How is it already the end of the second full week of April?
Last week was a busy one and I pushed too hard. I tried to prioritize self-care (writing here, walking daily, keeping up with other habits), but since I was parenting solo and we had a lot on the go, I compensated by staying up late to get alone time, and setting my alarm for 6 am each morning. The simple math of this equation = not enough sleep.
Balance. It’s so elusive. It seems like we need more discussion about how much time self-care takes. And the people who say a five minute deep-breathing break is enough to reset them. Well. Everything helps, I suppose, but it can take HOURS to replenish my introvert battery. To fit in the things I sometimes want to do, I sacrifice other modes of self-care. (E.g. I want to read, but I need to sleep. Can you relate?) *Insert head exploding emjoi*
I guess the punchline of this reality is that being an adult is hard. I’m with Engie – WHERE IS THE MANUAL?
This week I kept reminding myself to slow down. It mostly worked. I think what is most frustrating about this – and any good habit/life lesson – is realizing it isn’t a once-and-done experience. I am going to be fighting for balance (some days winning, some days losing) for the rest of my life.
Enough blathering – here are some recent Happy Things.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
I was at my favourite cafe working last week when I saw two baristas come out of the kitchen with a brownie and a small candle. They wound slowly past all the tables until they reached a group of about six ladies – all in their late sixties/early seventies – sitting in a semicircle. Everyone in cafe (which was packed at the time) started singing Happy Birthday. It was such a simple, fun, unexpected moment. The collective joy of singing such a familiar song – even though most of us didn’t know the Birthday Girl – was delightful. At the end everyone clapped and I let out a happy sigh and went back to my Earl Grey.
Turns out her name was Marjorie; her face had the slightest hint of embarrassment, but I think overall she was pleasantly surprised by the song…and the brownie. If you make it to a birthday at that stage of life and you’re still hanging out with a group of lady friends, life is probably pretty grand.
SMALL BATCH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Okay, so the recipe says this should only make two cookies, but I made four (and they were plenty big!) – one for each of us after school pickup on Tuesday. Quick, easy, delicious. We ate them too fast for me to take a picture. I have a feeling this recipe will be part of our regular rotation moving forward…
THE COOL BLOGGERS WALKING CLUB (WEEK TWO)
This has been so fun.
Thanks to everyone who continues to write in (and send pictures) of their walking adventures!
Look at these gorgeous tulips Sabine spotted on her walk in Holland.
Side note: sometimes I feel like I’m writing in a North American bubble and then someone sends me pictures from Holland of tulips and I’m like – Oh, hello, Europe!
Lisa picked her son up at school – scooter in tow – and snapped this photo of their return trip home.
A few days – and some air travel later – she sent me another picture of her daily walk…this time at the beach!
Kyria sent me this shot; she has officially started her cross-continent adventure.
Here’s a shot from one of Engie and Hannah’s many walks. (She did a complete rundown of all her walks in the first week of the CBWC here). Can you spot Hannah?
What would a Cool Bloggers walking roundup be without a cameo from Rex?
Joy sent me a picture of her sticker chart. Look at all those happy faces!
And I continued to walk daily – some days in sunshine and some days with far too much cloud cover for my liking.
*If you are walking with me this month, and have a picture from one of your walks you’re keen to share, you can e-mail it to: optimisticmusings7 {at} gmail {dot} com
BONUS ROUND:
- Tuesday night I decided it would be fun to do a Day in the Life post – all the cool bloggers are doing it, right Birchie? Stay tuned for the play-by-play next week, but it made Wednesday extra fun as I was paying closer attention to what I did and when.
- The eclipse. I was a bit underwhelmed…but the kids loved it.
- Homemade waffles for supper.
- New plant joy.
- Chocolate.
- Sound machines.
- Comfortable sneakers.
- A new flavour of sparkling water.
- Naps.
- Writing with a Sharpie.
- Freshly washed sheets.
- Comfort foods – specifically this week, scrambled eggs (twice) + chili and rice.
Happy weekending, friends! Your turn. Would you be embarrassed if a whole group of strangers started singing Happy Birthday to you? Was your week busy, relaxing…or somewhere in between? Do you have any Secrets of Adulting you want to share…? Did you get to see the eclipse? What did you think? Waffles for supper – yes or no?
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
YESSS FOR DITL!!!! I can’t wait.
