Well, June did not go as planned. Like, at all! UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY! But I can’t leave a gap in my 2026 recaps noooowwwww, can I?
Previous months: Jan / Feb / Mar / Apr / May
THE BIG THINGS
Well. It seems appropriate to note that during this particular month BOTH my father and my husband sustained serious musculoskeletal injuries requiring surgery, entirely unrelated to one another (not like they were in a car together!).
My dad sustained a periprosthetic femur fracture somewhere around 6/16 (a few weeks out from routine hip replacement surgery) and Josh shattered his tibia (among other things) playing basketball on 6/24. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
Not high, everyone. No one had money on THAT in Polymarket, did they.
Books Read: 4.
The Society of Shame by Jane Roper (Amazon / Bookshop) 6.2.26
7 Principles of Making Marriage Work by John Gottman + Nan Silver – 6.4 (not read for any negative reason — I just heard someone mention it and was curious!)
Another Kind of Freedom by Pema Chodron – 6.22
The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh – 6.13
Honestly, I thought all of the above had some merit! I would not call it a stellar reading month volume-wise, though.
Date nights:
ONE Sicilian Oven date night when I was totally stressed about my dad and begged Josh to skip his run so that he would go with me. It was a balm and I’m glad we went. We didn’t get our usual server at the bar, sadly, but still a lovely night.
(Little did he know it would have been one of his last runs for a while. Foreshadowing . . .)
There would have been a second one (I had tickets to a show) but then I ended up urgently flying to PHL.
Habits:
Things got a little fuzzy in there and I wrote “not sure – very hard time” across a lower portion of June’s column.
But I noted:
- 22 days of Headspace
- 21 days of walking outside
- 26 days of reading
- 24 days of listening to music
- 14 day of Duolingo
. . . over the course of this rough month.
Fitness
Strength: Empowered app for strength workouts – “Summer Shred” workouts (which are very similar to her regular monthly workouts). 15 total, plus one that I aborted halfway because I was SHOCKED. (As I said: not a good month.)
Pilates: 2/8 sessions! Gah, what a waste of $ – but it just worked out that way. (I have since gone back very consistently in July – I did miss it!)
Walks: 21 days with at least something. (Definitely hot out there though!)
9504 steps/day average in June
TV/Movies/Performances
Finished Euphoria (last 2 eps, including series finale)
Finished Margo’s Got Money Troubles (loved!)
2 episodes of Love Island UK (I don’t think Love Island is for me . . .)
The Perfect Neighbor doc on Netflix with my mom
Parks & Rec eps #1-2 (with the kids. The second ep was written by my friend from college, kind of crazy to see her name on the screen even though I know she’s famous. Ha)
A random ep of Black Mirror (not sure which and I didn’t write it down!)
Beef Season 2 eps #1-2
SUCCESSES (from my goals list)
- Try the gym – yep! Joined LA Fitness and really liking it for leg day.
- Work on PMDD stuff – yes. And had a better luteal phase in July as a result. Progress!
- Track time – I did it for 2-3 weeks and did some analysis. Definitely helpful.
- Find some summer TV – um, I’d say yes?
- See our friends before our trip – well, our trip didn’t happen but I did see my friend!
- Make the pool a regular thing – not sure if this was more June or July, but we’ve gone a lot!
- Organize kitchen – the food/pantry isn’t done but everything else is!
- Make some summery recipes – well, I made one. It was great!
- Make a midyear Techo Kaigi video – check!
- Find out about getting CME for courses – check, and even signed contract to move forward with this for BLP Planning 2027!
Honestly, I’m pleasantly surprised by how many wins there were under the circumstances.
FAILS
- Get back to my cross-stitch. Nope!
- 2 Date Nights – see above, nope
- Organize the Duke reunion thing – zero progress. BTW, it’s my 20th not my 25th med school reunion. I guess I’m not QUITE as old as I was thinking.
- Try Aldi – you know what, I’m content with my current TJs/Publix combo.
- Ariana Grande – was in no state to go (was just a few days after Josh’s surgery and a week of sleep deprivation and sadness)
- seek out good ice cream – a very sad thing to fail at
- “Itinerary for PHL”. Lol.
- “Figure out 2027” – well, I guess in a way I DID do this . . . since we are just moving our trip to Hawaii to that season. But that wasn’t what I meant . . .
HIGHLIGHTS
- The kids’ dance performance was great!
- Kids had excellent academic years, proud of all 3.
- We had some nice dinners with Poppy (Josh’s dad)
- Getting to visit PHL even if it was super brief and under bad circumstances. (And getting upgraded to first class randomly on the way was a nice perk, I guess the universe threw me a bone . . .)
