Day #311: The Post Christmas Blues are Real

So I got teary in the dairy aisle at the grocery store today when I remembered buying me a coffee and James a chocolate milk for our Christmas morning breakfast in bed date. Even though it was exhausting and didn't really work.

I think one of the hardest things about all of this is the lack of things to look forward to. You don't have an upcoming vacation or play date or mom's night or date night...and it's impossible to plan one because you have no idea when you'll be able to do those things again. Christmas at least promised something a little different and now it's over and what is often a dark and depressing time of year has hit HARD. This is why when I know I'm gonna get 2 hours alone in Target I plan it for days.

So after Insurrection Day on Wednesday, emotions have been running high. Max has been in a very contrary mood all week, kicking and yelling when he doesn't get his way, throwing food at you when he doesn't get food he likes. It has not been fun. Toddlers are not a joke.

Josh was in Vancouver, WA yesterday picking up some stuff and actually yesterday was the highlight of our week, I'm sorry he missed it. The sun came out and we were able to go to the park and play and James was in a great mood and we ran around the baseball diamond. James can be so much fun. I hope he knows how much I adore him.

And now we're headed into a week of a weird school schedule...lots of James's Zoom sessions for the coming week have been cancelled because the teacher has scheduled a bunch of 1:1 meetings with kids. So I don't really know what to expect and am sincerely hoping it doesn't mean a ton more independent work because that it just not something we excel at.

News from the school district is that they are talking about bringing the youngest students back into school in a few weeks...no firm date yet but we are soon going to need to let the district know if we are interested. Josh and I haven't had a chance to talk yet because I want to have the conversation without kids around, but it sounds like a new shift and a new phase is coming and that should be an adventure.

The vaccine rollout in our state has been nightmarishly slow with bad communication all around. Teachers and other essential workers under 50 are now being told to expect their first dose in April. When I checked the CDC data last night less than 2% of people had received vaccines and only 26% of the doses allocated to Washington had been administered. No one I know who doesn't work in health care has yet received one. I've been told one of the issues is that so far only hospitals are administering them and that makes it harder to do administration to non health care workers. I'm not expecting one anytime soon but I want to see teachers and grocery workers and all the other essential folks get theirs so that's disappointing. Dad should be in the next group because he is over 70 but so far no one knows what that looks like. He's waiting to hear information from his doctor, he figures they will tell him once it's his turn. 

Media consumption: too much 30 Rock, it's dated but I don't care, it's comforting. Watched the 2019 Little Women movie the other night, that was nice especially after a friend surprised me with cupcakes delivered to my house after James ate all the frosting off my three kings cake. 

I have a new reading goal, really it's a life goal but reading is a big part of it and that is to slow down, so I have been trying to slow down and savor my reading. I've still been reading plenty, just not at a frenetic pace. So today I finished Sea in Winter which I picked up from the bookstore on Thursday, that's the next book by the author of I Can Make this Promise. I've also been working on the first Miss Marple book by Agatha Christie and a 2002 collection by current U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. And James and I have several things we are reading together.

Today I'm grateful for books, alone time, family, my dad, chocolate, Josh, that bedtime is in an hour, that toddlerhood doesn't last forever, and for another day of life and health. 


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