The eclipse was awesome. Schools were closed so the four of us went down to the park and hung out with our neighbors. A few months ago we heard about “totality chasers” who travel to see eclipses, and this might be the next add to my travel list.
I’ve been busy with a trip last weekend and the puppy at home which has meant no blogging but A TON of walking.
Elisabeth
Ha. Trust me, it’s nothing extravagant.
Yay for walking. And I’m excited to hear all about the trip…
Melissa
I can’t really help you with the adulting, I had a few later nights while G was away this week too. And I don’t even have the excuse that I needed some alone time.
Being a spectator during the singing of happy birthday is just as much fun as being in the group I think, apart from the fact that there’s no cake coming your way. I am both embarrassed and chuffed when I’m the centre of attention, and that includes having happy birthday sung to me.
I missed a day walking this week because I was resting my sore foot, but it just needed one day. I’m hoping it will be back to normal soon.
Elisabeth
Loved all the pictures from your walks!
I think sometimes when I have the chance to be alone, I just get greedy and try to “store it up” – which never works, of course. Better to go to bed on time and be rested so I don’t crash. But…it’s just so darn hard to have the self control to put down the book!
Nicole MacPherson
I cannot wait for your DITL, I CANNOT WAIT.
Your photos of the Cool Bloggers Walking Club is bringing me so much joy. How wonderful it is that we are all doing it, all over the continent (and world, because Europe! Those tulips!!!).
Balance is so hard to find, and there are only so many hours in a day. Solo parenting is hard, and so I’m sending you big big hugs and hopes that you can find some rest this weekend.
I love birthdays – my own, of course, but also everyone else’s – and so that story made me smile. Thanks for bringing the sunshine on this Friday, Elisabeth!
Elisabeth
Oh dear. It is nothing special, so let’s not get our hopes up, Nicole 🙂
I know, eh? Europe. It just feels so weird to know people are walking in Europe! And Australia! And KELOWNA 🙂 I felt the same way when I did the daily yoga challenge this January. It really did feel inspiring to be doing something with thousands of other people from around the world. The internet can be such a tool for connection and good.
Jenny
Well, I have lots to say!!! First, with the birthday singing- in my 20s I would have been mortified. Now I would enjoy it slightly, and when I’m 70 I would probably enjoy it even more. By the time I’m 90 (fingers crossed) I’ll probably walk around with a birthday crown on all day and insist that everyone, including total strangers, sing to me.
Sigh. Reading and sleeping. It turns out there’s a fatal flaw in my new system of reading in bed- I’m still staying up too late. Just because I’m in bed doesn’t mean I’ll stop reading and go to sleep. I’ve also been sleep deficient this week, and it didn’t feel great.
I have to admit that while I was enthusiastic about the idea of the CBWC, I haven’t been doing it. Yes, many days I’m running or walking just as part of my usual routine, but on the other days I haven’t been doing it. BUT, I’m loving everyone else’s photos! (REX!) And one last thing- I did my version of your comfort foods this week- three nights in a row I had a tofu scramble for dinner.
Elisabeth
Please, please, please do the birthday crown thing, Jenny! And don’t wait until 90. Rock that bling ASAP.
There is no winning if we like reading, I think? My eyes can be weighted with sleep and I will STILL insist on keep reading. I am so bad about being a grown up with books in bed.
Comfort foods for the win. I’m so glad I enjoy eating the same things on repeat, too – extra comfort.
You blow me out of the water with your exercise, so I don’t think you need to add a daily walk to your list.
Rex just makes every post happier, right?
Lisa’s Yarns
The blogger walking club has been fun and has given me an extra dose of motivation to go for a walk. And some days I really need that even though 10 minutes is such a small amount of time.
This past week wasn’t exactly relaxing per se but it was a nice change of scenery. The end of the trip was really tiring with a late flight that was delayed so I am trying not to let the ending color the whole experience which was great overall, minus the weather/high winds. And I am trying not to think about the fact that I fly out again on Monday. Womp womp.
Elisabeth
I hummed and hawed over distance and time. 10 minutes felt perfect. Like a 10 minute stroll could seriously just be a few loops around my house. A few days, 10 minutes is all I’ve done and it feels good to be able to put a star on my sheet without feeling guilty about needing to go father.
