Is It Over?

Okay, the horrors they persist but January is done at least.

The month has been terrible in the US. So much shit. Like even more shit than we've been seeing every other month of our current shit show. Which is saying a lot. But as I keep saying...we still have to live our lives.

So how did I do on my stuff?

Reading: I only got through 4 books in January which puts me behind already for my stated goal. But out of those four two were nonfiction and I owned two so not bad really. One of them was an anthology of short stories in the universe of The Stand. It wasn't quite as long as The Stand, but it was a beast of a book. Some of them were really good, some not so much, but you couldn't deny the influence King in general and The Stand in particular has had on a whole generation of writers. Also read a book about how we all need to find religion or at least some sort of spirituality and another on how we are all breathing altogether wrong. So yeah, it was an uplifting month over all.

Writing: This will be my 24th blog plus two pieces to Dana. So wrote more days than I didn't. Also put up four fiction pieces to this space so I hit that. And that is going to, for sure, be a huge challenge this year. I'm trying to decide if I just indulge in the gloom or if I keep trying to write spots of light. Maybe I'll do a grand romance for February. Hey, don't laugh, I did it before (There are four parts, this is the first one).

Workouts/Weight: So the goal was to lose 2 pounds last month and I lost one. Not what I was aiming for but better than a sharp stick in the eye. Especially considering I lost some then gained it all back right away. I did a new workout routine where I did a ten day cycle (did it twice) and got a new workout everyday out of it. Trying to decide this weekend if I change it up for February or keep it another month. I also was super careful about my gluten intake last month and lost about an inch of belly bloat so yeah, I was definitely getting very lax with that. Now I have to decide if I'm willing to live with the bloat and other digestion things or if I go back to being pretty strict with it. Though I've already decided when we are on vacation I'm eating what I want so March is already off the table for strict.

The food tracking has worked okay so far. I've been frustrated at times about it, but haven't caved in to gaming it so I'm taking that as a win. The Oura ring works for me as a reminder to move more. It's like the old movies where they would tie a string around their finger to remember something. It's a constant string. It also has been nice for sleep tracking. I've mentioned my insomnia has gotten so much better over the past few years (thank you, menopause) but the ring has added another layer of "oh I'm fine." It tracks the sleep stages. And I'm getting well within the averages of REM and Deep Sleep every night. So even on nights where sleep isn't as solid as I'd like, the REM and Deep Sleep numbers are holding steady.

Language is still a thing I'm doing. I'm still not going to get fluent doing it this way, but it's a good brain stretch. Masterclass this month has been with Jon Kabat-Zinn so it's been interesting AND some guided meditation days as well. I've figured out that chores will just be their own thing. So Brain: language, Masterclass, writing, reading. Heart: workout, eating well, being active aside from workouts. And then Chores: Daily, weekly, monthly. It's its own check box. I could try to cram it into a brain or heart box and probably could, but having it just be Chores is working.

I didn't do any stars or sparkles or things like that on my calendar last month. Just a note on my daily space, did the positive book write up then a quick Brain, Heart, Chores check in. I might change that up because I do love a sparkle star.

So that's January. The horrors they persist, and so does life.

Primary them all
Abolish ICE
Prosecute murderers
Read books
Write stories
Eat well and move

It's a weird priority list, but it is my life right now.