A Look Into Our Notebooks – Week 2 of 2021

Good morning, friends. Every Monday morning I use my blogging time to look back at the previous week. I’m a firm believer that we build our lives one moment at a time and I try to ensure that I’m using my time in ways that match my goals and values. As usual, last week was very different than the week before and yet I’m still moving in the right direction overall.

GREEN | Writing Time
I continue to show up to my journal every morning – today marks day 288. I also spent time working on my blog every day last week, which feels good! I’m still looking for time throughout the day for writing, but we’ll get there. Or not – and that’s okay, too.

ORANGE | Healthy Stuff
Still doing 5 minutes of meditation each morning. I’ll say more about that in my Stillness post later this month, but for now I want to share that this practice has been imperfect and still very welcomed. I again managed 3 workouts on my exercise bike and 3 sessions of Yoga with Adriene. You might notice that I made it to Friday, realized that I hadn’t done any exercise this week, and did 3 days straight of yoga and the bike. I guess that’s okay, too. (And last night was the dreaded Day 6 of Yoga with Adriene… I’m hoping it’s all smooth sailing from here!)

PINK | Reading Time
Not as much reading time this week which is perfectly fine given how over the top my reading was the last couple of weeks. I’m still leaning heavily on audiobooks, but have been glued to the television in the evenings when I’m stitching so my listening time has dropped considerably. I’m ready for things to slow down in the world!

PURPLE | Blackberry Bluff School
We’re struggling to get our homeschooling feet back under us after our little break for the holidays. I’m brainstorming ways to bring some excitement back into the morning and to get us all motivated to show up and do the work.

YELLOW | Stitching Time
I spent the bulk of my free time stitching last week. I knitted socks, worked on my hexies quilt, and started The Stay At Home Round Robin challenge. It feels good to be making again and I’m feeling the pull to go all in on lots of projects, but am also trying to remember stillness.

BLUE | Outside Time
We made it outside for a play session yesterday! All surfaces were completely coated in ice and somehow we all survived fairly unscathed. I’m planning to try something different today to ensure we work outside play into our daily routine – wish me luck!

OTHER TRACKING
Water – another perfect water week! For a while I was trying to drink half of my water intake before 8am which resulted in running to the bathroom often. I’m slowing it down now – I try to drink 1/4 of my intake before 8, 1/2 before noon, 3/4 before 3, and the full 64 ounces before I fall asleep. That leaves me plenty of room for hot cups of coffee in the morning and early afternoon, as well as a nice cup of tea while I’m stitching in the evening. And I’m not rushing back into the house and running to the bathroom if I have to leave for an errand! You’d think that it would have been obvious to spread my water intake out like that, but I tend to be all or nothing. Even when drinking water!

Weather – Lots of clouds throughout the week and a heavy downpour of rain on Saturday. But I’m often reminded that the days are getting longer and spring is coming! I’m taking inventory of my plant starter supplies in the basement and am hoping to start setting things up in late February/March. We have a little greenhouse with special lights down there and I’m determined to be a good plant mama this year!

Covid – I’m still tracking the daily covid case counts for my state in the gray bar at the top of the page as well as in my 5 year journal. I’m hoping that I won’t be doing that next year and it will simply be an amazing memory to look back on!!

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I hope you all have a safe and peaceful start to your week. I hope we all find ways to be mindful about our news consumption during this unsettling week and practice focusing on the joy around us.