1.Aside from work, which was crazy busy, February was mellow. Snow, snow and more snow. A little at a time, for the most part, which was nice. As I think I’ve mentioned, I have lunch and recess duty this year at the preschool. The kids go outside unless it’s 10 degrees or lower, so yeah, I’ve been COLD.

2. The one time we did get enough snow for a snow day, we had the day off anyway as part of our winter break / Presidents’ Day long weekend. The 9-year-old was excited to help her dad shovel. You can see the result of her hard work, above. :)

3. I received my first Covid-19 vaccine shot! As a child care/school worker I am eligible in the state of Michigan. Our county was one of the last ones to get organized, but we finally got the call, so on a snowy Saturday morning, I waited in line (I roughly counted and there were about 80 people in front of me. Luckily, we were all in decent spirits and the line moved pretty quickly.

Nervous to get my second shot, as I’ve heard mixed reviews and it seems like a crapshoot on who is going to react and who isn’t, much like the virus itself. Fingers crossed. And I am sorry for all of you who are qualified (including my Dad) who haven’t been able to secure a spot yet. It’s frustrating. Fingers crosse for you, too.

4. Our oldest turned 12 this month! Goodness. I made coconut cupcakes and banana bread and we ordered pepperoni pizza and she finally got the Nintendo Switch that she’s been asking for because Covid and because we are suckers and because we just CANNOT someimes so please occupy yourselves in whatever way possible.

5. Book group read “We Were Liars” this month. It reads like a typical Young Adult book, edgy, artsy, raw, almost to the point of trying too hard…but I gave it a chance and ended up really liking it. Parts felt like poetry (not mindblowing poetry, just poetry), which I appreciated, and it was a really great depiction of what it feels like to be a teenager/young adult. There’s a lot to discuss, which is more than I can say for some of the other books we’ve read.

6. More puzzles because pandemic.

7. We did a couple non-pandemic-y things that made me feel almost normal again. Bowling alleys reopened at the beginning of the month. We bowled at the Yacht Club once with two families and had the place to ourselves (I felt completely safe and relaxed, SO nice), and secondly with our couples bowling “league” (I use that term lightly), which….felt meh on the safe scale and I was therefore not super relaxed. BUT….I’m glad we went. It was amazing to be out.

8. For couples bowling they gave us complimentary truffles and chocolate strawberries as welcome back gifts and those truffles were divine. Like I could have eaten a ton of them divine and wanted to throw some in my purse to take home divine, but sadly I did not. I’m trying to be healthy these days, WAH-wah. Truffles and bowling. Only in Grosse Pointe.

9. Another normal thing we did was go to a restaurant. Restaurants opened back up this month at 25% capacity and a 10 pm close time. The husband and I sat in this corner at San Morello at the Shinola Hotel downtown and it was lovely. Many of the tables you see here weren’t there. There was definitely ample space between each table, more than I’ve seen at other places. I miss having someone else do the cooking and also serve it to me. And not having to clean up afterwards! I mean wow. A luxury. I loved it.

10. Funny story. On Thursday mornings at 7:15 am, I have a standing work meeting. Thankfully, it’s via Zoom and I can have my camera off and get ready for work while I’m on the call. Last week I was standing in my closet doorway, deciding what to wear, then grabbed my coffee from the shelf and proceeded to drink it as I finished the meeting.

When I came downstairs, coffee cup in hand, I noticed that my coffee from that morning was sitting on the counter. OOPS. How old was that other coffee? I have zero idea. I don’t think it was the day before. Why didn’t I notice the milk was bad? No clue. Wasn’t it cold? Yes, but our thermostat goes up to a blazing 64 in the mornings, so my coffee is usually cooled down by the time I get ready anyway. Do I always put my coffee in the closet? Not always, but often. Did I get sick? No. Did I feel like getting sick because the thought of drinking potentially days old coffee grossed me out? Yes. Moral of the story? Don’t be dumb.

11. I just want to say that if you ever see a mouse in your house and your daughter asks, will mice go into my bedroom, just laugh like you mean it and say of course not! DO NOT Google will mice go into my bedroom. Also do not Google can you only have one mouse in your house. The husband took care of that issue because he is a rockstar in the area of all-things-homeowners-should-know and everything is fine. But am I fine? Are my nerves fine? QUESTIONABLE.

12. After a work meeting, I looked down at my notepad. I went into a daydream about note-taking and handwriting anayzation and right brain, left brain. It just got me thinking about how we take notes. The messy note-takers vs. those of you who write in nice, neat lines with bullet points and different colored pens (I believe my sister does this). Is there a deep thought here somewhere? Not really. Maybe that there is comfort to understanding one’s own chaos.

Life is still pretty crazy right now for most of us. Here’s hoping that you’re able to make sense of your chaos and navigate it somehow. Spring is coming. I’ve started hearing birds again and seeing the sun from time to time, and I am certain good things are just around the bend.