Life Lately: January/February 2022
I thought about sitting down to write my monthly Life Lately post oh so many times in January, and it never happened. The month was filled with sick kids, daycare closures, returning to work after maternity leave, and trying to find a bit of grounding for the year. So, I let myself off the hook. And to be honest, I struggled. I have an intensely difficult time when I don’t do something that I say I’m going to do, even in a space where I am only accountable to myself. I am someone who always wants to do my best, and I have an incredibly high standard for what that looks like. So it got me thinking - what if I allowed “my best” to change, even if just for a little while? What if I set my perfectionist tendencies to the side (eek!), and allowed myself to simply do what I am able to, in a given season? As Isabela sings in Encanto, “What can you do when you know who you wanna be isn’t perfect?”. I know there is a lesson in this moment, and I’m eager to sit with it for a while. Now, on to Life Lately…
What I’m Watching/Reading/Listening To: I have finally begun to read again for the first time since having the baby. I started off with two excellent books, Verity and Atlas of the Heart. I have also enjoyed (many) great TV shows lately. Favorites in my lineup have included The Sex Lives of College Girls (HBO), Harlem (Prime), Succession (HBO), The Woman In the House Across the Street from The Girl in the Window (Netflix), among others. And, like many, I’ve been watching And Just Like That (HBO). Finally, in addition to Crime Junkie (my favorite), I’ve been listening to Something Was Wrong.
A Yearly Ritual: Every January, along with three dear friends, I do the Yoga With Adriene 30 Day Challenge. By the time December comes around, I am eagerly awaiting the start. Not only do I love the yoga, there is something so special about doing it with friends. No matter how far apart we are physically, I know that every January, we will be together every single day. The peer accountability and support is incredibly helpful, too.
Waiting For The Other Shoe…: Lately, it’s felt like I am constantly waiting for the “other shoe to drop”. Immediately after Christmas, our daycare center closed due to an exposure. With just a few days until the end of my maternity leave, I was both willing it to open, and willing us to stay healthy. While we had several ER and doctor visits in the weeks to follow, we managed to get through several closures, illnesses, and a continued sense of being completely alone. I have been trying to find perspective ever day, and was recently reminded of Brené Brown’s concept of FFT’s. I have since realized that so much of my angst is that everything is new - it’s the f*ing first time that I have two kids in daycare, am navigating a pandemic with two kids, am returning to work with two kids…you get the picture. And pretty much everything is harder the first time. Yet, with time…it will all get easier.
101 in 1001 Update: I made quite a bit of progress on my list over the past few months! We hosted a family holiday party, sent out cards, decorated Christmas Cookies as a family, made FIVE new cocktail recipes, and bought a new car. Phew! I also made progress on some of the items that have multiple components, like visiting 10 new towns in Massachusetts. The picture at the top of this post was from a recent trip to Newburyport and Plum Island. To me, there is nothing more grounding than going to the ocean. On this particular day, my husband had just left to drop off Adriana for daycare (I was still on maternity leave). While in transit, we got the call that her classroom would be closed for the next ten days. In that moment, I knew I had two choices. Completely fall apart (I came close). Or, grab a few snacks and head out on an adventure. I chose the latter, and it became a magical day.
