#1: Adios election ads!!
Very excited to have the always so informational and influential election ads go buh-bye now.
I voted in-person absentee last Thursday, but Ivan never made it over there, so he’ll go today.
#2: Feeling a little wonky today in general. Some work stuff/ stress that I can’t really talk about here but has my head kind of out of sorts. Blah.
#3: Ethan and I woke up at 4:40 a.m. to see the lunar eclipse. He heard about it on the news and REALLY wanted to see it, so he set an alarm. We went out on the front lawn, and yep, we saw it! It was neat. A very strange shadowy red color. I took a picture. My iphone is good, but it’s still not a telescope. Maybe that will be the iphone 15.
I think he went back to bed. I tucked him back in and then came downstairs to my office. Not sure if he fell back to sleep or not. Hopefully!
#4: November goal update: I’m sitting at 7/7 days for my “get outside for 20 minutes every day”. It is surprisingly refreshing to just focus on one single thing. I’m always so tempted to want to do more, but I can really see how simplifying increases odds of success.
And, despite it not technically being part of the goal, so far all 7 days have included an outdoor walk as my outside time. Bonus.
I’m trying to sort of really tune in to the fact that I am OUTSIDE, too, instead of just zoning out with my podcast. Like, I try to take a couple deep breaths, smell the air, pay attention to the feeling of the breeze on my face, etc. It’s been nice.
I took these pics at 4:52 p.m. last night- NO filter! Aren’t they just beautiful!?
#5: I’m using my fall bookmark. I’m almost done reading Tranquility by Tuesday (now that my humongous Tribe of Mentors is done, I can continue reading other things!). I never seem to have oodles of time to read, but even just a little bit each day feels good to me. Like I’m still a “reader”, at least.
I’ve been making a point to use my purchased-in-Vermont fall bookmark. A small pleasure, but a small thing that brightens my day.
#6: Christmas music is BACK. Yep. Two local radio stations made “the switch” a few days ago now, and my boys were very cutely excited about it. They actually both like to leave a radio on quietly overnight while they sleep- not sure why, but they both do it. And they LOVE LOVE LOVE when the Christmas music is on. They both find it so relaxing. Last year on the 26th or whenever it went away they both complained and felt sad. We’ve had it on the car, too. I may be the odd person who really doesn’t get sick of it. At least, I’m good for a full 2 months. Maybe eventually I would. But right now, I’m welcoming it! Just makes me happy. 🎅🎄
Quote of the Day:
If you’re always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you’re in??
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a good report from Ethan’s Ortho yesterday. Looks like he can be done turning that yucky expander key, though he’ll need to keep the expander in place for a couple more months. Hopefully by mid-January though that thing can come out– although at that point he’ll get to start adding rubber bands and probably head gear. yay….
GRATEFUL KAE 
If you get a dog, you can get outside for 20 minutes a day with no problem…(ha ha ha! don’t get a dog – they’re expensive!).
I totaled up the election mailers that just our house got in the mail and it’s absolutely ridiculous! Imagine the environmental impact for something that NO ONE is going to ever look at! Argh. If the federal government could figure out how to limit money in politics and fix gerrymandering, elections would be so much more fair and streamlined!
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Oh gosh, I wasn’t even really thinking about all the paper mailers, etc too…. good point! I am just so sick of the local TV ads constantly! I swear, every single commercial break from Wheel of Fortune makes the rounds through the various candidates and same ads…. Ugh! (Also sick of random people texting me/political robo calls too!)
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Elections are SO different here in Canada. I receive nothing in the mail; we might have a few candidates knock on our door to hand us a flyer and chat for a minute about the weather. We don’t have cable, so I see exactly ZERO ads throughout the entire (very, very short) campaigns.
I LOVE that you got up to see the eclipse and all your pictures look so beautiful with the changing sky.
Hope the tough things at work clear up soon; work stress can cast a huge shadow over the rest of life’s activities. Sorry you’re going through this!
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We got SO MANY ADS. And honestly, they did NOTHING to help me decide on the candidates/issues, so…. *shrug* I am glad they’re one. What a waste.
Jon and I voted by mail-drop off last week already but I am anxious to see how it all turns out. Will be tuning into the election coverage tonight.
Ugh, and I totally missed the eclipse. It was not on my radar. Great shot though. And the sunset pictures are beautiful, too.
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sorry to hear about work stress…. those are not fun as many times they are beyond other control, especially people’s personalities. hope it gets sort it soon.
love your evening walk pics, sooo beautiful. I haven’t found a good spot to walk after walk other than the 10 min walk from office to home which is a lovely path. I wish I am closer to the nature. I might have to drive out of the city for that, sigh…. in the near future.
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Ugh work stress. That is rough!
We did not get much in the way of election mailers. I think politicians probably realize our area of the city isn’t swayable by much. I did silence ads on tv when the boys were around so as to avoid having to explain what some of the words mean that I don’t feel I am ready to explain to my 4.5yo. I am happy the election is behind us. I watched a little bit of the coverage last night but turned it off as it kind of stresses me out!
I am totally guilty of rushing to the next thing/not savoring the moment! That is something I need to work on. I think my need to be as productive as possible really works against me. Like I can’t just go for a walk or run, I have to be listening to a podcast at the same time. But having kids help as I do not listen to anything when I am on walks w/ them or at the park, etc. And they help me notice things because I will point out pretty leaves or ducks or things like that. I likely would not notice them otherwise!
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