Currently August 2018:
Goodbye August, Hello September.
August was a doozy. August always is if you have a child out of school for the summer. There’s this pull of trying to savor all the time with your child while working and then sometimes wanting to go back to school just because you love a routine and rhythm. Summer seems to end the second school starts.
And here we are in September already.
Here’s what August 2017 & August 2016 looked like btw. I love reading some of my old entries.
The weird thing about living in the Bay Area (where I have lived most of my life), is that this is the time of year where the leaves start changing and we get hints of Autumn cues like leaves falling but then we are BLASTED with heat. It’s very confusing for the mind. Especially when you just want to settle into sweater weather and start getting cozy.
August was my birthday month. I turned 39. This is the last year of my 40s. This was also the first birthday I had without my Mom. We were up in Tahoe for it. It’s such a weird thing to go on a yearly vacation without her. Trips are more mellow and quiet. At least this trip I got to stay up late talking with my friend Eileen til 2 AM. My mom would have been proud.
For every birthday, my parents would call me first thing in the morning. They’d have the phone on speaker phone. Their singing was a little off tune. My mom lead the way. This was the first time it didn’t happen. We were in Tahoe and my Dad had a major head cold. New normals.
I did receive:
a birthday card that sang me “CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES” (the kind of card my mom would have sent me)
a birthday package from a friend who was glad I was born
a birthday bracelet from my boys that looks like the veins of a tree.
a birthday voxer from a friend who imitated Marilyn Monroe’s voice
a double date night in Tahoe with lots of drinks, food and a dairy queen cone with my bro & sis
at least a dozen birthday cards in my PO BOX (THANK YOU)
Birthdays are a trip when you get older. I am just so glad that people are still thoughtful. THANK YOU.
This month was also big because my 6-page spread in Better Homes & Gardens on Meal Prepping came out!
It was so awesome to see so many people tag me in their photos of the magazine in their Instagram stories. It felt so fun and special knowing that a lot of you are cooking from the story.
The assignment came at a particularly tough time during my grief process and knowing that it would have made my mom so proud kept me going. Thank you so much to Nancy & team! Thank you for believing in me and thank you for lighting a fire under my butt to get my work together to show. It was just what I needed at the time.
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every day and track steps