I’m glad you had a change of scenery, but trips with small kids are NOT vacations. You come home exhausted and that feels extra demoralizing because one part of you thinks you should be relaxed but there is no way to be relaxed with small kids (at least with certain personality traits). It does STINK you have to leave again so soon, though. Ugh. What an intense start ton 2024.
Sending love and hugs for everything, including re-entry and the sadness over your grandmother’s health <3
Daria
Not a relaxing week at all but hey, life, right?… I think I either have allergies or a cold but can’t determine which one. Sinuses are hurting and everything is flowering in NJ right now, so I’m thinking allergies. I don’t mind birthday singing at all – makes me feel special.
Elisabeth
I hate allergies. It’s always so confusing and nebulous to track down the issue, too. Hoping you have a wonderful weekend and feel less jet-lagged and those pesky sinuses clear out.
I also feel like when I get rundown (which ALWAYS happens to me after a trip), I become extra susceptible to getting allergy attacks. Ugh. Sending hugs <3
NGS
DITL posts from other people are so interesting because we all live lives, but we all do it so differently. What is completely normal to me is so strange to other people and vice versa and I love it all!
Yay for people in CBWC from multiple continents. You’re a trendsetter!
Elisabeth
A trendsetter and, according to Nicole, an influencer. Someone tell my teen who thinks I am only a taskmaster and killjoy.
Michelle G.
I love all the photos from the CBWC! I love waffles for dinner. I could eat breakfast food at any time of day. I’m 56, and I do not have the secret to adulting. I think you’re doing great! I look forward to reading about a day in your life!
Elisabeth
Waffles (eggs, bacon, toast, yogurt, fruit…) and any breakfast food in general is just THE BEST. I’m going to scramble some eggs shortly as this comment is making me hungry 🙂
Colleen Martin
I think true adulting is realizing how much we do not know – so you’re there! This introvert is so looking forward to a Friday night at home watching tv in bed…aaahhhh! I’ve been walking every day, but no photos, you believe me though right? Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
Elisabeth
Having seen your workout recaps I believe you and THEN some.
Lindsay
Waffles for supper anytime! It is one of my personal nightmares to have the singing thing in restaurants – it’s just too much attention on everyone wanting you to have a specific reaction and feeling; however, it is my daughter’s FAVORITE THING EVER so something I navigate at least once a year (half birthdays become negotiations, haha!).
Elisabeth
Isn’t it interesting (and frustrating/exhausting, insert all other emotions) how different we can feel about something from our kids or partners! I know what you mean about feeling like you have to contrive a specific emotional response…
Stephany
Ooh, I am really looking forward to reading your DITL post! I love reading them (and writing them, obviously, as I make people suffer through an entire WEEK of DITL posts every fall, haha). I find it so fascinating how other people spend their days! Yay!
Trying to find time for all of my hobbies is a forever struggle. Do I sit down with my book or hop on the laptop to read some blogs? Do I try to get ahead on blog writing or work on podcast outlines? ARGH. It’s so hard to fit it all in and not feel like you’re failing in some other part of life!
Elisabeth
Too many things, too little time…!
San
Oh, dang, I am clearly missing out on the Cool Blogger Walking Club… (need to investigate what that is all about) but it’s nice to see all the pictures from around the continent/world from people on their walks! 🙂 Lovely.
Also, I can relate so very much to the elusiveness of balance when it comes to self-care. I definitely sacrifice one mode of self-care for another a lot. Clearly, the secret of being a functional and balanced adult is…. MORE HOURS IN THE DAY 🙂 (or less need for sleep I guess, but it’s also so imperative for me!).
Elisabeth
I do feel like life would be slightly easier if I needed fewer hours of sleep and my kids needed more, but I’ve gotta work with what I’ve got, I suppose! I think more than hours, it’s energy, as well. When I get to the end of the day I can be so tired (or my introvert balance so low) that I struggle to spend those hours well. I don’t sleep because I want the sense of freedom that comes from being awake without anyone needing me, but I’m not really resting or restoring well either. Yup. Adulting is hard!
