A Cold February Weekend

The opening picture is how August and Agnes spent pretty much the entire weekend – curled up on the electric blanket and living their best lives. Sadly, I wasn’t able to join them nearly as much as I wanted to. But thanks to a sudden cold, I did spend an extra hour or two with them yesterday to get some much needed quiet and rest. I’m still feeling pretty rotten this morning, so I imagine it’s going to be a slow day. We got some more snow last night so I’m waiting to see if Colton has a 2-hour delay because his school delays shape our day much more than anything else.

But I did manage to do a little knitting on my Moon Mint Sweater:

That blasted hem is finished and the colorwork has begun, which is super exciting. (Sorry about this really terrible picture. Colton came downstairs extra early this morning and I’ve been trying to rush through my typical early-morning stuff, which includes taking pictures for this blog.) This colorwork pattern already feels intuitive thanks to the large swatch I made last week, which is good because it’s a 24-row repeat! But once you’ve done it a few times, it makes total sense and is easy to follow.

I’ve also started my February sock club project but no pictures yet. Hopefully I’ll be more prepared on Wednesday morning.

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I am reading Onyx Storm! And even better? The New Hampshire Libby system bought access to over FOUR HUNDRED audiobooks, so I was able to borrow the audio version without a wait. Folding laundry has never been so much fun! I will probably finish that tonight and then will turn to a couple of interlibrary loans that need to be prioritized (Clear and Snow Country). I also have an audiobook that I planned to read in January but didn’t get to (They Were Her Property) that will keep me company while knitting and cleaning this evening. So as long as my lungs cooperate today and this cold doesn’t kick me too low, then I have a lot to look forward to.

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I know that the news all over the world is terrible. So much of what is happening is enraging and depressing. I am trying to watch and learn more about the resistance movements leading up to and during WWII (I find the Dutch Resistance particularly interesting) so if you have any recommendations, I’d welcome them.

And of course – we know that we must balance our anger with joy. These blogging check-ins are a great way of doing that; a great way to always keep my coping skills in the back of my mind when the news is so overwhelming. If you’re also finding the constant barrage of news to be too much, one thing that has helped me is to limit what I’m taking in. Most days I only watch or listen to PBS News Hour (you can download the free PBS app to your smart TV and watch the most recent episodes for free, even if you don’t have PBS passport. You can also listen to a podcast version wherever you get your podcasts, for free. I often listen via my spotify account.) On the days I veer from this boundary, I regret it.

A big part of the strategy is to overwhelm us and make us feel hopeless. I am doing my best to make sure that doesn’t work.

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Friends, sorry to get preachy. We are going to get through these four years and can look forward to better times, all while knowing that we will have so much rebuilding to do. Many of us know that the consequences of these four years are going to be vast and painful but we also know that “change comes in excruciating increments” (Jed Bartlett). We’re in an excruciating era and will make it out.

I just got preachy again but couldn’t help but quote my favorite fictional president. I hope this week treats you well and you find opportunities to do things that fill your bucket. Take good care.