February: A Month of Favorites

You guys know how I like to make a list of favorite things to cheer myself up?  Let's do it all month!!  I'm a'gonna post a favorite thing as often as I can this month (every day would be ideal but...you know.)

Today:

My favorite book:  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

I've read this book several times, seen numerous screen adaptations and I love it more and more.  Jane!  Mr. Rochester!  I love it that Jane has real problems i.e., dead parents, a super shitty guardian (Mrs. Reid), suffers abuse, the death of friends, etc. and comes through it intact with a strong sense of self.  She fucking rocks.

I saw the most recent film version of Jane Eyre and completely loved it.  Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska were pitch perfect and I loved the emphasis on light, heat, and the consuming possibilities of both.  So good.   Oh! And Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax totally clenched it.

Things Fall Apart

I'd be lying if I said I'm not glad January is over.  Its been a tough month.  I can't really pinpoint the direct cause of the..."toughness", unless it would be the general malaise that seems to set in this time of year, and possibly the fact that we had nearly a month and a half between paychecks. 

The weather has been bizarrely mild; warmer than normal (in the 30's F), super windy, not much snow.  While the sunshine is nice, its like we're all walking around warily, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I find myself feeling cranky more often than not...having a short fuse (especially at work) and just generally being kind of a bee-yatch.  Yesterday, I let slip that I don't think my boss' boss is a good person.  Which, you know, is totally true but probably not something I should have said out loud...to anyone.  I skipped a work happy hour last week because the thought of seeing those people one more minute than required made my stomach flop over.

In happier news...

Otto's been attending swim lessons.  Its so great to see his confidence in the water growing with each lesson and his willingness to try new things like going under, floating, etc. when there are other kids his age doing it along with him. 

Also, he is cute.

 This is his last week of Level 1 lessons...I'm hopeful that he'll be ready for Level 2 when it starts in a couple of weeks because we're both enjoying our time at the rec center after work, twice a week.  He gets to swim and I get to sit in the warm, humid air and read.  WIN WIN.



We do have stuff to look forward to...my mom is coming to visit during her spring break in March.  Otto will get to hang with her instead of going to daycare and we'll save a week's worth of daycare payments, and..you know...get to hang with my awesome madre.  And, I've signed up for a half-marathon on April first so I should probably devise some sort of training plan other than the 4-6 miles, three times a week that I've been doing since the holidays.

Deep breaths.  I can do this.  I can make it until spring!! 

Can't I?

Doldrums

We've now officially entered the Doldrums of Winter.  No scheduled paid holiday until Memorial Day.  And as  Hello Giggles  says (have I mentioned that I LOVE Hello Giggles???) ,

" Our mornings, afternoons and evening all look the same. Slush covers our streets and invades our homes. Slush is not just what we walk through with our boots that will get stained-slush, is what we become. Slush is the worst. You can’t pack slush up into a snow ball and you can’t get school canceled either. Slush is good for nothing and America, we are too."

 Truer words were never written. 

We'll do our best in the coming months to keep our heads above all the slush...ski outings, dinner parties, swim lessons, counting the extra precious moments of sunlight that seep into each day,
...I even signed up for a half-marathon on April 1st, so that will at least motivate me to get out and train
but I know from experience that it will be hard.  Now until May is a trudge. 

I'm gonna do my best to come up with some new strategies for beating the doldrums...I'm thinking maybe some home reorganization projects, tackling swimming/biking with the end goal of someday competing in a triathlon, teaching Otto how to play Uno, lots of good books, maybe some new recipes...

Ideas??

Yule be sorry!

...and we're back!  One of the benefits of working where I work is that we get 11 days off for "Winter Closure" which effectively covers Christmas through New Year's.  What's more, its paid and we don't have to use any sick or vacation time.  A fabulous perk.

This year's winter break started off amazing.  We hopped in the car, laden with gifts and cookie tins and snowsuits, skis, etc. and headed to the Mister's hometown.  Once there, we ate, laughed, played, opened gifts, ate, laughed, ate...well you get the idea.  We got some cool stuff but the best present, really, was getting to play in glorious fresh snow with the grandparents and uncles. 

On the sleddin' hill.  It was cold, but fun...all kinds of fun!

Skiing through the trees near sunset.  So amazingly beautiful.

After a couple days of this debauchery, we headed home, only to find an unwelcome guest waiting for us:  the stomach flu.  Or whatever you call it...I guess its not technically a flu?  A bug?  Well, whatever it is, the Mister and I were completely miserable and yet Otto seems to have escaped relatively unscathed (knocking on wood.)  It trashed at least 3 precious day of our break, though, which sucked with a capital SUCK.

By New Year's we were mostly back to normal and enjoying eachother's company and our cozy house.  We played some games, put together some models, went ice skating, saw some movies and tried to make up for lost time.

The boys, reading a book before dinner on Otto's new "big boy bed"

All in all, our Yule coulda been worse, coulda been better.  And now, suddenly, here we are back into our routine of work, preschool, home and its both sad and comforting, if that makes any sense. 

