A Long Winter

Somehow, January skipped to March, and in between, there was work, school, illness, and a few bright spots here and there.

Being a new employee, I still couldn't take time off from work yet, so I had to squeeze in family fun on weekends and holidays; however, even our weekends and holidays felt scarce because of a long-lasting stomach bug (through most of January) and repeated colds. In late February, I finally caved in and made an appointment for Little Lewie and me to see our naturopath. Lewie had lost more than six days of school and was still feeling sick to his stomach. The poor kid spent his "well" time trying to get caught up on all the work he missed, and although I paid over $300 for him to be part of the ski club, he only had one day of skiing out of the entire season. It was a bummer for sure!

On the other hand, we did have a few snow days, and I used the time to get out there and hit the trails. Lewie came with me a few times, but when he couldn't, I always had my trusty pup, Bruce, to keep me company. Ironically, many of our snow days fell on the weekends, so Bruce and I were able to enjoy the snow this winter more than any other since we adopted him in 2020. We had about twelve hiking days in the snow, which was a record!

Some other fun moments were roller skating with my bestie, Jen, tubing with my hubby, and attending two 50th birthday parties. The tubing experience with my hubby was a pleasant surprise. Ever since my husband had a complete knee replacement surgery in November, he's been going to physical therapy three times a week and doing well. I wasn't sure if it was wise for me to buy tickets for us to tube, but he kept saying he'd "give it a try," and I kept promising him that there was no pressure for him to continue if it felt uncomfortable.

Fast forward to the day of our tubing adventure, and we had one of the best experiences ever! For years, he could only go down the hill a handful of times because of his knee. This time, with his new knee, he went down more times than I could count. Even more, he started off wearing a knee brace and realized not only did he not need it, but it was actually interfering with his mobility. He was snow tubing like he was ten years younger. We were both AMAZED!

Finally, I am dubbing this year the year of "Midlife" or the year of turning 50. Yes, I will be turning 50 in October, which is leading me to reevaluate my journey. I am proud to say I was accepted into an Ed.D. program, which I may start as soon as this summer! (The goal is to say I started an Ed.D. program in my 40s--lol). 

However, since I am turning 50, so are most of my friends. Thus, the slate of 50th birthday party celebrations has only just begun. Two of my friends, Debbie and Mary Ann, turned 50 this month, and so did my cousin, Carl. Another friend has hers in April. I am careful not to post some of these birthday photos here since not everyone wants a grand announcement, but I am posting the picture of my cousin, Carl. He, by far, has the best attitude toward turning the big 5-0. "I am so happy to be 50. I am so happy to be this age." Truthfully, minus the aches and pains, I'll admit that I like the wisdom that comes with being this age, too. Of course, I'm still 49. Might as well not rush it.

My cousin's 50th Celebration from yesterday. Who says 50 can't be AWESOME?

The Spring that Never Was...

To be completely honest, Spring 2022 was a blur...  We managed to have a few lovely low-key days for Easter and Mother's Day, but beyond that, weekends were spent helping my sister-in-law find and secure an apartment, buy second-hand furniture, and set up utilities, etc.  

Then, when it appeared like she had everything necessary to move out, we all caught COVID.  My son Lewie tested positive after his school band concert. Within a week, Lewie, my mom, my sister-in-law, and I all tested positive for COVID and had to quarantine.  A week later, my husband, who thought he dodged the illness, tested positive, too.  Our symptoms were all quite different.  My mom, who was old enough to request Paxlovid (the drug from Pfizer that helps shorten the severity and duration of COVID) did the best, describing her symptoms as being not much different from the common cold.  My son did well, but on Day 5, he sprung a fever and ended up having a urinary tract infection.  Hubby had flu symptoms for a few days; my sister-in-law was congested for weeks, and I felt flu-like (including a loss of taste and smell) for about a week.  The one similarity among us was exhaustion and brain fog; to be honest, we all continue to feel fatigue quite regularly even though our illness was back in the end of May.

During Easter break, we took Lewie to Foxwoods Casino (in Connecticut) for his very first time.  We bought tickets to see our favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, and our tickets, which were front and center, did not disappoint.  We had dinner at a seafood restaurant and then laughed the night away at the show.  Lewie enjoyed his first stand-up comedian event, but he wasn't too impressed with Foxwoods--crowds are not his thing.

Walking around Foxwoods before the show.

The anticipation...

These were our seats!!

We stayed overnight and spent the next morning in Mystic and the afternoon at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum.  It was Hubby's and Lewie's first time at the museum, but I had been there once before with my mom--probably 20 years ago when I was in graduate school.  The museum has a great artifact collection; however, the best part is the wax figures that depict a story of tribal life.  The life-like figures help people understand how native Americans lived off the land in Connecticut and how they worked, celebrated, and protected themselves.  (Their life was not easy to say the least!!)  One part I found fascinating is that Native Americans owned dogs as pets just like us; however, the dogs, back then, looked more like wolves--no Labrador Retrievers or Chiwawas for them!

A quick visit to downtown Mystic.

I can't take my husband anywhere...

