not necessarily in this order

  My “momiversary” is at the end of August - 10 years of mothering Lil Momma on the outside. It’s wild - and I’ll have plenty of thoughts to share! However, it’s also really hit me that  it’s time to reclaim some space for me : to reconnect with some of who I was before all this, to be who am I am now, and to be who I’m gonna be next.  In that spirit, here are  5 hopes for the month  that I hope will guide me in that direction: One  Average 7000 steps per day for the month (there’s a step challenge at work, so that’ll be good motivation) Two  3 stories from the past few months for the blog (quitting the nutritionist, Lil Momma’s theater camp, and starting this new strength workout app) and 2 reviews (books? the Barbie movie? tbd…) Three  Make myself a dentist appointment. I left my last dentist Jan of 2020 and just never made finding a new one happen Four  Less screentime, more real life (‘nuff said) Five  Do one thing every week just for me. Maybe it’s a walk. Maybe it’s seeing a movi

  This whole week went wrong. Well, that’s a bit dramatic (but so am I, so…); this whole week was hard. Harder than it should have been. But it’s kind of my own fault.   I had emotionally bolstered myself for Luke’s first business trip since Feb 2020: it was only 36 hours. We had food. I had the camp drop offs and pick ups blocked off. I would get my workouts and my reading and my rest when he got back. (At midnight) (because why not?) <<insert roadwork on our street>> <<insert work drama>> <<insert unexpected night work on our street>> <<remove Lil Momma sleeping, sigh>> So, now I’m off my game and tired when my poor mom, who lives in an assisted living 35 minutes away, calls Tuesday night because they’re going to Walmart on Thursday and she doesn’t have any money. (She has money, just no cash readily available unless I bring it to her - she is fine!) <<remove my workout window after work on Wednesday>> <<remove my dre

Oh, what a week it’s been; the stomach bug, chlorine burns from a pool for my Lil Momma (and a bee sting), quitting softball, the start of an intense theater camp, and a trash week at work. I’m not in the mood to reframe it all, haha, but here are some small joys keeping me going:   One  The cool side of the pillow; always and forever   Two  The rush of adrenaline when you’re 2 chapters into a book and you realize you may not be able to put it down   Three  Lil Momma is in charge of her book club this week and has all her discussion questions ready   Four  Sleeping through the night after multiple nights of not sleeping through the night   Five  I made it through the first strength workout for this new program I’m doing (I mean, I’m sore – but I could do it!)   Six  Sitting on my deck with my coffee and hearing all the birds chattering away   Seven  LM’s joy at reading in her hammock    Eight  Lazy family dinners playing  would you rather?  and planning adventures   Nine  Splitting the

The last thing I wanted to do on the Saturday before the 4th of July was desperately drive around looking for replacement bathing suits for Lil Momma who had managed to lose 2 during her first week of camp. As I took a break in the parking lot of my 3rd Target with 2 desperation options for my girl to try on, a text popped up from one of our close friends: “ Want to go see Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken in an hour and then grab ice cream? ” To be honest, I thought she had the name of the movie wrong, but LM was onboard so I flew home, grabbed her, and we met the group at the small movie theater the next town over.  Now, I’m usually “in the know” with movies (something I pride myself on!!), but I’ve been out of the loop with all my life happening. To my surprise, this movie was exactly what the title promised:  image from Wikipedia  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Gillman,_Teenage_Kraken “ The film follows a shy but kind fifteen-year-old girl named Ruby Gillman who is desperate to fi

  I should be giving an update on my “ 23 things I want to do in 2023 ” or my hike prep or recital season… but, instead I’m writing about how I’m both giving myself grace and refocusing some energies since it seems  this year (so far) has been more about surviving instead of thriving . I did a time tracking exercise for a couple weeks in June and I learned that while I am very good at prioritizing my family and taking care of my mother and doing my job, I  am very bad at holding time for me  to take care of myself, or do things for myself, or just sit with myself.  It’s not a surprise that I feel really burnt out – no,  I feel wrung out  - which is not how I want to move through this life or role model being a complex and messy and curious person for my daughter. This picture of Lil Momma’s tap shoe that broke the night before the recital seems quite apropos for some reason? So, on this first of the month and kickoff to the second half of the year, I am giving myself the gift of a rese