5 From The Frozen Tundra: Is This My Life Now?

 

from fbook via google

Let me just say right here and right now:  the eventual spring of 2026 had better be one hell of a lovely, warm, beautiful one. And the sooner the better. I have had it with this winter and all of this abusive effing snow. And painful wind. And helplessly hoping that someday the temperature will rise to the lofty heights of The Twenties Fahrenheit. My heating pad is my constant companion.

If you are one of those crazies who Thinks Snow Is So Pretty, or Loves Winter, or Goes Skiing Or Sledding, or Just Loves Winter Cozy Time, DON'T YOU DARE SAY A WORD ABOUT ANY OF THAT TO ME. I AM NOT IN THE MOOD. 

Thank you.

I am fighting this winter with every fibre in my body. It is not going well. Aside from that, what else have I been doing? Let's have a review.

1. I finally read The Correspondent. I read the review that Julie wrote, and she enthusiastically urged me to buy the book, and I'm glad she did. It was wonderful. During this illness and during wintertime, I have trouble focusing/concentrating and mushbrain, and I worried that I wouldn't be able to fully immerse myself in it. That was not the case. This book was so engaging and charming, and I found myself at times identifying so strongly with the titular character. After reading it, it was immediately and lovingly placed on my Favourite Books shelf. Now I'm reading a scholarly nonfiction work called Dark Renaissance about the life and times of Christopher Marlowe, playwright, poet, genius, and spy of Elizabethan England who was murdered before the age of 30. We'll see if I can juggle it along with The Age of Innocence for CBBC.

2. Over the weekend we had the ridiculous snowstorm. On Monday Jared and Jordan moved to their new home during the leftovers of the storm. (And poor Jared has a broken foot that needs surgery this week, and has been in a walking boot for weeks.) While the movers trooped in and out of the house with all the stuff, I was in charge of Theo. Rick had gone over earlier to snowblow their driveway. It snowed the whole day, and the front door and back door had to be open the whole time. I wore my heated coat. Theo stood at the front window watching them bring items in, excited about seeing all their things coming to The New House. At other times, we played Airport and Airplane in his parents' big walk-in closet. This is a very happy move:  not only will they be less than 20 minutes away instead of an hour, they needed the extra room because Theo will be a big brother in August. If he has his way, the new baby will be named Crocodile.

3. I have been to my doctors--two of them in two days this month. All I can say is that it's devastating to hear two days in a row from medical professionals that there really isn't anything they or medical science can do for me. I am in a sort of dead zone of medicine. There is new research ongoing, mostly due to Long Covid, so that's at least something. But right now, aside from some stronger muscle relaxers that can help with my pain at night, there's nothing. I've learned how to rest, but it still feels like giving up to me. Even showering can wear me out. And I used to shovel the driveway and take my walk on the same day!

4. And speaking of those Rest Days, I have actually gone without my mascara on those days! I used to think that was a Venial Sin pretty much, but now, I just don't care. AND! I don't wear real clothes on those days, either. I wear a Lounge Outfit and a cardigan. I mainly do this for the technicality; no one can accuse me of wearing my jammies all day if I am officially wearing a Lounge Outfit and a cardigan (even though it looks and feels like I am doing just that). Rick enthusiastically supports this and says ridiculous things like, "You look great!" and "I tell you all the time that you don't need makeup", but the most important thing he says is, "Why bother when you're not going anywhere?" and this is the comment that really sells it for me. I mean, duh.

5. Can you nap? I mean, actually fall asleep during the day? I cannot, and I never have been able to. Obviously, it would be very helpful these days, but try as I might, I just can't. Right now, Rick is sleeping on the couch; it's 4:30 and Judge Judy is yammering, but he's sound asleep. His breathing is heavy and deep. It happened almost instantly--one moment he was talking about being sleepy, and the next he was doing it! Sleeping, just like that. I also cannot put a blanket on over my clothes. It just feels awful to me. I can, however, put a blanket over my Lounge Outfit. It's completely different somehow. (Just now, Rick said very clearly, "Should we go in and start dinner pretty soon?" FROM A DEAD SLEEP. How? I DON'T GET IT.)

Dinner. Ugh. I have been shopping for, thinking about, planning, prepping, cooking, and cleaning up after Dinners for almost FORTY-FIVE YEARS. I am starting to feel about Dinner like I do about Winter. It's almost abusive and brutal anymore. WHEN WILL IT END? How can I continue to endure it? Sigh. I might have Rick clear the ten feet of snow away from the grill and have him start making Dinner. I've had enough.

Welcome To 2026 And A Bunch Of Stuff

The Christmas tree is taken down and all holiday decor is stowed away. The only leftovers that remain reside in the freezer:  a handful of cookies I sneaked from the tray of cookies my sister Susan sent over and about a half-pound of glazed, spiral-sliced ham. I gave away most of the Christmas toffee I made (that stuff is dangerous to keep anywhere in the house). The new year is here, and...so am I.

