Thursday, February 2, 2017

Snapshot: February

Motivated to . . .
work out, get in shape, exercise, become healthier, otherwise known as "get off my bum". The count-down of our days until our Florida vacation is quickly passing and it will be here before I know it. Jason and I have embarked on a mission of getting in shape (at least a little) before we put our pasty-white bodies on the beach. I'm not sure if "mission" is the right word to use...maybe "recovery mission" might be more fitting. I'm fairly sure that 2 months of working out will not undo the last 10 years of doing nothing. :) We tried "country heat" which is a cardio/dance routine. It was very comical, each of us worked our abs so hard (by laughing at each other) that it turned out to be the most fun exercise I've ever done. I'm sure we looked like lunatics in the living room, but it felt so good to be doubled over in laughter with my hubby.

On The Watch/Read List . . .
The Life of Pi. Still. I've wanted to see this forever and January was so busy that I didn't watched a single movie the entire month. Not. Even. One. I guess the trade-off has been less movies, but more reading. Now that I think about it, that's not a bad trade. I've read through some good ones, fought my way through some dumb ones (and then cried "uncle" and shoved it aside) and muddled through some "meh" ones. The current two that I can't wait to pick up each day are The City of Ember and The Education of Nicholas Benedict...the first I'm reading out loud (mainly to Ben, Lily) and the latter with Ella.

Grateful . . . 
for Hattie's appointment at Children's Milwaukee to see the CVS specialist. I'm going to do a more in-depth post in the next few days, but it was worth the trip. I have been given hope again and the fight continues to wage forward as we try new meds and up some current ones.

Drinking . . .
iced peach black tea...cause I'm done with winter and I have spring fever something awful. Yes, I know it's only February...but I'm entirely over winter. Well...in all fairness, I was entirely over winter at about day 2...but still. I've put my time in, I'm sick of being cold, and I need some warmth. So I'm boycotting winter from here on out. And I'm clearly in denial that spring is still months away...hence
the iced tea.

Out my Window . . .
sunny, and yet freezing. I could either be happy or annoyed by this. I'm choosing the "glass is half full" route. It's something I'm trying out this year. ;)The sun is back out which it therapeutic for me. It had taken a vacation for 8 days and we were all so sick of clouds and gloom. Is it embarrassing to admit that yesterday I put my sunglasses on, found a sunny spot in the house, and lounged back with my eyes closed, dreaming it was summer? I almost, almost put on ocean sounds...but thought that might be feeding my psychosis even further. I can't be the only one who does this, can I?!
  
Buying . . .
Still on the lookout for sunshirts, swimsuits (for those that grew 3 inches in the past year), flip flops, and sunglasses for the family trip. I am itching to get to Florida in the worst way.
  
Trying . . .
To stay caught up on laundry/housework. Things are kinda sorta surface clean right now, but don't look too closely. Also tackling eating up what we have in the pantry and deep freeze...this is taking some creativity.

Enjoying . . .
The fact that I got new pics up of the kids. Look for them on the blog in the coming week. I love them. I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out. I know I might be a bit biased...but I have some really cute kids.

 Future plans I'm looking forward to . . .
 Ella and I are planning on taking part in a service project at church this Saturday. It is to help assemble shoes for children in Uganda, Africa. I want to be purposeful this year about getting more involved in serving others...and letting my kids experience the joy of doing something for someone else. Did I mention that I stepped up and have also volunteered to help with the kids choir spring musical?

In the kitchen . . .
A little of this and that. I have been making a huge effort to menu plan each week. I mostly hate it while I am putting it together, but reap the rewards as the week goes on. In an effort to save money by not eating out, menu planning has helped me in a huge-o way. I can no longer come up with the excuse that "I don't know what to make" or "I don't have much in the pantry" since the menu is staring at me from the fridge door and the groceries have been purchased specifically for said meals.

Realizing . . .
that a bulk of this snapshot has been me talking about wanting to be where it's warm. Sigh.

Trialing . . . 
 Ella has been taking Topamax for her migraines for the past few weeks. It took Jason and I a long time to agree to trial this drug as it can be sort of a nasty one as far as side-effects. We are watching her closely, but with 4+  headaches a week, we felt we needed to try the next thing to help with her quality of life. Her migraines, much like mine, reach their ugly hands into everyday life and effect how much she gets out there and takes part in things. This week starts a big jump in the med for the next 2 week trial.

Grappling with . . .
Contentment. Specifically winter. (As clearly witnessed from this post alone). I really struggle with winter. I really don't like being cold. My body literally runs a degree cooler than most people and with my hypothyroidism, I have an intolerability to cold. (Look it up.) I feel so trapped and cooped up in the house all winter long, I can barely convince myself I should go out in the cold where the air hurts my face. Seriously, it can hurt...and sting...and burn. I know that if it wasn't for family, I would have petitioned to move out of this state a long time ago. (Although I do enjoy the other 3 seasons...maybe I should just winter somewhere else?) Here's my dilemma: I see Jill and Joren absolutely loving where they live. They just LOVE it. Like in love with it. They moved to Duluth from Brainerd last year. Brainerd was ok, it was fine, nothing special, but nothing notable wonderful either. Life was ho-hum. But now....now they live somewhere that they just can't get enough of it. They are sooooo content there. It was such a good move for them and it fits them perfectly in regards to the things they really enjoy spending time doing. They are peaceful and overjoyed at living there. I want that. I want to love where I live. All the time. Not just in the summer. And then dread 5-6 months of cold...just waiting to get through it. Not that I need to be happy all the time or even come close to deserving that...but where do you draw the line of "just be content" and "there's no reason to purposefully be miserable, life is too short for that." This, my friends, is where I am at...

And just so I don't leave on a "downer" note . . .

My Brood

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