​February’s non-fiction book reading was “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” by Daniel H. Pink.
This book was lent to me by one of my colleagues at work. The book is heavy on research into the perfect timing of completing tasks. Some of it was a little dry, but overall it had some great nuggets.

1. There are tips about combatting a mid-life slump. These include things like writing a letter of self-compassion to yourself, prioritizing your goals, and waiting. Yes, sometimes waiting can be the best course of action. There have been a few times in my life where inaction was actually beneficial in the long run.
2. The book talked about the importance of timing different tasks. I won’t go into it too much here. I will say that I think we all have our own rhythms in life and we have to figure out what works best for us (and worry less about what other think). For example, I tend to be very much a morning person. I can get a lot done early in the morning, but have a serious mid-day slump where I struggle to do anything! Figure out your own patterns and find a way to work with them instead of against them.
3. The book has an exercise you can do to help you determine our own patterns.

 
 
The book had a lot of good information. I would definitely suggest reading it over listening to it on audio. There are a lot of diagrams and examples in the book that would make little sense in audio format. If you like this type of book, you may enjoy the book. I would suggest checking it out from the library or borrowing it from a friend before buying it. Then if you like it well enough, you can purchase it. 

2-18-22
Dear Tom,
Today it has been 18 months since you left us.
1 ½ years
549 days
13,176 hours
790,560 minutes
Since I last saw you. Since I last held your hand. Since I last hugged you. I do not think there has been a day in the last year and a half that I have not cried at least once about how much I miss you. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had plenty of happy moments too. But even those are a little bittersweet because I cannot share them with you.

​
Recently, I wrote this poem:
You are gone
I was just hit,
With a wave,
Of missing you.
Wish I could
Pretend I don’t miss you,
But I do.
Your kind eyes,
Your loving smile,
Your gentle hands.
Sometimes the pain,
Is like a tiny needle,
In my heart.
But sometimes it’s,
Like a million needles,
All poking my heart,
Together,
To remind me that…
You are gone. 

​God brings the people into your life that you need. That need may be for a season or for a lifetime, but God is watching out for you.
Last summer, I enrolled in GriefShare through a church in Enid. I met some really great people in the class and the class was very helpful for me in the grieving process. In the class, I met these two ladies, Susan and Judy. As we were getting to the end of our sessions, I was thinking to myself that I would really like to keep spending time with them afterwards and get to know them better. About three weeks after our last meeting was the anniversary or Tom’s death. They invited me out to lunch that day. I was hesitant to go because I knew I wasn’t going to be great company that day. But then I thought “If anyone can understand that, these two ladies can”. So I went and I am so glad I did. They were so excited and happy for me when I got my new job. We have supported and reached out to each other over the last few months and they have been such a blessing for me.
Sunday night, I hosted a Galentine’s Party and they came. It was the most wonderful night. We ate, we chatted, we laughed, we played a game of Farkle. It was just good for my soul. I desperately miss my Valentine, but I am thankful for these Galentine’s that God brought into my life. 

​When you’re grieving, you never know what can send waves of grief crashing through you. Yesterday, it was breaking this little saucepan. I was scrubbing it and the handle just snapped. This pot was something that Tom brought to our household when we moved in together. It was our “go-to” pot for heating soup. It brought back memories of Tom heating soup for me when I was sick (or me doing the same for him). Making soup for the kids when they were sick. When I de-cluttered some pots/pans a few years ago, it was one of the ones that I kept. So when that handle snapped off in my hand yesterday, I just burst into tears. It took me until today to go ahead and throw it away. It probably seems silly to cry over breaking a pot, but grief is that way. It comes out of nowhere and grabs you and you just don’t know when or why it’s going to happen.
Valentine’s Day is Monday. Those of you who still have your Valentine’s in your lives, treasure them. I miss mine so much. 

Saturday:
I did my clean for 15 and worked on clearing out emails.

Daily Aims:
I did my devotional/journal, my read/rest, tracked my blood sugar/food, and did my positive mirror and affirmations. I did not walk that day and I did not get two fruits that day (I got two vegetables). I also did not do my thankfulness exercise.

Sunday:
Did not do my clean for 15 challenge on my computer

Daily Aims:
I did my devotional/journal, read/rest, tracked my blood sugar/food, did my positive mirror and affirmations, my thankfulness exercise and got my servings of fruits and vegetables. Did not walk on Sunday.

Monday:
Did my clean for 15 and worked in the kitchen.

Also met all of my daily aims. 

For this week, I will post an update at the end of the week on how I did. 

​

I have done well the last couple of days doing my Clean for 15 and my Daily Aims. I ended up having snow days from work the last two days. I did have a webinar to teach last night, but I did enjoy just chilling out all day during the day. It also gave me a bit of time to start on taxes. 

I did not get this written and posted last night, but I did my "Clean for 15" challenge yesterday and met all of my Daily Aims. 

​Hope everyone is staying safe and warm in this weather!

Okay, first day of February is about wrapped up, so here's my update for today.

I did my "clean for 15" job this morning. 

Plus I did all my Daily Aims:
Walked
Tracked my blood sugar and food
Did my thankfulness exercise (I did it driving in the car today)
Did my positive to the mirror and listened to the affirmation video I found
Devotional/journal
Drank my water
Did my reading/rest time
​Had two fruits/two vegetables today

​February reset:
Does anyone else see the irony in my 2022 Word of the Year being “Healthy” and then I catch COVID for the first time less than two weeks into the year? It is one of those things that I think Tom would have referred to as “so NOT funny as to be hilarious”. At this point, I feel mostly back to normal, but I do still have some issues with fatigue. I kept up doing devotions and writing in my journal each day. I also tracked my blood sugar and food intake and drank my water everyday even while I was sick. I also said something positive to myself in the mirror each day, but did not listen to the positive affirmation video that I found. I did not keep up with other daily aims like exercising, thankfulness walk, reading, or doing my “Clean for 15” challenge. I would say I did so-so on the eating fruits and vegetable goal. Some of the days I did not have much of an appetite and nothing much tasted good. Overall, I am okay with how I did in January considering I was sick.
With February around the corner, I am going to re-commit myself to my Daily Aims and my Clean for 15 challenge. To keep myself accountable, I am going to post an update each day for at least the first week. I think this will help me stay on track.
Just a reminder. The Daily Aims are:
20 minute walk
Drink 80 oz of water
Two servings of fruit and two servings of vegetables per day
Take a thankfulness walk.
Say something positive to myself in the mirror each morning and listen to an affirmation recording.
Devotional/journal
Read/rest 22 minutes a day
Record blood sugar and food intake
 
In addition, I have my Clean for 15 challenge where I choose an area of the house or a digital item to clean and/or declutter. 

​COVID: 1 Tracy: 0
Actually, that’s not true. Covid may have finally caught up to me, but I still won. I felt pretty lousy and I slept a lot. But I never had any breathing problems and I started feeling better within a few days. So many things to be thankful for!
I have not done great on my daily aims AND I broke my 2+ year exercise streak, which made me very sad. However, healing and taking care of myself was my priority, so I am going to be okay with it. I’m giving myself two more days of rest and Monday morning, it’s back to the exercise and starting a new streak!
Hope all of you are healthy and staying well.