Well, Hurricane Nicole made landfall to the north of us, giving us a mildly windy night. We awoke to a beautiful and breezy Thursday. School had been canceled, but the place I work was open so my husband and daughter stayed home while I went to work. I thought I would stop at Starbucks on my way for a treat, but Starbucks was closed (WHAT.) When I got to work, it turned out that almost all my clients had canceled because they thought there was going to be a hurricane.
ARG! Can we come to some sort of consensus? Are we open, or closed? I know that hurricanes can be dangerous and unpredictable, and the schools especially have to exercise an “abundance of caution” in these matters, but I propose that next time, we try being a little more reckless and see how that works out.
Don’t get me wrong- I’m glad the storm didn’t hit us. I’m glad our house is intact and that we still have power. But this whole thing put me in a bad mood. I decided to follow the advice of Linus Van Pelt (from Peanuts) who said that the secret to happiness is having “five things to look forward to and nothing to dread.”
Five things I’m looking forward to:
1. A trail run on Sunday.
When I get really cranky like this, I know I need a trail run. It’s been over a week since I was out on the trail, and I can tell. Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day- a little cooler and dryer- and I have a long run planned.
2. My son is coming home!
My son will be home in eight days. The stretch from August to Thanksgiving is the longest we go without seeing him, and I really miss him. He’s a sophomore in college now, and it doesn’t get any easier.
3. Thanksgiving… kind of.
I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving in the abstract, but I’m not really looking forward to all the cooking. Let’s say I’m looking forward to pie. For our family of four, we make three pies. Some would call that excessive but we think it’s just about right. One of these is a pumpkin pie (for me) made with no sugar, which I know sounds awful but is actually really good.
4. A book flood.
Jolabokaflod, or the “Christmas Book Flood” is an Icelandic tradition of giving books as Christmas presents. This article describes how Icelanders traditionally give presents on the 24th, and spend the night reading. I want a Christmas Book Flood! This year, I’m planning to give my son a “flood” of sci fi/fantasy books for Christmas. He reread the Harry Potter books during the pandemic and told me it helped him forget all his worries (yes, that’s what reading is for!) and he wishes he had another series to get into.
I’ve already gotten some great ideas from NGS, but if you have any suggestions for me, let me know. What’s your favorite sci fi/fantasy book?
5. A trip to Tampa.
My daughter will be going to Tampa in January for All-State, and we’ve decided to make a family vacation out of it. I’ll get to hear my daughter play and also visit some friends we haven’t seen in a long time- they recently moved from Philadelphia to Tampa. I’m VERY excited about this trip, and am hoping it will help ease my post-Christmas depression. January is usually such a blah month.
Linus was right- I’m feeling better already. Thanks to San for organizing NaBloPoMo!
Can you think of five things you’re looking forward to?
Don’t forget, I’m collecting ideas for great sci fi/ fantasy books!
28 Responses
Those are great things. ESP the trip to Tampa.
Hmm. 5?
A trip to NYC
Holiday parties
Races
Thanksgiving dinner with family
End of planking. Lol
Hahahaha… I think there’s probably a lot of people looking forward to the end of Planksgiving! That’s funny.
These are great – I love posts like this.
1. I can’t believe you make pies. All the props for this – I will buy every pie for the rest of my life I can help it! I love to eat pies, but have no desire (not sure why?!) to make them myself.
2. Christmas Book Flood = SUCH AN AMAZING IDEA! I’d love to read all Christmas Eve…
3. I’m so glad your son is coming home soon – and that you miss him! I mean, I don’t imagine that’s a given in every family and it’s just wonderful that you can’t wait for him to come back <3
Looking forward to:
1. Watching White Christmas with my best friend. It's – hands down – one of my favourite holiday events.
2. My cup of coffee tomorrow morning – I only have two a week because coffee really upsets my stomach if I drink it regularly.
3. Reading in bed tonight; my husband is away and the kids are sick…so I'm aiming for an early bedtime for all and a long stretch of reading in bed.
