February 2022 review

[sweetpumkinpye]

February done and dusted. February is usually the month when I find my stride and get back into some sort of routine.

What worked for me this month?

• CHRISTMAS/Holidays
• Made a lot of lists and talked to family members about tentative plans for Christmas 2022. Had a planning day at Mum's where we discussed menus and gift ideas. Both agreed that what we did and how we celebrated last year was right for how our family is now.
• Started buying ingredients for baking and for meals around Christmas. A lot of the items we buy are available now and can be easily stored in the pantry or freezer. Buying what we can now spreads the cost over the year and makes things much more manageable, even with cutting back there is still a lot to buy and we have to be sensible with how we do it.
• Stocking fillers have been my focus and I have made a good start.
• Talked about plans for Easter, need to cement those plans.

• PERSONALLY
• This year I would like to try to connect with those who mean a lot to me. With people being busy I have taken to writing reminders in my diary to contact people. I don't want to miss connecting with the people who mean a lot to me. This month we had dinner with DD's in laws who have become friends of ours, lunch with former co workers and a few family dinners with DD and DSIL. Mum, DS and I went for a shopping trip and some lunch to a shopping centre on the other side of our town. DD, Mum and I went to see Belfast at the movies. This was all lovely.
• Mum and I have planned a lot of small day trips to towns around our area and some visits to interesting places in our town. We have also planned baking days and a few other activities that I am looking forward to.
• DH and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary on 22.02.2022. I am absolutely blessed that we found each other all those years ago and have made a wonderful life together.

What did not work for me?

• Weight control/exercise/diet.
• I am not sure where I am going with this. I am absolutely going backwards and I don't like it. I know exactly what I am doing wrong but just now don't seem to be capable of reeling it back in. I have put on 1 kilo since the new year and a total of about 4 kilos on since the wedding. I need to figure out how to get back to my plan or all of my hard work will be for nothing. This is entirely my own making and I am the only one that can resolve this.
• The other thing that occured to me this month is that I have a feeling that I need to be constantly busy. I have had a knitted teddy bear that has been waiting to be sewn together for over a year. What is wrong with me taking the time in the afternoons and do something that I enjoy? I have a lot of time home through the week with only working one day. Maybe I feel that I have to justify to DH that I am busy while he is out at work. Not sure. This is something that I would like to work on.
• Finances. I spent much more than I needed, the price of food has gone through the roof here. In my search for specials and bargains I have visited shops much more that usual. I need to settle down with this.
• Procrastination I am wanting to sell a few pieces of furniture before moving to the farm and to be honest at this stage it all seems a bit too hard. Word of the year is PREPARE!! and I am not in a preparing mood right now.

Happy for the most part with how the start of the year is going for us as a family. I am sure that there are many places to improve but for now I think things are going OK.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

What worked?

• This was one of the dreariest February that I can remember. We had a lot of gray skies and rain. It was good to have the white lights up in the living room. I had candles burning in the fireplace. That really helped the atmosphere.
• I really do not like to be in the kitchen. I tried a few different dinner recipes this month to get out of the rut. I asked that my dd send me some to try. I'd do that again.
• When I was feeling up to walking but the weather wasn't cooperating, I did laps in my basement. I also used any phone conversations as a time to walk laps and talk.
• Journaling in the morning instead of the evening allowed me to feel like I was taking care of me first. I felt like I could give of myself because I was filled by taking time for me. I found that I was more consistent if I wrote in the morning. I also was happier through out the day. That may be an introvert thing only. I'm not sure if extroverts would feel the same way.
• I'm using more features of my Fitbit to keep me on a flexible track of good health. I'm more aware of how I feel after eating. Junk food make me feel like junk and healthy food makes me feel healthy. I'm finding that movement is key to good heart rate. It is also good for building muscles and moving joints. Some movement is better than no movement. Every day is a brand new day with new opportunities for good health habits to form.

What didn't work?

