Day 52 – Swim, Lunch and Scimmage Football

It was an active leisure day for the most part.  Emelia and I went swimming with friends this morning at our gym and splashed around for over an hour before finishing up in the hot tub and then showering so we could eat lunch together.  Emelia’s worldly age of five and a half means that we can hang out with another mom and daughter and make it self time too.  Today at lunch, the girls chose to sit at a separate table so they could color pictures of owls and snowflakes while eating apple slices and chicken strips which left the moms to munch on our greens and have our own conversation. It was the best of both worlds.

Late in the day Emelia, Nicholas and one of his friends headed to a park for the last hour of daylight.  The boys were throwing around a football and asked me to join in on a two on one scrimmage and of course I said yes.  Running and keeping up with my kids is one of the reasons I go to boot camp and try to stay fit.  I love being the mom who can throw a football and doesn’t mind playing defense.

They were a little on the technical and strategic side for me.  When I was on the offensive team of two, each boy wanted to plan plays and used lingo I’m not familiar with such as a Hail Mary throw which I ended up using most of the time (a long shot made in desperation with only a small chance of success as I learned).  They’re obviously used to it from on the football field at recess.  I did the best I could and they didn’t complain.  We played until dark and I managed to make 50-60% of the plays.  My defense is not my strong point and I have a feeling in a couple of years these boys won’t ask me to join in any longer so I relished in my moments of scrimmage football glory and am glad I had the chance to play.

Maybe I’ll plan self care with candles, Epsom salts or a face mask tomorrow?  For today, lunch out with another mom and our daughters, along with muddy football with my son and his friend left me glowing.

Day 51 – Day of Transition

I woke up this morning to an entry way cluttered with four suitcases, three blue IKEA bags filled with ski gear, one IKEA bag of dirty laundry, shoes, boots and a bag of leftover snacks along with three cardboard boxes of leftover Christmas packaging we had left behind.  The refrigerator was empty and Emelia had woke me at 8:00am while my head was still planted comfortably on my pillow with her usual sweet plea in a whisper voice, “Mommy, I’m hungry.  Can you make me some breakfast?”

Outside it was +5 without any snow in site.  Our holiday was over and now on to a week of hanging out around home before school starts again. Self care was not on my brain today.  Nudging thoughts came my way a few times throughout the day but I pushed them aside intent on putting our house to order, buying food and playing a treasure hunt game with Emelia and her friend who had come to visit.  I planted the seed of hot yoga late in the day as a goal to aim for except by the time 8pm came around I was just pulling in from picking Nicholas up from a friend’s house and Emelia was asking me to read to her.  I gave in and shunned my planned self care.  I was tired too and even though the hot studio and my mat were calling out to me, I chose the couch, a book of bedtime stories and a knitted blanket.

My self care turned into a late dinner of steamed broccoli followed by a bowl of fresh pineapple chopped into bite sized pieces after Emelia went to bed.  Fresh fruit from breakfast buffets never tastes the same as fruit I chop myself.  I savored the tart sweetness and decided to make the pineapple at the end of a busy day my self care.  Pineapple is a decent source of vitamin C, along with manganese for building tissue and bones and best of all melatonin which should bring on deep sleep and pleasant dreams. I’m looking forward to waking up tomorrow without the mess of coming home late the night before from a road trip and an empty refrigerator.  It will be a fresh start.

Day 50 – Passenger Seat

We said good-bye to the ski resort, snow and mountains in BC today and drove the eight hours back home to Redmond, WA.  With our appetite for a getaway and first snow skiing of the season satiated, it felt like the time was right. We were all raving about the experience and none of us had injuries.

Five or six years ago, it would have been hard for me to take the passenger seat while Kris drove the miles home but not anymore.  I used to have an unfair bias towards my own driving.  I considered myself a country kid who drove on gravel roads by 14, had my learners at 15 and license at 16.  My hours of driving added up quickly considering the closest city was almost an hour away and my high school only slightly less.

