January wrap

Remember when Covid cancelled all and calendars emptied of commitments and activities? It seems a very distant memory after a fully packed January.

Connections ran through every item on the calendar as they will every month because connections are the links that bind us to certain actions, people or places. I’ve broken them down into categories that spell connect (my WOTY).

Creativity is such good use of your brain, allowing it to stretch and flex. I did a quick, easy, super cute baby burrito (think baby bundling blanket, not some weird side dish) with some gifted fabric and leftover scraps. I spent an interesting hour with my lovely daughter in law in a quilt shop picking out fabric for a baby quilt. Again, this was to complement all the lovely gifted fabrics I received from a wonderful friend who decided it was time for some of her stash to be used by someone else. It was super fun to see how amazing Lexi found the store with all the colours and options. I was definitely good for the local economy that day. This category also found a way to pay my skills, ingenuity, and time forward as I have undertaken to create three (yikes) memory quilts for Spencer and Lexi’s friends who lost their mother in December. This will certainly be a fall project, although after the baby quilts are done, I might get a start on the cutting out. I also signed up for a class later in the year that I think will open new exciting projects.

Orchestrate is exactly what I did with regards to our big travel connected energized block of time away. Lists and menus and packing and double checking who was bringing what. The most over packed item was cheese! Never a bad thing. I must remember that next year I also need to add potato leek soup to the lunch ski menu as that is my daughter’s favourite. The hamburger, turkey noodle, borscht and golden squash soup were enjoyed by various members of the family.

Nan ah Nan time. There was LOTS of this, and that is a wonderful thing. In fact, that is the stage of life I am at right now, and it is my focus. It means life is very busy, but that’s ok because remember when we had to keep 6 feet away and visit outside? Nan this month did swim lessons, library time, indoor playground, sleepovers, and skiing. We read books, played games, and built magnetic blocks (Picasso Tiles — best gift these kids have ever received). We also baked, snow shoed, shoveled side walks and …..the list goes on.

Naughty ah well I guess that’s the reality of life. I have been doing some solid self care lately, but our big ski trip rather derailed that (in some ways). Far too many evening snacks while we played canasta, Ticket to Ride or Settler’s of Catan. AND way too much chocolate, but hey, I am in the town of the best chocolate store in Canada, and I definitely enjoy it when I am here. Mayan hot chocolates after a day on the slopes is my favourite way to cap off a super fun day. I consumed way less beer than usual, so maybe it’s balanced (insert laughy emoji here).

Energize or Enjoy or Enthusiastic or Enjoyment are all good options for so many activities this month. I did lunch out 3 times in 1 week and went out for supper in my red boots, not once but twice. I walked in the city twice, catching up with 2 different friends. We reconnected with some long-time friends and had a great games night with them. My birthday, which I blogged about  Here and There, was also another wonderful “period” as it was celebrated over many days with several different groupings of those close to me. But definitely, the highlight was the family ski trip to Fernie.

Commitment to a short-term volunteer activity appeared as an opportunity on my radar this month, and so I jumped at it. The event is in June, so it will be a steady build-up and then boom done. I also made a commitment to see some more action in my regular volunteer group, so I am going to be spending an evening a week putting in some word smithing time there. Following the Younger Next Year principles, these actions help me pay it forward, and that’s important.

Travel was the highlight of the month. Our trip to the mountains started with a detour to Calgary to see family. Even though it was a short visit, it was definitely worth it to see The Engineer’s brother, sister in law as well as nieces, nephews, and a great niece and great nephew. Crazy to think that these youngsters are now 21 and 25.

Then it was off to a ski in ski out (just can’t beat that) chalet or our “mountain house” as the Littles call it. Hitting the slopes was a blast like usual. Unusual was the blast of cold artic air, which definitely impacted time on the slopes. Interspaced with cold fingers and toes, we got in some fun runs. Young A and Little Man C took lessons and then shredded the slopes. She was super pumped to go up one more higher chair and skied it so well. It did slow down her speed demon tendency, and she did stop and comment that her legs hurt, which is exactly what her momma said as well. I skiied with confidence and took turns helping out Little Man C. He’s a derdevil and just wanted to go fast, but he did master a snow plow (pizza) stop and was making turns on the steeper sections. Uncle and Grampa skied backwards (ahead of Colton to get him to turn)a lot, which meant both kidlets wanted to learn that! She practiced that, one leg skiing and doing little jumps. As usual, they both loved the trees. This was a challenge for Nan as I ended up accompanying her on a bike/ski trail, and I did ski out of it backwards as the last turn was sheer ice, and I got messed up. She hadn’t waited, and so this became a learning opportunity about skiing in pairs, what to do if someone is injured, what to do if someone gets separated and lost. As a side note, I do love skiing in between the wide open glade trees way higher up on the mountain.  Pulling in and finding a line of powder, zipping around trees and finding the best line down.  Alas, that’s not the kind of tree skiing one finds lower down, and I made a mental note to just say NO next time. We went night skiing, and although it’s the same run over and over again, it was fun. It was nice that Lexi could walk over and watch us all zoom around. Plenty of talk about what age their little guy will be strapping on skis. The little baby cousin seems more real to the Littles now, and A especially loved feeling the baby kick.

Bear chair, A & Momma

Night skiing- T, A, Uncle and C

I have never understood why people hate January. The light is returning, so many awesome outside activities to partake in and inside time to catch up on projects or see friends.

I’ve had an amazing month and am glad of the opportunity to highlight my WOTY combined with the new blog challenge #What’sOnYourCalendar.

Now it’s time to flip that calendar up and enjoy February.

Bernie

Ps fingers crossed the videos actually work!