• I am the self-appointed problem solver to family and friends. I create more problems for myself without anyone asking me. I have to RELEASE that habit.
• I am still putting expectations on myself that no one has placed on me. When I do that to myself, it gets my heart rate and blood pressure up. Last week while driving on a relaxing country road, my Fitbit went off letting me know that I was in the "Zone." That meant that my heart rate was high enough to register for at least 11 minutes. I had been driving during that time but I had been thinking of the extra work that I wanted to do to "prove my capability" in a meeting later that day. Seriously? I've known these people for 10 years now. They know what I can and cannot do. No one asked me to do this. I decided then and there to attend the meeting but not do the extra work I was putting on myself. This is another habit I have to RELEASE.
• There were a few nights during the work week that I stayed up doing work until midnight. Then I was too exhausted the next day to get up when I was supposed to get up. I did get up but then took a nap later. They way I felt the rest of the next day was not worth staying up to midnight to work on a project. Those days were some of my least productive days.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

Procrastination I am wanting to sell a few pieces of furniture before moving to the farm and to be honest at this stage it all seems a bit too hard. Word of the year is PREPARE!! and I am not in a preparing mood right now.

Katrina, I was just reading about procrastination in the book The Artist's Way. The author states that procrastination isn't laziness but it is fear, fear of failure, fear of success, or fear of abandonment. The author suggests starting with a small goal and build up. Reward yourself along the way. If you set impossible goals, it creates fear and fear creates procrastination. She ends by saying the cure to fear is love.

I have a lot of time home through the week with only working one day. Maybe I feel that I have to justify to DH that I am busy while he is out at work. Not sure. This is something that I would like to work on.

I understand that feeling. I was going through that these last two years. What I've been realizing about myself is that when I don't take time out to be creative or to do something enjoyable at least for a bit each day, a little part of me dies. It was easier to carve out daily "me" time to garden, do research, etc. without guilt when my children were little and at home. I needed a break. Now I'm seeing that it wasn't necessarily needing a break from motherhood and work, it was just needing to do something fun that I liked. I've felt the difference when I take time out for myself. Dh has seen the difference.

 

[Lori K]

The first half of Feb. was on-target; the second half, not so much.

• Health -- Weight loss was a bust this month. For the most part, I stayed away from that grab-n-go mentality of the past (a WIN), and worked at keeping my water intake up (also a WIN). But the weather and a broken wrist kept my activity level down for the second half of the month. Three more weeks in a cast ... and I started walking on the community indoor track yesterday, now that some dexterity in my fingers is back and I can finally tie my shoes again.
• Financial -- Overall, I feel pretty good about my financial health this month -- all things considered. As noted above, grab-n-go was a non-issue, except for yesterday. I'll take it, when it's on the last day of the month (forgot my water bottle when I went to walk, and then went for groceries; parched by the time I left the store). Meals out and entertainment (with my Widows group) came in 20% higher than budgeted; there was one dinner that was more than I expected. Gas was under budget, in part because driving was all local and I did not travel to my mom's in Michigan, due to weather and my wrist. Groceries for the month came in 10% above budget, due to price increases and the need to get some pre-prepared items to aid in cooking one-handed -- bagged salad, rather than a head, a small container of chopped onions and chopped peppers, for that initial week, etc. And, I shopped on the last day of the month, so one additional shop in February.

One thing I'm not thrilled with is being forced into electronic bill pay. Having been through a couple of identity theft issues in the past, I've not embraced this kind of banking. But since I'm right-handed, the thought of writing checks???? I also made a major decision that involves a financial issue, the sale of a piece of property that has kept me "grounded" with my husband. It's listed, and I was happy to have made that decision. It's time. When it's sold, that may be a whole other issue. But there was a sense of positivity, almost relief, at making that choice.​

• Happiness -- While I'm not UNhappy, the struggle is real, especially when the weather doesn't cooperate. But it was heartwarming to see the number of people who offered help, in the event that I needed it. DD was a life-saver that first weekend after my break; another friend came and sliced bread for me and moved a heavy stock pot into the sink, where it could soak until my DD arrived; another friend stopped over unexpectedly to move my trash cans in. And, because initially typing was difficult, I opted to relinquish some of my responsibilities with the Widows group, handing it back to the lead organizer. It's a start. I need to find a different group in order to grow; it's just finding that new and right space. Another widow-friend is also working through this, and we're both looking for new options; she actually broke ties, completely, with the Widows group for some of the same concerns I have. Will see where it goes over time.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I also made a major decision that involves a financial issue, the sale of a piece of property that has kept me "grounded" with my husband. It's listed, and I was happy to have made that decision. It's time. When it's sold, that may be a whole other issue. But there was a sense of positivity, almost relief, at making that choice.

From the property you could dig up some dirt ( for display in a small decorative bottle or necklace bottle) or collect some stones to keep grounded. This decision needed the time you took.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

I also made a major decision that involves a financial issue, the sale of a piece of property that has kept me "grounded" with my husband.

(((Hugs))) to you, Lori.