If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?
Wow.
None at all?
When I was young I could happily forgo sleep to do things I wanted to do. I chose other things regularly. Nocturnal art. Deadlines, quiet uninterrupted nights, how else was I going to get stuff done?
I remember when I was a fiber artist, I put a whole spinning wheel together with a sleeping baby on my lap long into the night. I then had to try it out at three am because when else did I have? My babies weren’t the best sleepers, there were constant chores and obligations, with four little kids I was mostly running around keeping them fed and safe and the house from being distroyed I do get the question because in those days sleep was in short supply and if I could have, I would have skipped even more of it.
It’s just that now I have more time and I dearly love to sleep. After years of not, I really don’t want to exchange my sleep for any other activities.
It’s been raining all day. It’s not quite freezing, but it feels like it.
It’s dark. I decided to make soup, which meant I had a handful of obstacles to overcome. Supper is at least an hour away, maybe two. I cut myself. We blew a fuse.
You can see where this could go.
But here’s what’s good.
My soup. It has carrots from my garden, mushrooms, squash (that was one of our Halloween decorations, not the regular orange type pumpkin). Something we got from a local farm.
We are going to make cookies tomorrow. G and I. I made a playlist of holiday songs by Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, Some Bing Crosby, all old school.
Yoga has been fun. It was nice to see everyone after my trip. My birthday was nice.
I’m reading some good books. I’m staying mostly warm and dry. I think I’m better at being here than I was last year. I have fully made peace with not understanding or knowing things. If I forget, I try to remind myself that it’s not my circus. It’s okay. Some things really don’t make any sense and they don’t have to.
I’ve learned to breathe through any discomfort and to trust that it will be fine. Sometimes better than fine. We have warm soft bedding. The bathroom is painted and getting updated. I still love my little job.
Last night I got a text that yoga was cancelled for this morning.
It’s going to rain all day. There might be flooding and 65 mile an hour winds. Schools will be letting out early because of the storm.
I’m fully disappointed. No yoga, no walk.
This is how I know how much I love the physical activities I’ve chosen these days. I’m BUMMED!
Years ago, I went almost daily to a gym. I ran or jogged most days long or short distances. I thought I loved running.
I initially did it for my mental health, after getting a late (I was grown with four kids), diagnosis of ADD. I researched a little and opted not to take medication, but to exercise instead.
I was a weird choice. I get that, but it made sense to me at the time. I spent more than a decade making myself do a lot of repetitive exercise. It worked, or seemed to, on a day like today I would be heading out, alone, and returning soaking wet.
Instead, I’m genuinely bummed that I can’t go to yoga.
I guess the extent of my physical exercise today is running errands with G. Home Depot and Lowe’s are kind of big. I may get some steps, but no strengthening or balancing or real exercise, and it won’t be as much fun.
Yoga, fast walking. I look forward to these. My day always goes better afterward. I may brave the storm and do a quick walk, though being wet and cold isn’t enticing me…
I hope everyone has some form of movement that suits them.
It was a sweet way to celebrate my birthday and Thanksgiving and kick off the holiday season.
No one appreciates magic more than children. We managed to pack in many fun moments, so many, that I hardly picked up my phone for most of ten days. I took a few pictures, and watched with our just turned three, granddaughter, toddlers getting their hair washed. (I used to know how to do this, but it’s been awhile. YouTube was helpful for us both). We learned that she should point her chin at the ceiling and make faces while I poured water on her head.
Trees were lighted, Santa was seen, ornaments were made, mantles were decorated, cookies and popcorn and hot chocolate enjoyed.
Probably my favorite thing about hanging out with kids, is play. Almost every activity can turn into a fun game. Three year olds love to run and a game of chase can spontaneously break out any time. I didn’t know that Frank Sinatra singing White Christmas would inspire running. I put on as many fun holiday tunes by Frank, Ella Fitsgerald, Bing Crosby, Michael Jackson, one after another, causing us to run for the entire time her parents were at the store. We were T rex and Triceratops. With mood music.
My six year old granddaughter invented a whole game about an explorer observing animals in the wild. I was the explorer and she was a tiger, then a mountain lion. We also spent an afternoon throwing a Barbie party while the babies of the attendees became little ninjas and caused all sorts of havoc while they were supposed to be sleeping. At one point as we were getting everyone dressed for the party, I picked up one random doll. Six year old looks at me in horror. That’s God. That’s heaven. She’s not wearing a gown, she isn’t going. She has to stay in heaven.
Ohhh.
My kids don’t practice a religion so I was curious. I wondered why God was a young Barbie, (like Skipper).
Here’s the answer I got :
“No one knows why God is a girl in doll form, Grandma.”
So there you go, no one knows.
At one point our three year old wanted to sleep in a ‘nest’ next to her bed rather than in her bed. We had been just hatched baby dinosaurs earlier.
I love the world from their perspectives. It really helps me to know these small people and how they matter of factly process the world. I love their big imaginations. I like hearing how they think.
Our nine year old wanted to talk about how we all see and feel things in different ways. He wondered why it wasn’t all the same. He used the words ‘relative’ and ‘relativity’ like a philosophy student.
At one point we grown ups got on the topic of connecting. Everyone has a different way of hanging out and connecting. I feel extremely thankful for our family’s way of being together talking, playing and enjoying experiences with each other. It was a fast ten days. Low key. No stress, peace, love, fun. Laughter. Ease.
Exactly my favorite way to hang out with some of my favorite people.
I read a bunch of responses while trying to figure out MY favorite month.
The posts surprised me. I wouldn’t have guessed November and February would have made the list but they did.
No one said June or July. It seems that October, November and December are the big favorites.
I like most of the months pretty equally, with the exception of November and February, which I think I like a little less but not much, depending on where I am in the world. February in Western Canada is just cold and dreary and unmagical. In So CA, it’s the beginning of Spring. I had a PTSD thing about that month for some years, but it seems to have dissipated.
My favorite month in New England might be May. Spring is a beautiful time here.
My favorite month in California is September because it’s the end of tourist season, and the weather is amazing.
I have several beach locations that I like to frequent on both coasts.
Lately, besides our dock, or just sitting by the window looking out at the blue horizon, my favorite place to go is Crescent Beach. It has a big park with old trees and a path that crawls along a bluff overlooking the ocean. On windy cold days I feel like a Brontë character. The path leads to a boardwalk that arks along the beach for over a mile. From there I can either go under the road and stroll through town, or circle back along the boardwalk. Either way it’s beautiful.
I used to walk for miles on the sand in CA. I miss that stretch of ocean, but will be walking it again soon.
Peace Kit 