I've had better Thanksgivings, like all of them

Rode my bike to work as usual. Three miles in blizzard. I thought about the bus but there is no bus stop on the way to the preschool, so that would've meant half a mile walk with a stroller, then leaving said stroller outside all day, walk another half mile back to a bus stop... so I didn't.

They asked me last week if I miss having a car. Sometimes I do. I miss grabbing my to-go mug and arriving to work dry with hot coffee in hand. I don't miss driving in blizzards.

Thanksgiving has grown to become one of my favourite holidays, so I'm a little bummed today. And homesick, to be honest.

Christmas fever, or just plain fever

I have a tickle in my throat. Like either I'm getting sick or it's just a tickle. You'd think that we'd be infested with kid germs and all be on our knees two weeks into preschool, but so far..... well, I might just be feeling it now.

I was a week off on Thanksgiving. I thought it was always the last Thursday in November when really it's the fourth. Often they're the same. But not this year. Either way, we're not doing it till next weekend. We got two tiny turkeys in the freezer.

But I'm feeling the holidays, like I'm ready, bring it! And it's not just me, people in the office are planning their holiday menus, trips and shopping...

I got a santa outfit for Lou. The tree is ordered. I know it's barely past mid November but we got snow and we got darkness. We need this.

The pilgrims never did swing by Sweden

Our oven is not big enough to cook a large turkey. Probably not a small one either. They don't sell them at just any grocery store. But it seems like you can order them.
Stuffing you can make on the stove top, right?
Is anyone really going to be able to tell lingonberry chutney from the cranberry kind?
What is in cool whip anyways?
We'll just to regular whip cream.
Sweet potatoes? No? why not?
Is that cream of mushroom the same as Cambell's?
Does it matter?
Green bean casserole is a must, otherwise I'm not doing this.
I don't like pumpkin pie but I feel like we need to have one. Someone will eat it.

Sucks she actually likes egg now

Walked into a smelly room where a child sat with a concerned look on her face and shit on her hands. Poop, she said. Indeed, I said.
We think she might have thing with eggs. Like, as in maybe she shouldn’t eat them. We’re going to try that.

trying to remember to have fun

As a kid I remember grownups complaining about snow. The shovelling of it, the driving in it, the wiping up puddles after we dragged it in and it melted on the floor… While us kids were stoked to play in it, ski on it, build things out of it, the grownups were always preoccupied with the impracticalities that came with snow.  And I remember thinking that no matter what, I would never ever be so boring and lifeless as an adult that I’d let small things like wiping pounds of snow off your car, dealing with winter tires, shovelling until your back breaks (little things like that) get in the way of my appreciation for snow, how fun and pretty it is.

Fast forward. I can’t say I’ve completely honored that promise to my younger self. But I do remember it, and make a point to remind myself of it, whenever I let the impracticalities of fun things overshadow the opportunities for a good time.

Like yesterday. At 4:30pm I’m getting ready to head home. A quick glance at Instagram while I wait for the computer to shut down tells me my husband and daughter have transformed our living room (so basically 70% of the apartment) to a fort, using all the sheets and blankets. Awesome. My first thought is shit. That’s going to take a long time to undo.

Then I forced myself to remember the snow. And I looked at the Instagram photos of how fun they had. And I was glad I had seen the pictures beforehand so I had time to make that mental adjustment. Impractical? Yes. But fun? Most definitely. So I got on my bike, went home, and crawled into the fort.

 It’s raining again today. And while I do appreciate the roads being clear of ice, I’m also hoping for snow soon. So we can have some fun.

Now it's raining

It gets dark around 4pm now. I can see how that might seem depressing. It is depressing. Last night it snowed and it’s amazing what that does for light and mood. Now it’s raining.

First major report done and submitted at work. I feel like I still don’t really get most of what we’re doing. But I am getting into the grove of things in some aspects I suppose. I ask a few more questions now that I am (sometimes) able to tell whether they are crazy stupid or just sort of stupid. I have been able to substitute some blank stares with nods of honest understating.

Dylan says it’s boring here. I agree. He says he misses his friends and family. I do too. It’s hard. I miss Coeur d’Alene. I don’t feel like this is a home I left a decade ago. We don’t have friends, really. Or yet, or whatever.  But transitions are hard.
Change is hard.  I don’t regret making this move. And I keep thinking that in the long run, it’ll be worth it. Things that used to be huge stressors in our lives, suddenly aren’t anymore. We’ve gained a safety net and comfort.
But we’ve lost a lot too.