March was disappointing or maybe I was disappointing. I tried and failed a lot of it. On to April! Maybe I won't flunk it.
Jalapeno Pineapple Margarita (Alcohol plus heat is a winner in my book)
Columbian Hot Chocolate (Cocoa, cinnamon, milk , and cheese?!?)
Bourbon Cola (Meh_just flavored coke)
GQ
Popular Mechanics
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1. Continue expanding my personal horizons
a. Listen to "In This House On This Morning"completely through, uninterrupted. Done
Listen to "la Boheme" completely and uninterrupted. Nope
Listen to "Peter and the Wolf", completely and uninterrupted Done
Listen to "Symphony No.3" by Mahler completely and uninterrupted Done
b. Read that blooming self help book I didn't read in February. I did not realize it is a 180 day step by step commitment. I am committed but obviously need some time to complete it.
c. Try a new to me beverage each week
Mr Q Cumber Sparkling Soda (Mildly sweet huge cuke taste and oddly refreshing)Jalapeno Pineapple Margarita (Alcohol plus heat is a winner in my book)
Columbian Hot Chocolate (Cocoa, cinnamon, milk , and cheese?!?)
Bourbon Cola (Meh_just flavored coke)
d. Make a new to me recipe each week
pecan bread
buffalo chicken nachos
chicken mango sausage
buffalo chicken nachos
chicken mango sausage
e. Try a different hair color. Tried silver for a few days. Yeah, NO!
f. Weekly read a new to me magazine or one I never read even if I know about it. (doable thanks to DIL's Texture gift)
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2. Call My Beloved Sister on March 15. Pitch my voice down as low as possible and say "Beware the Ides of March" (She hates March and particularly the Ides, so naturally I have been doing this to her for about 30 years)
Done!
3. Try something I have never done before. Nope
4. Go to a movie by myself, popcorn optional Nope
5. Go to a play or concert Nope We had tickets to see The Lion King but had seen it before. Son2 and GF2 had never seen it so we gave the tickets to them.
6. Volunteer Didn't happen
7. Have a birthday celebration for Mom
We had what we thought was a nice little party at my house, complete with festive decorations, a meal, cake, candles and gifts. We later found that My Beloved Sister and I laugh too much and it disrupts everyone's enjoyment and involvement. Oh well, we tried.
8. Learn a new song on the piano Half-assed learned
9. Give someone flowers. Done
10. Take food to someone having a hard time Done
11. Call a long neglected friend Tried but just once and she was not at home.
12. Send a thinking of you card simply because I am thinking of someone Done
13. Enjoy sitting in the sun and listening to the birds sing Done. Mornings with a cup of coffee and birdsongs are the best
14. Watch young kids playing and listen to their giggles The kids in the neighborhood who are usually outside playing and laughing were sadly absent this month.
15. Invest some time looking at plants and planning the summer garden. Half assed this too
16. Create something weekly that is not food related I did this 2 times this month rather than weekly
17. Tell someone how important they are to my life. (No idea who ) Nope. I forgot about this one
18. Do something for someone expecting nothing in return. Anonymous is best. Done but it was not anonymous
19 During the days between whole30 (Yes I am doing it again but taking a 2 day break) bake bread. Done
20. Create time to just listen to TheHub (I am bad about not paying attention or multi tasking sometimes)
It is amazing how much more I hear and process when I concentrate on really listening. I find we talk more and talk about varied topics when I am truly present.
21. Visit a small town near me and enjoy its uniqueness. Didn't happen
22. Spend at least one weekend at the lake.
We had a great, lazy weekend at the lake the first weekend of March with Mom, Son2 and GF2.
We went again the 3rd weekend in March and had an equally good time.
23. Take Mom somewhere different (Maybe exploring the small town)
Took Mom to the lake for the weekend.
24. Take Mom out at night, she misses the lights. Done
25. Have an fire outside and roast marshmallows for s'mores. Nope, but it was a pollen thing rather than just not doing it.
26. FaceTime weekly with the most beautiful girl in my world.
Done to my total delight!
27. Binge watch something on a rainy day. Done. Watched Requiem on Netflix. I tend to binge listen more than watch since I carry my tablet around the house and watch/listen as I do chores.
28. Have a St. Patrick's Day celebration
Had an unsuccessful one (Mom got sickish halfway though) but the food and decor was really nice
29. Have a small dinner party
Mom's Birthday dinner for 7 ( we decided to have a full dinner with china, crystal and the works)
30. Try to start each day spirit filled. I am batting about 500 with this one.
31. Be kinder than usual. Our world needs each of us to step up our kindness. I am pretty kind by nature but have been on alert to be kinder. I am practicing the think globally, act locally mentality.
32. Keep a list of daily joys. They are out there but sometimes I forget to look for them. I was good at this the first half of the month but then fell off the wagon.
