1 hair salon! I decided to get rid of all of my grey hair. I look better in warm colors (I am a “soft autumn”) like yellow, military green, and brown. Grey is a cooler color and did not sit well with my warmer undertones. There are people with cooler complexions that look amazing with ashy tones but I’m not one of them.

My grey hair was all throughout my head so I needed a demi-permanent color all over. The colorist matched the hair dye to my natural hair color plus a tad warmer.

My daughter also got a haircut. And a side bang. Which she complained about soon after. The reason I brought her is that she is not a fan of brushing her hair. She says she brushes it but it doesn’t look brushed. The hairdresser talked to her about the importance of taking care of one’s hair. I hope she listens to her since she does not listen to me. Regardless, L’s hair looked gorgeous afterwards.

2 feeling better. Whew. The congestion seemed to lift a little and sore throat slowly went away.

3 exercise. I have only exercised on Tuesday morning and Sunday. The Sunday morning cycling class has a nice group of ladies that all know each other. Most are retired. The instructor gives a nice cycling class with upper body weights at the end.

4 kids. My kids’ school announced on Tuesday that Wednesday (!!) spirit week was starting. One day notice. Wednesday was wear pink day, Thursday was 100th day of school, and Friday was the hearts and red day.

Personally, I take issue with this “100th day of school so dress like you are old.”But, the school sent out the notice, my kids were soon rummaging through their stuff, I was solo parenting and had no mental or physical energy to get into the ethics discussion with them. I’ll do better next time.

My daughter got by with a shawl (from Russia), a brooch, plastic glasses frame, a bun, my pearl earrings, and some red lipstick. My son decided that he needed a cardigan and sunglasses from which he knocked the dark senses out.

5 Valentine’s Day. On Friday night, T and I ordered takeout and watched Bunny, a true piece of crazy NYC life. The kids were at the local rec center for “parents’ night out”. They had pizza, a movie and even went for a swim. When we brought them back around 9:30, they were DONE and went straight to bed. V-day also involved cards, and a ton of chocolate which I’ll never complain about.

6 I think I’m going to create a “uniform” for work. Bloomingdales Aqua trousers, a fitted top, and either a blazer or a cropped cardigan. I want to exercise in the mornings, and don’t want to THINK about what I need to put on after the workout. Maybe create a true capsule wardrobe for work for colder months?..

7 Touching base with my annual goals because I am too in the weeds these days, constantly preoccupied with the day-to-day responsibilities and not seeing the forest through the trees…

Physical health: I have our family YMCA membership and go about 4 times per week. Last week was an exception since I had a lingering cold so I went twice. “Take good care of my mental health“… I honestly still don’t even know what that means. I feel okay mentally, most of the time, unless I am in luteal phase then “nobody loves me…” Spring break road trip and summer travel plans are both still in limbo. The camping trip will be over Memorial day weekend, not in the summer.

I am reading and writing on the regular. Every night I read, and writing… maybe twice a week? I don’t really have a set cadence, when something is on my mind or I want to flesh things out, I write.

I have not been mindful of “celebrating the little things” but when I look back on last week, there are many little things to be grateful for. Valentine’s day with its chocolates, flowers, and milder weather, and that weird 100th day of school. Bigger things like having stable employment, sick days, and medical coverage. Having colleagues that make me laugh and certain students that care. Roasted chicken, rice and broccoli. A warm house and a comfy bed. That beautiful sunset the other day. Yeah, you know, THE sunset:

I have not seen any friends but I texted with our little sister-friend group. Still don’t know what I meant when I wrote “get social”…

It looks like I need to spend some time actually unpacking some of these, more vague, intentions, like “get social” and “take care of my mental health”. So I’ll add that to the list.

What do these two mean to you?

1. Get social
2. Take good care of mental health