Month in Review: February 2022

Main Events

On February 3, we had an ice storm in Memphis that knocked out electricity for thousands of people, including us. None of us were surprised when a big limb fell on the line that powers our heavily forested block. One of our 100-year-old oaks dropped a branch on our fence, broke a window in our neighbors’ house, and came within inches of crushing their car. At one point, the power line across the street started sparking and smoking, and Taylor had to call 911. It was intense.

We decided I should take C3 out to my parents’ house in the burbs, while Taylor stayed to keep an eye on things. It turned out to be an extended visit – we didn’t get our power back until the following Monday afternoon. It was nice to get some quality time with my dad (my mom was out of town), but both the baby and I were very ready to come home.

For Valentine’s Day I got a dozen roses, C3’s first Valentine craft, and a luxurious dinner at the Beauty Shop. They have little glass huts on the sidewalk for covid-safe dining, and I thought it would be fun. (I’d seen them many times while picking up takeout at my favorite Chinese place next door.) The food was fantastic.

(I swear I was not on this date alone – my husband just doesn’t like to be in pictures.)

My sister and nieces came to town last weekend, and Debra and I got to go out to dinner by ourselves! We had drinks, queso, and tacos at Babalu. Major excitement.

We also celebrated my mom’s birthday with a home-cooked shrimp boil, watching Encanto (I’m performing We Don’t Talk About Bruno above), and some cousin time.

Reading

I DNFed three books in a row in February, which is a new record for me. Two novels and one YA. I couldn’t get interested and/or found the narrators annoying. Please point me to books that have shaken you out of reading slumps!

Living Brave: Lessons from Hurt, Lighting the Way to Hope by Shannon Dingle (3.5 stars) If you follow Shannon at all on social media, you know some of her story. She is brave and inspiring.

Everything Is Under Control: A Memoir with Recipes by Phyllis Grant (3 stars) A short memoir with personal vignettes about family and food.

Paris in Love by Eloisa James (3 stars) A romance writer and her Italian husband move their kids to Paris for a year. I mentioned on Twitter that at one point they celebrate the new year 2010, and I instantly felt jealous of the good years they still had ahead of them.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (3.5 stars) Many people recommended this magical-realism novel to me as a feel-good book. I wouldn’t necessarily put it in that category, but I really liked it by the end. Definitely unique.

Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott (4.5 stars) (re-read) I’ve started a new book club affiliated with my church, and this was my first selection. It’s simple but profound.

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (4.5 stars) The best thing I read in February. I didn’t know much about South African history or culture and learned A TON. Wish he would write another book!

Listening

This is so good.

Watching

We fiiiinally finished Station Eleven. It was a great and weepy ending (I don’t remember how the book ended). Inventing Anna is next on our list – we started episode 1 last week, but then war broke out so we switched to CNN. You know. 2020s problems.

At Home

We rearranged C3’s room, and the space feels so much better! We took out two extra chairs and switched his crib and dresser around. Now he has lots of central play space. He’s officially too big now for his baby swing, but we haven’t done anything with it yet. I’m irrationally sad to think about getting rid of it.

I don’t typically buy plates or glassware because our blended collection is already chaotic. But Debra and I were browsing at IKEA and I bought some things that made me happy. The blue glasses were the same ones I commented on at our Beauty Shop dinner, and the plates and small glasses reminded me of our beloved next-door neighborhood, Cooper-Young (the gingko leaf is their official symbol). If they get a lot of use, I may go back for a few more.

Eating

I made these baked chicken wings for the Super Bowl, and they came out better than the Smitten Kitchen recipe I tried last year. Also, still loving my new rice cooker, I made Emily Mariko salmon rice. It was delish.

Wearing

I had an above-average Goodwill run with lots of nearly-new or NWT finds. They were all different sizes, because sizing is meaningless. I suggested having a women’s clothing swap at church and everyone was into the idea, which is exciting, but that means I need to somehow find time to go through all my clothes. Because the time has come to try EVERYTHING on. I’m slightly smaller since we got the Peloton, but I think this is basically what I’m working with going forward unless I go on some major diet… which does not feel feasible for me right now. So I’m planning to keep my favorite smaller pieces, but also let a lot of things go. Time to accept the body I have.

Wellness

Speaking of the Peloton, I did not do so great in February. I missed a week with the power outage, and then over the last week I’ve felt too overwhelmed by life to get on the bike. However, I still finished the Mastering the Basics program, hit my 25-ride milestone, and earned a bronze in the February activity challenge. I’m still going to physical therapy. I got cupping on my back (aka the Michael Phelps circular bruises treatment) and it was miraculous – the best my back had felt since before I was pregnant. I was pain-free for several days. Highly recommend. My PT and I agree it’s time to start working on my core to help support those back muscles, so I may start the Crush Your Core program soon.

C3 is having some sleep issues, which impacts all of our health in this household. He still sleeps decent stretches overnight (usually waking once or twice), but has started waking repeatedly from his bedtime at 7 to our bedtime around 10 – aka my only time to relax and be a human. We now spend a lot of evenings putting him back to bed over and over again. I’m hoping it’s a phase that will pass like the others, but there’s always plenty of blame and horror stories to be had around baby sleep. Anyway, I fantasize about one night in a hotel by myself.

Random Happiness

Since joining a leadership cohort at church in the fall, I have more commitments on weekends. I was getting increasingly annoyed with the tiny spaces my Filofax planner allots for Saturday and Sunday. It was so frustrating that, after many years of loyalty to the Filofax (and already a month into the year), I decided to try something new and ordered this non-custom Erin Condren Life Planner. I LOVE the weekly layout and the clear division of the days into morning, afternoon, and evening. It was exactly what my brain needed and I’m very happy with my decision. We’ll see whether I want to continue in this direction at the end of the year. Regardless, I’m keeping the Filofax around for long-term stuff like addresses.

Baby Update

C3 turned 8 months old in February. He’s a sweet and affectionate baby who has been much happier since mastering sitting. He babbles all the time – I expect his official first word any day! He can happily play independently long enough for me to get ready in the morning. He’s not crawling yet, but is working on it and can roll a surprising distance if he wants to.

We converted his play gym to a ball pit this month. He’s still not quite sure what to do, but seems happy.

With low covid numbers in our area, C3 is getting out more! He has been to church and is becoming a regular at Kroger and Target.

He slept right through his Class of ’97 mom getting crunk for the Super Bowl halftime show.

He LOVES cats and, of course, Rufus in particular. I won’t be surprised if his first word is “cat.” He can make the “k” sound and has occasionally said “K, k” when Rufus enters the room.