- Play date at the Poppet Place (making G’s dreams come true and enjoying some friend time)
- Key Lime Pie gelato at Freddo was delicious
- I enjoyed reading Little House on the Prairie to G (did not plan that before the Netflix series came out, but in retrospect it worked out perfectly!)
LOWLIGHTS
- EVERYTHING ELSE PRETTY MUCH
- Both fractures (OBVI)
- Getting shocked by my defibrillator
- TERRIBLE luteal phase and mood stuff even before all that disaster struck
WHAT A FREAKING MONTH. Hoping June was just sort of the nadir of the year and it’s Onward & Upward from here. (I have to say July HAS been better — not the July we planned at all, but some sweet moments and slow progress.)
13 Comments
Looks like a pretty successful month, all things considered! Have you watched The Four Seasons (Tina Fey & Steve Carrell)? It’s about three couples in their 50s and it resonated with both me and my husband. We also both liked North of North which is about an Inuit woman who is in a bad marriage.
I finished My Name is Lucy Barton in three days — LOVED it. Am looking forward to Oh, William which I believe is the second in the series.
Have you read, “When Things Fall Apart”? This was the book on Buddhism that one of the White Lotus characters was reading during season 3. I read it last year — it’s about… how the path to unhappiness is unrequited expectations, (and how the path to joy is helping others). I remember one of the things that was hardest for me about the past three years is that the hits just keep on coming, and every time something else happens it is worse than the last. This is not to say that life has been completely unrelenting with no positive moments sprinkled in, but unfortunately this is kind of how this phase of life starts to be (confirmed by all the 50s, 60s, and 70s dog agility and work ladies I hang out with). It was helpful for me, anyway.
I read Oh William and liked it! I actually don’t remember if I’ve read Lucy – maybe!? I always enjoy her books though. They are calming. I liked When Things Fall Apart (and did read it right before its little White Lotus cameo which I LOOOOVED and cracked up at). I liked Four Seasons – not earth shattering but nice. (Though I remember being upset by the ending, ha!)
And North of North sounds super interesting – will check it out!
What a crap month. That is way too much medical drama period, let alone in a single month! I am glad you found plenty of highs, though. I read “The One Day You Were My Husband” in July. I would say it was “just ok” but I am not a domestic thriller person. But I got drawn in since it was on MMD’s short SRG list. June was a really great reading month, though. I read 3 5-star books: Whistler, Lake Effect, and Dolly All the Time! Watching lost of WC soccer was a big highlight of June for our family. Paul is so into it and we are in a pool at Phil’s work which has given us other teams to root for. We’ve had lots of conversations about different countries, like how their GDPs differ/their political histories/etc. Phil does the heavy lifting on the political history part of those convos w/ Paul since he’s more of a history buff.
July has been our month for fun TV. Phil and I watched North by Northwest as part of my goal to watch 2 Hitchcock films in 2026. Now we are watching Project Hail Mary which we are both loving. It takes us 3 nights to watch a movie since we only watch a show for 45-60 minutes most nights.
I really want to read Whistler – I ALWAYS love Ann Patchett!
And yay for Hail Mary – agree it’s great!
I’m looking forward to the Odyssey in the theaters!
Lots of positive things mixed in with the definitely stressful and negative things. That’s one of the benefits of regularly recapping your months, I think. Helps you find little hidden pockets of good!
I was just thinking that your family has had an abnormally high number of medical issues. And everything is so random, there’s not a common denominator like “well, you all drive race cars or go mountain climbing so it makes sense.” Glad to hear July has been a good month so far. I have more questions but it can wait till the weekend… : )
When you launched Best-Laid Plans I had noted that purchasing the book wasn’t in my current budget, but that I had requested my library to purchase it!! I’m SO excited because it came in today and I am very much looking forward to reading it!
Also, a fun synchronicity is that I just finished Tranquility By Tuesday (also from the library!), my first book by Laura, over the weekend! 🙂
Lots of happy planning ahead for me thanks to you both! <3
Sending wishes for a continued better July!
oh I love this Steph!! So glad you were able to get it! You might want to add Laura’s newest (Big Time) to your library holds list too! It’s great!
Your June recap is a good reminder that even in the midst of a truly hellacious and earthshaking month, there are bright spots and accomplishments! I guess that makes the exercise worthwhile 🙂
What a month. Mine was also a doozy in very different directions. Anyway, the book Margots Got Money Troubles is also awesome.
I read it last year! agree!
Uff, despite all the best plans, things don’t always go accordingly and you definitely had more than your fair share of deviations. I am glad you were able to look at the bright side of things though. That’s a valuable still.