This photo has nothing to do with what’s on my mind except that it’s making me happy. And I get to go back to Sydney in a few weeks and that makes me happy too. In fact, I will be traveling to Sydney, Tokyo, Boston, Italy, France and Spain in the span of two months which both delights and terrifies me.
Anyhow, what’s on my mind this week is anchoring myself. I’ve been going a mile a minute for a bunch of weeks now, especially as I started taking on my new job. I have had all the feelings. I had the car accident earlier in the month. My son became a teenager. School is almost over. And as all these things are happening, I like to be able to take note and connect with the people in my life. Especially with my kids and husband.
But a big part of that connecting is also me being connected to myself and my feelings and thoughts.
I do a good amount of self-reflecting here but when things get busy I feel I need deeper reflection and that’s exactly the time I don’t do it enough. So I am excited to do this 100 days of journaling plan. I can and do take my journal everywhere anyway. And knowing what’s on my mind allows me to be more thoughtful in my response, so I react less or at least I know why I am reacting.
I don’t know if this is the case for everyone, but for me journaling is always the best way for me to see how I feel. I figure it out as I write. I connect with it as I see it on the page.
So it’s time to get it on paper.
On My Mind is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
Last weekend my kids’ school had a TEDx which was awesome. Even though I wanted to go, I didn’t want to go because I always prefer to be home on Sundays. But I am glad I went! Thanks to my awesome husband. 
First speaker was Jason Kilar of Hulu whose talk was awesome. 
Then it was Irene Au who talked about HCI and it was also awesome!
Then we had two medical ones with Sean Hennessey
and Roni Zeiger. 
After lunch we had Puragra (Raja) Guha Thakurta whom I was most excited about since I’m all about physics these days.
And finally it was Lori Marino.
A great way to spend a Sunday as a family!
Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.
Weekly Intention: This week is going to be insane. I have a lot of work to do and I have to make 4 trips to the kids’ school, two during daytime and two at night. I also have a wedding to go to on Sunday. This is enough to possibly push me over the edge. So my goal this week is to be super on top of things during the day since I won’t have nights to be able to focus and work or even rest. To eat extra well so I can feel strong and to rest as much as possible.
This month’s intention is: Emotionally Strong: This is the time to work on being a better version of you. And loving you. Loving what is. Respond and don’t react. Journal more. Love this. I was looking for a 100-day project and I think it will be journaling! Even if it’s a few minutes a day. Love it.
One way I will stretch this week: managing my time and organizing all the things i have going on will stretch me a lot this week.
One boundary I will set this week: i will protect my time a lot this week, especially since i will have little of it.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: my sons. especially nathaniel who has been getting less attention.
One new thing I will learn this week: summit planning baby!
One area where I will go deeper this week: planning for 2019.
What do I need to sit with this week? i need to sit with the discomfort of a lot of moving parts at the moment. have faith that it’s all going to come together.
I am looking forward to: spring break which is a week away.
This week’s challenges: just all the evenings, i dislike being committed at night.
Top Goals:
- Work: book speaker, get summer planning booked, staff meeting organized
- Personal: find+do april exercise, book car in europe, book hotel in europe, book hotel for next week, book rock climbing, figure out dinner.
- Family: help david for recital ideas. start planning nathaniel’s birthday
I will focus on my values:
- Love: be extra loving with my kids and hubby!!
- Learn: learn to start prioritizing work lists and make sure i don’t drop the ball.
- Peace: peace with the fact that i will likely mess some things up.
- Service: this week’s service is still to nathaniel who will need to prep for his Farmer’s Market at school.
- Gratitude: for my chaotic and yet amazing life
This week, I want to remember: i can do this. i have faith.
Stronger Than Before 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.
This week has photos from the car, from a summit at work, some of the books I have checked out at this moment, Nathaniel putting on a play for us, and some papers from Nathaniel.
This is his weekly letter to us. I love and cherish these.
This is from an exercise where the kids attached papers on their back and then other kids wrote sentiments. Nathaniel is good at math and funny apparently. My favorite one is in the bottom right where someone said “I like to reason with you.”
Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
    
I started this week with In Every Moment We are Alive. It was okay. It was sad but I somehow felt disconnected from it for most of it.
Speak No Evil was very good. I had not heard anything about it. I’ll be honest, I picked it up because of the cover. but it was really powerful and I am glad I read it.
Never Get Angry Again did not prove to be that useful to me. Mostly because I already knew about so much of what was in it. I am pretty sure I will get angry again.
Girls Burn Brighter was my favorite read of the week. So amazing. So so so sad but still a wonderful read.
Great at Work was a quick read I wanted to make sure to finish before it was due back at the library. It was okay and had a few good ideas that I will have to think about some more.
Two really good books makes this a good week.
Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
I was talking to one of my clients this week and she was saying that she has been really busy at work and so has been dropping her requirements on some of the ways she spends her time outside work, like gym or meal prep etc. We talked a bit about not sacrificing the things you do to live a better life when you’re choosing what to drop but we then spent some time chatting about structuring life outside of work in such a disciplined matter that it feels like work.
This is what I do.
I have a lot of scheduled items in my free time. I have exercise every morning, blog posts on the weekends, family photos on Saturday mornings, teaching the kids at night, not to mention all the kid stuff like drop offs and pick ups and teaching there every Wednesday and going to a bunch of school commitments, etc. My life is generally very structured.
Which, for the most part, serves me. I know that when I am not very organized, I don’t get anything done. I can sit on the couch for days without choosing to exercise. This is true even for the things that give me joy. I can get lost in wasting time as much as the next person and structuring my life is a way I get around this pull of inertia.
There are times I completely get sick of it. Sick of myself. Sick of all the things on my list. Sick of wanting to try so hard. And I take the day off or sometimes the weekend off.
But then I get back on it because I feel strongly that this is what keeps me stronger. It’s what helps me be the best version of myself and it’s what helps me live my life intentionally. And if work deserves my loyalty, discipline and dedication, so does the rest of my life.
On My Mind is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
This week was another STEM fair. This one was for the kids’ school. I was one of the volunteers so I was there for a little over six hours. David took the same poster he’d used for the previous Science Fair and had a display in this one, too.
We has many many exhibitors and student exhibits. This is before anyone showed up.
Jake helped out by manning the snack table for a while, too. Our kids found their friends and ran around all on their own.
Love these two.
Thankfully it was the one day it didn’t rain this week.
And here’s us. Nathaniel was running around so much that he wouldn’t even stop for a photo.
Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.
Weekly Intention: This also promises to be a reasonably quiet week. My intention this week is to get some of our summer under control and to plan the rest of spring break and button up david’s application. These are all things i’ve been postponing in one way or another but they are weighing me down so i will be glad to get them done. I also want to really try to not work in the evenings this week. I want to spend time with both kids, go back to preparing healthy food. If I can do these things I’ll feel really, really good about my week.
This month’s intention is: Party Strong: This month is for celebrating. You’ve worked hard, they’ve worked hard. Everyone’s working hard. Make sure to pause and celebrate. Have a party. Take a moment daily and pat yourself in the back. Pat your loved ones in the back, too. Hmm well we haven’t done any partying. Maybe I can declare this Friday a celebration day for our family. I will certainly be celebrating the end of March.
One way I will stretch this week: I will be driving a new car around all week which is going to be hard for me.
One boundary I will set this week: i will protect my evenings this week as well, mostly to sit with all my boys.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: my family by taking care of all the summer plans.
One new thing I will learn this week: more physics i hope!
One area where I will go deeper this week: i will be organizing two summits.
What do I need to sit with this week? i need to sit with the discomfort of closing out our plans for the summer, booking places, and just getting it done.
I am looking forward to: being done with all these plans that have been weighing on me. can i get it done?
This week’s challenges: besides what i mentioned above, it’s organizing all my learnings from the last month.
Top Goals:
- Work: start organizing the summits, distill learnings
- Personal: keep body pumping, buy tix for boston, buy tix for europe, close and submit essays and finish out the app, and for the love of the universe please figure out the food.