4. Getting older. Honestly. I know there are so many things that get harder, but I'm genuinely excited to feel more at home in my own skin.
5. Sitting on the couch and enjoying our Christmas tree. I don't love the process of getting it all ready…but I'm excited that this time next month the tree should be up!
I love how you listed “getting older.” When I was younger I wouldn’t have said I was looking forward to that- but now that I AM older I can see how much happier I am. I think there’s some actual research done that shows people get happier and happier each decade.
Hope you enjoy your reading in bed and that cup of coffee!
Has your son read any Blake Crouch? It’s not full-on Sci Fi but his books are so smart and excellent in my opinion. But I am NOT a sci-fi person in general so my recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt!
Let’s see, 5 things I’m looking forward to: 1. Thanksgiving because we do not have to travel. 2. Running a 10k on Thanksgiving which will truly be a fun run, especially since I am not trained to “race” what with all the illnesses I’ve had. 3. Having my voice back. I sound awful right now. 4. Putting our tree up in a week or so. I love the glow of a tree! 5. Book club at the end of the month. I always have the best time with my book club!
Ooh that did give me a jolt of happiness to think about what I’m looking forward to! I used to do “looking forward” posts – I need to bring those back!
i’m glad you got a jolt of happiness! And I’m getting more ideas from people’s responses- oh yes, I’m looking forward to putting up our tree as well.
I will definitely look into Blake Crouch!
Hmm..five things I’m looking forward to.
1) Going to see a friend this weekend.
2) The holiday parade this weekend.
3) Making cookies.
4) Christmas lights.
5) Taking Hannah the Dog to the neurologist for a follow-up. She’s doing really well and I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll get good news.
I’ve been thinking about Hannah- she does seem like she’s doing well. I’m also looking forward to hearing about her follow-up appointment. Oh, and I’ll add making cookies to my list.
I am so glad that you weren’t impacted by “Nicole”… although I understand the frustrations of getting to work (without a Starbucks coffee) and then almost everyone had canceled. Are you allowed to go home then?
I am glad there are things to look forward to… a trail run! Your son coming home! A trip to Tampa..
I find it always helps to have some things on the horizon that put you in a good mood.
I am looking forward to baking this weekend, the holiday season (it’s my favorite, but it’s snuck up on me AGAIN), Turkey Trot (I wanna run again this year), the Secret Santa Mug Swap, and seeing you all thrive during NaBloPoMo 🙂
Ugh, no I can’t go home unless the schedule is really, really terrible. In this case, I had one client scheduled for the very end of the day- and another one showed up unexpectedly. But I waited four hours for those clients.
I’m also looking forward to the mug swap. And you must be so psyched by all the interest in NaBloPoMo- it’s REALLY grown this year!
Ooooh I felt this in my bones: “I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving in the abstract, but I’m not really looking forward to all the cooking. ” In my case, I am only looking forward to the mashed potatoes and gravy. The rest, I could go without!
I love the idea of a book flood! Blake Crouch is the sci-fi author that comes to mind, although I haven’t read his most recent (Upgrade) yet. In my opinion, he is not the best writer, but he is an excellent plotter, and his scenarios are fascinating to me. When it comes to sci-fi, I also really loved “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick, but that’s kind of a classic so you may have read it already.
No, I haven’t read “Do Androids Dream…” or anything by Blake Crouch. I’m just getting into the genre, really. I’ll look into both of those- thanks!
I love the idea of the book flood. My daughter just explained recently to me why the Percy Jackson series is so much better than Harry Potter (according to her way more diverse) – I still would have a hard time picking my favorite between the two. I also liked the Nevermoor series, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Looking forward to:
– visiting our best friends who moved to Las Vegas
– my birthday next week
– the winter break from school and work
– sleeping in
– dinner with a friend I have not seen in a while
I’ll look into Nevermoor- thanks for that recommendation. My son already read Percy Jackson and liked them (but he would argue that Harry Potter is so much better.) I’ve read the Hitchhiker books and loved them
I have to read up on the Christmas Book Flood idea. Sounds like a lovely tradition.
