Chilly Lessons Learned
There are days I chuckle to myself about where I'm at in life - if you would have told me a year ago that I'd be writing a blog, living in the Northwoods, and starting my own small business - I would have told you that was insane. But here I am, and really learning to enjoy it. I'm listening to a Chief talk with Adam Grant; he said one of the best pieces of advice he gave a student was, 'Pay attention to what you sacrifice, and if you look at what you gave up, you will see what you really care about - even if you don't know your passion you would understand your sense of purpose.'
Woah! I was blown away by Adam's advice, and it hit home - because I always make the joke I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I will do another post on this topic, but as I said before, I'll say it again - family time is one of my absolute favorite parts of this big shift in our lives. However, most of my adult life has been defined by or revolved around my career, so it's definitely been a change in thinking, but reflecting on this is helping me get closer to my purpose.
As a family up here, we're bonding - lots of hygge time with games, candles burning, comfy blankets, hot cocoa for the kiddos and craft cocktails for the adults. When we're outside, we've done lots of sledding, fort building, long walks, and after Christmas, we will start snowshoeing. I have to admit the snow has also been more fun than I was expecting. Hazel is made for this weather; she wears a T-shirt most days and never wants to wear a coat if she wears a fleece or sweatshirt. On the other hand, Gavin is more like me and gets cold pretty quickly, so I bought him fleece-lined long johns to help with that. As he is not as quick at adapting, he is slowly starting to get used to the cold weather and is enjoying the outside time. Kevin is rocking it with the kids; he's so creative and finds fun ways to play outside that make them want to get back out there.
Both kids are in skating class, and they're getting more confident with each lesson. They just did their holiday program, and I was so proud of them for participating! There are two buildings they skate in - there's the Dome which is a pretty comfortable climate, and then there's the Cube which is not heated very well. Kevin usually takes the kids, so I get about 2 hours of alone time, which I find very precious. But last Thursday, Hazel got her braces on, and we met for dinner afterward, so I decided to watch them practice…in the Cube.
The previous days it got down to -10, so it had been quite chilly in general. I get in the Cube, and we get the kids prepped. I'm cold but not too bad at first. Mind you - this is only a 30-minute class - about 15 minutes in, my feet were freezing, and I didn't wear layers, just a pair of jeans, so my legs were starting to get that tingly jello feeling. Kevin walked away from me because he thought I was mad about something, but I told him that was just my cold RBF, and he ended up walking back over to give me a couple of tips to warm up - haha! Then I overhear an instructor say, this isn't cold - it's really cold when your water bottle is completely frozen after one hockey game. I started to march in place, thinking about warm places to move like Florida, Arizona, or California. ;).
We didn't have the kids dressed the best; even though they had gloves on, they were thin. So they were not super happy when they got off the ice. I'm laughing to myself as we're making our way out because, at this point, I can't feel my toes, and I'm trying to remind myself - I love the community and way of life up here; you can do this! I'm rushing the kids out to the car, got it started, got them in their seats, and was wrapping them up in their car blankets. I finally go to the driver's seat, and as I sit down, it feels like there are shards of glass breaking underneath my skin on my thighs and hips. The kids were talking to me, and I had to ask them to stop with a yelp as I rushed to turn on my seat warmers as the chards of imaginary glass were still piercing me. It was a feeling I had never experienced, and a moment I doubt I will ever forget. Lesson learned, Mother Nature, I will now wear layers and prepare a bag for sitting in a frigid skating rink.
