It’s mid-February and the rain has returned but we had an absolutely beautiful and sunny January. Maybe it’s the Vitamin D I started taking this winter, but even though January felt about 7 weeks long, it didn’t feel nearly so dreary as it usually does.
We had a family weekend away, booked a hotel in the big city, as we often like to do this time of year. It’s nice to get out of town for a couple of days and do things we can’t do at home. In this case, we visited Ikea and went to a wave pool.
Some other nice things recently:
Peter and I just do stocking for each other at Christmas and then usually put our money elsewhere. This year we decided to invest in a projector for family movie nights. We don’t have a TV so these have previously involved all 4 of us crowded around a laptop.
We’ve been introducing the girls to some of our childhood favourites and recently worked our way through the original Star Wars trilogy. Now we’re having a weekly family night to watch Star Wars: Skeleton Crew together.
A lovely picture to receive when I’m working on a Saturday:
We had a (maybe?) record amount of snowfall and a somewhat crazy week of school closing early, then a snow day, then just a lot of snow and ice hanging around. It’s all pretty unusual for our part of the world but it was also pretty fun. The kids did some good sledding at the local park and there’s something about a snow day that encourages everyone to pause.
I want to start playing the piano more again so I bought myself a Taylor Swift piano book to practise with:
Last weekend marked 60 years of our current Canadian flag, featuring the iconic maple leaf. I had no idea Flag Day was a thing in Canada but I sported my maple leaf with pride on Saturday. The world is a crazy place these days but I’m a proud Canadian and it’s actually pretty nice to see our flag being flown proudly again after the convoy craziness during Covid-19.
Karissa Reads Books 
I am quite jealous of your snow – almost everywhere in the UK has had snow this winter except for Southampton and its surrounds. We had a morning of it back in November and nothing since. Although we get snow on my (mid-March) birthday some years, so there’s still hope!
We often get snow around this time but the amount and length has been unusual. I love it for the first couple of days but now it’s just dirty and in the way and I’m ready for spring. I hope you get your birthday snow though! I’ve had snow twice on my birthday (November) and it’s quite magical!
Vitamin D is so good. I started taking it at the start of the new year too and I really think it helps. No real snow here (southeast suburbs of London) but we’re currently having a brief spell of chilly brightness, which is my favourite kind of winter weather!
I don’t know why I didn’t start sooner – I think it’s made a big difference for me. We had lots of chilly bright in January which is very unusual here but made me realize why some people might like winter!
Happy Flag Day! We’ve had lots of cold, dark days this January and very little snow. I suspect the weather gods are saving it all up for March!
I hope America never, ever taints Canada, as it is a wonderful place.
I actually have an IKEA right near the Crash Pad in St. Louis, and I’ve been told I have to go just for the experience and the food. I’ve never heard of IKEA’s food. I’m curious if it’s like the $1.50 hotdog at Costco.
One of my first experiences in grad school when I went to Notre Dame was Nick and I being invited to a fellow grad student’s apartment to watch a movie. It was a blazing hot summer. Not only would she not turn on the A/C (she was very thin and maybe not hot??), but she had us watch the movie on a laptop with no external speakers. OMG, I can’t even tell you what it’s like to sit for two hours, sweating, unable to hear the movie, and having no plausible excuse to escape. There weren’t even smartphones to save me (have someone call me and be like, “Oh, no! An emergency, you say?”).
We’re very influenced by America and have lots in common but I’ve come to realize how different some of our basic structures are. And we have some very different attitudes as a nation toward how things like government and religion should work.
IKEA food is a similar idea – cheap food so you keep shopping! Go for the classic meatball meal if you do go.
That sounds horrendous! We’ve definitely done that but I think it’s pretty different when you’re all family and 2 are little kids. Now we have a speaker and a projector and it feels pretty luxurious!