March's Unexpected Joys
1. GF2's family welcomed a new baby into the world. Nothing is more joyous than that. He is so pretty!
2. Went to the lake and saw the most incredible full moon tracking across the water.
3. Went to the farm co-op near the lake place and bought seeds for the summer garden. Hope springs eternal.
4. Listened to Frances McDormand's wonderful acceptance speech at the Academy Awards.
5 GF2 came by. She makes every day she is around me a better day.
6 Whole30 is over and 11 pounds are gone. 2 or 3 days off and I am repeating the cycle.
7. Forget to defrost anything for dinner, so we had a wonderful take out Thai dinner
8. GF2 came over (I really do love her)
9. Got to see the rough take of a music video Son 3 scored.
10 Watched 3 Billboards. I thought it was supposed t be a dark comedy. Great acting but nothing funny about it.
11. FaceTime with granddaughter. She wanted to see TheHub sleeping in his chair, then yelled "WAKE UP" 3 times until he woke. She is the only one who can wake him from a nap and him be happy about it.
12. Birthday party for Mom! Lots of laughs (too many it turns out)
13. I was mad at the world and forgot to look for joy.
14. Went back to Bible study after a protracted absence.
15. Got to call My Beloved Sister this morning and do the "Beware the Idea of March" thing. Made me laugh
16-31 Lots of really joyous things happened but I forgot to post them so here is a brief synopsis of events tied to no specific dates.
Azaleas bloomed
Dogwoods bloomed
Wisteria bloomed and is gorgeous
Nice dinner conversations
Great news from Son3
Cousin's beautiful daughter is newly engaged
Great niece danced as young Anna in the ballet Frozen
The back yard was filled with cardinals.
Found new to me music by an incredible Cuban female vocalist
Had an excellent time at bookclub with friends.
Saw 2 more Oscar nominated movies (thanks Redbox)
2. Went to the lake and saw the most incredible full moon tracking across the water.
3. Went to the farm co-op near the lake place and bought seeds for the summer garden. Hope springs eternal.
4. Listened to Frances McDormand's wonderful acceptance speech at the Academy Awards.
5 GF2 came by. She makes every day she is around me a better day.
6 Whole30 is over and 11 pounds are gone. 2 or 3 days off and I am repeating the cycle.
7. Forget to defrost anything for dinner, so we had a wonderful take out Thai dinner
8. GF2 came over (I really do love her)
9. Got to see the rough take of a music video Son 3 scored.
10 Watched 3 Billboards. I thought it was supposed t be a dark comedy. Great acting but nothing funny about it.
11. FaceTime with granddaughter. She wanted to see TheHub sleeping in his chair, then yelled "WAKE UP" 3 times until he woke. She is the only one who can wake him from a nap and him be happy about it.
12. Birthday party for Mom! Lots of laughs (too many it turns out)
13. I was mad at the world and forgot to look for joy.
14. Went back to Bible study after a protracted absence.
15. Got to call My Beloved Sister this morning and do the "Beware the Idea of March" thing. Made me laugh
16-31 Lots of really joyous things happened but I forgot to post them so here is a brief synopsis of events tied to no specific dates.
Azaleas bloomed
Dogwoods bloomed
Wisteria bloomed and is gorgeous
Nice dinner conversations
Great news from Son3
Cousin's beautiful daughter is newly engaged
Great niece danced as young Anna in the ballet Frozen
The back yard was filled with cardinals.
Found new to me music by an incredible Cuban female vocalist
Had an excellent time at bookclub with friends.
Saw 2 more Oscar nominated movies (thanks Redbox)
Perhaps your to do list is best spread over 2 months? You really did a lot of the things, I would say you passed, not failed lol. Happy late Easter!
ReplyDeleteThank you and a Happy Spring to you! This is more of a what brings me joy than a to do list. It does not bother me at all to not complete my regular chore list. I just move whatever didn't get done to the next list. It really does bother me that I have not made time for volunteering lately along with a couple of other things that really do feed my soul.
DeleteYou call that a failure? It sounded pretty impressive to me. As did the joys you remembered.
ReplyDeleteSlinking back to my non-achieving corner.
I am the current queen of the non-achievers!
ReplyDeleteNot so but far otherwise.
DeleteI think you did really well with your list considering you laugh too much and mess things up. I now am to blame for every thing. Even when the other two say no mom I did that. Mom argues back no it was Kim. Kim destroyer of all happiness....
ReplyDeleteJoin Anne and Jan, who suck the life out of a room and hide every single thing Mom loses.
DeleteYou mentioned that forgot one of the things. How often do you refer back to your list. If I make a list, but don't look at it, there's no hope.
ReplyDeleteI only look at it to post what I did, but I never really look at the list to see where I am on it, which is why I forget things.
DeleteEnjoy your blooming blooms(not so much the pollen). After the last 4 inches+ of snow we got today melts perhaps Spring will start to happen here....or not. lolz
ReplyDeleteMaybe the late snow will scare the pollen away! I will forever be thankful for OTC Zyrtec
DeleteToo funny about laughing too much at the birthday celebration! Apparently, it was supposed to have been a solemn occasion!
ReplyDeleteThose joy lists can be hit or miss at time, but I see that you were able to do quite a few of them, over the course of the month.
Love that your granddaughter can wake up her grandfather from a nap and he'll be happy about it.
Looking forward to reading your April Joy list.
I think you have to be in a joyous mindset to think joyful things and I have been anything but joyous lately. April was kind of hard for me to think about. Maybe tomorrow when I read over it I will make some additions and corrections (that just like something straight out of Robert's Rules of Order)
DeleteAll that doesn't look disappointing to me!
ReplyDeleteIt was a little disappointing because I did not do a couple of things I really do enjoy doing.
Delete