If you sin loves sci-fi maybe he enjoys the “In times like these” series by Nathan van Coop. I think he is actually from Florida and the novels are set in St. Petersburg. Its time travel and a group of friends and at times nerdy and researched really well. I told my dad about the time travel there’s and he said its all up to current theories and he studied physics back in the day.
Also I love the “Sword of Truth” series myself – dragons, fights, good, evil and a romance.
Your five things to look forward too are all fun. Hope they all turn out winderfully
Okay, these book suggestions sound great! I’ll look into them, thank you!
My husband was joking about Hurricane Nicole, that she started out strong in the morning, but then faded to a breeze by evening, and that seems to be what happened JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENS WITH ME EVERY SINGLE DAY. This hurricane is me!
Five things to look forward to! I’m looking forward to putting the tree up and starting Christmas baking, I’m looking forward to busting out the Christmas music TODAY, we are going to friends’ for dinner tonight, I have some good books coming up on my library holds, and the weather is a bit warmer today! All good things.
I’m excited for you that your son is coming home!
Ha ha, yes, I’ve been thinking about you with this storm. Your husband is funny. I like how Christmas-y your list is!
That’s a stellar list! The hurricane hit us yesterday so we had killer rain for most of the day, but I took a fairly long road trip anyway.
My two cents on your list is:
#1 yay!
#2 yay!
#3 just sayin…it’s OK to outsource anything you don’t want to cook. The first year that the hubs and I did Thanksgiving on our own, we got stuffing and green bean casserole from the deli at a fancy schmancy grocery store which gave us more energy to put into making dessert. Also your “pie” decoration is fabulous and better than anything that I’ve done.
#4 sorry I don’t have any sci fi/fantasy suggestions BUT there are two books that I know that my husband wants but hasn’t gotten around to buying for himself and his birthday is coming up so I’m very excited to get them for him.
#5 you know I’m a huge fan of local tourism and weekend getaway trips so huge thumbs up to the Tampa trip. I think that you’ll really like it. If I were going I’d be making a stop at the Dali museum and then heading straight to Siesta Key for a few days on the beach!
I might have to go to the Dali museum. We were all there a few years ago, and my daughter complained the entire time and ruined it for me. So… I think a solo trip is in order.
A couple years ago my son asked if we could “elevate” our Thanksgiving dinner… seriously? I told him yes, if he does some of the cooking. So now he and my husband are in charge of the mashed potatoes and salad, and I can say both those dishes are REALLY elevated!
I’ve never heard of a Christmas book flood but I’m definitely loving that idea!! 😀
I’ve heard great things about The Wheel of Time series but haven’t yet read it myself yet!
Okay, I’ll look into it- thanks!
My daughter (aged 10) is a big Fantasy Book reader so if you have any titles appropriate for her age, I’d love to hear them. I was not a big fantasty reader growing up so I’m a bit stuck! She’s read and re-read all Harry Potter and loved them! Five things I’m looking forward to? I have a work trip to Ghana, Christmas (although I feel it’s come too suddenly!), a family trip for a week to South Africa just before New Year’s, and a couple of races (not goal races but looking forward to that race atmosphere!
Okay, I’ll let you know. My son found a series he thought he would like but decided it was too young for him- it might be perfect for your daughter. I just have to find out what it was.
These are WONDERFUL things!! How exciting. I teach at a university, and my students miss their homes right now so much– especially because we don’t get a fall break.
Yes, my son can’t come home for a “fall break” because he’s so far away. This is the first time he’ll be home since August.
JENNY YOU’LL BE IN TAMPA??? I know you’ll be busy with your family, but let me know if you can steal away for a quick coffee date or something! It would be fun to meet up. 🙂
Hurricane days are hard! I wasn’t sure what would be open on Thursday so I hunkered down inside for the whole day. Wah.
Hooray for your son coming home after such a long time away. <3
Yes, I thought about trying to see you- I would love that. When it gets closer to the time I’ll see what my schedule will be like and let you know. It might be a super busy time, but we’ll see!