hannah ananas

I got very excited about taking a trip tomorrow. It all happened today. This afternoon, really. And so, we went ahead and booked the flights after I confirmed with my husband that we might as well bite the bullet and try out the longer trip with our daughter and me traveling on our own. He said that, if it went badly, then we just would have to keep practicing until it isn’t bad anymore. We both laughed at that idea.

So, we booked this trip barely 18 hours out. Very good chances. However, a flight must have gotten cancelled this evening, because our first leg options went from hundreds of empty seats to only ten total across three flights. As I debated canceling altogether – including the Uber that was supposed to pick me up in three hours – because I really needed to think through packing way better than I had been able to do just tonight, and I was overwhelmed with how much physical effort might be involved, and with all the stuff I didn’t know and couldn’t ask friend about before leaving since she was asleep, etc., I got a notification from Uber that my flight had been canceled, and did I want to adjust or cancel the ride to the airport? I laughed. And I was immensely relieved. I had been excited when there were loads of spots open. And when we were going to be surprising my dad. But the stress of so few seats combined with the stress of packing on short notice for the hardest weather – I seriously struggle with packing for weather that is in the teens (Celsius, not Fahrenheit. No way would I even do Fahrenheit teens.) – and having to get up super early after almost no sleep and travel all day and night… just made me not want to go anymore.

So, God handled it for me, and I am grateful. We will find another time to go visit. I learned a lot about this type of travel, as well as about what I need for my own success in prepping and packing.

Thank you, God, for the fun of today, and for the learning of it. Keep us well and safe and whole. Grant my husband the success he needs to do very well in his work, please. Thank you for the humility. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

And, some nights, after much progress in potty usage, your daughter just stands up and pees all over the floor. Then you get an unknown scratch on your leg that stings. Then your daughter pinches your nipple in her board book. All as you’re just trying to get ready for bed and go the eff to sleep.

Or, perhaps, that is just a series of events that happens to me. Perhaps I am alone on this night’s events.

God, heal us, make us well, keep us whole, and give us nourishing sleep each night, tonight especially. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

I’m working on a semi-spontaneous trip next week. I don’t want to spend much money, but I want the trip to be worth the destination. So, finding a balance of clean and safe hotels that are close enough to trains to make getting around easy, and cost per number of days. Originally, I was thinking we’d go Tuesday-Friday, and be heading home Friday morning-ish. But then I realized that my husband might be free that Saturday, and so, maybe, just maybe, we could do it partly during the weekend, too. Celebrate Father’s Day together in a fun adventure place. Plus, it would be a closer place for him to meet us than his coming all the way home.

But, again, cost. So, working on it all. Also working on figuring out how to have him check in with me when he heads home at the end of the night. I was pretty much just waiting for his end time tonight before turning out the lights. But he never called, and he is already back at his hotel. So, yeah… figuring out that scheduling situation.

God, continue to guide us clearly, please. Keep us safe, and make us well and whole. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

I need sleep. Period. Life is really hard to handle right now, and it’s made all the more difficult by my body’s not being ever rested. I need to sleep through the night. Consistently. But even once would be a blessing.

God, keep us safe and make us well, please. Encourage my husband in his work. Help him to be his best self in all that he does, and help him to believe that he is where you made him to be. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

I delved a bit today into the practical side of the potential of traveling somewhere while my husband is gone for training and work. While some initial prospects had been disappointing, my research today was quite exciting. There will be many adventures for my family, I do believe. And we don’t even have to wait to begin, if we don’t want to do so. However, I’d like to keep our previous engagements for the moment, so things will have to wait for next week, at least.

Thank you, God, for my husband. Please, keep him and our daughter and me safe and well and happy. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

It almost seems harder now to be at home without my husband, as compared to before he came for his short visit. Perhaps it will wear off as more time passes, and I won’t be so utterly lonely and so miserable without him here at the end of each (or any) day.

God, guide us, please. Heal us, keep us safe, and make us well now and always. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

My husband came home for about thirty hours yesterday afternoon. It was a really good time being together as a family for a short while. When I dropped him off at the airport this afternoon, though, I totally broke down crying as I drove away. It was very unexpected, though I wasn’t too surprised. I’m tired to start, so my emotions are quickly to respond in general. Then I’m in a very difficult situation of being almost entirely on my own with our baby for eight+ months, to now, another three months of being fully on my own with her. It sucks. I want to be with my husband. And that isn’t an option right now. And that really sucks.

Post-a-day 2026

It’s only for about 30 hours, but my husband is home. And I am relieved to have him here. Yes, it is annoying to have him ask a bunch of questions because he doesn’t know how to do something normal for our daily life (because he doesn’t get to be a part of our daily life right now), or when he’s frustrated the house isn’t in better condition, or whatever. It’s always going to be hard to have someone living separately come join in one’s routine and daily flow of life. And it’s also hard in its own way when that is someone who is supposed to be part of that daily life and routine already, but can’t be right now. But that’s just our current situation. It will improve as he progresses with his training and as his work schedule develops with each stage of things. For now, we live apart. And we get the immense blessing of having him physically here with us in our home, all of us together tonight and tomorrow.

Thank you, God. Please, keep us safe, make us well and whole, and heal our ailments expediently. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026

My daughter has, somehow, discovered the book Goodnight Moon from her collection of a bagillion board books, and determined that she wants to read it each night in bed.

This was fully her own doing, by the way.

How wild(?!)…haha

Thank you, God. Please, keep us all safe and heal my husband. In your name, I pray.

Post-a-day 2026

It is interesting how difficult it can be to discuss calmly things that bother us, especially when it comes to family and family-in-law. Even if we agree on something, it can be hard to hear when it comes from another. And it can be painful to speak up or to speak honestly when we know it will land with difficulty. Even if we agree on the whole.

And having stress in place and a lack of sleep before we even get started with these conversations makes for even harder conversations.

God, guide us gently, please. Help us to be the people you made us to be. Keep us safe and whole and well. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2026