Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns
If you think Jesus would have come into your home that day and not issued a strong rebuke to the head of household, you are mistaken. These words of condemnation have been haunting me for days now. They aren’t all that different than the soundtrack I play in my head on an almost-daily basis. It’s…
I am nesting. On Saturday I emptied the refrigerator. Last summer’s homemade pickles in their jars. The bread ends that seem to multiply on every shelf. The eggs. The milk. The fruit and veggies. All of it sat on the floor or the counter as I carefully removed the shelves and wiped them down with…
I’ve heard that life is like a highway. And it definitely seems like that sometimes. The pace of life swirls around me at dizzying speeds. We’re all so busy. In such a hurry. Always somewhere to be, something else to do. I’m a get-to-the-point, get-there-quick kind of girl. I don’t like to waste time on…
January is for hibernating. That’s my assessment of the first month of 2022 for our family. It feels like we hunkered down, stayed in, watched shows and movies, and read books. I mean, I have no complaints. Our monthly round-up of What We Did, What We Ate, What We Watched and What We Read is heavy on basketball, soups and movies/TV shows.
New Year’s Day 2022 feels like four years ago. Since we were all home and it was a Saturday, we played a couple of board games. For Christmas, Phil had bought the family Forbidden Island. It was fun, but also a little stressful. The island is sinking and you have to work together to save artifacts/relics and get off the island. Fun, though. We also played our new favorite card game, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. But our hands hurt from all the slapping on the table.
We had one legitimate snow day in January. I put together this puzzle after an hour-plus of shoveling outside with my son.
Our Saturdays are full of youth rec basketball. There were several wins and one tough loss. We are becoming THOSE parents who cheer loudly and sometimes vocalize our discontent.
But on one Saturday, our daughter got to participate in a county band event and we watched her concert later that day. It was moving to be in the audience for live band music again.
We got our first ever parking ticket in downtown Lancaster. We were minutes late upping our parking time on the app, but the truth is, I’m glad it happened. I’ve been freaked out about getting a parking ticket my whole life basically because I wasn’t sure how expensive they were. Parking in general gives me anxiety. (Will we get towed?) It wasn’t as expensive as I thought and while I don’t want to repeat it, I know now I can survive it.
Uno on FaceTime with family. It’s a highlight of our weekend calls when we get to play games via video.
During the mid-month snow storm, Phil and I had plans to go out to dinner with friends. We had rescheduled a couple of times due to Covid or Covid-like symptoms, so we kept our date and drove through the city while it snowed looking for a place that was open. (See below). It was a fun, refreshing time.
Phil started playing Wordle and eventually all four of us joined him. It’s a daily family conversation.
And at church, Phil and I made our debut in the nursery/toddler room as volunteers. So far, we’re having fun, but I’m quickly realizing that I might be getting too old to be down on the floor with kids all the time. (Or maybe I just need to stretch more.)
New Year’s Day lunch is always full of snacks per Phil’s family tradition. There were lots of chippy dippy kinds of things. We also had pork and sauerkraut for dinner, a PA Dutch tradition that we don’t mind at all.
Soups, soups and more soups. Here are some of the soups we made and ate this month. (Some I forgot to take a picture of because I was so eager to eat them!) We had French onion soup from the Harry Potter cookbook; carrot, mushroom barley soup; Irish stew with turnips and carrots; pork chili; and Scottish “stovies” for Burns night.
On our dinner date with friends, we ended up at Queen Street Bistro because it was the only place we could find that was open. I had a crab melt that was meaty and delicious. Phil had a mushroom pizza and an ahi tuna appetizer.
Crickets. Yes, crickets. A couple of our classes at school read a book about eating insects and the teacher who leads our class bought some cricket flour online to make cookies. She came to school on a Monday with choco-chirpies (chocolate chip cookies made with cricket flour). Honestly, they tasted like chocolate chip cookies. It was a fun day watching our students try something new.
The New Year’s Day tradition for Phil’s family continues with a watching of The Tournament of Roses parade.
