Treading water

I wrote this on Instagram a few days ago:
I am propelled by #coffee lately. Such important #protest and scary virus news in the world...but I am still #homeschooling, cooking a lot and managing kids and dogs. Even managing our household is a lot right now. I am lucky and safe but still very tired...

But I wanted to update the blog.  And I wanted to tell you about our garden, which is growing so well just now.  (much farther along than this one photo we took a few weeks ago...)  I also wanted to offer up a couple links to articles that have run recently.  This ran in the Vancouver Jewish Independent:
Rabbinic planting advice

This second link is not really about Shabbat specifically, more about how to keep ourselves and our old dog eating and alive and propel everybody forward during this hard time:

Jewish surety in Shabbat ritual

There have been a lot of afternoons like this one though, where our world has been small, we played in the yard, and focused on how grateful we are for what we have.  It's more than enough.

For those who have followed me a while, you may know that I've written about social justice issues for a long time, too.  Here are a couple links on that...one from this blog in January, 2019.  Sadly, none of the injustices taking place are new.  It's been happening for a long time.

An instagram post about how justice is long overdue.

Worry Bear for Women

A friend graciously tested my Worry Bear pattern.  She has already given the first bear to a friend who is going through some mental health challenges.  Her second is destined for an older lady with dementia.  I feel like if this design is all I did for International Women's Day this year, so be it.  I was very moved by her images in the projects and how her handknits have such power to show care for others.  She gave me permission to repost them.

We had a quiet moment doing reading before bed this week, and I caught a funny photo of these cherished (but pretty worn) woolly socks I knit long ago.  They were dangling off the edge of the bed as we made our way through a Rainbow Magic Fairy book together.  --And, if you are looking, you can see an old baby blanket doing double duty on the handmade dog bed and the wool crocheted rug, a little worse the wear now, but well-loved by several dogs after 13? years or so!

After working at the computer, and getting groceries and other chores, I made myself a fabulous snack.  That's Greek/Turkish/Middle Eastern coffee....(1 tsp sugar, for those who wonder) made in a briki, a tall glass of water, and plain popcorn topped with a bit of olive oil, salt, and a tablespoon of maple syrup.  (Don't worry, I saved a lot of popcorn for twins' after-school snack, too.)  It was delicious.  May you have something similar soon!

Lost

Lost:

One pound of coffee...this was lost sometime last summer. After the babies were born, I went back to drinking a large strong cup of (french press) coffee each morning. This has a lot of caffeine in it. I have needed it.

Most people who know me know that I do not lose things with any frequency. I try hard to keep track of things...but I lost a whole pound of coffee.
This is, in retrospect, entirely reasonable. Anyone who has as little sleep as I have had would be losing a lot of stuff. At this point I estimate that I have not had a complete, long, full night of sleep in a year...since I had to get up every 2-3 hours starting last January while I was pregnant. (Twins in the womb don't leave a lot of room for, err, liquids to collect at night.)

I started asking everyone to keep a look out in case they found the coffee someplace weird, like in a baking pan or something. Nobody found it.

A very unhelpful person wondered if I had early onset Alzheimer's. (Really.) It wasn't funny...

The professor has been in charge of baby bottle stuff, since I am not to fully supply two babies with breast milk. He lost some very expensive plastic baby nipples, new in the package, at the same time.

The conclusion? A friend determined that somewhere, we had some nipples very hopped up on caffeine.

More recently, I seem to have lost something that upsets me more. Remember these mitts?

I seem to have lost them, too. I can't figure out if I left them somewhere outside the house (unlikely, since my hands would have been cold all the way home) or if someone picked them up inadvertently when they left our house...or??

I just don't know.

All this brings me to the bigger point. Time, at least for us right now, is not elastic. It doesn't stretch anymore. I cannot find any more of it by managing my time better. Believe me, I've tried. I am using the twins' morning nap time (20 minutes of shared sleep is a great nap around here, I don't get more of a break than that. Ever.)

