In the blink of an eye, spring is almost over and we are at the end of May. Schools are winding down and parents everywhere are beginning to panic at the thought of having to find ways to entertain their children during the summer days. I personally looking forward to a more relaxed schedule and helping Connor prepare for his first year of college.
Good memories:
- Attending Honors Night for Connor
- Connor’s last band concert (sob!)
- Holly’s final seventh grade band concert
- Holly running track
- Connor’s Forensics banquet
- Building props for Holly’s ballet
- Adding crystals to Holly’s solo costume
- Connor learning (finally!) how to tie his own tie
Bookish stuff:
- Total number of books read: 10
- Total number of pages: 2,976 + 1 audiobook at 12 hours, 12 minutes
- Favorite book(s) read: I might not have read many books, but I have thoroughly enjoyed so many of them. My favorites have to be Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane and Beartown by Fredrick Backman. Both were amazing in such different ways and both I highly recommend.
Favorites:
- Recipes: I haven’t done much cooking this month – too damn busy. But what I did cook was delicious, especially this Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Carbonara. Gotta get in as much asparagus as we can while it is in season!
- Song:
- Just one of the songs Connor played during his last concert. I really like this one because he made sure you could hear the tubas. Plus, it is such a fun song; I can’t wait until the second Incredibles movie releases!
- Skincare
- I am in love with this lip “paint” by Tarte. It isn’t drying at all and lasts forever. My only complaint is that there are not enough colors!
How did I persevere?
- Meditation: Grade A – I have been rocking my meditation plan this month and have not skipped a day since May 1st. I knew meditating was the only way I was going to stay sane this month with all of the things that we had to do, and I was right. I have been able to keep my anxiety at bay and have managed to enjoy certain moments in spite of my pages-long to do list.
- Healthy Habits: Grade B- – I am marking myself as slightly above average in this area for May. Going to CrossFit seems to be hit-or-miss for me, but towards the end of the month I did start going in the evenings rather than before the sun rises. I am hoping this helps. I did start a 30-Day total body challenge two weeks ago and have kept that up each day. While the scale has not budged, I do notice muscle underneath the fat and feel stronger than I have in a long time. I also started using the Lose It! app to track my food. It is almost the same as My Fitness Pal, but it keeps track of your calorie intake by day and week. If you go over one day, the goal is to be under for the total week. I find it fairly intuitive and honestly less judgmental than MFP. As for whether it works, again the number of the scale has not moved, so I cannot say. It seems to be working for me in that I have been able to log my food intake every day for over three weeks, something that was not happening on MFP.
- Political Activism: Grade B+ – I have discovered the ResistBot which sends faxes to your congressman and representatives for you. That has made it a lot easier to stay active, especially when the idea of getting on the phone to speak to a real person fills you with dread. However, I did get on the phone and call everyone I could about the investigation into Russia’s ties to the US election after Comey was fired. With this administration, I fear being politically active could be a full-time job, and I just don’t have the mental energy or financial situation to allow me to do that!
May was a whirlwind, but thankfully June should slow down towards the end of the month. The end of a very long busy season is near, and I am ready to have the time to focus on myself again without dropping one of the many balls I have been juggling these past months. Here’s to a successful June!
Glass clink to a successful June! I hope a successful June to both of us! I have felt like my May was all over the place — I’m frantically trying to catch up with a hundred different things and never feeling like I’m managing at all well with any of the hundred things.
Yep. That was my May and my June so far. It *should* get quieter next week. I cannot wait to sit down and catch my breath, and then get caught up on everything I’ve neglected for the past few months.
I’m looking forward to more relaxed mornings and not having to rush Sunnie out the door for school. It’ll be nice to have a break for a couple months.
Lots of great memories. Both your favorite books are ones on my list to read soon. Part of the battle is finding something that works and keeps you motivated to stick with it. I’m glad you found an app you like more. I wish MFP gave you weekly numbers – I try to figure it out on my own and give myself extra calories on days I’m over.
Muscle gain is my enemy. When the scale creeps up after I’ve been running solidly for awhile i know its muscle but I get mad at the number. I have to get over that. It’s just frustrating after working so hard to get down to a certain number. And I know he scale doesn’t define me and I should judge by how my clothes fit. But it still bugs me. And it’s one reason why I’m not motivated to strength train at all. I need to get past it. 🙂
I hope you have a great June and enjoy the break from all the busyness.
Still holding strong although the end is in sight. It has been quite the year so far, and I cannot wait for quiet evenings.
No lip paint for me although it looks tempting.
You did pretty well in May. I can’t believe we are at the end of it already. My daughter is at Six Flags with her 8th grade class and then tomorrow is the BBQ. We don’t have grad ceremonies for middle school. We only promote. Awesometown decided that a grad ceremony gave the kids a false sense of completion and once they got rid of it, dropout numbers decreased. So they have a food truck come in instead. Hey, it’s a day I don’t have to make lunch.
As for health, when I started my clean eating jag in January it took awhile for me to notice anything. I was 20 lbs down but over the weekend I skipped lunch and did a big breakfast instead and my body did not like that because I gained 5 lbs back.
This weekend I am working a special needs prom. I did it last year but this year I get to be on the red carpet cheering the guests on. Last year I served food. Still fun.
Five pounds from one meal? Dang! That’s messed up! My IRL girlfriend is starting the whole30 challenge, so I was looking at it last night. It is not something I can eat because of its reliance on meat protein. I already have genetically high cholesterol; I don’t need a diet that increase my intake of cholesterol. I know people, like you, who swear by it though so I am bit upset about that. Then again, I do love me some carbs. The thought of giving them up completely is the stuff of my nightmares!
I actually like the idea of not having a grad ceremony for 8th grade. I don’t get the need for having one for every milestone. There was a little girl last week who came for 15 minutes of dress rehearsal before her mother pulled her for her pre-k graduation. WTH?
I’m anxiously awaiting my library hold of Since We Fell – I need a good thriller that’s not your basic thriller!
And – don’t worry about the scales…you’re definitely putting on muscle. That happened to me this Fall when I really kicked up my running and workouts…then I injured my back and lost 4 pounds in the first 2 weeks of my injury…losing muscle. Try to focus on how your clothes fit. But, I still get stuck on the scale numbers too – they’re hard to ignore!
Scale numbers suck. I haven’t noticed much in the way of clothes fit either though, which is also frustrating. I just want to make it through this week and next, and then I will start to kick things into gear.