How I got Stronger this week: Now that April is here, I’ve changed my morning exercise. I’ve been doing Pilates every morning. I’m following this online plan I found for 21 days of Pilates. It comes with rest days but then it’s yoga on those days. It’s been good and hard. I’ve also booked all the hotels for Europe and that was incredibly hard for me. I know it might sound small to many but these are not simple tasks for me. This was a long week and I’ve made it through so I consider that a win in the getting stronger column, too.

Top Goals Review: made progress with both speakers and summer planning, found someone for staff meeting. found and doing april exercise, didn’t book car in europe, but booked hotels in europe, and booked hotel for next week, and booked rock climbing, still working on figuring out dinner. helped david with ideas a tiny bit. sent initial email for nathaniel’s birthday, phew.

I celebrate: I celebrate making progress on several fronts this week, including booking hotels and getting some work progress.

I am grateful for: my husband, i know i say it all the time but he’s there for me again and again.

Karen’s Points: doing  pilates and skin still and the journaling now. i’m going to see if I can sort this out this week.

A Change I embraced: honestly i am still learning to embrace the changes that came with my new job.

I let go of: most of my evenings this week. i’ve been at the kids’ school or having to help them prepare.

Core Desired Feelings Check-in:

• Fresh: journaling again after having not done so in a while has been an interesting challenge.
• Magical: it was magical to see nathaniel and his friend making and selling parfaits at the farmer’s market at school
• Lighter: Lighter now that i’ve booked our vacation and hotels. a few more things to do before i feel all done.
• True: i am really looking forward to connecting with myself again through journaling.

Where I chose Joy: i chose joy by spending tuesday morning at school for nathaniel and evening at school for david. both were amazing opportunities to see my children at their best.

I showed up for: my kids this week.

A Mistake I made this week: i got my first parking ticket this week, parked on the side with street cleaning :(.

What I tolerated this week: i’ve been waking up at 2am every night this week and unable to fall back asleep so I am exhausted and overwhelmed.

My mood this week was: quiet. it’s been an odd week. 

I forgive myself for: the times when i just don’t feel like doing anything. 

What I love right now: that we have some vacation coming up.

Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

How I got Stronger this week: I did Body Pump all week. Even though twice this week, I didn’t feel like doing it at all and I skipped it in the morning only to come back home from a long day of work and do it anyway. It’s been a long month and I will admit I dreaded it many mornings but I still love Body Pump more than most exercise. As I type this I haven’t picked an April exercise yet but I am thinking of Tabata or Pilates or Core. I will be traveling a lot in May so I am trying to find something in April that will be challenging since May might be a bit of a mess. David and I finally finished his application which was a huge deal this week. I am doing better with food, too, I’ve started (or gone back to) eating my salads for lunch and I think that definitely helps, now I have to work on dinner and snacking (or not snacking.) 

Top Goals Review: started organizing summits, so many summits. haven’t distilled learnings yet. kept body pumping, bought tix for boston, bought tix for europe, closed and submitted essays and finish out the app, and trying so hard to figure out the food.

I celebrate: I celebrate submitting the app.

I am grateful for: my husband, my kids, my parents, my sister, my nephews, my friends, my job, my life. feeling extremely grateful lately.

Karen’s Points: doing the body pump, doing the skin, too. doing nothing else but i’ve been thinking about the points a lot lately and how much it did help me and maybe i should just go ahead and do it for April, too. I can even alter my list.

A Change I embraced: My weekend plans changed a bunch and I’m working on dealing with it.

I let go of: work at nights this week. i came home tired and wanted to spend my time with the kids.

Core Desired Feelings Check-in:

• Fresh: i’ve really been enjoying my new car, so grateful for it, learning how to use it well.
• Magical: this week’s magical moment was having a wonderful chat with my husband.
• Lighter: Lighter now that i’ve booked the plane tickets for our vacations.
• True: feeling better finally, not 100% but better. The weather helps a lot.

Where I chose Joy: i chose joy by having lunch with my previous skip level manager and a few colleagues. 

I showed up for: david this week and his application.

A Mistake I made this week: small mistakes at work, but nothing major this week.

What I tolerated this week: i am starting to get a bit anxious about how tough May and June will be with several events back to back in different continents and I have been tolerating the pressure that feels like it’s building up.

My mood this week was: present. i’ve been connected and moving and making progress. 

I forgive myself for: dropping the ball on many things, as i pick up some, i drop some. 

What I love right now: that the sun is out again. i am beyond happy.

Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.