We are finding it so very hard to get basic tasks done, like making dinner, or doing all the laundry, etc. Why? Well, I had a taste of what it is like to have one baby this week. The professor had to take Leo to some appointments. I had blocks of time with just one baby. WHOA! Amazing!

I could take a shower. (bouncy chair in the bathroom kept Sam amused.) I could use both hands when I put ONE baby down. When one baby napped, I didn't have to try to help the other baby fall asleep. I fed only one baby at a time. WOW.

The professor's undergraduate research mentor had twins. She told him being with just one twin was like being by yourself. I get it now. Really, I do.

All this is to say that time--time to blog, sleep, shower, eat, shovel snow, go to the bathroom, etc. is in very short supply. Having someone around to care for the twins occasionally does not allow me time to work yet, or even to rest. I run around cooking 3 dinners in an hour to feed us for the week. I try to take a shower. I rush off to do laundry...

Ooops. Nap time is over. Crying is starting. If you find my mittens...or the last 7-8 months? Please let me know!

Home again

I'm seriously jetlagged, so this post will be all over the place...more to come after I get in touch with my circadian rhythms again!

Some random observations:

1) I still think, after 2 visits there, that Crete is just too far from North America. If it could just be moved a wee bit closer, I'd be there all the time. (On the other hand, maybe it's special because it's so far away!) We took 4 flights to get there and 4 flights home. If you're curious, that would be:

Crete-Athens

Athens-Munich

Munich-Chicago

Chicago-Winnipeg

We said hello to our luggage in Chicago, but it appears to have chosen to have a longer side trip with a stop to see the Art Institute or something. Or maybe the suitcases just needed a cup of coffee and missed the connection. We know we saw all of the luggage recently though, so there's a good chance it will arrive later today.

2) Toilet paper (whew, bet you didn't think I was going there!) When one uses the facilities in Crete (or is all Greece?) there's a little trashcan in there. That's for all the paper that one might flush away in North America. The reason is basically to do with the plumbing, which can be easily clogged. While this seems sort of yucky at first, you get used to it. It also strikes me as being possibly less trouble in terms of dealing with sewage clean up. You also end up using less tissue, which is probably more environmentally friendly. In any case, it is distinctly less yucky than going by the side of the road. We saw lots of folks doing that along the highways!

3) I am a great fan of Greek coffee (medium sugar, please) and discovered that simply ordering one, even in English, was like magic. Apparently in the eyes of the locals, I immediately was upgraded from "darn tourist" to "woman who knows a good thing when she sees it!" I managed to pick up a briki for 3.5 Euros --about $5 US-- to make my own and although it isn't a fancy one like in that photo, it's modern looking, stainless steel with a long plastic handle and....in our luggage. I hope I see it soon. I could use a Greek coffee about now. I have transitioned with enormous cups of strong tea instead.

4) Identity--I tend not to wear trendy clothes with writing on them, I buy clothes from all over...and what you wear often defines nationality. Also, my looks are such that I blend in until I open my mouth. (As a teenager on an international flight, somebody talked to me in French, so I spoke French...my French was pretty good then. It seemed clear I didn't speak French first, so they switched to Hebrew. I spoke Hebrew...and so on. Eventually they'd hit English!)

So that said, in Greece, well, I look Greek. Sometimes people spoke to me in Greek and when I didn't understand, they sometimes got frustrated and thought I was rude! The more positive response was--I'd respond in one word of Greek, we'd figure out how to communicate in English or sometimes French, and they'd say, "Wow, you really look Greek to me!" and I'd get to say "thank you." It's a compliment. I also apparently look French and Turkish. Fine..those are all ok with me. It's all good when people are offering you coffee and raki, in my opinion!

5) Internet access has improved in Crete, but it was nice to have a wee break from it all. The trip was restful, which I really needed after all the travelling and moving and packing around here. I have lots more to tell you about...including stuff about yarn, spinning, and embroidery. For now, though, I'm going to consider an early lunch and a nice long nap with a dog or two. It's good to be home, but I'm also a little sorry to leave Crete.

Kalimera!