1- Virtual Book Club!
The Transplant department where I work has started a virtual book club, which will meet by Webex once a month on Monday evenings. I have never been in a book club, in part because the idea of potentially having to host a bunch of semi-strangers makes me anxious. 🙂 But this virtual platform sounds perfect- flexible, no pressure, no stress. Attend if you want, or not. I thought it may help encourage me to branch out and read different books as well. So far, A+ for the book choice:
I CANNOT PUT THIS DOWN! I have found myself telling myself during the work day, “Okay, when you finish work on this patient, you can take a quick break and read 4 pages.” Hahaha! So good!!
2- Swimming with Asher again
Yesterday afternoon I swam w/ A for the first time since October. Oof. I felt that. Crazy how HARD swimming is when you don’t actually ever swim. It was fun though and was nice to be back in the water. I always really enjoy the 1:1 time with him, especially the hot tub after and getting a pretzel! His #1 pick and a frequent tradition. (Our gym has this really cool bar/restaurant INSIDE the gym. Crazy, I know. But also awesome.)
3- Podcast episode from “Beyond the To-Do List”: Jon Acuff on Finishing, Fighting Perfectionism and Completing your Goals
This author has a new book out focusing on COMPLETING, not just “setting” goals. He discusses how people can often get tripped up on the “all or nothing” mentality. A few things I remember:
- “90% and imperfect helps more people than 100% perfect and in your head.” (referring to people creating content for others, but also a good point in general- 90% and DONE probably beats a never started project that “would have been” 100%.)
- Realize that some things are simply easier for some people than others. That’s just the way it is, so don’t compare yourself.
- Recognize “experience bias”. ONE person telling you how great something is/how it works for them is only a sample size of 1. Understand it might not work for you.
- “You can’t start something without stopping something else.” I like this. You can’t start reading more, for example, without STOPPING something else that was in that time slot previously (ex. scrolling on social media!).
4- Doing a puzzle while the kids practice piano
The last few nights, I have been sitting at our bar and working on this puzzle while they practice. It is a little too much to sit right next to them for 20-30 minutes while they practice (and kind of boring, too). I don’t always have time to even be down there, but if I do, I’m finding this is a nice mix. I’m right there if they need help, but I can enjoy playing around with the puzzle at the same time. Win-win.
5- This section in my daily page/ “journal”
I’m very happy with this little part of my daily journaling routine. Honestly, if you don’t have a journal of any kind, I would highly recommend just trying this section only for a week! I’ve mentioned this before, but the GREEN CHECK= things I got done that day, the SMILEY= things that made me happy/ pleasant things and the GRATITUDE/BUMMER is a place to list what I’m grateful for that day (or disappointed about).
I especially love the checkmark…sometimes, it’s hard to realize that we actually did get some things done in a busy day! Taking a moment to reflect on it is good. I wish I had a record like this from the time my kids were little. It only takes 30 seconds to fill out this part. Try it! 🙂
Daily Gratitude:
See above. I’m grateful for the space our basement adds to our house, a mild evening for a walk and relaxing time multi-tasking with the puzzle while kids practiced.
GRATEFUL KAE 
I’ve enjoyed filling in the journal you gave me. I like that I put in the dates versus having the years dates put in. That way if I miss a day it’s my obvious. I would feel guilty if I missed a day and it was clear I had – and I have missed some days as life is a little weird right now with me holding a baby nearly all day long! I often struggle to come up with a worst which is a good thing. It’s pretty much always about Will being fussy and we are in the fussy stage right now!
I LOVE puzzles! I got a new one for Christmas but haven’t started it and don’t know when I will. The best place to do a puzzle is our dining room table and I think it would be a disaster with Paul around. So that puzzle and others I’ve bought and received in the last year probably need to wait like 4 years. Ha! But someday I can do a puzzle. One year for my bday I had a puzzle party. I had people drop by on a Saturday afternoon and work on the puzzle. I had snacks and treats. It was super fun and a great way to catch up with people. I mean who doesn’t enjoy a puzzle right? Plus my bday is in feb and that is a time of year when you feel drawn to things like puzzles!
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i am adding this book to my amazon cart! I’ve never joined a bookclub, I wonder how you like it. I don’t have many friends here that likes to read, so maybe a virtual book club would be a good one. let me know how you like it.
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I’m envious of your virtual book club! That’s the ideal format – no pressure, no hosting (argh), no need to dress nicely, etc. I haven’t been able to find one but did find a book buddy at work – we share (well, pre-pandemic) and recommend (still) books to each other. It’s been wonderful… so perhaps we could add another person or two and mimic your set up! (I’m curious as to what type of transplants you work on, if it’s one particular kind?)
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The solid organ transplant department handles kidney, liver and pancreas transplants! I worked as an inpatient nurse with that patient population for 10 years, but now I do data work with primarily just the kidney transplants. The hospital handles heart and lung transplant in the separate cardiothoracic department.
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