My little blog break lasted longer than I anticipated and now this post is a day late! I was planning to get caught up with all of you and didn’t manage to; it’s okay, I clearly needed to catch up on some rest. I thought about not posting today, but I like this habit of checking in, thinking about my daily decisions, and staying focused on the big picture.
First things first: Even though I stayed in bed about a half hour longer during my little blog break, I really did miss sitting down to write. I feel like I have a glut of things to get out now! I did, however, stay consistent with my morning journaling and meditation time. Today is day 422 of writing a page in my journal and day 157 of meditating. Things are starting to click, stillness is starting to kick in, and I can’t wait to write more about it.
I spent a couple of hours sewing this week (highlighted in yellow), which felt good. I anticipated time at my sewing machine every day last week, but heading down to the basement felt impossible after I got all of the kids in bed – I was so exhausted every single night. Stillness really comes in handy in times like these. Again – more about this soon.
My reading fizzled out as the week went on. I am reading six books right now, which is atypical for me – I tend to only have 1-2 going at a time. I think it’s contributing to my feelings of being overwhelmed, especially since library holds are also becoming available. I’m thankful for the ability to delay those! I hate to mention “stillness” a third time in this post, but yup. I’m leaning into it. And again for the third time – more about this soon.
We got lots of rain over the weekend, so I can save a little water and skip watering my flowers for a couple of days. Even better? Our rain barrel is full again, so I can use it to fill my watering can instead of the hose. It takes a little longer but I love reusing the rainwater.
Meals Last Week:
Matthew did the meal planning last week, hallelujah. It was a relief to hand those reins over to him. There was a little more focus on meat this week and that’s okay – beggars can’t be choosers, right?
Monday: Leftovers are becoming a Monday rhythm and I really like it.
Tuesday: Rotisserie chicken thanks to a Sam’s Club run. Add in some instant mashed potatoes and we call that dinner around here!
Wednesday: Grilled bratwurst with peppers and onions.
Thursday: Tacos made with ground turkey and a taco seasoning packet.
Friday: Frozen pizzas
Saturday: the kids had leftovers and we ordered sushi after they went to bed. Shhh!
Sunday: Matthew did a knockoff of Chipotle’s Barbacoa, lime cilantro rice, and this delicious corn salsa.
In all – I was pretty pleased with the meals this week. It was a nice variety and low on cooking. The barbacoa made lots of leftovers, which got us through yesterday! That corn salsa is seriously amazing and I was happy to eat it over a bed of rice. And now it’s time to plan another round of meals all over again.
I won’t be back tomorrow with a reading check-in, but I will be publishing at least one more post this week. Thank you all for your patience lately – I’m doing my best to catch up on comments and your blogs! I hope the beginning of your week treats you well.
The Cozy Burrow 
I find myself getting overwhelmed when I have too many books at once too. And I am not a fast reader which frustrates me. The meals for last week look yummy. How fun to have help with this piece.
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It was such a relief to have help with meal planning last week!
I think I’m just going to let a few books go back to the library to relieve a little pressure on myself. There’s one in particular, The Women of Chateau Lafayette, that I feel like I SHOULD like, but have felt no connection with at all. Time to go to a different home, I guess!
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I think a break is the best gift we can give ourselves! But a kitchen break… that is a RED LETTER DAY, and a week… my goodness, it is pure heaven! Bravo to your dear husband! I look forward to your reading update…whenever it is posted! Enjoy your time!
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Wasn’t it wonderful? When he told me that he’d already done the meal planning, I could have wept. What a relief!!
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As we do not have the ability to manufacture water, and desalination of ocean water is prohibitively expensive, pretty much all the water consumed on this planet is reused rainwater. It’s mind-boggling when you think about it. Bravo for collecting it yourself and cutting out the middle-men though!
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ahhh… what a wonderful point! I’ll remember that next time I’m watering the garden with the hose!! 🙂
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I love reading your weekly menus, frequently have no idea what they are so I am free to let my imagination run riot. Barbacoa, sounds like bbq chocolate something!
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Oh, Cathy. I’m sorry! Barbacoa is slow cooked beef. Except, Matthew made it in the instant pot, so it was QUICK cooked slow cooked beef… ha!
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Great job sticking with meditation and journaling. I’m at day 37 of meditation. I’m glad you got some help with meal planning and some rest. Never feel guilty about resting! (Easier said than done, I know.)
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Thank you, Laila! Yay for your own meditation streak – I’m happy to know we’re on such a similar journey.
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I thought I was a multi-booker (typically 3-4 at once) and I have lots of time to read! I did pick up Bitter Orange from the library today and look forward to reading it …today was my first day visiting our newly re-opened library and I shared a photo on Instagram and got several comments about what a great book it is 🙂 finally, yay for help with the meal planning – the menu looks great and woot! for leftovers! Marc smoked some kind of pork butt on Monday and I think we’re going to be eating it all week.
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Having so many books going is awful. And I think it’s my cue to send some back to the library because I’m clearly not thrilled about them! I can’t wait to hear what you think about Bitter Orange – and yay for library time!! Enjoy the smoked pork – Matthew loves his smoker and always goes way overboard with quantities, ha!
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