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Last night was the solstice and I had so many plans, which of course meant something had to go awry: this time, an 8 hour ER visit. I feel like, at this point, I should know better than to make So Many Plans, but it's also me and I'm never going to stop.
The ER was for me -- I've had gallbladder issues for at least two years now and when I had 6 hours of increasing pain, I knew I had to get it checked out, even if it was 1am. I naively assumed they'd do an ultrasound, determine there was no immediate concern, hop me up with painkillers, and send me home. Instead, there was immediate concern and they sent me to the main ER to see if I needed surgery right then or soon. After several more hours -- and about 5 different surgeons who all looked the same, which was very confusing at 6am on no sleep -- it was determined that while the gallbladder would have to come out, it didn't have to be that day. Instead, I will hopefully have a less chaotically scheduled surgery in the next few weeks. There's still the chance that it could decide otherwise, sooner, but they let me know what symptoms to look out for and sent me home chock full of antibiotics.
Fun!
So all the fun activities and snax kind of fell away, but we still ate a pomegranate and enjoyed the neighborhood lights and opened presents from Dr Lady's side of the family. I got to enjoy what was most important, ie family, and not spend the night at the hospital.
And now I'm here, thinking about how the Winter Solstice is the beginning of the New Year, of a sort. Ushering in two weeks of celebration and quiet and contemplation and family and ending with the late night countdown and a ball drop. I've struggled with how to celebrate the longest night of the year in the past, because it's often easy to gloss over in the lead-up to Capital 'C' Christmas, but thinking about it as a start instead of just a day is helping.
Because I love the idea of the Winter Solstice, of quiet and renewal, of the dark before the dawn and the return of hope and warmth. And that's really what these two interim, interstitial weeks are about: rejoicing and renewal. The week between Christmas and New Year's is especially unmoored from time and routine, and perfect for finding new moorings. I don't know quite what those will look like, yet, nor even what I want them to look like, but hopefully I'll have the time to find out.
I know I want to keep this increased focus on my family, these amazing kids and my lovely wife. And now that Toddler reliably sleeps through the night, I can start likewise reliably writing in the mornings. Routine is so, so important to me, at least during the week. On the weekends, we can go wild.
I also want to keep reaching out to neighbors and building community. I'm not yet sure what that will look like in 2024, but going to the Silent Book Club and attending the writer's group meetings have helped.
A late addition to the year, but apparently I'm still wild about learning how to cook. Work gave us a free cooking class and I actually learned something new, and now I've caught the bug. I've since tried making butter (surprisingly easy!) and several Puerto Rican recipes I'd been too timid to attempt, and they've all gone great. I think there are some local cooking classes, which would be a great way to keep meeting other people at the same time.
And exercise... this is the longest I've kept with Crossfit since before I got pregnant and it's been a blast. Even though I've had a few interruptions between COVID and travel, it's easier to get back to it and I've been really good about not injuring myself, which was my main goal back in July when I started. I've even PRed a few lifts and overall been able to keep up with some of the younger crowd. I love that it helps me feel strong and capable, especially amongst all this chaos, and I'm looking forward to continuing that in 2024.
There's definitely more, but that's what the next few weeks are for. Happy Solstice, happy light, and happy life!
The ER was for me -- I've had gallbladder issues for at least two years now and when I had 6 hours of increasing pain, I knew I had to get it checked out, even if it was 1am. I naively assumed they'd do an ultrasound, determine there was no immediate concern, hop me up with painkillers, and send me home. Instead, there was immediate concern and they sent me to the main ER to see if I needed surgery right then or soon. After several more hours -- and about 5 different surgeons who all looked the same, which was very confusing at 6am on no sleep -- it was determined that while the gallbladder would have to come out, it didn't have to be that day. Instead, I will hopefully have a less chaotically scheduled surgery in the next few weeks. There's still the chance that it could decide otherwise, sooner, but they let me know what symptoms to look out for and sent me home chock full of antibiotics.
Fun!
So all the fun activities and snax kind of fell away, but we still ate a pomegranate and enjoyed the neighborhood lights and opened presents from Dr Lady's side of the family. I got to enjoy what was most important, ie family, and not spend the night at the hospital.
And now I'm here, thinking about how the Winter Solstice is the beginning of the New Year, of a sort. Ushering in two weeks of celebration and quiet and contemplation and family and ending with the late night countdown and a ball drop. I've struggled with how to celebrate the longest night of the year in the past, because it's often easy to gloss over in the lead-up to Capital 'C' Christmas, but thinking about it as a start instead of just a day is helping.
Because I love the idea of the Winter Solstice, of quiet and renewal, of the dark before the dawn and the return of hope and warmth. And that's really what these two interim, interstitial weeks are about: rejoicing and renewal. The week between Christmas and New Year's is especially unmoored from time and routine, and perfect for finding new moorings. I don't know quite what those will look like, yet, nor even what I want them to look like, but hopefully I'll have the time to find out.
I know I want to keep this increased focus on my family, these amazing kids and my lovely wife. And now that Toddler reliably sleeps through the night, I can start likewise reliably writing in the mornings. Routine is so, so important to me, at least during the week. On the weekends, we can go wild.
I also want to keep reaching out to neighbors and building community. I'm not yet sure what that will look like in 2024, but going to the Silent Book Club and attending the writer's group meetings have helped.
A late addition to the year, but apparently I'm still wild about learning how to cook. Work gave us a free cooking class and I actually learned something new, and now I've caught the bug. I've since tried making butter (surprisingly easy!) and several Puerto Rican recipes I'd been too timid to attempt, and they've all gone great. I think there are some local cooking classes, which would be a great way to keep meeting other people at the same time.
And exercise... this is the longest I've kept with Crossfit since before I got pregnant and it's been a blast. Even though I've had a few interruptions between COVID and travel, it's easier to get back to it and I've been really good about not injuring myself, which was my main goal back in July when I started. I've even PRed a few lifts and overall been able to keep up with some of the younger crowd. I love that it helps me feel strong and capable, especially amongst all this chaos, and I'm looking forward to continuing that in 2024.
There's definitely more, but that's what the next few weeks are for. Happy Solstice, happy light, and happy life!
