a very january good list

This January has already felt a million years long. Mostly the unexpected school cancellations/delayed starts we keep getting hit with plus a mild stomach bug keeping us from really getting back into a good groove. And I want to be in a groove! Also, this is our coldest winter in Maryland and our house is freezing. (I have become such a wimp since my time in South Bend.) So, in the midst of the blahs and constant boogers of near mid-winter, I am trying to notice what I am pouring life into and what is bringing me life.

• the mid-day nap. so crucial. the quiet, being horizontal, and finally warm! on a normal school day, this is me and the boys. Joe naps, John and I read a book and he either stays and naps with me or does a cozy time in his room before we walk to get the girls and neighbor kids from school.
• Friday morning adoration swap (if there is school). even just being there for 20 minutes is like a soul-check time and helps me know what I need to get from the weekend ahead.
• the (very) occasional freezing cold run. on January 14th I ran at 6:20am and saw Mars to the lower right of the full moon! it was so beautiful, and I wouldn’t have seen it if I had been able to run at 3:30pm in the cold sunshine like I wished I could have. I pointed it out to two different strangers. but also, it was so cold. and it completely wiped me out – but that may have been the start of the stomach bug too. oof. but so grateful to not be injured right now, to be physically able to run – when I’m not sick and want to brave the dark and the cold.
• a long, gripping novel to read. for book club, The Father’s Tale by Michael O’Brien. I’d never heard of him before! (Though it is my FIL’s name, ha!) I’m really glad to be reading this one in winter, I can feel the icy wind around my ears of Canadian and Russian winters.
• a beloved TV show starting a new season. All Creatures Great and Small! a postpartum show for me with Joe? John? I can’t remember. delightful.
• morning prayer by candlelight in my chair again. reclaimed the corner from the enormously fat Christmas tree that I regretted buying.
• reading Harry Potter to my second for the first time. and my oldest reading it to her. she’s been waiting and waiting to be able to share HP with her. the best.
• a couple afternoons playing with my kids in a warm indoor pool. plus, hot tub for me! and I tried the waterslide, it was so fun. I’ve come home from these sessions so energized and relaxed. something about being in warm water is really bringing me life.
• sledding time with just my three year old. that was a really fun afternoon on our first unexpected snow day.
• encouragement to “keep the paint wet” with writing. just keep going. got this from Laura Kelly Fanucci, who I have loved following for years now.
• a variety pack of dark beer that we shared with friends. delish. found Chris’s beer.

• reading and discussing The Pearl by John Steinbeck with friends. again, I love this book club. I got my hands on this novella at the last minute but motivation was high that week of snow days to get it done so I could get out of the house to discuss literature with other adults. did not disappoint.
• a Saturday morning women’s retreat at my parish. so edifying, so refreshing, so needed. grateful!
• toddler music class with Joe. I really wanted this, asked around, a friend wanted to teach it, someone else in the neighborhood ended up hosting it, and it’s been exactly what I wanted, so fun to do with him and be with friends.
• an incredible poem a friend shared with me. by Sally Read. now I want to slowly make my way through the 100 Great Catholic Poems collection that she edited. I haven’t been writing as much this month (even how this blog post is just a list, it’s all I got) but I have been reading and savoring good writing. maybe it’s more of a time to saturate myself in that and see what comes out eventually.

• milky black tea. all day, every day.

There is life to be found in winter – it’s good for me to keep telling myself.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series “Alive.”