Holiday Themes… and What’s Up With All This Heat?
Last year I posted about choosing a holiday theme. Inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast, I somehow convince my family every year to choose a holiday theme- usually a line from a song. Previous themes have included “Joyful and Triumphant,” “Laughing All the Way,” and “In the Bleak Midwinter” (that was for 2020, bleh.) Right now I’m thinking my theme for Christmas 2022 will be “The Weather Outside is Frightful.” SERIOUSLY. We just can’t seem to cool down here. I think every other part of the country has had some cool/cold weather, except South Florida. Usually by this time the humidity has dropped and we’ve seen overnight temperatures in the 50s and 60s, but not this year. And we’ve notice something odd- when it does get down to, say 70, people mention that it’s “cold.” Last week on the news they were showing the forecast, and it literally showed a low of 70 with the words “cold front.” I’M SORRY, BUT THAT IS NOT COLD. It’s not even “Florida cold.” Florida cold is 50s, and even occasionally, brrr- 40s overnight. This insistence that 70 is “cold” has led us to develop a theory… Our ongoing joke is that DeSantis has passed a law that all meteorologists must refer to 70 degrees as “cold” from now on, in an effort to convince people there is no climate change. We like this theory so much that we’ve almost started to believe it. On Thanksgiving morning, when we were heading to our race in the dark, my husband mentioned that he felt a little chilly. Then he quickly exclaimed “No, I’m not falling for his little plot! I believe in climate change! I just got a little chill.” Hee hee. All joking aside, you may be thinking: “Jenny. What in the world did you expect when you moved to Florida? Why didn’t you just move to Alaska if you dislike the heat so much?” Good question. I grew up near Chicago, and the winters were TERRIBLE. It wasn’t just the cold, the snow, or the wind, but it was so, so gray. By the time I was in high school I was suffering from SAD, except I didn’t know what it was back then. I’m not even sure the term “Seasonal Affective Disorder” had been invented. I just knew that I suffered from depression, mostly in the winter. I crazily stayed in the midwest for college, but then moved to Florida, and my life changed dramatically. My cycles of depression disappeared and I began to suspect that it was weather-related- but when I had the opportunity to move to New York City for work, I decided to try it. I LOVED living in New York- except for the weather. The first winter up there sent me into a major depression, and I had to face facts- I definitely have SAD. Still, I lived up there for several years, and also during that time worked in Germany- which, by the way, has similar weather to the US midwest- gray and depressing. Finally, I gave up and moved back to Florida. At the time I was thrilled with this decision, because being depressed for six months out of the year is no way to live. Also, the heat didn’t bother me. I welcomed it! I could go running at noon on a summer day, and it was no problem. Looking back, that heat tolerance was my superpower- Florida was the perfect home for me. Fast forward to my early 50s. One summer the heat REALLY started to bother me. This was around the time I went through menopause (coincidence? I think not!) It absolutely drove me berserk to have anything touching my stomach during a run on a hot day, and I was forced to run in shorts and a sports bra (also “coincidently” this was around the time where my stomach became my least favorite body part- go figure.) I also started to have trouble sleeping in the heat. We used to set out thermostat at 75 overnight, which I can’t even imagine now. I crank the AC down to 68 and I’m still too warm. In short, the heat makes me angry. It’s become a major issue on my runs. This is why I’m waiting and waiting for our winter cool down to come… the heat and humidity are stifling to me now. I fantasize about moving out of Florida- but it’s just not feasible right now with my husband’s job and my daughter’s school. And, I know I still have SAD. That will never go away, and I’m pretty sure mine is too severe to be cured by a SAD lamp. Maybe eventually I could move to…. northern Florida? Georgia? In the meantime, I’m sticking to my holiday theme of “The Weather Outside is Frightful.” But if we get our cool down, I’ll happily change it to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” It’s the penultimate day of NaBLoPoMo2022! How exciting. Does anyone want to join me in choosing a holiday theme?
