April is almost over! Hooray! One month closer to summer and the end of what has been one of the worst springs I can recall. Bring on May! Hopefully it will be warmer? I'm not asking for much - just temps in the 60s would be excellent. Here is what is happening in my world.
Reading: Matrix by Lauren Groff for book club. If I wasn't reading this for book club, I probably would have abandoned it! I've tried to become more ruthless about abandoning books, but I try not to give up on book club books. It has gotten better as I've progressed but overall I feel pretty meh about it.
Loving: the game 'Spelling Bee' through the NYT. It's a game where they give you 7 letters, 1 of which must be in every word, and you try to make as many words as possible. You need a subscription to NYT games to play (you can get to a certain point without a membership but then you need a membership to keep playing) so I ponied up for that since it brings me so much joy. I am also a huge fan of wordle but find that like I Spelling Bee even more. I know games like this are so good for the health of your brain. My paternal grandmother was a lifelong Scrabble player - and at almost 99 she can still kick my butt. I've only beat her once in my life! I think that playing scrabble for all those years really contributed to her brain health.
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| I achieved "Queen Bee" status one day which means I found all the words! |
Feeling: sad and a great sense of heaviness over a cancer diagnosis a coworker received. He's a bit younger than me, has a young child, and they are expecting another child. Life is so incredibly unfair.
Anticipating: attending my Godson's graduation party in early June. But OMG how is it possible he is graduating and going to college? He is the nicest kid and has never had that "too cool for school" attitude that can come during the teen years. I'm excited to see where life takes him! This means I will be cashing out the savings account I started for him when he was a baby. I was the lame aunt who never gave toys as a gift - when he was younger I would give him books and deposit money in the savings account and as he got older I shifted to just depositing money in his savings account. So at his graduation party I'll give him a nice check to use as he'd like!
Struggling: to love or even like Minnesota right now! This spring has just been so awful. We better have a great summer and fall ahead of us! Grateful: for my health. My coworker's diagnosis is a reminder to never take your health for granted.
Working: on figuring out what my next Beach Body program will be. I am almost done with morning meltdown which had 100 workouts! I've been working on it since August. It's designed to be done on 100 consecutive days, but since I run 2-3 days/week and am not in a stage of life where I can workout every day of the week, it's taken a long time to get through the program! But I have really enjoyed it. I think I will look for something that is focused on strength training since I get enough cardio from running.
Thinking: I might need to drop down to the 10k distance instead of running the 10 mile distance at a race I'm registered for in late May. Between returning to the office 3 days/week, being sick several times this winter, and the weather, I have not logged as many miles as I would have liked.
Watching: the latest seasons of Top Chef, A Million Little Things, and This is Us. None of these are shows that Phil enjoys so I fit them in when I can, often in snippets over lunch on days I work from home. We've lost the time in the evening we used to spend watching a show together as Paul now insists that whoever does bedtime sits in a chair until he falls asleep... which can take quite a bit of time on week days when he naps at school. We have tried to get out of sitting in the chair while he falls asleep with no success. I am telling myself this is a stage and I won't always have to do this. I'm really hoping he doesn't nap in the room he moves to next month so we can get back to watching shows together again.
Wishing: for warmer weather soon. I'm so ready to pack away our winter outwear!
What are you anticipating, struggling with, and grateful for?
Love this post and your list, but your title with "TGIF" confused me so much!!! It's only Thursday, right?? Do you know that? hahahaha!!! I checked my calendar 3 times, like, wait, what day is it? ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your coworker. Life truly can be so unfair and beyond our understanding. I've been pretty saddened and confused by the news of that little 10 y/o girl up in Chippewa Falls who was murdered this week. Just unbelievable. I feel you may have heard of this too, since you aren't too far away from WI. It made national news, too. Turns out a 14 year old did it! And included sexual assault. Just disgusting. How are such things even possible?
Also love that you'll be handing over a big check! My sister also gives a book + money for b-day and Christmas, though hers goes into a 529 for college instead of just a regular savings account. Since they live so far away, it's easier, anyway, than trying to get a gift over here too.
Well, this was a fun post! Like you, I'm always grateful for my health - I know a number of people who are not enjoying good health and it makes me especially grateful. (I almost typed greatful! Ha! Need more coffee. Struggling with not having enough coffee!)
ReplyDeleteOur snow melted so I raked the lawn this week. I am anticipating teaching a nice yoga class today focusing on backs - because my back is a bit sore from raking!
