As you may remember, I divided 2018 into Quintiles (details here) for the purpose of goal-setting and breaking up what I anticipated would be a challenging year (um, definitely correct).
I will admit I sort of forgot about my system in the back to school rush, but technically I have already reached the end of Q3 (SUMMER)! School has started, we are (sort of) back in our routines, and I am seeing ads for both pumpkin spice and planners, so I guess it really is a new season of sorts.
That said, I think I’m pushing my official Q3 end to Labor Day, because our school start has felt somewhat harried and the kids are definitely taking their time to adjust, so . . . why not!?
Here were my Q3 (SUMMER) Goals / Bucket List Items:
– Floss. Fail.
– Consistent workouts (Beachbody / running) + decent eating habits. Mixed success! I was very consistent with Beachbody through July but then our trip derailed me a bit. I’m back at it, but have decided to add back some running (missed it too much!). I have some bigger goals here coming up.
Eating-wise, I don’t know — when I’m breastfeeding, it’s basically a free-for-all. And it’s whatever. My body isn’t fully ‘back to normal’ but it’s in some transitional place a few lbs over my ‘ideal’ where it is probably going to hang out until I am done with nursing/pumping all day long. I vacillate between wanting to work harder to return to ‘normal’ and just waiting it out.
– GOING TO BED early most nights (key to survival still) Generally successful – 9:30 many nights.
– Time tracking (attempting!) Fail. But I am not giving up.
– Finish planning + execute excellent family vacay (Whistler / Seattle / Portland) Massive success! So glad we went.
– Host a pool play date (already on calendar) – probably more than one We had just one, and it rained so we were inside! Oops. Admittedly, having G has made multi-kid play dates more challenging and a bit less relaxing — both Josh and I really need to be home. (But she’s wroth it.)
– Go to Flamingo Park pool Fail but it’s hot for several more months, so perhaps we can still get this in! Again, this is an item that pre-G would have been easy and fun, but post-baby a little more challenging.
– Get new sandals + t-shirts (need to do ASAP, mine are disasters and all stretched out at the necks from pulling down to nurse, agh!) Sandals check (these in the two-tone brown/tan), Ts not really (just got one via trunk club). My wardrobe is currently a very minimal disaster.
– Keep reading every day Pretty much yes! 2018 continues to be a big reading year!
– Make dentist / eye / GP appts for fall Fail. I think I am just going to call 2018 a wash, or make appts for December. I just can’t stand working appointments around pumping so I’d like to be done with that first.
– Resume journaling (I really missed this post-G!) A bit, but not nearly in the routine way I used to. And I still miss it!
– Embrace changes at work as our residency starts! I’ve been excited about this for so long but became quite stress at the work increased (but my allotted time to deal with it didn’t). I have more time beginning July 1 and have so many exciting plans for our trainees. I am ready to embrace the changes that will be happening to my work life, and will figure out how to make it work. (I do think time tracking will be helpful here!) Mixed success. Still adjusting. Still cramming patients in (because, despite having less time for patient care, I still have ALL of my patients!). This is a work in progress, but I’m doing okay (and enjoying the residency part of my job!)
(I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I CANNOT SEEM TO TO FIX THE FONT SIZE HERE! My apologies . . . this blog really really really needs resuscitation. Maybe in Q4 . . .)
Books Read in Q3
(I’m at 31 books for the year so far, which for me is probably a record since my childhood reading days!)
1) Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewell – Read for my book club! This was basically a thriller and had many creepy/horrifying elements. Not my typical genre (and there are parts that still haunt me when I think about them) but admittedly it was a page-turner.
2) Us Against You, by Fredrik Backman. I really enjoyed this, although sometimes I wish Backman would be a little more concise in his style. Still, his characters are fascinating and there is something so compelling about the setting in a tiny Scandinavian town. I felt colder just reading it . . .