Diane
I actually HATE celebrating my birthday. I’d rather people not mention it at all. One year, my mother had taken me to Egypt for Christmas Break and it was my birthday and I was really glad to be in a foreign country where NO ONE knew it was my birthday and I could just let the day go by unobserved. I was having a nice boring dinner in the dining hall of our ship – we were on a Nile cruise – when suddenly there was all this singing and dancing and the sound of drums. And I thought, “How nice, there’s going to be a dinner show!” And then I realized that the line of singing and dancing people were coming straight to my table, and before I knew it they were surrounding me and one person pulled me up to get me to join the singing dancing line and they started singing happy birthday and I was MORTIFIED. I seriously wanted to crawl under the table. I guess since the ship had my passport, they check for birthdays. Anyhow, it was memorable, if nothing else.
We definitely have waffles for supper. It’s actually one of the meals we have when I’m working nights because I can prep all the dry ingredients for the Husband and he just adds two eggs and a cup of buttermilk when he gets home. I actually measure out two batches of dry ingredients at a time and keep one in the pantry in a ziploc bag so we can also impulsively have waffles. I mean it’s not that much work to measure out the dry ingredients, but when you factor in getting out all the measuring cups, and flour and salt and baking soda and what not, and then having to measure then wash everything and put it away – it actually really streamlines things to have a batch of the dry ingredients already at hand.
Elisabeth
I feel like I recall you misplaced some mixed up waffle batter at one point?!
I used to measure out dry ingredients for waffles too. Anything to cut down on the friction of getting things ready.
That cruise experience. I would have been mortified, too!!! There is no escaping the allure of corporate Happy Birthday songs. Do people think everyone enjoys it? Are the “perpetrators” actually people who hate being the object of attention themselves? I wonder about the psychology behind why/how/who does this sort of thing…
J
When you first posted about the CBWC, I figured it was a gimmie, because I walk every day anyway. Then last Sunday I slept too late and the sun was too bright (I try to limit my time in the sun due to medications that make me burn easily PLUS I hate feeling hot), so I let Ted and Maya go without me, and I stayed home and did a deep clean on the bathtub, which is my LEAST favorite cleaning chore, but was still satisfying. I figured, I walk every day, I do yoga, I do strength, I’ll just take the day off. Then I remembered CBWC, so after dinner we went for a walk and it was perfect! Not hot, lovely weather, nice to get outside and help my food digest. So thank you, you are a force for good in the world.
Interesting that you were underwhelmed by the eclipse. Were you in the path of totality? I’ve never been close enough with the right weather, so haven’t had that experience, but I would love to someday. If it’s going to be around here, I think it’s another 20 years. Bummer. I have a friend in Texas who lives in the path and stayed inside, just looked out her window at it. What a waste! But she didn’t have glasses and was afraid she would look up and hurt her eyes, which is smart. Her son saw it and was AMAZED at how much he loved it. *Shrug emoji*
Waffles for dinner is winning for sure. As a matter of fact, I may put that on the menu next weekend when my husband is out with some friends (he is low carb, so wouldn’t be able to eat them.)
Elisabeth
This comment made me SO happy, J. I needed this boost today and I’m so glad that the little nudge to get outside for that walk was a positive point of your day. I mean, it can only go “up” after scrubbing a tub, right?
You could make a chaffle (a cheese, egg and almond flour waffle for your husband…if he’d ever think of doing that). They are low carb and delicious!
We weren’t in totality. 95% I think? It got dark, but not DARK. My parents were in the path of totality, though, and said it looked like a big storm was coming up. What did strike me as unusual – and my parents noted this too – was how quickly after totality it becomes fully bright again. It slowly gets darker and darker and then BAM – it’s all over!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Last week has beenbusy for me and at the same time I am feeling I am not doing anything. Lots of time spend with my parents – dad’s surgery, errands I helped out with. So I did a lot just not from my to-do list.
I haven’t managed my regular walks but I would send a picture of a forest trail along the river.
Elisabeth
Ohhh! Send me a picture, I’d love to see this forest trail. It sounds lovely.
Rachel
Secrets of adulting… get more sleep haha! I think that’s the one thing that would have always made my life better, forever and ever and ever.
I will send you a CBWC photo this week! I honestly forgot about it the first week in April but last week I did a walk every day and this week I aim to do more *and* get some sort of cool Wales walk photo!
Thanks for keeping us all both accountable and happy here with happy things fridays 🙂
Elisabeth
Yay for more photos from abroad!! Can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to in Wales <3
Sleep. Yes, perhaps the main secret to a healthy and happy life. A bit elusive with twin babes in the house...