I adore Spelling Bee. If you subscribe to the NYT newsletter, you can do it without the games subscription. Or maybe I can from the newsletter because I have a NYT print subscription (Sunday). Not sure but I love it. That and Wordle start my day! I can see how your co-workers diagnosis puts a different spin on your own world. That is so unfair. Let's see -- your questions: I'm anticipating spring, believe it or not. Still cold at night but things are greening up and yesterday I noticed flowering trees, so I think this weekend I"ll do a nature walk somewhere. I'm struggling with my feeling about being in a group (I did book club for the first time in two years last night and kept my mask on the whole time except when eating and sat a bit apart -- and I'll be anxious for the next week. And so grateful that today is a sunny day, because we need one!
ReplyDeleteThis spring has been terrible. It's so cold still and it's the end of April! At least our daffodils finally bloomed, I guess. I'm with you that we better have an amazing summer and fall!
ReplyDeleteWe've read two Groff books for my book club, Arcadia and Fates & Furies, and while they generally went over well with the other folks in my club, I have not enjoyed either one. If they bring up any other Groff novels as potential reads, I always try to steer them away. Ha! Good luck finishing it!
Was the savings account just a basic savings account? I love this idea. My godfather gifted me savings bonds when I was a kid, and not all of them have matured yet, but I'm excited to finally get them cashed in. I think a 10k is just as good as a 10 mile, you get the mental push of getting past the 5k, and less can fall apart. The one time I did goldy's 10 mile I had kind of forgotten that it was 10 miles not a 10k, and oh man did I wish I was doing a 10k that day.
ReplyDeleteAnticipating: summer - warm weather, family vacation. Also, sushi on Saturday night. We've really cut down on carbs lately, and this will be our first round of sushi in two months.
ReplyDeleteStruggling with: energy in the mornings.
Grateful for: so, so much. Trying to be mindful and notice all the little wonders in the world around me. Just today I was looking out the window at the power lines. I have NO idea how it all works, but it looks complicated. I take it so for granted (we lost our power last week), and so I was just overwhelmed with this sense of gratitude for having access to electricity (most of the time).
So sorry to hear about your coworker; life is so hard and then I also feel guilt along with the sadness when I see someone else in situations like this. Why have I been so blessed with health, financial stability etc? My answer lately has been: pay things forward and express gratitude (I honour what other people have lost by being grateful for what I have).
I tried Spelling Bee one day since you mentioned it, but it made my brain hurt, lol. Wordle feels a little easier since it's just one word. But even the hard days make me annoyed! My mom plays a lot of these kinds of word games (+ spatial awareness games) on her phone, and I tell her to keep doing it since it's been shown to be good for brain health!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your coworker's cancer diagnosis. That's heartbreaking. I hope he has a good prognosis.
I hope warmer weather is coming your way! I'm having the opposite problem in Florida. It feels way too hot for April!
Ugh, I hate hearing about people's health diagnosis, but especially when they're on the younger side :( I just saw my best friend back home (who's been battling brain cancer for years!) and it just saddens me on how much she's missed out due to her diagnosis. We gotta be grateful for our health every single day!
ReplyDeleteI am anticipating PeloFondo this weekend - a long-distance event on the Peloton bike. I signed up for 100 miles to complete Sa/Sun.
I am currently struggling with adjusting back to daily life after the visit back home. It was such a much needed, special time.
I am sending some sunshine your way. It's nice spring weather here in CA... almost on the too-warm side already. We can spare some degrees for sure.
Well, i'm grateful for the fact that I live in Florida! Everyone has been talking about what an awful spring it's been up north, and I'm reminded why i hated it so such (I grew up near Chicago). I'm anticipating (and will soon be struggling with) a very hot summer, and I'll be envying you northerners then. I'll have to remind myself that it's a tradeoff- I just can't take those cold, dark, winters.
ReplyDeleteYour son will definitely outgrow this stage! At least you can sit there and read, right? i know it's not ideal, but it won't last forever.
You are a very good aunt! Your godson will be thrilled with the money you've put away for him- much better than a bunch of old toys that have been broken or given away over the years. Where is he going to college? I'm excited for him!
And yes- grateful for good health. That's awful about your coworker. I hope he gets good treatment and recovers.
I am so sorry to hear about your colleague's cancer diagnosis. Hoping for the best possible outcome. And the current bedtime stage sounds so challenging. I remember all too clearly the days when I had to lie on the floor next to my daughter's crib while she struggled to fall asleep. The floor was hard and cold and I would do all sort of ridiculous contortions -- rolling, crawling -- to try to escape without her notice. It WAS a phase and it DID pass (and now I can leave her in her room FULLY AWAKE and everything works out okay!), but oh I have so much empathy for you right now!
ReplyDeleteNot sure why my comment posted as anonymous, LOL.
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