I'm hoping to come back here soon with some ideas for the new year...who else still does resolutions?

Done and To Do

Done:

-Tree up, decorated.

-Elf watched.  At least twice.

Son of a nutcracker, how perfect is this tree???  Cut it down ourselves for $10 in the national forest. 

-Holiday cards mailed.  Can I get a whoop-whoop!!

-Gifts to far away friends and family mailed. (for a $55 post office bill...eek.  At least I was early enough to send them parcel post.)

-Gift for office gift exchange purchased and wrapped. ($10 limit not quite reached.)

-Toys and clothes contributed to our "adopted family" in need.

-Food contribution (veggies and hummus) to office holiday party purchased and prepped.

-Gifts for the mister and the kiddo purchased, wrapped and currently luxuriating under the tree.

-Gingerbread house attempted.

Not that bad for a first attempt, right?

To do:

-Come up with a white elephant gift for a friend's holiday party on Friday.  Having a tough time with this one.

-Bake goodies to take with us to the in-laws for xmas.  Usually a couple different kinds of cookies and some chex mix to accompany the long beer drinking/scrabble playing sessions.

-Tag and take teacher gifts to Otto's school.

-Attend the daycare holiday program next tuesday.  Its going to be so cute!  I can't wait!!!  He's been practicing his little songs at home and they are adorable.

-De-stress.  For real, I am exhibiting all my typical signs of stress:  poor sleep, volcanic break-outs and delightful moodiness.  I'm keeping up with my workouts and drinking green tea and eating leafy greens, fresh fruit, etc. etc. but sleep is the deficit at the moment.  I just can't seem to make it to bed before 10:30pm and the alarm goes off at 5:00am.  I'm just looking forward to Winter Break which is an AMAZING perk of my job- we get the week between xmas and new years off, with pay.  Imma gonna sleep in every day, son!!

-I'm sure there are to-do's I'm forgetting....

What's on your list?

Plan B

Hearing about this (see also: this) all day has my stomach in knots.  I agree with the author of the Slate piece that "The only reason to keep these restrictions in place is to force pregnancy on unwilling minors as punishment for having sex, and just accept the impregnated rape victims as collateral damage. "

Yes, that's exactly what Sebelius is doing...ensuring that this medication will not be available to girls under 17 years old unless their parent is super understanding and also an M.D.   It's bullshit on the highest level.

And this quote from Obama disheartens me:  "He said Sebelius decided 10- and 11-year-olds should not be able to buy the drug "alongside bubble gum or batteries" because it could have an adverse effect if not used properly. He said "most parents" probably feel the same way."

THIS IS TRUE OF JUST ABOUT EVERY SINGLE OVER THE COUNTER DRUG:  PAIN RELIEVERS, ALLERGY MEDICINE, SLEEP AIDS...If they are not used properly, they could ALL have adverse effects.

I'm sorry to yell but I'm just that pissed.

Denying victims of rape, abuse or just young people that make a fucking mistake (it happens- condoms break, people forget to take pills, etc.) a safe, easy way to prevent unwanted pregnancy is Wrong with a capital W. 



Just....Grrrrr.

Race to the Finish

Honestly?  Sometime it feels like December is an endurance event.  It can be hard for me to take a step back and just...chill.  There's so much that has to be done; shopping, events to attend, stuff to bake, travel to arrange, etc., etc.  Its overwhelming.

Over time, I've come up with a few strategies that help me relax and actually enjoy the season, because even though I'm not at all religious, this time of year is special to me: Its a celebration of life, family, friends, and a reminder that even in the dark and cold of winter, the earth is alive and spring will come again.  

What I'm doing to stay copacetic: 

-I'm getting my holiday shopping done early so I'm not worrying about what to get who.  As of right now, I only have Otto's teachers (giftcards, of course) and a friend left to shop for and I'll get those knocked out in the next couple days. Yay!  Love having all that accomplished.   (I truly enjoy shopping for the "perfect" gifts but I can't handle waiting until the last minute- too much pressure!!)

- Keeping my workout schedule.  My runs are my "me" time, the time I have to think and mull and otherwise just be inside my own head.  Even when I'm tired, or its cold, or whatever, I'm getting out for a run or in worst case scenario, I'm doing an exercise DVD in the basement.  I need to sweat to feel whole.  This morning, I ran in the dark while it was snowing.  It was great.

-Saying "No."  This is a hard one.  But I just can't attend every lunch, happy hour, office party, etc. that I get invited to.   My time with my family suffers if I try and honestly, there are precious few gatherings that I'm actually excited to go to.    Also, I can't afford to donate to every cause, every charity, every fundraiser.  I can't do like 4 different secret santa exchanges.  I can't bake cookies and make chex mix and pie crust and and and...Sorry but...NO.

-Prioritizing.  This goes along with saying no.  I'm continuously asking myself,"is this REALLY the most important thing?  Really??"  If the answer is No, then I rethink my current course of action.  I only want to do the important stuff.  I want to do the things I really care about.

What am I missing?  What are you doing make sure that you enjoy the season and don't stress?