Currently August

Currently...

*Enjoying settling in to our new home! After moving across the country and knowing for about a year that a move was likely, it's a relief to be able to settle in and have things feel less up in the air. I love how light and bright the space is and lots of cool features and quirks of living in a 100-year-old house.

*Embracing novelty and discovering new things in San Diego. It's a significantly bigger city than where we were in Colorado, so it's been great exploring new restaurants, museums, parks, beaches etc.

*Struggling to get into a good routine, particularly around bedtimes and nap time for Avi. Moving twice in two months has been a lot for all of us, and I'm trying to remember that it will take time to feel settled again. The lack of predictable routine (and time to myself) has made some of the days feel particularly long recently.

*Feeling ambivalent about working vs. staying home. For the first time in nearly a decade, I am not returning to the classroom. It felt like one to many transitions this year to start work at a new school, and I am really grateful for the extra time at home with Avi and getting to nerd-out on Montessori and early childhood learning. That said, I'm noticing that I'm feeling guilt for not working or worry that I should be doing more right now. I'm trying to sit with the feeling without impulsively readjusting everything. I know that I don't feel the same judgement towards other stay-at-home parents that I do towards myself, and I'm also guessing part of this is just adjusting to the back-to-school season away from a school community and job I really enjoyed.

*Listening to Kate Bush and The Head and the Heart (especially after going to their concert earlier this week). Also listening to all the Music Together cd on repeat with Avi and melting a bit each time I see her paging through the songbook and singing along.

* Walking around our new neighborhood and to the park and library just about every day.

*Shopping at Trader Joe's again and obsessed with the veggie soba stir fry.

*Reading books like: Wahala (loved but the ending was a bit off the rails), The Best We Can Do, and rereading Pride and Prejudice.

*Appreciating being an hour away from so many family members and reconnecting with friends who live in the area.

*Looking ahead to feeling more at home each week here and building many more memories in this new place.

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Two November Experiments

Avi as a strawberry for Halloween. Since I'm feeling a bit more in a routine work and schedule wise, I've decided to try two experiments this month. I've been thinking about both of them for a while, and I think I have the bandwidth to try them out this month. Experiment #1: The Seven Minute Workout I struggle to get into exercise routines. It's not my highest priority, but I always do feel more energetic on the days I exercise. I've decided to do the seven minute HIIT workout everyday in November to see how it feels. It definitely gets my heart rate up without feeling too hard, and it's easy to fit in right before I shower in the morning. Although I've done this workout intermittently, I'm curious to see what it feels like to make this a daily habit. Experiment #2: Time Block Planning at Work Attempt #1 I read Deep Work by Cal Newport earlier this year, and I've also been listening to his podcast recently. In both the book and podc

Some Favorite Reads of 2020

Reading is a core part of my identity, and I'm glad that I was able to read a lot of great books this year. I also loved seeing reading through Avi's eyes as a way to make sense of the world and learn new words. All that being said, I thought I'd share a few favorites from this year: My favorites: * The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet. This book hooked me from the beginning. I'm a sucker for well-written books with multiples perspectives and timelines, and this was deserving of all the hype it got this year. I also gifted it to my mom for her birthday, and she devoured it too! It's the story of two identical twin sisters who go down two different paths in life and split directions when one of the sisters decides to pass for white and leaves her past behind. Bennet's other book The Mothers is definitely on my to read list. * The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. This was a beautifully written fantasy book that contained an

August Goals

The plus side of not writing this post until August 8th is that I've already got started on lots of these goals! August is always a big month of transition for our family. Joel's starting a new semester of grad school and TA-ing, and it's the start of a new school year for me. Back to school looks very different with Covid. Both of us are starting the year virtually, and so I'm trying to think creatively about ways to connect with a new group of students and families. This year Avi's starting at daycare too! It's the first time she's ever been cared for outside of our home, but so far we've been really happy with her teachers and the set up. I think she will love being around other kiddos too. Given all these big changes, and the air of uncertainty that comes with back to school this year, I tried to focus on goals that would support overall well-being without being too ambitious. My biggest goal for the month is to give ourselves time and comp

Eye to Wonder

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