Usually we’re more of a shows kind of family, but we watched a bunch of movies this month. Our son had heard about Ron’s Gone Wrong, so we watched that. It is one of those happy-sad movies. We cashed in some digital credits to rent Free Guy. Uh-mazing. I can’t stop thinking about this idea that we can be more than spectators in our lives. Then we jumped on the Encanto bandwagon and it is worth the hype. And we finally watched Eternals. Unpopular opinion? I didn’t hate it. I thought I was going to hate it because I had heard some bad reviews, but I’m considering rewatching just to catch all the threads. Yes, it’s a long movie (we watched it over two nights), but I enjoyed it.
Some of our family shows we watched together: Supermarket Sweep, the new one with Leslie Jones as host and Welcome to Earth hosted by Will Smith.
Phil and I are watching Around the World in 80 Days on Masterpiece PBS. (David Tennant as Phileas Fogg?Yes please.). We’re also trying to finish Kim’s Convenience so we can move on to other comedies. We logged another episode of The World According to Jeff Goldblum, too. And weekly, as long as there are episodes, we watch SNL clips.
We watched a couple of documentaries, too. Storm Lake is PBS documentary about a family-run newspaper in western Iowa that won a Pulitzer Prize. It reminded me of my journalism days.
And we’re halfway through a four-part docuseries on Netflix called This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist. It’s an intense look at the robbery of the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Gallery in Boston, Mass., in 1990, an as-of-yet unsolved crime. I’m sort of obsessed.
And one afternoon, I watched A Castle for Christmas. Yes, I watched this in January, weeks after Christmas was over. But it was on my list for Christmas movies to watch and I never got to it. Cary Elwes with a Scottish accent was something I didn’t know I needed in my life.
Reading out loud with the kids: more Spy School books by Stuart Gibbs! We finished Spy Ski School and are about halfway through Spy School Secret Service. We will read every book in this series.
Phil finished a book! (I’m not being mean. This is just a rare event because of his limited leisure time and reading speed.) His book was Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala. He saw it on a list of the top books of the year in the mystery category as voted by Goodreads users. There are more books coming in the series, and he’s really looking forward to them.
Books I finished: Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon. The long-awaited ninth book in the Outlander series. I started it over Christmas break and finished it about halfway through January. When I first started reading the Outlander books, I was borrowing them from the library and rushing to finish them in two weeks or less in case they couldn’t be renewed. I was glad to be able to take my time with this one.
The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe. Loosely based on the Rita Crundwell decades-long crime against my hometown.
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny. The next Inspector Gamache book. Was not my favorite.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. My first Agatha Christie read! And definitely not my last.
Books in progress:
Truman. Yep. I went back to it. But not for long. I need to finish it just to be done with it, but it puts me to sleep right now.
Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown. Book club pick for the winter session. I have mixed feelings already. Stay tuned.
We started December with advent calendars and a birthday and ended with the end of the year. December 2021 … we finally made it, but I haven’t totally processed that it’s another new year already. Pandemic times are confusing for my brain. Anyway, here’s the last round-up of 2021 of What We Did, What We Ate, What We Watched, and What We Read.
Advent calendars. These are not for particularly religious reasons, although we religiously buy the cheese advent calendars from Aldi every year. This year, Phil added a gourmet chocolate calendar to my daily ritual and a hot sauce one for our son. The kids also had chocolate calendars from a standholder at Central Market who used to work with Phil. We had a lot of daily surprises from these delicious calendars, and it was a daily delight in an otherwise glum sort of month.
Sick days. Boo. Our daughter was experiencing some COVID-like symptoms, so she stayed home for two days and I stayed with her. On day 2, we went for a rapid COVID test, which was negative. While we waited for the results we played an online game of Monopoly. (I just invented a new word while I was typing: monopology … I’m sorry for the things I said while playing Monopoly.) which spoiler alert reveals that I’m just as competitive with an online game as a physical one. Later in the month, our son wasn’t feeling well and stayed home for a day. Instead of going out and waiting for two hours for a test, we bought an at-home one and did science in our house! (I do not enjoy any of this.)
