what I’m learning and loving: april-may 2017

MAY! It is SO crazy every year, and yet, it still sneaks up on me. Can someone please remind me to schedule absolutely nothing in May around next March since the calendar always seems to magically fill up anyway?!

I’m combining my April and May WILL lists because I just couldn’t get the April one finished before the end of May.

What I’m learning

The Baader Meinhof phenomenon is an actual thing. You know how when you’re learning about something new, and you suddenly hear about it every where? I used to think it was just weirdly coincidental, but I read about it in this Taylor Jenkins Reid novel…and now I’ve seen IT in print all over the place.

Everything belongs. Speaking of the Baader Meinhof phenomenon…I read and loved Richard Rohr’s Everything Belongs last year, and now I find myself constantly referencing it and realizing that it all does, in fact, belong.

I very spontaneously signed up for the 200-hour level yoga teacher training. It has been something that I’ve wanted to do for awhile, but the timing always seemed bad until my sweet husband pushed me to do it, reminding me that the timing would likely never be great. At any rate, I’ve been reading lots about yoga philosophy and Hinduism for class.  Yoga is at least 5000 years old, but the stuff I’m learning about in class actually corresponds really well with modern psychology, Judeo-Christian tradition, recent scientific study, and more. I can’t stop thinking that it. all. belongs. I’m repeatedly reminded of one of my favorite Rohr quotes: “God is always bigger than the boxes we build for God, so we should not waste too much time protecting the boxes.”

Treat sleep and moving like vitamins/medicine. I have been off-kilter the last few weeks, but I’ve been reminded that I can get back on track quickly by getting lots of sleep and exercise even though, when I’m feeling down/crabby/unmotivated, I want to skip working out, lay on the couch, and stay up too late. If I can force myself to wind down for bed early, I typically fall asleep and feel way better in the morning. Also, if I tell myself I only have to move for five minutes and do it, I typically stick with it for more than five minutes, but even if I don’t, I feel better and have more energy. I’m pretty good about taking my vitamins every night, so, if I tell myself that sleep and moving have even more actual impact on how I feel day-to-day than vitamins do, I can sometimes overcome my lack of willpower.

The plural of chrysalis is chrysalides. Both kiddos had chrysalides in their classrooms this year, and so they both (separately, on different days) dropped “chrysalides” in conversation, and I had to ask them what they were talking about. They (and I) were so excited that they knew something I didn’t!

What I’m loving

Our garden. I’m a broken record on this one, I know. I’m scaling back on my responsibilities at the Project Eden Gardens this year, so I have been loving my time prepping and planting our gardens. In the past several years, May has been so full of to do lists to get the Project Eden Gardens up and running that I either neglected our gardens or had to rely on Grant to do most of it. I have been loving getting to do take the month of prepping and planting at a slower, less frantic pace. Another side bonus is that Maeve is really getting into it too.

Heat mat. I have notoriously bad luck with starting seeds. Let’s be honest: it isn’t really luck; it’s just that I lose track of keeping up with them and our house is always quite cold and drafty since the guy I live with cannot sleep when our room is above 70 degrees. So I bit the bullet this year and bought this. I have had 100 percent germination using this with my seed blocks! I have been starting stuff early, even if only to give it a 10-15 day head-start from starting stuff outside. I’m not quite ready to give up my reputation as bad with starts, but I might be getting closer.

Strawberry season. This is really just this week, but we’ve already been to Spencer’s, our favorite berry farm, twice. We planted 100+ strawberry plants at our place this past spring (which won’t start producing until next season), but several trips to Spencer’s will still be on our late May/early June agenda despite us growing our own. I just love being at the farm in my own little row, while others harvest around me. I’ve already been brainwashing kids that Spencer’s should be their first job.

Melon pomelo flavor of La Croix. I bought this stuff as a treat when I wanted something besides water (but not wine or beer), and now I’m completely addicted, which is problematic because not all stores have it and I really should just be drinking water or tea. It just tastes like summer in a can, so I’m going with it for now. (Side note: some fun lighter cocktails to try with La Croix this summer.)

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