3) The Awakened Family, by Shefali Tsabary. Read for my parenting book club 🙂 This was tedious to get through, and I absolutely did not agree with everything in it (at all). However, there were some interesting points. I did appreciate the notes about letting your children express who they are (rather than having some agenda for them) and really listening. This took FOREVER to read! I actually think I only finished 90% of it, but I’m counting it anyway. Close enough, and I have no desire to get through those last 40 pages so.
4) Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata. Quirky, Japanese, and short? With mental illness/limitations as a theme? Totally up my alley. Loved this Modern Mrs. Darcy pick!
5) That Kind of Mother, by Rumaan Alam. This gets shockingly low amazon reviews, because I actually really found it a compelling story. I was also absolutely amazed that the author was male because of some of very subtle descriptions of aspects of early motherhood.
6) An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones. Loved this, and will be hosting book club tonight where we will discuss it! So glad I picked it. The characters are still burned into my mind — so memorable and nuanced. I love novels where you can’t decide which side is ‘right’, and this is definitely one of them. And I know not everyone liked the ending, but I was pretty satisfied with it! (I am going to listen to the Book Club episode of The Girls Next Door Podcast on my way to work today – such perfect timing 🙂 ).
7) What We Were Promised, by Lucy Tan. Okay fine – I’m not quite done with this one. But I will be by Labor Day (very close) and I am really enjoying it, so I’m including it here. Lots of fascinating Chinese imagery and multidimensional characters that provide great contrast. I can’t comment on the ending yet, though!
8) How to Be a Happier Parent, by KJ Dell’Antonia. Last but not least — this is one of those parenting books that is actually FUN to read (and is more about how to enjoy your life as a parent than how to do it ‘right’). I read the travel chapter twice in preparation for our trip 🙂
KJ was this week’s podcast guest, too! I loved hearing her chat about her career journey (did not know she was previously a lawyer!). She clearly really loves being a mother of 4 but also really strives for greatness in her writing life — showing that yes, one really can do both quite well! Side note – if you are at all interested in getting into writing, her podcast #amwriting (with cohost Jessica Lahey) is entertaining and informative, and I am a dedicated listener these days!
WELL.
I have much more I’d like to write about, including:
– how G’s helmet journey is going / 9 month report
– work things
– school thoughts (possibly with some homework-related rants . . .)
– some fun planner-related stuff (2019 prep is already heating up 🙂
– running goals
– my new favorite cookbook
– Q4 goals (obvs)
Hopefully I’ll be back here fairly soon!
7 Comments
Well done on the reading!
Oh my goodness, so many appointments to be scheduled. Kiddo is finally settled in nursery and I’m down to two pumping sessions a day and hoping to day wean once we speak with the dietitian about a possible dairy intolerance and then it’s appointment time – haircut, dentist, IUD.
Ooh! Great books to add to the list. I haven’t read any of those, though An American Marrigage and the convenience store woman are already on my list.
An American Marriage and That Kind of Mother were also two of my favorites so far this year. My other favorites were Educated by Tara Westover and Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira Lee.
G is just so delicious!
I am really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on homework. You seem very grounded in evidence-based practice, both as a physician and a parent, and there is so little evidence to suggest long-term benefits of most homework prior to grades 3-5. I have a kindergartener myself and breathed a huge sigh of relief when his teacher announced she wouldn”t be assigning homework. I”m already mentally preparing for next year as I believe it”s school policy to assign minimum of 10 minutes of homework per grade and I think it”s a terrible pedagogical model for early elementary. Does your oldest have nightly homework?
Really looking forward to a planner update! I’m not sure what I’ll do for 2019 – probably stick to Hobonichi but unsure about size. My job and my life have had some changes this year and my planning systems are struggling to keep up. I love seeing your ideas and tips
Chiming back in to recommend Stay with Me. I picked it up in the airport but it was also a MMD rec during last week’s podcast. Nigeria, fertility, family. I found it slightly disorienting, but really moving.
Ooh I heard that was fantastic. Putting on list!!