not necessarily in this order

  an in-office Thursday (which doesn’t happen every week), feelings, and short pants  6:24  Wake with a start that I missed my  6:35  alarm. Decide to turn it and my backup alarms off, go and put my contacts in, and shower.   6:4? : LM comes into the bathroom and emotionally rants about state testing. All I can say is “I hear you, girlfriend” while I rinse my hair.   6:55 : Moisturize, deodorize, take meds, scrunch the curls and hope for the best with air drying, put on the outfit I had in mind and regret how short the pants seem, remember jewelry AND the notes I had on my work from home desk. Head downstairs.    7:05 : Give LM and Bella their hellos. Pour my coffee and make my smoothie while it cools off. Consider the weather (it’s a rainy nor’easter and flooding is a possibility) and get myself moving faster. Tell the Mr. to give LM a fun extra for breakfast to ease her state testing anxiety. She squeals when he gives her a brownie with her...

A quick look at how my February hopes figured out and what I’m hoping to do in March!   February Figures : Working out / intentional movement at least 15 days  =  15/15!!! I had this whole realization that I am a happier person when I move my body, but when I am down (which makes sense right now), I may have to just do the things even when I’m not feeling like it. Which, shockingly (or not really shockingly, haha), made a huge difference during a really wild work month. Average 5K steps per day  =  5 , 002 WOOHOO! I finally made it! I am sure my return to the office a few days a week pushed me over, but I have also been trying to move more through my days.  Average less than 8 hours of phone screen time per day  =  still too much I am trying to give myself grace in that I’ve been navigating a lot of big feelings and bad weather, but hope to make some movement in this space in March with a better approach to my usual doomscrolling moments  Sti...

  It’s finally February, am I right? Look at these poor, confused bulbs popping up in my front garden, sigh. I know the groundhog said spring is nigh, but I have a feeling winter isn’t done with us here in the New England just yet!   I thought I’d share how my January intentions / hopes panned out and then talk about what I’m hoping to do in February:   January Figures :   Working out / intentional movement at least 10 days  =  8/10  (not bad at all!)   I think for now, intentional walks will count as workouts as I build up endurance and the habit of it. I’ll revisit in April when I have more of a base (maybe I’ll attempt the Cool Bloggers  12-3-30 ?!?!)   1 core/lower back strength workout I found on Google and then the rest were all Peloton ( trying to add up those minutes! ): 5 walks (2 of them slow after tweaking my back at Lil Momma’s chorus concert last week), 2 hike, 1 Arms & Light Weights, 1 Shoulder Mobility, & 2 Y...

  A weekly-ish round up of what I’m… watching . We started  Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Monday, but finishing it wasn’t meant to be with Lil’ Momma’s choice to have bedtime feelings 12 hours before school break ended. Obviously, I can’t speak to the whole yet, but this started slow for me. As someone of the generation for whom Clue  was checked out weekly from Blockbuster (oof, aging myself) and a college-years monthly dorm room party movie  night*, Knives Out  was a whole moment for me**. The pacing, the snark, the red herrings - it’s why I love mysteries. So far, Glass Onion  isn’t doing it for me… reading . I have so much to say about Cloud Cuckoo Land  and am at a blog crossroads*** about how I want to talk about books. Individual posts? A monthly reading roundup? (I used to read every post in a now-defunct reading link-up…) Highs and moderate lows entries? I’ll decide soon. In the meantime, I’m on to The Janus Stone , the second Rut...

A weekly-ish round up of what I’m… Watching . I started The Afterparty on Apple TV     (as part of my ongoing self reminder to use Apple TV because I’m paying for it after desperation purchasing a subscription from the treadmill to watch the Billie Eilish doc). I love a murder mystery with a sense of humor - and Ben Schwartz - so this is right up my alley.   Reading . I’m reading Anna McNuff’s memoir Barefoot in Britain about how she ran the length of Britain barefoot (duh, Lindsay). Her books get me right in the inspiration / motivation - they’re comfy like talking to a friend, but also authentic and vulnerable as she tells the ups and downs of these physical feats.+ Listening (to):     My family only listens to holiday music * once November hits and it’s driving me batty. When I’m alone in the car, it’s all podcasts or silence to balance my poor brain.  +up next is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, which I’m reading simultaneously with a friend...