Ok month five! I feel like the beginning of the year is so slow and then it races by. As I think about each month so far, I feel pretty excited about all the progress I’ve made this year already. I’ve done a lot of the physical parts of the work I was hoping to accomplish this year between my yard, garage and all the cleaning. I made major progress in cleaning, learning, driving, taking care of my peeps. Less progress in health and food and Sadie.
I’m going to attempt to go back to my more usual way of making plans for this month but we’ll see how it works.
Big Goal: The big goal for this month is going to be health and food related. I think it would help me if I made a big push in that direction. For health I would like to do some combination of stretching, yoga, core and weights and restorative yoga or meditation for mental health. For food, I’d like to eat a lot more vegetables and fruits, especially now that it’s getting closer to the summer months. I also will continue to paint and journal which helps me stay grounded. And some more on my skin health, teeth/gums, etc. The goal is not to drive myself crazy or reprimand myself. It’s just to try to take a big step forward if I can.
Progress on the big five:
Y: Go through the stuff in the side yard that I want to throw away. Buy one thing.
G: Do the trash pickup, find a donation place, buy one thing.
S: Laser appointment two and maybe three. Research if there’s any other prep work.
Sa: Start week one ideas little by little.
D: new commute and visiting M might be a bunch for this month.
Three Medium goals:
Do one workflow at work.
Research some ideas for backyard and garage.
Make a list of ideas/thoughts/belief to reclaim. Start exploring what they want.
Start: Support D in his transition.
Stop: going to sleep late.
Continue: to spend time with people even when you don’t feel like it.
Brave: plan a trip to go see D together.
I thought it would also be helpful to look through the lens of some of the themes I’d wanted for this year and see where I am and what (if anything) I might want for May:
Rebuild: The backyard was a big rebuild project. Maybe the next one is rearranging the living room.
Release: Garage was a big release, so was all the cleaning. Next big one might be around inner work.
Research: A few things that could fall in this category that I haven’t done much with yet are retirement plans, thinking about where i might want to live long-term.
Build: Training sadie is in this list. Slowly starting on that one. So is establishing a cooking and exercising routine.
Brave: Driving is at the top of this list. Making strides on that one. Letting go of some of what I’ve been carrying for 50 years is also on this list. hard hard work.
Help: Have already been doing this with A prep and daily lives of my kids and at work. Next big ones here will be college prep and job search/where to live.
Seek: The major areas on this one are seeking connection which I’ve been making efforts around. Also figuring out if and where I might want to travel.
Grow: Art has a been a major investment here. A few others are dancing, cooking, exercise journeys.
Tend: Tending to my skin. Tending to my soul by journaling. I’ve done more of both of these. Learning make up will also be on this list. Tending to my back, my hormones are also on the list.
Finish/Settle: Well yard and garage could easily be here. To be honest there’s nothing else I feel strongly about. I have some ideas for plans but nothing that needs to be done this year. I had a topic that needed to be settled, and I think we settled it.
Plant: Planting plants was on this list! 🙂 Dancing is here. Maybe a few more fun things?
Reclaim: Oh a long list on this one. I think this will be a May project.
Here’s to another month. Paying attention. Loving my people. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.
I knew this would be a hard book to read. Not sure why I decided to read it. Maybe because I think it’s important we don’t look the other way. Maybe it’s all a part of shame changing sides.
What a fun book. If you’re looking for something light and fun with a heart about older women and friendship and taking back your life, this is your book.
I loved this story but it was too long. It could have been half as long as still beautiful and impactful. I feel like it went on long enough that it lost some of its magic.
I just finished this book and I am so mad. I want all my time back. I kept thinking I should put it down and I am so mad I did not. I found the main character super annoying and over the top, I found the “twist” so dumb. Ugh ugh ugh.
fast, interesting read exploring immortality, family, belonging, science, wealth. what would it mean to live if you never died or if your injuries healed right away? What sounds like a gift at first may not be so at a deeper look. Also what would be your obligations to the community if you were one of the few people who was immortal while others are not? interesting to think about.
Fast read. Weird and interesting concept with characters that aren’t likable. It’s about youth or wealth. but also about feeling entitled and also about being an artist and wanting validation. and also about being a woman. interesting read.
This was ok. Interesting but not as much as I thought it would be and got to be a little over the top for me. The way in which it criticized the publishing industry felt a little too on the nose for me. I enjoyed it but not as much as I’d hoped I would.
I love Elizabeth Strout. Her quiet characters and writing always speaks right to my soul and this book is no exception. I also, so much of the time, wish people would say the quiet part out loud.
Made it to the end of April. I will say that while I got a lot done this month, it did feel more relaxed and I gave myself a lot of grace through the days. It felt good to be kinder to myself and felt good to know that despite a “major” goal, I still was productive. I do feel more rested and a little more centered.
Here’s all the stuff I had put as a possible list, I crossed out the ones I did:
More tidying up:
Pick through the stuffed animals for what to keep
Donate all the donation items
Go through my bedside drawers
Go through under my sink.
Go through linen closet.
Go through kids’ bathroom.
Go through ikea next to my desk.
Clean up desk.
Go through ikea by plants.
Go through the second desk.
Clean out the foosball table (over and under)
Go through the giant ikea.
Go through the cupboards by kitchen sink.
Go through David’s sink drawer.
After all those are done -> schedule bulky trash pickup.
Buy Fun stuff:
Buy colorful ikea drawers
replace cushions for couch outside
buy more lights for yard.
buy heater for the yard.
buy lanterns for the yard.
buy something to keep bugs/mosquitoes away.
buy fun stuff for garage.
Health: ( a did a little of several of these but not enough of any to cross off)
Start stretching regularly
Start a lifting regimen
Go back to doing core classes
Do pilates/yoga
Back to restorative yoga/meditation
Find 3 staple dishes to cook and have on hand
Moisturize every night
Learn stuff
Finish the AI course you did
Learn to use Jski
Research how to train Sadie
Do the shuffle class
Watch some makeup tips
Find a fun class
Take care of my people + myself
Help A with AP stuff
Take time off
Go to laser place
Go places
Watch the sunset.
Drive somewhere new.
In the end, I focused the most on cleaning up because it was something that both made me feel better and something I could do alongside watching TV. I feel like it was quite cleansing to do it.
Here’s to another month. Paying attention. Loving my people. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.