Kids in Denmark where Kris grew up have a slightly different experience.  Cars, gas and driver training are more than double the price and the need for a driver’s license is minimal to non existent in a tiny country that would fit in the province of Saskatchewan 10 times and has a public transport system of trains, buses and ferries second to none on the planet (not to mention they also love their bikes in Denmark).  Hence, why Kris didn’t get his drivers license until he was 29 and Nicholas was only a few months shy of being born.  You see, I felt my years of experience made it safer for me to drive long distances when we moved to the US and started road tripping to Canada than Kris.

I have since moved beyond my preoccupation with my tenured driving experience, in other words let go of my unfounded fears of my Danish husband’s driving and put all my trust in him.  And it feels wonderful.  I drove on the way to Sun Peaks and he drove home which gave me almost seven hours of in car time to stare out the window and admire the breathtaking snow covered trees along the roads and up the mountainsides or purely let my mind wander beyond the scenery and drift from daydream to daydream without any recollection of what great mysteries I solved or places I visited from my heated seat on the front passenger side of our Toyota minivan.  It was pure luxury.

We are home now and I had another stress free day with self care flowing naturally.  I’m glad I learned to trust and let someone else take the driver’s seat.  It’s good for the soul.

Day 48 and 49 – So Many Moments

Connectivity was incognito last night hence the delayed post and my decision to combine yesterday and today.

The flow of ski village life has continued as hoped – slow, peaceful and active. It is 8pm and we are finally back in our hotel room after day four on the hills. We ended with tubing and something called trampoline bungee – where you jump on a trampoline on the side of a ski hill while tethered into a harness so you can do front and back flips or just zoom high into the night sky without a care. The kids loved it.  Their energy is boundless here. I love it.

So back to self care.  Today was like the three previous days.  There was a steady flow of self care as it should be on holiday.  It was different when the kids were small and there were diapers, naps and meltdowns to contend with.  Now that they are 10 and 5, holidays are exactly what they should be; family quality time, outside the ordinary fun and adventure. It’s easy to be happy and kind when there are no dishes or laundry piling up and only 30 minutes before jumping into the van to make the next drop off.  Today it was all about cutting an edge in the freshly fallen snow and finding a path through the fog, a treasure hunt on the mountain. My mind totally consumed by the conditions on the mountain and savoring every moment.  An endless string of life is good moments.

It has been a great vacation and I’m sad for it to end tomorrow. Roadtrip self care tomorrow then I’ll dig back into creative self care when the snow settles 🙂

Day 47 – Every Moment

There’s something to be said for the natural continuum of movement that happens when spending time at a ski resort.  Our family buzzes along at a pleasant pace in spontaneous movement. We just spent two days without schedules or hard set times.

Light and free.  Going with the flow. Surrounded by smiles of vacationers, village staff and locals thriving on life here. Not even a dinner reservation planned out longer than an hour in advance.  I feel like I’m living self care every moment.

I don’t feel the need to take time away from my family, meditate or even sip tea. Nothing feels counterintuitive.  The food I eat, my ski runs, watching Emelia learn to turn and take T-bars, following Nicholas down a hill as he searches for jumps which I avoid and simply moving through the hours without consideration for time.

I could ponder why it’s so easy here and not at home but I think I’ll stay in this lovely space of living in the moment I’m gifted with this Christmas. I couldn’t ask for more.

Day 46 – Leaving It All Behind

Fresh air from 8:30am until 4:30pm, mountain views, light snow falling followed by piercing blue skies, giddy kids scooting around on their skis and nothing else in the world matters at this moment.

Today my self care is about leaving it all behind and living purely in the now. Coming to the ski hills makes the act so simple and effortless. Thank you mountains, sky and nature.

Merry Christmas from our family.

Day 45 – Assert, Assert, Assert 2

I’ve been grateful for my 10 minute meditation from last night all day today and especially at dinner this evening. It’s always a big task to get a family of four ready for a ski trip and on our way but we did it – by 9:30am instead of 7am. We decided to sleep a little longer to recover from our busy weekend which meant leaving later. The journey was interesting.

