Month: May 2021

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler Ross on how beautiful people are made:

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

Source: Death: The Final Stage of Growth

May is a tough month for me for it is filled with memories that are both beautiful and heartbreaking. May brings the anniversary of my mother’s cancer diagnosis, the anniversary of her surgery, and the anniversary of her death. It also brings Mother’s Day, her birthday, and Memorial Day – one of her favorite holidays. This quote speaks to me because it reminds me that suffering, struggle, loss – and the recovery from those spaces – brings appreciation, sensitivity, gentleness, and a deep awareness for those around you. While I still grieve the loss of a life cut short and miss her deeply, I am tremendously thankful to have had her for as long as I did — and I am thankful to have learned so many life lessons from her as an adult and mother.

01: Get 6 – 7 Hours of Sleep Each Night {Status: 133/140}

Lots of early mornings (with lengthy to-do lists) led to lots of early nights. Zzz!

02: Learn Calligraphy

I’m considering just letting this one go. How does one find time?

03: Purge 1000 items {Status: 760/1000}

My youngest daughter cleaned out her dresser – and 47 items left her room! I finally purged the bathroom closet with an embarrassing 85 items leaving. Why do I hold on to things that I obviously do not need?

04: Organize the Attic 

No progress in this area this week.

05: Read 100 Books, including ALL of the DBC books. {Status: 22/100}

I am woefully behind schedule on my reading…and I’m not sure if the summer will provide me to the space to catch up?

In Progress
(1) Radical Candor | Scott {Professional Growth}
(2) Culturally Responsive School Leadership | Khalifa {Professional Growth}
(3) Hacking Questions {Professional Growth}
(4) The Ethics of Leadership | Ciulla {Professional Growth}
(5) Coaching for Equity | Aguilar {Book Study, Professional Growth}

Complete:
Pleasure Reading: 23 books.

06: Try 52 New Recipes {Status: 09/52}

My kitchen stayed very clean this week…primarily because I did not use it.

07: Get in Shape

While I do feel more physically fit, the scale or the way that my clothes fit does not seem to be moving. I probably need to do some work in the kitchen. Here are some specific action steps that I took this week:

Spring challenge continues this week. I’m enjoying a 70 day streak!

For another week, I closed the Activity Ring every. single. day. There is something quite satisfying about these silly little rings!

I wrapped up Step Bet and won a few dollars. Now, I’m juggling two – which, is still a great motivator to get my daily steps *and* win a little cash!

08: #OneMonthGoals with Michael Matera

Last year, I joined Michael Matera on his #OneMonthGoals journey. I ran every single day for a month – and it was glorious. This year, I am committed to selecting (and sticking with) one new goal each month, which I will document here.

January 2021: Day 31 of my Run Streak! {Done!}
February 2021: Track my meals on Lose It App {28/28}
March 2021: Select and maintain a proper skin care routine! {31/31}
April 2021: Collagen Repair {9/9} + Coach to 5K! {30/30}
May 2021: Personal Development {23/23}

For May, I have decided to invest in my personal growth every day for 30 minutes.

09: Write/Send 52 notes/cards {Status: 78/52: Done!}

10: Maintain a weekly blog {18/52}

Here I am!

11: Simplify my life

This week was the crazinest week that I have experienced in a LONG time. Between several work emergencies and projects, we are prepping for the End of the Year (which is always a LOT of work with a long list of little things that are easy to forget)! Plus, this weekend brought Prom for *both* of my girls (and all of the things that accompany Prom like hair, nails, flowers, photos, dinner, dates, After-Prom… And, this weekend, we flipped two beach houses, landscaped three houses, housesat for a friend, chuaffeured a wedding, and graduated from a graduate microcreditional program. Wowsers. I’m tired.

12: Organize my mother’s photographs {475 scanned}

I did not touch this. Ooops.

Secret Goals! 

• Secret Goal #1: This one is about 1/3 complete! Cinderblocks arrived this week!
• Secret Goal #2: Parts of this one were assembled this week…
• Secret Goal #3: I have sketched out a paper/pencil plan for this…
• Secret Goal #4: I might just switch this one…

How are your goals going?

Cheers, Holly

So, this week was adventurous! Meet Obie!

01: Get 6 – 7 Hours of Sleep Each Night {Status: 126/133}

This was a great week for sleep! And, every day was easy thanks to sleep!

02: Learn Calligraphy

Still sitting in my inbox. One of these days, I’ll get there.

03: Purge 1000 items {Status: 628/1000}

I cleaned out three bookcases – 10 big textbooks and 52 magazines left! I also have a huge pile of clothes to count so I can add them next week.

04: Organize the Attic 

No progress in this area this week.

05: Read 100 Books, including ALL of the DBC books. {Status: 22/100}

I dusted off my library card to download some good beach reads! And, I’m inching my way through my Professional Reads, too! I should wrap up several in May!

In Progress
(1) Radical Candor | Scott {Professional Growth}
(2) Culturally Responsive School Leadership | Khalifa {Professional Growth}
(3) Hacking Questions {Professional Growth}
(4) The Ethics of Leadership | Ciulla {Professional Growth}
(5) Coaching for Equity | Aguilar {Book Study, Professional Growth}

Complete:
Pleasure Reading: 22 books.

