August was hot. While I felt like I made it through the first days of summer in a better mood this year, it seems my summertime seasonal depression had simply decided to wait a bit to sink in. That’s okay. I am grateful for that respite, and overall August was good. Both my baby squids have August birthdays, so we did some small-scale celebrating. Dance class started again, which is always the highlight of my week. I didn’t finish many books this month, but just three more books will hit my goal for the year, so I am well ahead Read More
Tag: Women
Everything I Read in April 2021
Sitting with my cup of coffee at 5am on a Saturday morning, I try to think of April and realize, it snowed, didn’t it? I gave myself the month off. In March I finished my PBT Institute coaching certification. I decided to start my coaching classes in May. There was some prep work to do in April, but I also focused on rest and enjoying springtime between rain storms. I received both my vaccine shots during the month, and I attended a beautiful outdoor wedding. Maybe April was the month things started to find their way to a new normal. Read More
2020 Annual Review – Goals Check-in
This isn’t a review of the actual year 2020. I don’t have the guts or gumption for that. I’m just here to document how I did with the goals I set for myself. This time last year, I was in a bit of limbo, and that led me to cushion most of my goals in self-compassion. I’m glad I did. Here’s how I did. My Calling I spent the first part of the year working through a 12-week course to help me find my life’s purpose. What I learned is that I really enjoy trying to figure out my life’s Read More
Gettin’ Gritty
Do you have grit? I imagine that most people like to think they do, but maybe I am projecting, because I want to be gritty. I can point to numerous situations in my life that have called for grit, times when I persevered. There have also been times when I quit. Times when I dropped one goal for another, games I lost, balls I dropped. Does that mean I don’t have it? This post is a sort of two-fold review. I listened to Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. It has been on my list for Read More
Untamed: Building a Coalition of Cheetahs
Back to my original question: What do I want to say about this book? I loved it. I was on the waitlist at the library, but when a friend starting sharing about it, I had to buy a hardcover version also. I have so many notes, highlights, bookmarks. There was only one thing in the book I disagreed with, and that is more an issue of semantics. The love-at-first-site narrative and “my sexuality is Abby” raises a few red flags for me, but I also kind of relate. I have referred to my own sexuality as “hetero-monogamous” because when I’m Read More
Crawdads in Context
I imagine you know what it feels like to be overwhelmed. Everyone living today knows the feeling, and I might be biased, but I think this is especially the case for women. The past several months have been my busiest time of year at work and there have been extra complications that made this year’s process more stressful. Add the fact that I was getting a divorce and dealing with a lot of personal stuff (stress) and that I am leading a book study of The Calling and participating in one for Warrior Heart Practice, and I’ve fallen behind on Read More
FREEDOM 2020
Why Pick a Word? Do you pick a word or phrase as a theme for the year? I don’t remember how long ago I started picking a theme word, but it might coincide with when I started using the Rituals for Living Dreambook and Planner. I love this planner so much. I really feel like it helps me stay focused on what is important and helps me make plans to achieve some things that might just fall under “that would be nice” or “someday” if I didn’t have a system for dreaming and planning. My theme word for 2019 was Read More
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I love the holidays. I love seeing my aunts, uncles, and cousins and being reminded how lucky I am to come from a big family. What I don’t love is coming down sick the day after Thanksgiving when my workload is insane and I really can’t take any time off. At least I don’t have to worry about spreading my disease when I’m the only one in the office. In an effort to ensure I am not spreading the plague, I went to see my doctor. In true doctor fashion, he asked me a lot of questions, but my favorite Read More
Recently Reading
My last blog was about watching terrible television, so you might think I haven’t been reading much. In fact, my television watching is less bingeing and more carefully planned portions (like Bright Line Eating.) This means I am *still* watching my way through Highlander. Meanwhile, I have actually been reading several books. I currently don’t have the wherewithal to make a whole blog post about any one of these books, so this week you get a run-down post compiling several of my recent reads. Enjoy! Scary Stuff Since this post covers things I read in October, it includes some creepy Read More
My Favorite Fantasy
This month for book club, I read two fantasy books. Is it right and proper for someone with a degree in English literature to admit that they prefer fantasy books above all others? That’s not going to surprise anyone, is it? It is a close call between fantasy, horror, and sci-fi when trying to pinpoint my favorite genre. Yes, I love the classics and have even been known to argue in favor of a literary canon – everyone should read Shakespeare, even in high school – but fantasy is the genre I return to when I want to lose myself Read More