Columnists
One candy cane or two
I’m back! It’s December, and “You’re welcome”. I heard your pleas. I didn’t bring the Manitoba weather back to this part of Ontario. I understand folks here don’t like minus numbers, especially on the thermometer. I don’t know about you, but being cold isn’t my idea of a good time. I spent a month shivering and longing for a day when the temperature would climb above minus twentyfive. I became an advocate of woolly socks and slippers. I never left the house unless I had my scarf, hat and mittens close by. I learned to love having my afternoon coffee with a scoop of hot chocolate powder stirred into it. Did I mention “December”? How the H E double candy canes did that happen? I feel as if the year flew by. Many of the things I had hoped to accomplish in 2018 are now on deck for 2019. It’s like old style arithmetic. I’m carrying a lot over from the previous column. On the bright side, I am looking forward to enjoying the holiday season at home in the County. But the first order of business is to get back into a routine of some sort. It’s one thing to miss sleeping in my own bed and quite another to have neglected my fitness routine. Unless you consider jiggling a cranky newborn baby around on your hip a fitness routine.
On Monday, I headed back into the gym. I haven’t been in a gym since I departed for Manitoba on the first of November. As I walked to the club I wondered what the heck I was doing. I felt a bit sluggish, oddly out-of-place and definitely outof- shape. The self-talk started with a “How difficult will it be to do a warm-up and a short workout?” At the gym I struggled with the 15 minutes of cycling and 10 minutes of core exercises before the real fun began. It slowly began to occur to me, this getting back into the swing of things it isn’t going to be a piece of cake. Speaking of pieces of cake and feeling the way I do, I won’t be having any bakery treats for a while, at least until Christmas Day or close to it. In Brandon it certainly didn’t take very long to fall back into my “oh so good” bad habits. Let me tell you, being a fulltime granny for a month didn’t involve too much physical activity, but it was exhausting. Thank goodness my daughter and I share the same philosophy about food, for the most part, or I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into my gym attire. Blessings on all the grandparents who step into the role of active parenting, for whatever reason. It’s not as easy as some folks would like to believe.
So, here I am. I’m back home surrounded by my things. My books, my clothing, my cameras. I don’t have to get up at 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. to oversee the soothing of a colicky infant and to reassure our family’s newest mom. Funny thing is, as much as I missed being here, I miss being with our daughter and our grandson. Although I relish the peace and quiet of our home, my life seems a bit empty without the ear-piercing cries of a babe who wants to be fed, RIGHT NOW. At home I can head out for a walk whenever I want. Am I crazy because I sort of miss scheduling everything around our grandson’s naps, feedings and diaper changes? I had forgotten how small those little windows of opportunity were. It’s December. It’s time to get festive and spontaneous. I’ll spontaneously stir my afternoon coffee with a candy cane. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
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