Number Twenty One
Janie,
Thank you for your prayers. I think they’re working because Olga slept until 3am the other night. Which is the longest stretch of sleep she’s had since she was a newborn.
Our visit was so refreshing for me. It has been far too long since we’ve enjoyed some time out in nature together. There’s just something about cheap wine in the woods that fills the spirit with joy and a newfound sense of resilience. The crystal rocks we collected in the stream turned into a perfect activity for Sunny while Olga took her morning nap. She loves cleaning so I threw those rocks in some subs and she went crazy scrubbing them with a little toothbrush. It’s the little things.
Winter sounds so wonderful in Michigan. Funny enough, when I was briefly living in Bozeman, Montana, I met a girl who moved away from Michigan (in the Upper Peninsula) because she hated the winters there. She went on to describe exactly what my dream winter would look like. Being snowed in all the time, ice covered roads, nothing to do except participate in snow related sports. Ah. What a life. Your winters probably aren’t quite that extreme but that’s still the image that comes to mind. You’ll have to send me pictures of your icy forest adventures. Someday, when I come visit you in the wintertime, we’ll go on a snow hike but this time we’ll bring along some vodka as it seems more appropriate for a cold winters day. But yes we’ll also go to the U.P. (I’ll get a new sea worthy inflatable kayak with zero holes) and we can paddle along the coast by day and camp in the forests. I’ll be excited to pull out all my old camping gear again.
It’s nice to have these trips to look forward to. It definitely helps combat the day in day out mindset. Along with that, I’ve been doing yoga again which has been helping my overall mental health significantly. I used to do it so regularly but I stopped after Olga was born and never thought to pick it back up until now. Even if I do 10 minute stretches of any kind I feel like a new person. I’m really excited to get back into it and add it to my daily routine.
Anyway, we’re starting to get into all the Christmas things over here. We cut down our tree last week so the house is extra cozy at night now. I’m doing my best to keep up with all the December saints and tell their story to Sunny and at least print their icon on a coloring page. There’s so many cool activities you can do to help them learn about the lives of the saints in really fun ways. For St. Nicholas Day we left out a pair of her shoes at night, and when she woke up the morning she was so excited to see them filled with two oranges! It was so sweet! Although, she was pretty bummed when her shoes stopped producing oranges the next morning. St Lucia is coming up on the 13th so I’m going to start preparing now because it involves baking and dressing up. I’d love to figure out a way I could make her a crown of candles that she could safely wear, but I think we’ll just stick to a white dress and red sash.
In the midst of all the Christmas hustling, we’re trying to do as many little projects around the house as we can. The focus right now is on the window sills in the living room. they were cracked and warped when we moved in so we ripped them out and we’re going to add a stained piece of wood to create a deeper ledge so I could potentially put plants or candles there. Then we’re going to add a wooden boarder around all the windows. I think it’ll make the house look older, but in a good way. Hopefully next time I write you I’ll be finished so I can include some before and after photos. I also decided to paint the kitchen.
There’s so too many options so you might be getting a phone call from me soon in desperate need of some guidance haha
-Lydia