I feel rested right now. I wouldn’t say that I am obscenely tired in my normal life, but I am definitely more tired/stressed/etc than I am right now. It’s a lovely feeling and I will try to hold onto it for as long as possible.
The kids go to camp today! I signed them up for 3 days of winter break day camp at the gym where they do gymnastics. The purpose was threefold:
- See if they like camp there, because they have a summer day camp (convenient, reasonably priced, PLUS built in gymnastics class – great option in theory) and I’m guessing they may do a couple of weeks there but this way they can try it first
- Provide me time to work on some pod/BLPA/creative work
- Provide me with a break and uninterrupted time to organize/reflect before the new year starts!
I tried to hang onto this plan loosely (since travel and sickness often go hand in hand, right?), but as of now everyone is okay so today will be a camp day.
I plan to spend most of it unpacking + organizing + catching up so that tomorrow/Friday I can get some work done.
ALSO I think I will take my car to get washed on Friday so that I can knock out a 2023 goal before the year even begins 🙂 NEW YEAR = CLEAN CAR. This is long overdue and I sort of can’t wait.
Oh! And I need to start working on my 2023 TBR list. Lists I will be looking at:
- Readers’ most anticipated 2023 books from Goodreads
- Wired: Best books of 2022
- NYT: Best books of 2022
- Modern Mrs Darcy: Favorite books of 2022
PS: BOBW’s 2023 Goals Ep is up! I love recording this episode yearly, and I love listening to other goals eps! Have you heard a good one (from any podcast)? Please share!
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Have you looked at Spiffy or another mobile cleaning service? I’ve done this a couple times over the years when our car got really really gross inside… It’s kind of expensive, but honestly, not much more than getting a mega deluxe clean out at the car wash, and you can be at home while they work.
I had my car interior detailed for the first time and it made me ridiculously happy. Will repeat annually.
I will check it out! Apparently there is a mobile cleaning service in the area that some were scammed by (or that just didn’t show) so I want to be careful but maybe if run by a bigger company would be more reliable?
Eeek! We’ve used Spiffy (don’t know if that’s available in South Florida) 2? 3? times and never had any problems.
Just looked and it is available! I may try it . . . love the convenience!
I read the Elena Ferrante Neapolitan novels in one big gulp several years ago. They are so good! There is also a little book called The Ferrante Letters in which 4 women writers/artists read the books and wrote letter to each other about their reading which was really fun to read afterward. they are complex and there is a lot of analysis out there to read about them but this was a fun critical read.
I just ordered The Ferrante Letters—thanks for the rec!
yay! I’ve had them on my ‘want to read’ list for forever and I’m excited to jump in.
I loved this series up until the very, very end, which I absolutely hated, lol. I was listening on Audible, but if I’d bought the book, I would have thrown it across the room. I was so mad at the way she decided to end the last book.
Not the Ferrante Letters – the actual Neopolitan Novels.
You are in for some good reading with Ferrante! The Neapolitan Quartet is a thrilling exploration of women’s lives and friendships.
Ahhh, I love that rested feeling! It’s so elusive – even though I got nine hours of sleep last night, I only slept 5 hours the night before, and I still feel a little run down. To have many nights of good sleep followed by multiple joyful and relaxed days…. It’s what vacations are meant to be.
I get my car detailed for my birthday every year and it’s a glorious treat. A couple times a year, I take it to a local car wash that includes an interior vacuum. It’s effective and inexpensive maintenance. I’m always surprised by how much dirt gets dragged into my car. Even though our car is never messy (ie, Simone never eats in the car and since we park on the street, we never leave anything in it), it does get dirty and need cleaning.
birthday car cleaning! I love it!!!!
Ahh, that feeling of being rested is epic. That is how I felt during our Mexico trip and for a couple of days when we got back. Overall, I am not feeling as worn out as I had earlier in the year now that the toddler is sleeping better for the most part (but was up yelling for us a 5:30 today so he still has his days…).
I hope the kids love camp! It would be nice to have something economical and convenient sorted out for part of summer!
I just checked out The Swimmers from Libby yesterday. First I need to finish “Flight” by Lynn Steger Strong and “If I Survive You” by Jonathan Escoffery, though.
Also, I loved your goal of gymanstics + library in 2023. That is what we do, but in reverse. On Saturday mornings, we get to the library around when it opens at 9, and then both boys have gymnastics at 10:30. I love our Saturday mornings since they are kind of on autopilot. Our library has an awesome kids section with toys that change every couple of months and they have a seasonal search and find for the kids that Paul loves to do. We check out about 15 books each week since we are in the picture book stage. It’s so delightful! Especially after 1.5+ years of not taking my kids anywhere due to covid!
Gymnastics and library sounds smart. We are doing a 6 week block of ukelele lessons starting in January and I think we will do ukelele, library, coffee/hot chocolate. I’m not sure we will stick with the music long term, but it gives us a bit of structure for winter Saturdays.
ooh that sounds lovely!
Listening to the 2023 goals episode and hearing your goal of keeping your nails nicer … Have you heard of / tried Olive + June? I had heard of them from another podcast and just enjoyed their “8 Nights of Mani Magic” calendar set. I am loving the polish so far and just how they walk you through the steps for a good home manicure.
Yes! I tried it during the early 2020 but everything is used up. I should totally revisit. I think they even have some fast dry options now too.
Yes! They have drying drops to put on after your topcoat…I’ve had similar from Essie brand. So helpful!
I just finished Swimmers and loved it! It’s got a pretty distinctive writing style – one review on Goodreads described it as first person plural. Anyway, if you end up liking it, then I recommend also checking out Brown Girls by Daphene Palasi Andreades. It was one of my few 5 star rated books this year and is written in a similar style.
just started it and wow – the style is almost poetry. loving it so far (and it’s short – sad it won’t last!)