Lately some of my evenings have sucked. I don’t even KNOW what I’m doing with the time. I guess I did plan almost all of Hawaii one night this week, so that is something! But in general lately? Hmmm. I’m not even really scrolling the way I used to, which is great but then. . . what is happening?
I am determined to find out, and below are 5 things I would LIKE to be doing with my post-work hours in addition to kid-driving and family time.
1- Read. As noted yesterday, it has been a slightly slower reading year for me. I’m not entirely sure why this is! I’m currently reading Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke and I really like it but I’ve been starting too late in the evening and falling asleep after 10 pages or so.
That would be fine except that I’m hosting book club next week and haven’t read the book. So I need to temporarily ditch Yesteryear for What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama which does have the benefit of having the cutest cover ever.
The cover designer should do a Hobonichi collab.
2- Yoga/Pilates. I decided to cancel my Peloton app for now (more on that later) but I have access until June 4. I elected to NOT go to 6 AM (in-person) Pilates today but there is no reason I can’t do an evening session.
3- Cross stitch and TV. Hey, I started! I’m ready to start doing this again while watching TV, and I have a lot of TV I want to watch!! (Not until I’m done with the book club book, but once that’s finished).
4- Piano. I was in a great groove of playing most nights and then suddenly I kind of burned out with all of the April travel. I mastered (well, to reasonable standards anyway) multiple TS songs from my TLOAS book and bought an “intermediate” book to start just generally practicing again and it was maybe a little too easy but that made it honestly pretty fun. We actually just replaced our electric piano and I would like to play again! I feel like I need a “personal curriculum” of sorts to guide my practicing . . . yes I basically want a marathon training plan for piano (without actually committing to lessons at this juncture). Does one exist?
5- Journaling. If all else fails and I’m in a mood, it would be a lovely time for some journaling/reflection. There is no rule that says morning pages are the only place I can just go ham on a page. I might even want to play with some attempts at drawing (!). I have plenty of lovely paper and pens around so it’s just a matter of playing with them. BONUS: A/G would probably get into this with me too.
There you have it! To be clear I do not want to do all of these at once. But 1 on any given night seems reasonable.
WEEKEND PLANS
Saturday –> kid sports/driving day, for the most part. Every kid has at least something!
Sunday –> G was invited to a social play date sort of thing though this particular host tends to move things around a lot so we’ll see if it happens. IF NOT –> I see us hanging at the pool — it has gotten HOT! And will call my mom, obviously! Will be a weird day though, as previously mentioned.
12 Comments
I LOVED “What you are looking for in is in the Library”. Could be what you need to kickstart your reading.
That is a super cute cover. I have not heard of that book! I just had book club this week which is always a high of my month!
My evening hours are so compressed since my kids still need a lot of active monitoring/management. They get a 30 minute show at 7 pm, I do the 5yo’s bedtime at 7:30, then I read with Paul for 10 minutes at 8 after he’s played worldle and flaggle with my husband (his newest obsessions) and then I monitor his bedtime process with a lot of reminders to stay on task. He’s in bed at 8:30 and we watch 30-45 minutes of a show, I read for 45-60 minutes, and it’s lights out. I can’t imagine actually having more freetime in the evening! Plus the boys start baseball/t-ball next week so Paul will have activities 4 nights a week for a few weeks and then 3 nights/week for a few more weeks before settling back in at 2 nights/week (which is the ideal # for us).
Hmm! I haven’t heard of that book (the Library one- I’ve definitely heard of Yesteryear). Is it good? I guess you can tell us soon.
I also still can’t figure out where my time goes in the evenings. I said I was going to time track them, but did I do that? No I did not. So I have no one but myself to blame. Maybe your post will get me motivated again.
Maybe next week I’ll post EVENING ONLY time tracking – you could too!
I read What You’re Looking for Is In the Library earlier this year! It’s very much outside my typical book choices but definitely enjoyable. Maybe I’ll recommend for our next bookclub selection! I struggle with meaningful /deliberate evening choices too when I’m at home, and I know it’ll get worse in the summer when my husband & kids have a more flexible schedule / going to bed later and I do not!
I loved What you are looking for! I usually like your book recommendations, so fingers crossed that it helps jumpstart a new reading stint
What You’re Looking for Is In the Library was decent. I think I found it because I was looking for literary fiction that wasn’t depressing, and it filled the bill pretty decently. Curious to see how you find it. I’m trying to read Circe now, which I am assured is good, but my head does not appear to be in a good space to read much of anything at all rn. The I just finished The Friend which I liked more after I finished it than while I was reading it.
So, evenings… When I come home from the OR, I have the energy levels of a limp dishrag. It’s seriously a struggle to make myself do ANYTHING. Success for me = get home before 6 (if later, this does not apply), go for walk/lift weights while watching tv. Shower. Read 5 min, then bed. If not in the OR, I may do a slightly more physically demanding workout at 5, then shower, read 20-30 min, then bed. Sometimes this devolves into scrolling or whining to my husband about my life which is not productive. If I am really good, I’d pay some attention to the dogs too.
I hope you have a good weekend!
” I feel like I need a “personal curriculum” of sorts to guide my practicing . . . yes I basically want a marathon training plan for piano (without actually committing to lessons at this juncture). Does one exist?”
…
I bet ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini could make you a personally tailored one!
haha yes i also had that thought!!
I was coming to the comments to suggest exactly this.
I’m a musician and have thoughts on returning to piano! First, start playing your review pieces from youth (the pieces you knew well and enjoyed.) Also review scales and exercises you played. The Royal Conservatory of Music has an excellent (and free!) piano exam syllabus that can guide you in where you are at now and give structure to where you want to go. They have a pretty good variety of repertoire including jazz and rock. I use this syllabus for myself on my instrument! I hope this helps.
ooh Jenny thank you! I will check this out!!