We used an old GPS route (because we don’t update and because our phone app wouldn’t work in Canada). We made a couple of wrong turns along the way, drove in heavy, pounding down rain and waited 1.5 hours at the border. All of us stayed upbeat so no big deal. We hit snow on the other side of the border for almost two hours then it was like a fairy came along and waved her magic wand. The roads were completely clear and dry and the sun came out. Past Kamloops BC, on the last hour leg of our journey we actually were a little concerned because the ground was bone dry. No snow in site. As the GPS counted down the kilometers before our arrival and we were less than 15km away with only a light dusting I said to Kris half-jokingly, “We may not get our white Christmas.”

With less than 5km to the village, snowbanks suddenly sprang up in the ditches and the branches on the pine trees were topped in white. It was 5:30pm and dark. After checking in we ventured out to breathe in the fresh air while strolling the village walking street which was decked out in colored lights and runs in front of our hotel. The kids climbed snow banks, broke off icicles and tossed snowballs. It was a relief for all of us to be out of the car.

We enjoyed a group of carolers singing Deck the Halls then popped into the rental place to pick skis and boots for Emelia to save time in the morning. The boot fitting with our Australian assistant went smoothly but the computer system went wonky at check out over charging us then locking down. 30 minutes later we walked away with skis and boots still happy after learning about the resort and planned festivities from the young staff. Our vacation was here so nothing was going to interfere with our good moods.

Until…

We decided to eat in the restaurant at our hotel for convenience since it was going on to 8pm. It looked a little fancy for our liking (uniformed staff, lobster on the menu, etc.) but we were ready to eat, wind down and hit the outdoor pool and hot tub if there was time. But there wasn’t going to be time. We were seated then forgotten about. The restaurant wasn’t even half full so it didn’t appear overly busy and the staff did not seem stressed. We sat, talked and waited. Eventually a friendly waiter with dark hair and a beard came over and greeted us. It turns out they had a kids menu but that the manager who seated us had given us four adult menus. The waiter helped us with our choices:   2 kids’ pizzas, my quinoa vegetable bake and Kris’s seafood and steak platter. We asked for water and the waiter went away. 15 minutes later he filled our water glasses and brought pretzel buns. Kris at that point ordered a Sangria.

When another 25 minutes went by and our food and the Sangria had not arrived I pulled over the blond, female manager who had given us the wrong menus to ask about the Sangria but instead my disappointment in the service and the time it was taking rolled off my tongue. It had been a long day and I didn’t want to let that weigh in but I’ve worked in restaurants and the experience was not acceptable. I felt justified in questioning the time it was taking and stating that our family was hungry and tired of waiting. The manager went away and within a couple of minutes the waiter shows up with two pizzas for the kids that look like frozen out of the box types.

The manager then came over and said they would pay for the pizzas and I responded that I didn’t think that quite cut it. It was almost an hour since we ordered, there were only a handful of tables aside from us and we had five days in the hotel. She apologized again and said she would see what she could do after the meals for Kris and I came out. They came out five minutes later and they tasted fine. Nothing special.

She then came back and said they would like to pay for Kris’s Sangria as well and hope that we would come back again. She said the chef said he had accidentally burnt the original pizzas but forgot to mention it to the waiting staff who could then pass the information on to us. The free pizzas and drink were better than nothing and all of us were full and content at that point. It was not a great experience but I didn’t want to dwell on it. At the same time, I felt justified and on point with my feedback. Just like with the music store last month, I stayed calm yet firm in stating my opinion. We’re not sure we’re going back there for our Christmas Eve dinner though…we’ll see if we can find somewhere else tomorrow.

All three of my family members are now sleeping soundly and I feel the urge to join in. We hit the slopes tomorrow and from what we saw tonight, the hills look divine. My self care today included my feedback on our service at the restaurant, focus on contentment through the rough driving and finally my face wash and herbal cream which I remembered to bring along on this trip to use morning and night. I haven’t missed yet.

