Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

Perseverance and sticktoitness. We got through the first full week of the new year. It was a doozy on all fronts. I'm irritable. I don't feel great, but I've been doing almost all of the things I said I was going to do.

Our daily celery juice is already clearing up my eczema. I make it first thing in the morning for Lils and I. I'm glad she's on the juice train too because as much as I love my Breville juicer, I don't enjoy cleaning it. I'd do just about anything for her though. The juice itself is palatable. The tricks are to add in some cucumber and lemon and then to serve it in a pretty glass.

I've been reading more. I started Greenlights at the end of last year and finished it this year. I was excited for it after the first few pages, but I came to find out that the hype over this memoir was unwarranted. MM came off more as entitled than enlightened imo. I struggle with saying that because memoirs by design are self-indulgent, but I came away feeling that he thinks he's more God than man. That didn't sit well with me. And my last criticism is that his poetry made me laugh. Like cringey lol. I'll finish I Miss You When I Blink this week. I am finding Philpott much more relatable. Then after You Should Talk to Someone, I should be in the mood for some fiction.

Taking care of things I've been putting off. This week it was the dentist, and I also made appointments for an overdue mammogram and colonoscopy. Just making the appointments makes me feel lighter. In resisting what I know I need to do, I give it so much energy. I know this and yet I do it all the time.

Next week I'm adding in exercise and I'm going to get serious about going to bed earlier and getting up at a more reasonable hour. I cannot take on everything at once. I know that to be a recipe for failure.

A new planner even though I won't get it until just about February. I did my research this year and was so excited about the planner I chose in early December. Excited enough to order it all the way from Australia. Well, with the shit show that is delivery these days, I never got it. I finally picked out another planner, but it's out of stock. 

I left my phone at home one day this week and I really didn't miss, think about it all day, or feel twitchy, lost or anxious. I can say that I'm not addicted to my phone. Last night I watched The Social Dilemma. It is more horror film than documentary. Everyone needs to watch this film and then to change behaviors. I'm still processing what I learned and I plan to watch it again with my kids. 

Before that I watched Pieces of a Woman. I've been waiting for its release on Netflix. It was the perfect companion for a girl in a funk on a gray Friday afternoon. The story was compelling and the acting was poignant.

Mike and I are very close to pulling the trigger on new family room furniture. I just need to decide fabric for pillows. The devil is in the details. We may not get it until May, but that will give us time to do the floor and second guess our decisions.

A stop out with Mike after furniture shopping. The establishment was abuzz. It was a bright spot of my week...getting out of the house, being with other people, seeing that people are living their lives.

I'm already noticing that the days are stretching. I don't wish winter away. I embrace it. It's been mild so I have no reason to complain.

Ted leaves for Florida Sunday morning. It will be a nice break for him...for us.

My cousin sent me the cutest little box of succulents. The timing was perfect because all my Christmas plants are getting leggy. She's coming to town at the end of the month. It will be so good to see her.