the sunshine.
I only want to knit in simple, mindless, meditational garter stitch so I’ve pulled out the log cabin blanket I started a couple of years ago.
I hope you are all well and experiencing similar moments of goodwill and gratitude wherever you are, amidst all the worry and strain. xo
We’ve been enjoying a quiet holiday week at home. Our Christmas morning was relaxing and simple, opening presents with Miss L and having a nice breakfast; Pot Roast was particularly involved in the morning festivities and thought all of the presents were HERS.
“MINEZ??”
Brandon’s birthday lands on Christmas so since we’ve been dating, we’ve had his folks over for Christmas dinner to celebrate. He has simple tastes – he considers it the best birthday ever when he has his family around him, he gets a rock & roll birthday cake featuring one of his fave artists, and he gets a nice bottle of whiskey to nurse throughout the year. This year, he got a Ramones cake (last year was Morrissey and two years ago, Elvis) and a bottle of Clyde Mays. It was expensive so hopefully it’s good (while I like beer and wine, and the occasional gin & tonic when the weather permits, I can’t abide whiskey, bourbon, Scotch – anything like that. Just the smell makes me ill. So I leave it to him to judge).
third verse, different from the first
We also had filet mignon and some baked Brie and lots of wine and forgot to open champagne. I think it was a happy day for all of us.
Miss L went to her dad’s and Brandon went back to work, so I spent my Boxing Day in a delightfully empty house in pajamas. I’d intended to go for a run but just could not muster myself; instead, I napped, finished up some Vlogmasses on YouTube, finished reading “City of Girls” by Elizabeth Gilbert (review to come on Show Us Your Books in January), and puttered around the house. All of my favorite things!
Today I finally left the house, and accompanied Miss L and her Girl Scout Troop to a showing of the new Little Women, which I really liked, except for a couple of minor quibbles regarding its length (CAN’T we go back to the days of shorter films) and Laura Dern as Marmee (come ON). I went into it thinking that no one could do a better Jo than Maya Hawke and I came out a Saoirse Ronan convert. But I’ll admit that the absolute high point for me was Timothee Chalamet as Laurie especially after seeing him in “The King” on Netflix.
I’m off until after the first of the year and I love the feeling of forgetting what day it is.
I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far and looking forward to a happy weekend doing things you enjoy.
Six Ten 