The End of Pumpkin Palooza
Well, it’s over- Thanksgiving Day is kind of like the closing ceremony for Pumpkin Palooza. (In case you missed it, Pumpkin Palooza is an entirely made up “festival” that only my sister and I celebrate- although we’re always encouraging others to join in.) Since I get out my fall decorations promptly on September 1st, you’d think I’d be getting a little tired of them. It’s true- compared to the brightly colored, sparkly Christmas decorations, the fall things look so drab and… brown. But still- I’m sad it’s over. This week with my son home was so nice, and it’s hard to say goodbye to him. I know- he’ll be back in three weeks, and that vacation is even longer. But… Thanksgiving of 2022 is over forever, and it makes me sad. I know the remedy for this is simply to forge ahead. Get all those pumpkins put away! Get the Christmas decorations up! I absolutely love Christmas, and the house is so pretty and cozy with the tree and all the lights up. And, I have a few new things. Last year I shared my Christmas mug collection. I’m happy to report that I did get rid of a couple I don’t use anymore… but then I got a new one. I couldn’t help it! I love the design, it’s the right size and fits comfortably in my hand. Here it is yesterday for the first Christmas-y breakfast of the year (gingerbread oatmeal): Another collection I have is my Christmas cozy socks. Again, I really didn’t need another pair, but couldn’t resist these new ones: And, here’s something old, but also new. Last year I also wrote about this nativity scene set of wax figures that my mom always put on our mantle. We had it as far back as I can remember, which means it’s at least as old as the 1960s (and possibly older than that- who knows how long my mom had it.) Well anyway, as we were putting it out this weekend, my son joked, “Should we light it?” What??? NO, of course not! They’re not CANDLES! And he replied, “Well, this one has a wick.” Sure enough- the angel has a wick, which I never noticed before (I think it must have been pressed down against her head, and my son pulled it up.) Do they ALL have wicks? This was an alarming thought, because that just seems… very wrong. We checked, but Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have no wicks, phew. But that leads me to believe that the angel was not originally part of this set, which was a little disconcerting- I always thought they went together. And also… who would want to light that angel? What an odd thing. Do you have a hard time making the transition when something ends? Or are you eager to move on to the next thing? Is your house decorated for Christmas? #nablopomo2022 – we’re in the home stretch!
Weekly Rundown- Plates on the Bar
Whew, what a week. I’m sure it was an unusual week for most people. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the weekly rundown. And thanks to San for organizing NaBloPoMo– we’re in the home stretch! Here’s how the week of workouts went down… Sunday Ugh. My son got home late, late on Saturday night and I didn’t get to bed until after 1 am. I woke up to a rainy Sunday with a headache. I wanted to stay home and make a big breakfast…. but I HAD TO get out and do some sort of longer run. I did 7 miles, and never felt good for the whole run. Of course I was thinking, “How am I going to run a 50K in April if I can’t even run 7 miles now?” Oh well- I got it done, and returned home to find both kids still asleep. Monday Day off! I got eight hours of sleep and it felt amazing. Tuesday I did a 4 mile run, which felt great except that my stomach hurt. I can tell every run from now on will be accompanied by thoughts like this: “How am I going to run a 50K if my stomach hurts?” Ha ha… this is going to be a long four months. Wednesday It was the day of the BIG TRIP TO THE GYM! Remember how my son and I were going to go together? Here’s the timeline: 9:00- wake up son. Remind him that we’re going to the gym at 10:00. 9:20- check on son. Son mumbles sleepily. 10:00- enter son’s room wearing gym clothes. Threaten to leave without him. Son mumbles incoherently again. 