December 27: Sincere Dears, Swimming Magic, and Some Christmas Dreams Come True

We are at our rental house and have had wonderful days playing at the beach that is one block away or in the heated pool that goes with the house. We even went in the pool on the days with a high of 54 degrees! Our first day at the new house was a bit stressful for me because there are lots of nice things that would be easy to break. There is one bedroom that has family heirloom lamps. No one is using that room. I also had battles with the stove because it is electric and has no markings to indicate what level of heat you have selected or where the knob is actually pointing. I had quite a battle trying to make grilled cheese, eventually succeeding after 20 minutes and with Carl’s help. So our meals are not fancy or complex at all! Last night Carl ordered pizza and opted for the 24” without quite realizing what that would mean. It was the biggest pizza we have ever seen! The slices were too big for the plates. It was also delicious. We will now have pizza for many meals. 

Christmas morning was the usual chaos with many wonderful gifts and some dreams come true. Amy was thrilled to receive a new witch hat custom made by Grandma. The only time Amy isn’t wearing her new hat is when she is at the beach or in the pool. She has also been diving into learning to draw cartoon characters from a book Carl gave her. Sarah had been wanting musical note bedsheets, a sundress, and pajamas for ages. I made all of those dreams come true. Except… the pajama pants didn’t come with a matching shirt. For a short but intense time Sarah had big feelings about this and so did I. I was frustrated that no matter how I try to meet her dreams there is always the next unattainable thing right around the next minute. Carl did find musical note pajamas that have a shirt and pants and they will arrive at our house shortly after we do. In the meantime, Sarah has settled into enjoying her other musical note things, carrying her pillow downstairs when she isn’t in her bedroom and making a fort from the sheets.

Sarah is doing an amazing job swimming for dive rings in the pool. This is a huge new skill for her. Amy is her usual mermaid self, the first in and the last out of the water. She becomes a sea witch and uses magic to transform into different sea creatures and to do tricks on her pool noodle brooms. Sometimes there are competitions with the grown-ups, but the only times Carl and I win are swimming races when it is the length of our bodies that gives us the advantage. Unless it is the butterfly stroke, in which case Amy still beats us. I hadn’t ever tried to do the butterfly before and I wonder who on earth came up with it and why anyone thinks it makes sense. It is hard! And it feels awkward! Amy makes it look easy.

I have had many cluster headaches. Sometimes they resolve in short order and sometimes they linger all night and I can barely sleep. I have to choose when to use the nasal spray because I don’t have enough to cover all of the headaches. Carl is a huge help, rubbing my back and neck so I can relax enough to sleep or at least not be in agony. Christmas eve night I slept soundly with no headache, but promptly got one as soon as I was upright. I did use a zomig spray then. While most of this experience on our vacation is wonderful, the headaches do cast a shadow and make some moments more of a struggle. Luckily I am mostly fine during the daytime, but then I get scared to go to bed because I know what is most likely waiting for me. 

Sarah loves to have a midday nap with me so that helps me get sleep to make up for the bad nights. At one point when Sarah asked to do “my dear my dear” snuggle time (which often now means nap time), I said she was a sincere dear. She latched onto “sincere” and now likes to pretend to be a swim teacher or swim student named Sincere. She also likes to spell it. We trade saying “you’re sincere, my dear my dear.”

I hope you are all well, with peaceful nights and stoves that make sense.