On Easter Sunday, we attended mass, and "the Easter Bunny" paid Lewie a visit with plastic eggs and an Easter Basket.  At thirteen, he still enjoyed searching for everything and allowed me to get some fun pictures.  (I think he realized that once he declares he is too old for the Easter Bunny, he'll be forfeiting most of his favorite chocolate candy in addition to Steam and Amazon gift cards!)  Since Aunty Michelle was still living with us, Lewie's Easter loot was hidden on my mom's side of the house.  It provided a welcome change with new hiding places.

Bruce gets a bunny treat, too!

On the Saturday before Mother's Day, I took my mom to see Riverdance at the Oakdale Theater.  Unbeknownst to me, this year, Riverdance was celebrating its 25th Anniversary production.  We had great front and center seats, and the show was BEAUTIFUL.  The stage showcased gorgeous digital views of nature and the Irish countryside in between the Irish step-dancing, which was so graceful and powerful to watch.  Some scenes would start with haunting instrumental or vocal sounds.  Others would include international musicians, who would play by themselves or right along with the orchestra or the dancers.  (I enjoyed the musicians that played the tin whistle, the fiddle, and the drums the most.) 

During the second act, we had a chance to explore other dances similar to Irish step-dancing--namely, Flamenco and tap dancing (New York).  The Flamenco and tap were weaved intricately in between the Irish step-dancing to help us understand the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences between the three types of dance.  As someone that studied tap dancing for twenty+ years, I appreciated this part because it helped me see the nuances.  It also rekindled my love of dance--my tap shoes sit in my closet right now with about 16 years worth of dust!

These were our awesome seats at the Oakdale Theater.

On Mother's Day, we had our traditional dinner at the historic Hopkins Inn.  It was too chilly to eat outside, but we had a lovely table in the parlor overlooking Lake Waramaug.  The food was delicious as usual, and I was grateful that the four of us could laugh and think about happier days ahead.  The truth is that these last few years had been tough on all of us--the loss of my mother-in-law and Aunty Kiki in 2020; my mom's fall in 2021, which broke her wrist and a vertebrae in her back; and my sister-in-law's move into our home all while undergoing Chemo treatments for breast cancer.  This is not to complain, of course, but it was good to lift some of the heaviness and begin again.  

Mother's Day - Lewie and my mom

Lewie's band concert...before Covid.

Truth be told, this blog post about spring 2022 almost didn't happen...  Who wants to read about the spring in mid-July?  Now I realize there was a reason for this post.  Spring is about "new beginnings," and this one definitely fits the bill.  It was a good pre-cursor to what's starting out as a great summer.  Stay tuned...I have so much to share about our week-long trip to Utah in June and some of the interesting STEM projects Little Lewie has been working on this year...

P.S.  Our dog Bruce made the news!  I sent a video of him slithering like a snake to our WFSB Channel 3 News, and they showed his video on their "Trending Now" morning news segment.  Here is the link: https://www.wfsb.com/video/2022/05/18/trending-now-bear-drags-trash-slithering-dog-backyard-rollercoaster/

Our Last Six Weeks of Winter

On February 2, Chuckles, our State Groundhog, predicted six more weeks of winter.  My mom and son groaned while secretly inside, I rejoiced.  I was never a fan of winter, but once we adopted Bruce, my opinion changed.  Taking him for walks in the snow means no bugs, no mud, no poison ivy, no ticks, no sunblock, and no insect repellant--just a coat, boots, hat, and gloves (and maybe some hand warmers). 

During these last six weeks, I was able to get about six "snow walks"--some on a trail and some in the neighborhood.  I also managed to take my son sledding once and snow tubing once.  We didn't get to spend nearly the same amount of time outside as we did last year during the COVID lockdown, but we managed to have a few fun winter days.  Even today, on March 9th, we had a delightful covering of the white stuff--it wasn't enough to go sledding, but it was beautiful to watch while simultaneously listening to the birds chattering in the background.  I'm guessing it may be our last winter scene for a while.

Here are some of my favorite photos from these last "six weeks of winter:"

The weekend before Valentine's Day, Hubby and I took a trip up to the Berkshires and stayed overnight.  We found this random country road to take an awesome walk to nowhere in particular.

My hiking buddy, Bruce, who LOVES to play and explore in the snow.

Oh snowy day!!

A magical day of exploring our hometown park, Matthies Park.

Besides quiet walks on glimmering white paths, we had some other fun, too. I was able to get Lewie together with some of his friends after waiting patiently for the Omicron surge to slow down.  On one weekend, he had a day of bowling and another, a day of snow tubing.  Our snow tubing adventure was similar to years past but with a twist.  Hubby couldn't go because of neck issues, so we invited a second friend to come with us.  The boys had a blast!  (Of course, the whole time they were enjoying the snow, they were reminiscing about summer.  "I can't wait until summer, so we can have our sleepovers and bike rides again," said one of Lewie's friends.  Another chimed in about how he couldn't wait to go "night swimming" again.  I couldn't stop smiling--these are the good times thirteen/fourteen-year-olds daydream about!)

  

Yes, Chuckles the Groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, and he was right.  What he couldn't have predicted is how much fun we'd have spending time with friends, family, and Bruce on some of those cold, blustery days.  I'll look back on these pictures with joy in my heart.