10:20- leave for the gym alone. YES. I went to the gym all by myself! Not only did I work out, but it turns out I haven’t been there in so long, I get a free complimentary training session, which is scheduled for next Wednesday. Ironically, the trainer’s name is Paul, the same as my son. Noon: return home to find Paul (my son) JUST GETTING OUT OF BED. When I told him I have a session with my new trainer, Paul, next Wednesday, he said “Oh, I see I’ve been replaced!” Well, yes- if you’re not going to come to the gym with me, I’ll find a new Paul! Thursday Turkey Trot! It was a 5K and I also ran a mile to warm up. It was possibly the slowest 5K I’ve ever “raced,” but that’s okay- I just tried to enjoy it. It was also possibly the hottest Thanksgiving ever- I think the heat index was in the upper 80s by the afternoon. Sigh. Friday Woke up with sore legs- not sure if it was from the race, or the squats I did at the gym on Wednesday. I didn’t want to run, and I didn’t want to do any strength work because the plan once again was to go to the gym on Saturday. I ended up walking for two miles, and then doing a Caroline Girvan 15 minute abs workout. And, we decorated the tree and are in the process of Christmas-ing up the house! Saturday Okay, who are we kidding. We’re not going to the gym. I worked in the morning and then neither of us felt like it. But we have big plans for Christmas break! My son will be home for a whole month, and we’ll be going to the gym together then. I hope. Instead I did Day #24 in the Caroline Girvan Iron Series- it was a full body workout. I actually- temporarily- skipped over Day #23 because it was glutes and hamstrings, which seemed a little too intense for the day before a long run. There were legs in this one, but at least it wasn’t ALL legs. Sunday Boy, we really nailed the worst travel schedule ever this time. My son arrived home late at night last weekend, and this morning his flight leaves at 6 am. My husband will take him to the airport, but I’ll still be up at 4 am to make his breakfast and see them off. But a long run must occur! I have to make it happen, especially since I didn’t do it last week. This week was both festive and a little frantic- I’m torn between feeling sad that it’s over, and relieved to get back to a normal schedule. I only went to the gym once, but I did go- and I’ll be back next week for my training session. It’s a start! How was your week? Did you keep to a workout schedule, or have to modify because of the holiday? Are you happy or sad that Thanksgiving is over?
Thanksgiving Recap!
I hope everyone had a great holiday (for those who celebrated.) Ours was really nice- a couple glitches as always, but overall a success. Let’s start with… Thanksgiving Eve This was a day of pie making and Christmas tree getting! We like to get our tree the day before Thanksgiving, but we wait till Black Friday to decorate it. Our cat was very interested in these developments… We had a Thanksgiving Eve charcuterie board! SriMu is a fancy-schmancy vegan cheese that we order for special occasions. Then the pie making commenced. After all my ranting and raving about pie, I felt like they came out EVEN WORSE THAN USUAL. Seriously. I know I said I’m not that great at it, but I’m not usually THIS bad. The crusts looked great before they went in the oven, so I’m not sure what happened. The fillings were all good though… so we still got to eat pie, and that’s the important thing. Thanksgiving Day Everything went great! Nothing burned, the house didn’t fill with smoke, and we didn’t forget anything… EXCEPT THE CRANBERRIES. It was around noon that my son asked about the cranberry sauce, which is when I realized I somehow forgot to put it on the shopping list the day before. My husband was elected to run out to the store- always fun on Thanksgiving Day- and returned home with a can of Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce. Mmmm! High fructose corn syrup! That’s okay… I wasn’t eating it anyway, and the family thought it was just fine. The biggest triumph of the day was this… We always say we want to eat Thanksgiving dinner at 4:00, but never manage to have it ready in time. It’s usually around 6:00, but as you can see, this year we ate at 4:07! My son and husband made this salad, which deserves its own picture: After we ate we went for a walk, then watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Then we had pie! And it was still early enough for the food to digest before bed- yay. Black Friday Groan. I always work on Black Friday, while the rest of the family lounges at home. To cheer myself up a little, I stopped at Starbucks on the way to work, and when I got home, the first thing I did was eat a piece of pie. Then we decorated the tree! We made the controversial decision to move the tree away from the window this year (I think it fits in the living room better this way.) Also controversial is the star. Our old one stopped lighting up, so my son and husband ran out to get this one while I was at work. I think it’s a little small- what do you think? The rest of the house is about halfway decorated. It’s a big job, because first it had to be de-pumpkined. I’m a little sad that pumpkin season is over, and sad that my son goes back to school tomorrow. This was such a fun week. But, onward! It’s time for gingerbread and Christmas music! I can’t be sad for long. How was your Thanksgiving? Did you forget anything? Any emergency trips to the store?