*I generally don't make New Year's Resolutions or pick a Word For The Year or anything like that. I have always said that I am on a Continuous Journey Of Self-Improvement, so every day I try to be mindful of opportunities to move through this life with a little more ease and grace. Over the years, I have adopted many mantras, for lack of a better word, to do just that. For instance:

1. Kindness is my default.

2. If it will only take 2 minutes or less, just do it.

3. Touch something only once and act on it immediately.

4. Let it go.

As I have for the past 50 years, I will continue to work on my Patience, a lifelong struggle. 

*You won't find a 2025 WrapUp Post here, either, per se. I have, however, browsed through some photos on my phone and found a few to share with you, apropros of nothing.

1. This particular roundup of photos is especially for Julie. She mentioned making big salads for dinner and wanting to vary the ingredients. I commented on the post and told her that I often roast an onion and cut it up to put in our dinner salads. She later asked for a sort of tutorial, so Julie, here it is:

I preheat the oven to 375 and line a small pan with foil (or you can add it to the pan of whatever meat or other veg you may be roasting). I peel then slice a sweet/Vidalia-style onion in half horizontally, and cut off the ends so that it lies flat. I season it with Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and lots of dried thyme. Then I liberally drizzle it with olive oil. Into the oven it goes.

Once it's soft, about 40-50 minutes later, I cut it into wedges. We like it very chunky.

When the onion is all cut up, I toss it all together to mix in the thyme and oil and natural juices, then pour it all into our salad. The roasting makes the onion even sweeter, and the thyme is wonderful. I prefer using dried thyme rather than fresh; the flavour is stronger and it doesn't get lost in the heat.

2. This next photo is of my son Sam, who drove a real Ferrari race car for his birthday last year. It is one of Theo's favourite photos in the entire world because A)it is of Gunga, his favourite person in the entire world, and B) it is a race car. Whenever Theo wants to look at it, we always zoom in to see how big Gunga is smiling--how happy he looks. Theo smiles too and says, "Happy Gunga!" Why am I showing this to you? Oh, trust me; it will become clear very soon.

 This photo is a toy that Jared got in a Happy Meal when he was little, over 35 years ago. It was in a small crate of Hot Wheel and Matchbox cars that we hauled out of the crawlspace for Theo, who has outgrown many of the toys we have at our house. 

Theo refers to this car as Gunga. Um...obviously. Talk about Art Imitating Life, amirite? It wasn't immediately apparent to any of us why he referred to it that way until I remembered the Ferrari photo of Sam. Suddenly, it all made sense. 

*I should have known much sooner. I'd seen this sort of visual association in action before. Here's a photo of my spoon rest (not my actual one; this one is for sale on Ebay, and I'm writing this post from the lakehouse). Anyway, take a look at this spoon rest that is identical to mine, which Theo (now tall enough to see it on the butcher block) suddenly pointed to and said delightedly, "Nana! Happy Man!"

"So what?" you might be saying. "It is a man, and he looks happy. Not exactly genius, Nance." And of course you're right. This next photo, however, is from Theo's favourite book. Please take a look at the main character:

The Happy Man and His Dump Truck, ©1950 by Tibor Gergely

 Now look back at my spoon rest. AND--Did you catch the title of that book? He also calls the dog Z-Boy (one of Zydrunas's many nicknames). I want to remember that I was this amazed and awed and completely enchanted when my own sons undoubtedly displayed these sorts of developmental astonishments. I know that they must have because Jared and Sam are both very intelligent and intuitive. When they were Theo's age, however, I was teaching full time, wife-ing full time, and often exhausted while being a mother full time. I hope that I rose above that enough to be delighted and joyful, and that I showed it.

*Finally, I mentioned that we were at the lakehouse. We came for a few days so that I could have a change of scenery and some true rest and relaxation after a particularly bad flare-up of pain. It has been incredibly helpful. Views like this always are:

Happy New Year to you, my friends. Let's do what we must to make our corners of the world a good place.

post header image

Merry Christmas 2025 From The Dept. Of Nance

 Merry Christmas, everyone. We made it, literally.

Congratulations to all of you, the Holiday Bringers And Makers. You brought it to life again. Well done. In the coming days, insist on your rest. Everything else can wait. Truly, it can.

In this photo you are seeing Theo's gifts from Nana and Pa and Gunga. Our family decided only to buy for Theo, gratefully streamlining our Christmas. Pa made him a solid oak rocking horse. The biggest (and most) packages are from Gunga, who is the most indulgent uncle ever. Those two are smitten with each other.

Enjoy your family, friends, and your tree this Christmas. Cherish your health and your home. And remember to treat yourself as the athlete you are for accomplishing this feat called Christmas:  relax, rest, and recover.