- Family: spend time with all three of my boys!!
I will focus on my values:
- Love: be extra loving with myself this week, ask for help for some of these tasks that will be hard on me.
- Learn: learn how to be more helpful at work.
- Peace: peace with what’s hard for me. and grace.
- Service: this week’s service is to nathaniel who will need to prep for his Farmer’s Market at school.
- Gratitude: for having my husband who is my rock
This week, I want to remember: it’s all going to work out. i will buy the tickets and plan the plans.
Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
How I got Stronger this week: Still doing Body Pump though I skipped Monday and I will say I’ve been doing more 15 minutes lately vs the 20. I’ve been tired and feel like I need a break a bit but I am unwilling to take a full break, so this is the compromise I’ve come to. It was a good week at work, too. Especially on Thursday, I worked from home and got a ton of work done. I spent time doing Physics with David and Math with Nathaniel. The one area I feel I am still not as strong as I’d like to be is the food. I’ve definitely been making choices that are not aligned with who I want to be and what’s in my best interest so I need to do a better job there but I am not sure how to help myself reset. Maybe this can be a major focus this next week?
Top Goals Review: finished the results doc and several others and the roadmap, yay! body pumped and thought about food but did nothing. spent time with david and almost done with his essay. didn’t make a new plan for N but we’re still doing math.
I celebrate: I celebrate some kind words at work this week.
I am grateful for: my kids, i am so lucky to have my kids.
Karen’s Points: doing the body pump. doing nothing else.
A Change I embraced: david was supposed to go to NYC this week for MUN conference but a bug storm canceled everything. So they couldn’t go and we all had to roll with it.
I let go of: my email this week, i lost track and wasn’t able to catch up.
Core Desired Feelings Check-in:
- Fresh: reading The Little Prince again and it’s all fresh and newly wonderful to me.
- Magical: this week’s magical moment was getting to listen to brene brown live.
- Lighter: Lighter at work now that i got a chunk of work done.
- True: still feeling a little off but trying to be kind to myself about it.
Where I chose Joy: i chose joy by going to my friend Evelyn’s bachelorette dinner. It was wonderful to see old friends.
I showed up for: david this week when he has a tough time with the change of plans.
A Mistake I made this week: nothing that stands out too much from this week.
What I tolerated this week: the low level of anxiety and two headaches. I haven’t had a headache in such a long time that it was extra unpleasant
My mood this week was: i’ve been feeling a bit disconnected still but working on it.
I forgive myself for: not showing up for Nathaniel’s school event, i felt really sad but he said he didn’t mind. i was working :(.
What I love right now: i love that the rain is almost gone (i hope!!)
Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
This week is about the science fair. A few photos around work, some in the car, some hanging out. But mostly about the science fair.
And Nathaniel’s envelope of course.
no family photo this week because Jake was traveling.
Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
     
I started this week with The Great Alone. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read it as I have mixed feelings about Kristin Hannah but in the end I loved it. It was a sweeping read and I read it so fast.
A Mango-Shaped Space was for Nathaniel since he’s reading it in his Lit Club. David had read it a few years ago and loved it and I loved it, too.
The Once and Future King was for my Lit Club with my middle schoolers. It was picked by my co-lead but I’ve wanted to read it forever so I was really excited. We only read the first book, The Sword in the Stone, and while I can’t say I hated it, I can say I really didn’t like it. It was just too absurd for me.
The Hazel Wood is for an upcoming YA Book Club meeting. I was thinking I would not like it, but I did. It’s an interesting and different read and not the genre I would usually like but I liked it 🙂
The One came after I picked up and put down five different books. It was a super fast read, and theoretically could have been so much more thoughtful than it was but it was still enjoyable.
Heart Talk was the last read of the week and it was so quick and lovely. I really really enjoyed it.
I’d say it was another okay week. I seem to be suffering for ideas on what to read so I would love suggestions if you have anything you absolutely loved.
Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
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projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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