06: Try 52 New Recipes {Status: 09/52}

Cooking did not happen this week – unless you can count a charcuterie board?

07: Get in Shape

Here are some specific action steps that I took this week:

Spring challenge continues this week. I’m enjoying a 63 day streak!

For another week, I closed the Activity Ring every. single. day. There is something quite satisfying about these silly little rings!

I’m juggling three StepBets right now! It’s a great motivator to get my daily steps *and* win a little cash!

08: #OneMonthGoals with Michael Matera

Last year, I joined Michael Matera on his #OneMonthGoals journey. I ran every single day for a month – and it was glorious. This year, I am committed to selecting (and sticking with) one new goal each month, which I will document here.

January 2021: Day 31 of my Run Streak! {Done!}
February 2021: Track my meals on Lose It App {28/28}
March 2021: Select and maintain a proper skin care routine! {31/31}
April 2021: Collagen Repair {9/9} + Coach to 5K! {30/30}
May 2021: Personal Development {16/16}

For May, I have decided to invest in my personal growth every day for 30 minutes.

09: Write/Send 52 notes/cards {Status: 78/52: Done!}

10: Maintain a weekly blog {17/52}

Here I am!

11: Simplify my life

In simplifying my week, I added a puppy to the family. I know. What am I thinking? I’m thinking that this puppy will remind me to slop down and play!

12: Organize my mother’s photographs {475 scanned}

I scanned and organized about 50 photographs this week. I was able to chip away at more of the boxes! I really want this task complete by December!

Secret Goals! 

• Secret Goal #1: This one is about 1/3 complete! Stay tuned!
• Secret Goal #2: Parts of this one were assembled this week…
• Secret Goal #3: I have sketched out a paper/pencil plan for this…
• Secret Goal #4: I might just switch this one…

How are your goals going?

Cheers, Holly

The difficult I’ll do right now. The impossible will take a little while.
– Billie Holiday

Source: Wintering

As we envision what education might look like on the other side of a pandemic, this quote speaks to me. Although I do not know what the future holds, I know – deep in my heart – that we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to transform education from the ground level.

01: Get 6 – 7 Hours of Sleep Each Night {Status: 119/126}

A few short sleeps as my girls faced college finals week and a few hiccups in friend circles. Thanks to my established routine, I took these in stride.

02: Learn Calligraphy

That new course is still sitting in my inbox! Maybe this will happen?

03: Purge 1000 items {Status: 566/1000}

I have two boxes of clothes ready to leave – I just need to count the items. And, 30 more subscriptions are deleted!

04: Organize the Attic 

No progress in this area this week.

05: Read 100 Books, including ALL of the DBC books. {Status: 21/100}

While I read a lot this week, I didn’t finish ANYthing. Maybe I’m due for a flood of finishes soon? Maybe?

In Progress
(1) Radical Candor | Scott {Professional Growth}
(2) Culturally Responsive School Leadership | Khalifa {Professional Growth}
(3) Hacking Questions {Professional Growth}
(4) The Ethics of Leadership | Ciulla {Professional Growth}
(5) Coaching for Equity | Aguilar {Book Study, Professional Growth}

Complete:
Pleasure Reading: 21 books.

06: Try 52 New Recipes {Status: 09/52}

Mother’s Day Blueberry Cheesecake Dessert. My favorite. What a way to pamper me!

07: Get in Shape

Here are some specific action steps that I took this week:

Spring challenge continues this week. I’m enjoying a 55 day streak!

Earned a couple of cool badges!

For another week, I closed the Activity Ring every. single. day. There is something quite satisfying about these silly little rings!

I’m pretty proud of have a 135 day MOVE streak, too!

I joined ANOTHER StepBet to push myself to get extra steps each day. I also love these bets because I lace up my sneakers, pop in my earbuds, and enjoy this glorious Spring weather!

08: #OneMonthGoals with Michael Matera

Last year, I joined Michael Matera on his #OneMonthGoals journey. I ran every single day for a month – and it was glorious. This year, I am committed to selecting (and sticking with) one new goal each month, which I will document here.

January 2021: Day 31 of my Run Streak! {Done!}
February 2021: Track my meals on Lose It App {28/28}
March 2021: Select and maintain a proper skin care routine! {31/31}
April 2021: Collagen Repair {9/9} + Coach to 5K! {30/30}
May 2021: Personal Development {9/9}

For May, I have decided to invest in my personal growth every day for 30 minutes.

09: Write/Send 52 notes/cards {Status: 78/52: Done!}

10: Maintain a weekly blog {16/52}

I missed a couple of weeks – but, I’m back!

11: Simplify my life

As the academic year winds to a close, I continue to work to do ALL of my work at work and enjoy my house (and the people in it) in the evenings. I’m getting better and better at this!

12: Organize my mother’s photographs {425 scanned}

I scanned and organized about 100 photographs this week. I was able to eliminate one more large envelope of memorabilia. It was so fun to find my mother’s Prom memorabilia – especially since she went to the Prom with my Dad!

Secret Goals! 

• Secret Goal #1: This one is about 1/3 complete! Stay tuned!
• Secret Goal #2: Parts of this one were assembled this week…
• Secret Goal #3: I have sketched out a paper/pencil plan for this…
• Secret Goal #4: I might just switch this one…

How are your goals going?

Cheers, Holly