But, when the fourth member of our family turned 12, he finally got his chance at his COVID vaccine. We went on his birthday. The pharmacist administering the shot said to him: “You’re lucky it’s your birthday, otherwise we give it in the tush.” After I explained what his tush was, our son laughed. Local pharmacies for the win, friends.
Every December our favorite local radio station out of Philadelphia does a countdown of some kind. This year, it was the top 2021 albums of all time as voted on by listeners. We had the radio on A LOT during the week-plus countdown. Stream WXPN online if you’re looking for an eclectic mix of music curated by music lovers.
Coffee with friends.
And dinner with a friend. These sorts of things have been lacking during COVID, for good reason, but I’ve recognized the need to have regular friend interactions in my life. Both of these were uplifting and healing to my stressed-out, weary soul.
Spirit week. Again. This time, holiday-themed and stretching over nine days of school. We wore socks, dressed as movie characters, wore Christmas colors, wore song references, holiday headgear and ugly sweaters, among other things. It wasn’t all bad, but it did require a lot of effort beforehand.
Every year, our school’s Technology Student Association puts on a light show in the parking lot of the middle school. It’s free (donations accepted) and it shows off the hard work students have done programming the light show. It’s amazing and fun. This year was no exception.
Basketball practices started, and our son played one game before Christmas break. He scored a basket and shot a free throw (he missed the free throw) but it was fun to see him out there.
Christmas shopping, So much Christmas shopping. We went to our favorite local businesses and came home with gifts that we were delighted to give.
On December 24, we flew home to Illinois for Christmas.
We all made it, but one of our bags didn’t, which set off an hours-long waiting game of tracking down the bag. The bag made it on the next flight from Baltimore, but that was two hours behind us. So, we went for lunch with my parents at Portillo’s, then took a walk at a local historic site.
It was a mild day weather-wise for December in Illinois, so it made for a nice change of pace from all the people and bustle.
When we went back to the airport to see if the bag had come in, we discovered that it, indeed, had landed with the plane but had been picked up by another passenger by mistake. So, a very friendly and competent airline attendant tracked down the other passenger by phone and asked them to come back to the airport to retrieve their missing bag and return ours. Because of the fiasco, we missed one of the family gatherings we were supposed to attend. Travel, for us, is never dull.
Two days after Christmas, we were back to the airport to drop Phil off so that he could return to work. The rest of us went shopping in the suburbs so the kids could spend their Christmas money. We ended with a visit to Bass Pro Shops’ Outdoor World, which is a wild experience.
It snowed one day, so we made Christmas cookies.
This is our annual tradition as well, and someday I’ll figure out how to get them made ahead of time and distributed on or by Christmas.
They turned out just like Grandma used to make, which is really the whole point.
Throughout our holiday, we played games with family. These included Can You Name Five?; Smash Up; Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza; and We Didn’t Playtest This.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a clear favorite.
My Grandma got to move to a different room in her assisted living facility, so while my parents and aunt and uncle moved her, the kids and I took Grandma out for lunch and a drive. It was an enjoyable couple of hours.
On the last day of the year, the kids and I flew back to Pennsylvania with little to no complications. The airport wasn’t too busy. Our flight was originally going to be delayed a little bit but then was on time. We had a super bumpy flight but we made it (and so did all of our bags!). We reconnected with Phil and drove home. The kids and Phil stayed up till midnight. I turned in hours before that because the day had taken its toll on me.
Sushi. The birthday boy wanted sushi for his birthday meal, so he invited a friend over and we ate a variety of sushi.
Which was followed by Peanut Butter Mud Cake (ice cream cake; he is my son, after all).
For our last small group snack of the season, we made Christmas crack and ranch crackers, both of which we ate too much of and have too much leftover.
It’s still soup season. This month’s soups featured acorn squash soup, potato leek soup, cream of broccoli soup, cabbage, potato and sausage soup; and stuffed pepper soup. I could eat soup every day.
We needed a takeout celebratory meal for Phil’s new job, so we ordered from Awash, a restaurant we haven’t been to in a while. We had a variety of Ethiopian food: meat and vegetarian dishes with the ubiquitous injera (a spongy bread).
When I went out with my friend for dinner I had fish tacos from Tied House in Lititz.
