Well, we made it through January! Happy February, baby!
Here’s how my personal goal of embracing winter has been going:
The first few weeks of January were really chore- and errand-heavy. Dentist, eye doctor, take down Christmas decorations, and general day-to-day life maintenance stuff. So, I made the decision that “THIS WEEK WE ARE REALLY GOING TO LIVE!” Pro tip: Never declare this because the universe will immediately make somebody get sick. My kid and husband caught a cold, and whatever my idea of “REALLY LIVING” was had to wait a little bit longer. You win round one, Old Man Winter!
Now that it’s February and everyone is feeling well again (knock wood), we did finally make it out to an activity at the library. One of my best friends brought her daughter over for a visit, and I’ve had some really good talks with other moms lately. We did have one cold snap (Cue the 34 residents of Coldfoot, AK, collectively rolling their eyes.), but the weather has been pretty mild otherwise. There’s even been the occasional dandelion puffball to blow or ladybug to watch on our walks. The temperature this past Saturday was in the upper 60s, so we went to a park to fly a kite and watch birds. I guess it’s pretty easy to embrace a winter like this. It’s not quite the months of extreme coziness I was expecting, but maybe that’s for the best. We’ll see how the rest of it goes!
Also:
I made a lot of blueberry bread, and also French toast. I’ve had a very complicated relationship with French toast ever since I got sick after eating some at Girl Scout camp. I know it’s delicious and maybe that isn’t even what actually made me sick, but I couldn’t shake the association for a long time. I didn’t actually throw up. But I remember being so nauseous with my head over a toilet and our scout leader being like, “Look, are you going to vomit or aren’t you?” Which would have been a pretty funny moment to puke on her shoes or something, but I didn’t. Anyway, if you’ve had a bad experience with a food, 27 might be the magic number of years to start enjoying it again. I decided to make some French toast because maybe our toddler would like it, and ended up eating way more than she did. This is a pretty big win for me, guys! And maybe in another seven years I can try clam chowder again!
I’ve been reading The Life of a Children’s Troubadour, which is the children’s singer Raffi’s autobiography. You might know his songs “Baby Beluga” and “Down By the Bay,” among many others. I listened to his music as a little kid and have now rediscovered my love for him as a parent. After much consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that Raffi is a freaking angel on earth. All he wants to do is make music and inspire us to love one another and our planet. He just seems like this silly, gentle poet of a man and so many of us must be all the better for it.
I heard Raffi had written a book that went largely unnoticed and thought it could be an interesting read. Plus, I LOVE celebrity memoirs. I remember checking out celebrity autobiographies from the library as a teen, even though I had no clue who some of the people were. Like Camryn Manheim. Have I ever watched The Practice? No. Did I read her book? You bet, I did! So, it pretty much goes without saying that I was game to read a book by Raffi. The first chapters cover his parents fleeing to Egypt (where he was later born) during the Armenian genocide, moving to Canada as a child, and growing up in an immigrant family. Even with the heavier topics, there’s something soothing about Raffi’s narrative voice. It’s a nice, cozy end-of-the-day book and one I’m glad to be reading.
I keep seeing this ad on YouTube that goes something like this: “We bought this house that was built in 1999. So, obviously, it was pretty dated and we just needed to gut the whole thing. Because everything back then looked so gross.” Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little. But, ugh, I die a little inside every time I hear it. Don’t these people know that the late 90s and early 2000s JUST HAPPENED?! And, yet, that’s when our townhouse was built and I kinda see it. If you’ve ever attempted to paint over a previous homeowner’s burnt umber colored accent wall, you know what I’m talking about. That brown is never completely going away. One day, when an asteroid obliterates the earth, the only things left standing will be Cher, the cockroaches, and all the early 2000s accent walls.
In the not-too-distant future, we hope to sell our house and find something with a little more space. We’ve painted over most of the bold color choices (Government Office Brown, Overripe Avocado, Painter’s Tape Blue), replaced all the dreaded Pex pipe, and made a lot of other improvements here and there. The next project for this winter is adding a backsplash behind our kitchen sink. Our sink just butts up to the bar counter, which has always seemed kind of weird to me. Isn’t there something better to put directly behind a wet sink than a bunch of wood? Well, we’re going to find out! Hopefully, that thing will be peel-and-stick tile, because that’s what I ordered from Home Depot. I’m hoping it’ll help protect the wood and maybe look a little spiffy too. From what we saw online, the trick to making sure they really stay on is Gorilla Heavy Duty Construction Adhesive. Fingers crossed! I’m kind of weirdly excited about it!
I’ve also been trying to find one or two things around the house each day to throw or give away, or reuse somehow. I’ve never really done this as a small, daily practice before. I’m hoping it’ll make a noticeable difference in how tidy our living space is.
We haven’t made it out to the museum or planted anything yet, but those are both on my to-do list!
What have you been up to so far this winter?
