Since I joined the book club I have been reading a lot. I've been asking myself what I did with all this time before. It was likely wasted time. (FB anyone?) I've yet to feel that any minute put on a book has been wasted. That is with exception to those books, in which a kid gets abducted in the first chapter. Reading these kind of books just don't seem to go so well since I had kids, so they are put back on the shelf. For those who know this part of me, yes, earlier I would read them, but of course still cry my eyes out. I started this year so motivated after reading "The Happiness Project". Man, am I going to reach my full happiness potential! I love projects! Her writing made me so enthusiastic and she hit the nail on so many things that have been growing in the back of my head! There are lots of activities that people ask how on earth I (you?) have time for (sewing is one of them), but the truth is that pursuing things that make you happy energizes you. Writing has been one of these things that I've been wanting to do, but trying to keep everything under control with three kids (control freak and perfectionist - quite a challenge) and not adding stress to my life, it literally has been the question of the last few years. As a result, I read one line in Gretchen's book about writing a blog and I am sold! This is obviously what I am supposed to do. I am a blogger! I just didn't know it. That just slipped in, but is actually one of my favorite quotes from when Victoria was four and once told me that "I am amazing! I just didn't know it!" A few chapters later (still no blog in sight) I read the first line about writing a novel. Guess what happened? Yes, that is now also on the list of things to do when I want a new project, but looking back at the blog idea I realized that that should happen right now. And so, my dear friends and family, the blog is born.
January starts off lovely as mom and dad are still here. Bart and I get to go to Palm Springs alone and I also have hours on New Years Eve to read my book and get sucked into a magazine mom brought. I don't think I wished for many things for Christmas, but after reading every line in the magazine (Allt om hemmet) I want to add this home on my wish list. And if I can't get that I would like a subscription so I can look forward to the inspiration every month and work on it little by little.
Speaking of Christmas gifts, the Magna-Tiles have occupied all of us and what a fantastic toy! Crazy expensive, but I would actually say it was worth it! After school starts up again I chat with the baby sitter who says Victoria spent 15 min telling her about our Hannukah traditions. About lighting the menorah and who knows what. Our sitter was just really surprised about our Jewish belief. Especially since we also had things like a Christmas tree. "Oh yeah, mom really wanted that" said the little story teller. Eventually Victoria told Kim that she was joking. I had no idea where she got the whole idea from until the little Menorah picture came home with her from school weeks later.
As Swedish traditions suggest, we wanted to wake River up by singing the birthday song (Ja ma han leva) on his 2nd birthday. As he is the earliest riser we have, he was already out of his room and refused to go back for the "surprise". The cake was a bigger hit. He liked everything about it, like the way it felt when he used it as hair gel for example. The other kids were highly entertained and I was close to a panic attack.
William had a fabulous low key birthday party in the park. We (as in Bart) put up the slack line and a zip line and all the kids and adults enjoyed a great time. It sure is lovely when you don't have to worry about the weather for a January birthday.
Then came the morning when our car was t-boned, as the boys and I were driving back from dropping Victoria at preschool. The car was totaled and I thank my lucky star that it was the car and not us. We were in shock all three, but as you can see on the picture our happy mood soon returned. This is William after eating a lollipop from the doctor's office.
The next day Bart has off, but the big kids have school so we went to Ocean Beach to go antique shopping. We do not have space for another piece of furniture, in fact we already have a few things that don't fit in the house and are out on the porch! Terrible. Poor neighbors. It is also really expensive. I thought the second hand stores were going to be the place to make great deals. Instead I am convinced to try the Annie Sloane chalk paint. This is the paint you can use on pretty much anything, you don't need to sand or strip the surface, and you can even paint it in the room since it doesn't smell. I am determined to transform the fur queen bedroom set, that has been waiting for a makeover for years. With exception of the awful many sticks(?) this was a joy to do! And I love the brightness of the new look. I bought more paint than I ended up needing, but all in all I spent $200 on the material for the transformation. It was a good feeling to have done it myself though.
Since Victoria went ice skating with Alexander and Robin last year she has been looking forward to the winter. Well, "winter" is here. Fortunately someone is putting up ice skating rinks because there sure is no natural ice covered lake to explore. That was not a complain. She constantly surprises me. When she fell she started doing push ups on the ice since she was already in the position. I'm in the same position often, like every morning when I wake up, but rarely do I start the day off with push ups. I have, however, started doing something else. Many mornings when I am wake up early and don't have a running date I take my book and steal 30 min to read all by myself before the family wakes up. It may sound like a waste of sleep time, but it is amazingly energizing to already have gotten some me time at that hour. Try it.
