8 February :: with March already in sight

vegan coconut-blood orange-ginger smoothie, for healing

This short month certainly feels that way, with both John and I being sick (I'm home today from school with a gross cold, but John is thankfully back at school after the flu), an upcoming train trip to Florida for a Montessori conference, and parent-teacher conference prep. So, I'm looking forward to March, my self-declared MONTH of simplicity, with FIVE grand weekends of living simply and taking it slow.

vegan butternut squash pasta

My week of simplicity went well, but was fraught with me being very busy around the home due to one of us being down. Probably contributed to making me sick, too. I am in a bit of winter doldrums, have been getting to the gym regularly and noticing changes which feels great but John and I have struggled to find time to spend together (really we just were prioritizing other things which are also important to us individually) and I have been terrible about menu planning, often cooking something up on the spur of the moment or throwing a Boca burger into the oven. It feels lazy and uninspired, but sometimes feels necessary to achieve other things. We've done quite a bit of takeaway too, also not my feel-good strategy. I'm hoping I can take Heather's upcoming Whole Foods workshop and get reinvigorated! Basically, the days now just feel so compressed, because they are shorter, dark comes sooner, and we just have very limited before and after school down time. We are not "worker bee" types, I do work very hard at and love what I do but the five-day structure, "grind" if you will, has always been an imbalance for me. I value home life and activity and personal time very much. In fact, I think i NEED that time to feel whole.

So, yes, before I go too negative, March. Beautiful, sweet March. I'm still crazed with the knitting bug, but not allowing myself daily time for it. I do go to yarn club across the bay on Wednesday nights and I love that. I need to make sure to work that in somewhere. Like wake up early (always so difficult for me, as when I wake up it's still dark), sit quietly with coffee, knit a few rows. Same going for after school, maybe I just need to sometimes sit in a chair and knit a few rows and reflect upon the day. Those aren't bad ideas, right?

AMAZING vegan aloo gobi dish with spiced chickpeas on top

I have been able to get off the computer much more, that feels wonderful. Especially escaping from Facebook. When you have just over 100 "friends" it's much more manageable (and boring). Love that. I do have such a love-hate relationship with the Technology Revolution.

March will be full of DOING, but it will be about DOING with John. With food. With yarn. With reading books. With getting out and appreciating nature more. With sleeping long hours each night to feel rested and ready to wake up in the early mornings to give a little back to myself. With continuing to change my body for the better through gym workouts, yoga, pilates. I never thought I was a "gym" person. I was wrong. It's a wonderful "healthy addiction" but you must listen and not feel guilty when your body tells you to pull back. I would like to reconnect a little more deeply by writing some close friends. I'd like to pull the wedding together just a little more, but I'll let April start things swinging with all of its spring energy (and six months before our date!).

For now, I'm going to hang out in the arms of March. It's a good month for doing so, don't you think?

Also, any wake-up-early-in-the-dark and enjoy some "me" time strategies are highly appreciated.

love and light,

k.