Day 44 – Pre-Departure Meditation

We’re 85% packed for our ski trip with mini mountains of red, orange and pink ski jackets, pants and gloves clogging up our entry way along with a box of snack foods, hand warmers and the kids’ “carry on backpacks” with books and beloved electronics. I could be stressed about leaving in the morning with the house still in disarray from our Danish lunch on Sunday but I feel we’ve done what we can and I want to kick start our vacation with positive thoughts. So bring on the mountains, snow and freedom to roam. We’re good to go.

To help solidify my self care as I prepare to embark on a family road trip/ski vacation, I spent 10 minutes meditating before writing my blog. I chose the 5 count inhale, 10 count long, extended exhale sitting in the dark in our office space after everyone else was tucked in bed. I felt like sitting against the wall tonight to let my back slightly press against the firmness of the wall, without allowing myself to cave in towards it. I kept my core engaged and mind alert on the breathing. Now my nerves are all soothed for the evening and I’m ready to rest. It was a delicious ten minutes with my mind in a cooperative state.

We packed a lot into our day with present opening this morning around our mini tree, washing clothes and cleaning, packing, a few quick good-byes with neighbors, art class for both kids, piano for Nicholas and one last holiday party with good friends at their place which we wrapped up by 9pm.

I packed my Surface which I wrote my first blog post on 44 days ago. I will be using it again as I define and carry out my self care from the lodge in Sun Peaks, Canada. I have a feeling I’ll write about a long, winding blue run where I feel the tickle of snowflakes falling on my cheeks and savor the stillness on a lone peak if I can find it. I’m kind of excited in case you didn’t notice.

I am curious as to what kind of self care I will initiate tomorrow when most of my time will be spent in the cramped quarters of our minivan. If anyone has a suggestion, comment and share!

Day 43 – Hyggeligt Danish Lunch

I am almost too tired to post tonight but my self care was so good I can’t miss sharing. Kris and I served a traditional Danish frokost (lunch) to 13 family and friends in our home starting at 3pm today. Nicholas lit all the candles and Emelia gathered pine branches to wrap around the candle centerpiece.

Over the course of 5+ hours we talked, laughed and ate. And ate. And ate. We served four courses starting with rye bread and pickled herring in curry sauce, followed by traditional open face sandwiches spread with Norwegian smoked salmon, smoked mackerel from Canada and roast beef. Carlsberg beer flowed along with Danish snaps made locally in Seattle. Fresh white artisan bread with an assortment of cheeses and black olives followed, then a dessert of ginger cookies, kransekake (almond bars dipped in dark chocolate made by Kris) and risalamande (Danish rice pudding made by my friend Bonnie who drove all the way from Portland for the meal with her sons) and coffee.

In Denmark we describe such a gathering as hyggeligt. More than cozy, more than warm, more than pleasant. Hyggeligt is the epitome of contentment with life and feeling that all is well and all that matters is this candlelit room and people seated around the dining table.

It was a perfect way to celebrate the winter solstice and welcome the start of new light and longer days. More hours of self care to come.

Day 42 – Super Blissful Morning

I don’t think I could have packed more self care into the first half of my Saturday so will call it my super blissful morning. Bootcamp from 7:25am until 8:40am including running drills on the hill and the 12 days of Christmas squats and jump routine again. Just as ouch as last week!

Then a friend from bootcamp drove back to my house where we relaxed and talked for an hour, I with my latte and her with an Earl Grey tea. I had shut the furnace off last night and forgot to turn it on before leaving for bootcamp so the house was mighty cold when we came back. It was chilly, especially sitting in our workout clothes, but we had hot yoga to look forward to.

We were extra keen today for self care and headed to yoga at 10:30am at my favorite hot yoga studio for a Power Class. Emelia came along so she could go to the coinciding kids’ class. The sauna temperature in the adult studio, along with the dim lighting was a welcome haven after our winter outdoor workout and my frigid house. I have never tried doing both on the same day and it felt a little crazy but was super fun. I could barely manage the crunches, planks and standing balances because my muscles had already been exerted. It was so worth it though.

I was powered by bootcamp and yoga bliss for the rest of the day so I could prep for our Danish Julefrokost on Sunday. Self care is vital before a big gathering!