Thank you to everyone who reflected on my desire to get a position in higher education in addition to my k-12 job. It is not something that is done overnight and will require some deep thinking on my part. Most weeks I can barely keep my head above water, let alone teach a college-level class. The idea has not left me but, at this point in time, no active action will be taken. I simply do not have the bandwidth to go through with it in this season of life.

white space

Last week, my husband was away for a few days so I was solo parenting. Regardless, I had some generous white space on my calendar and nice buffers between work and home. My evenings were easy, too. I even managed to do a little gardening when the kids were on the trampoline.

Examples:

Monday, an easy day at work, then home, white space alone at the house!

Tuesday, did some gardening after coming home with the kids, trimmed roses.

Wednesday, swimming at the YMCA after work.

Thursday, a hard day at work but white space at home, took a nap and finished the Wedding People.

Friday, another easy day at work, then weights and cardio at the YMCA, then home, then my friend’s birthday celebration that ran very late into the night. Man was I tired the next day.

outside time

I get a lot of inspiration from podcasts these days. After listening to yet another podcast, I found out that current humans are nature starved. There is an “inside epidemic” going on where humans simply do not get enough time outside. The recommended dose of nature Rx? Five hours a week.

Because NJ had some summer-like weather last week I took to sitting outside with my morning coffee. It was glorious. I even walked around with my bare feet one morning.

allergies

Spring is here and my son and I are sneezing machines. Me- just a little, him- A LOT. Poor kid. Sneezing, runny nose, red eyes and puffy area around his eyes… I started giving him children’s Claritin and it seemed to help. Also, children’s Flonase. For me, I took a Claritin yesterday but that didn’t seem to help. The car has a thick layer of yellow pollen on it. I dusted the surfaces in the house multiple times to keep the pollen at bay. I love to open windows so it’s inevitable that pollen will get in.

Subscriptions

I want to subscribe to The Purse. It’s an online newsletter about finances, women, division of labor, and home economics (but not in the typical sense). I get some of their articles but want to dig into their archives and have unlimited access.

Overall, I do not subscribe to any of the paid content on the internet. Of course, we have Netflix and Hulu and stuff. But all that is family stuff.

I know my husband subscribes to a few creators in maker space. But me… I am just way too cheap to do that.

Maybe it’s time? Maybe I start with The Purse for $50/a year?

I wrote in my looking back, looking forward reflection that April will be low key, and so far, it has been just that. This coming week my husband is away for business again so it’s me and the kiddos. The weather is cooler and I can’t really sit outside in the mornings.

This week has some hard things and good things. My kids have their spring concerts. It is also “bring your child to work” day on Thursday. Their regular activities… Piano, jiu jitsu… Exercise and time outside, for me. And let’s not forget this thing called work.

Questions for you…

Do you feel you get enough time outside?

Do you suffer from seasonal allergies?

What/who do you subscribe to in terms of independent creators/newsletters?

What is “white space” looks like for you?

Have a great week!