Where Have I Been?

Oh, that’s a good question. I’ve been here. Sort of. I suspect many of you can relate.

Our annual “going to the snow” trip. I’ve heard this is very much a California phrase. The Medium Boy and his Little Bro get pretty excited about their sledding skills.

I’ve gone back and forth several times about how much of my personal life to share on a blog whose focus was to be about living a “Greekish” life in California. Cooking and gardening and other domestic pursuits bring me a lot of comfort, joy, and sense of accomplishment, and I wanted to share that with others. But life has this nasty habit of handing people situations that make it so hard to find joy in anything. If I were to do the Marie Kondo approach to my home and life, there’d be nothing left.

(All links open a new page, so you won’t lose your spot when you look around! Get information on gardening and cultural traditions, recipes, stories, and more!)

Thanksgiving with some very tired parents of little ones. The Biggest Boy with his beautiful wife.

Don’t worry, I’m not making any drastic decisions other than the ones that needed to be made. Sometimes people back you into a corner and force your hand in order to protect yourself and your loved ones. But through some seriously dark days that I’ve had, I’ve also come to recognize I have a bigger “tribe” than I ever realized. Friends new and old have shown me so much love and support that have been critical in getting me through. It’s amazing how beneficial it is to know that others can relate and understand.

We’ve had a complete turnover in our population of furry family members. However, we’ve been adopted by a whole new set of lovable kitties.

Aside from my personal life, my work has also been draining me considerably. As some of you may know, I teach high school science. Every school year for the last several years, I have had changes to the courses I teach. Every. Year. That usually doesn’t happen, and for good reason. Creating curriculum is time consuming and mentally challenging. Teachers don’t thrive when they are over-drained, and then neither do their students. All my mental power has been put into creating and updating curriculum so there has been nothing left for writing posts on recipes, gardening, life in general.

Grandbaby #1 continues to amaze me with his goofiness and smarts. There’s never a dull moment with this one!

Thankfully, life has begun to smooth out somewhat. I’ve begun to let go of the “stuff” that doesn’t matter. No, it really isn’t a big deal if every single chore isn’t taken care of before I allow myself time to do the fun things. I’m also no longer worrying about living my life according to how others think it should be done. It’s amazing how much lighter the load has become, as a result.

Newest to the scene is Grandbaby #2. He is already showing himself to be quite full of personality and spunk. He is also such a loving baby!

So, all of this is to say I’m still here. I’ve already got a few more recipes in place needing to be brushed up and published. My garden is still producing despite some serious neglect I’ve put it through. Adventures are still happening, kids are still growing, including a new grandson (there’s now two!), and I’m learning to love all of it. If life has been handing you lemons, hang in there and make yourself a big pot of Avgolemono soup with them. It won’t fix everything, but it will still fill you up with something good.