Halfway through February already. It’s like January crawls and February sprints.
Big Goal: I did everything I can until the 21st. I also did the other two tasks I needed to do and I emailed the person who helps me with taxes so they know it’s coming. Nothing more to be done here until Saturday
Progress on the big five:
Y: All done here for what I can do, signed contract, paid deposit, signed hoa form, waiting for them to submit.
G: didn’t find movers yet. will hope/plan to schedule for next week if i can pull it off.
S: Next step is blood tests and the second appointment towards the end of the month.
Sa: no progress here, i think this will have to wait a bit.
D: nothing for this one for now either.
Three Medium goals:
art: I did two more this week so making progress here.
cook: honestly not sure i have bandwidth for this one right now, got the one but who knows if any more.
peloton: still, nothing happening here. the other work is my exercise atm.
insta: honestly haven’t been tracking this one, but not doing terribly most days
Start: totally failed on this one, will see if i can do better.
Stop: yea not doing this
Continue: so so on this one, working but not as consistently.
Brave: trip coming up!
I’m proud of all the progress I’ve made. Things are moving. Slowly but consistently.
Here’s to another week. Paying attention. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.
What an unusual way to tell a story. This was a very thought-provoking story. Even though in its root I don’t think the story was really novel, the way the author told the story was really compelling and kept me interested. I did have to give up worrying about keeping track since that was really hard in the beginning. Totally worth the read and would make a great discussion.
Ethan Joella writes the exact kind of stories that I love to read. His stories are character-driven, quiet and deep. I always end up falling in love with his characters and thinking about them well after I’m done with the book because they are so real and so well developed.
This is the story of Maggie and Chip who work at the same hotel for a summer a year apart. Maggie’s brother Chip has since died from cancer and she’s trying to learn about Chip and how he spent his last summer. The chapters alternate between Maggie and Chip at the same place, a year apart.
It’s wonderful, life-affirming and exactly the type of stories I want to be reading right now. Thank you Ethan Joella for making life more beautiful with your stories.
with gratitude to netgalley and Scribner for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
First week of February was a mixed bag. In some areas I got more done than I’d intended and in others I just gave up before I even started.
Big Goal: I did the first round on the taxes. Several of my forms don’t come out until Feb 21 so I won’t be able to finish it until then but I’ve done most of the work I can on the rest. I have one more task I can do between now and 21st so I will see if I can work on that this week.
Progress on the big five:
Y: Good news on this one. I got the sketches, asked for a small change but hoping it’s almost ready to be submitted for approval.
G: Done done done. Now to find movers and space.
S: Went through one appointment, feeling good about the plan so far. Next step is blood tests and the second appointment towards the end of the month.
Sa: no progress here, i think this will have to wait a bit.
D: nothing for this one for now either.
Three Medium goals:
art: I think 5-8 is going to be too many unless we count parts, if so I am 2 in but this will go slowly
cook: honestly not sure i have bandwidth for this one right now, got the one but who knows if any more
peloton: yea, nothing happening here. the other work is my exercise atm.
insta: honestly haven’t been tracking this one, but not doing terribly most days
Start: i am taking longer walks but not as long as i wished
Stop: yea not doing this
Continue: so so on this one, working but not as consistently.
Brave: trip coming up!
Other things I need to do this week: Our trip is coming up so I just have to prep.
I’m proud of all the progress I’ve made. Things are moving. Slowly but consistently.
Here’s to another week. Paying attention. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.
The thing with Matt Haig is that he knows how to weave a story that gets to the heart of the matter and knows how to remind us what actually matters. In this story of Wilbur getting to visit the major moments of his life after he passes away, he (and we) gets to see where he made the wrong choices that lead to outcome of a life he wasn’t happy with in the end. A reminder that we can say what we value but unless we actively choose what we value and make those choices intentional, what we say doesn’t matter. And next thing we know, we’ve lost the thing we value the most and end up with a life we didn’t actually want.
Alas.
For those of us who are still living, it’s not too late to change the choices we make.
with gratitude to Viking and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
Ok month two, here we go. This is a weird month for me cause I already have some existing commitments and then will be taking a trip in the middle of the month and also have my kiddo coming to visit. So not super consistent schedule the whole month. I will still do the best I can to take some steps onward.
Big Goal: Taxes is going to be the big one here. I have to start working on taxes. If i am lucky, I can finish too but rarely do I get so lucky. I still need to work hard to make a meaningful dent here otherwise March will be really challenging.
Progress on the big five:
Y: For this one, my hope is that the HOA work is submitted and, if I am really lucky, approved. If I am really really lucky, work can begin in February, too.
G: Ok the Feburary goal here is to pack the other 8+ boxes, hire someone to finish the packing so I can rent the space and someone to deliver in March.
S: The goal here is hair plan and medicine plan.
Sa: For this one, I really really would like to come up with a plan I like that I can do.
D: Not sure what new to take on here for Feb. Not ready to rent yet so maybe just do pickup at SFO?
Three Medium goals: (have 4 this month)
art: 5-8 food paintings
cook: 5 dishes that are vegetable heavy that I can redo often
peloton: do ten classes a week
insta: no insta after 7pm (too much anxiety before bed)
Start: taking long walks with Sadie (ideally 20+ mins)
Stop: no liquid after 8pm except water / herbal
Continue: keeping some sort of good skin regimen. It’s something I can do even when on the road.
Brave: Not sure about this one yet. Going on this trip will be brave. Can we have that be it for Feb?
Here’s to another month. Paying attention. Loving my people. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.