Cookies and egg nog are the traditional snack while we watch White Christmas.
As mentioned earlier, we ate Portillo’s while we waited for our delayed bag.
For one of our family gatherings, we had burritos and tacos and other Mexican delights from a local taco joint.
On our shopping day, we went to a place called COVO, Greek street food. It was set up sort of like Chipotle except your choices were pitas, bowls, salads or platters. It was delicious.
Grandma wanted a taco, so we went to Mama Cimino’s, a local restaurant my friend and her husband own and run. We ate a taco, taco salad, pizza and a sampling of fried deliciousness.
And no visit to our hometown is complete without eating food from Arthur’s Garden Deli. Potatoes. Sandwiches. Soups. Highly recommend if you’re ever in northern Illinois, but it might also just be nostalgia.
And then on the way back to the airport, we stopped at a diner near Midway for lunch. It’s an all-day breakfast kind of place (my kind of place!) and if there’s a Benedict option on the menu, I’m ordering it. This was potatoes Benedict: eggs and hollandaise and ham over potato pancakes.
The World According to Jeff Goldblum. A Disney Plus show. Anyone who displays even mild curiosity about the world around them endears me.
Hawkeye. Loved it from the first minute till the last.
Kim’s Convenience.
Nailed It. We watched an episode with Jack McBrayer, who is rightly labeled a national treasure.
Grantchester, the last episode of season 6. Already looking forward to season 7.
Welcome to Earth hosted by Will Smith on Disney Plus. Intense first episode. I learned, like, 12 things in less than an hour.
Nicole Byer’s comedy special on Netflix. She’s funny on Nailed It, and this one had its moments. Lots of swearing and crude humor, though.
White Christmas. An annual tradition.
All the Queen’s Horses. So, my hometown is the same town that was swindled out of $53 million over 20 years by a city employee. This documentary on Prime (previously on Netflix) is all about the woman who committed this egregious crime and how the city uncovered it and recovered from it. Fascinating and depressing all at the same time.
Judge Judy. And a variety of other daytime television we never see, but Judge Judy has quickly become our son’s favorite.
Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson. I actually started this in November but forgot to add it last month. I need some words about writing every now and then, and I respect Peterson as a songwriter and author. I’m slowly working my way through this one.
Good Kings, Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum. A few months ago I was looking for books featuring disabled characters or addressing disability issues, and my sister-in-law sent me a link to a disabled book reviewer who gave their critique and opinions on a variety of such books. This was one the reviewer thought was worthwhile. Its characters are all people who either live in or work at an institution for disabled youth, and it was sometimes hard to read because I know the circumstances are ones actually faced by people living in institutions. Fiction is a powerful method to bring awareness to topics like these.
Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs. Reading aloud with my kids. I’m hooked on these books.
The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan. A heart-warming, authentic family drama. I’ve got some good recommendations coming in from friends and this was one of them.
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. I bought this one at a book sale at the school last year. YA is such an amazing genre for getting to know the characters well.
Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood. A Phryne Fisher Christmas/New Year’s story. How appropriate!
How The Light Gets In by Louise Penny. Such a work of genius. It’s a mystery, of course, but I didn’t know who to trust at any point of the story and I was shocked by how it all turned out.
When I Was The Greatest by Jason Reynolds. After hearing him speak on a podcast, I went searching for more of his work at the library. This was another one that allowed me to see into a way of life I’m not familiar with.
Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich. I pulled this one off a display at the library when they were featuring Native authors. It was odd reading a dystopian story during a pandemic that’s lingering and wavering in intensity. But it was interesting writing and I want to read more Native authors.
When Calls the Heart by Jeanette Oke. So, I’ve seen every episode of the show through season 8, and I was curious about the books. I needed a quick read when I was between books on holiday, and this certainly fit that bill. But I found it shallow and lacking in plot. I might still read the rest of the series, though. Sometimes I am a glutton for punishment and even reading a not-great book is better than not reading at all.
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon. Finally digging into this behemoth of a book, taking my time, savoring the words of this ninth story in the Outlander series. I want to go back and re-read the first eight but I couldn’t wait to pick up the story again.