May 2025 Recap

May was a good month overall! The weather FINALLY starts to feel like spring in May around here and it is amazing.

I have never really been a “super impacted by the weather” person, but maybe I am becoming one in my old age. lol. I just felt extra blah for a long time during the post-holidays winter season and much of “spring”. The seemingly endless cold days also bothered me more than I remember from past years. It’s odd though, because I generally really do like having four seasons, and I also do love all the cozy things that come with cold weather. 🤷‍♀️

We finally had some beautiful stretches of weather in May, and it has made everything feel lighter and more pleasant.

This May also was nowhere NEAR the chaos level we’ve experienced in many (most) previous Mays since having school aged children.

Big changes=

• no club soccer
• no graduations
• a child who drives
• fewer swim meets/ toned down swim season this spring
• no multi-sport seasons happening like in past
• fewer school events/ parent-attended programs now in high school vs younger grades

Accomplish List:

• decluttered kitchen closet
• volunteered x6 hours at a swim meet
• decluttered water bottle cabinet
• decluttered dog drawer unit
• pharmacy pick ups/ management
• multiple fridge clean outs
• helped my mom edit her Storyworth stories!
• got a mammogram
• took Asher to a behind-the-wheel driving session
• picked up Asher early after his AP test
• helped Ethan w/ a Spanish presentation
• closet organization, change winter –> summer
• got Charlie set up at dog boarding for upcoming trip, took him for a trial daycare run!
• wrote 2 Colorado + Utah trip blog posts
• reordered Charlie’s flea/tick medicine
• went to Ethan’s tennis match
• weeded our whole front landscaping area
• took Asher to several early 5:30 a.m. swim practices
• drove Asher many places- lifeguarding shifts, swim, fishing pond, golf course…
• bought my mom a nice Mother’s Day gift
• went on a shopping spree w/ Asher in Wisconsin Dells
• went to Ethan’s tennis banquet
• attempted a few days of strict Whole 30…. 😅 and subsequently failed.
• Copenhagen planning/ research
• took a bunch of returns back
• cleaned house x2, washed sheets, towels, etc..
• prep ground and plant grass seed
• intense work month with prep/ delivery of 2 bigger quarterly meetings I have to run and present at
• bought flowers and planted my summer planters, flowers, etc.
• watered the new grass seed a bunch!
• groceries, meal planning, the usual..
• library runs

Happy/ Gratitude:

• my mom was here for almost a week!
• Ethan made it safe and sound to several far away tennis matches/ longer drives on his own
• good swims for Asher at his meet!
• nice “coworkers” to volunteer with on shift at swim meet
• Chipotle. LOVE.
• a movie night w/ my parents
• hot tub w/ Asher a couple times
• good weather!! Had the windows open a lot which I adore.
• my slippers (still always chilly in basement office)
• for the boys cutting the grass
• sandal weather
• iced tea/ lemonade combo
• walking in a new development in the back of our neighborhood- very pretty natural area
• a walk with Ethan on a no-school day
• bonfire with Ethan
• Asher worked at Mexican restaurant on Mother’s Day weekend and did really well! And made $$. 😉
• lovely dinner out on Mother’s Day with Ivan and the boys
• reading on the deck
• Charlie did okay at doggie daycare!
• Asher able to bike himself to his haircut appt one evening when no one else was home
• a particular light jeans + red blouse combo 🙂
• a “one pot spaghetti bolognese” I made that everyone liked!
• a cozy thunderstorm day
• a work day with no meetings!
• getting a sneak peak of Sarah’s book cover- so awesome
• shopping + dinner day with Asher, and him commenting “this was so nice!”
• country music
• randomly watching part of Pitch Perfect 3 on TV on the couch one day
• the smell of rain
• a couple new tops I bought
• Ethan meeting up w/ us for dinner out
• plain whole almonds taste so good
• the seasoning mix I used on salmon
• watching We Were the Lucky Ones with Ivan
• breakfast/ coffee/ tea on the deck
• my cute new planner!
• surviving a movie with no popcorn! lol. But glad won’t be repeating this.
• Ethan’s last day of school + successful year + excellent GPA
• closet feeling much lighter and better post-change around
• breakfast + Copenhagen planning with Asher
• an extra quiet gym
• hot tub + TV show w/ Ivan on a Saturday night
• beautiful weather + no mosquitoes (yet)
• both boys’ new jobs working out well!
• my new Adidas Spezials are cute!
• fun + relaxing family day on Memorial Day at park, kayaking, etc.
• an early morning hot tub soak on a sunny day BEFORE work on a Friday!
• my parents here for a weekend visit which was really enjoyable
• picking up a new library hold I’m excited about (Meditations for Mortals)

Bummers:

• missing too many weekend workouts! (but, currently trying out new re-vamped workout schedule which is so far, so good!)
• dealing with clothing- both shopping/needs and decluttering! Too time-consuming and mentally exhausting.
• a particularly busy week
• annoyed with the state of our front yard- very patchy grass/ big muddy spots under shade tree! (Update- new seedlings are GROWING! Fingers crossed.)
• a night that Ivan and I were out to dinner and thought Ethan was going to be able to pick up Asher from swim practice, but then it turned out last minute he couldn’t… It was late before we realized and we raced over there, but we ended up being 20 minutes late!! Since Asher’s practice group was the final one of the evening, the coaches were supposed to be done then too, but they had to WAIT for us, per policy (even though I told Asher to tell them to just leave- we were on our way and I was perfectly comfortable with Asher waiting in front of the school…). OOPS. I was so embarrassed!!
• not making it to many of Ethan’s tennis matches this season (many far away and/or very early in afternoon!)
• Charlie randomly still chewing on our living room toss pillows…
• out of control email inbox
• too many house/yard “to do” items, and sometimes an, ahem, unbalanced level of “noticing” between certain family members…
• a day I felt extra tired
• a bunch of presentation prep for these work quarterly meetings… exhausting.
• failed at Whole 30. lol. Note to self: Don’t say you’re going to do any “diets”, because you’re not. 😅
• Ivan’s favorite Mexican soccer team lost in the big final game
• Chilly weather week in between some hot weather!
• One of the big quarterly meetings that I lead that I had gotten all prepped and mentally psyched up for ended up being cancelled last minute (after people already logging on for the meeting) due to a key surgeon/ participant being in the OR unexpectedly.
• never made it to the grocery store on Memorial Day weekend and endured the whole week basically too low on groceries. lol! (we survived)

Habits/ Intentions:

• My habit tracking has been poor! I’ve kind of intentionally let this slide a little, though. I have come to the realization that sometimes I may try to do TOO many things…. and some of these little things (like tracking stuff!), which don’t “feel” like a lot, mentally add up.
• I have currently minimized my daily tracking mostly to the above categories (Accomplish/Gratitude/Happy/Bummer) and actually am taking a little break from detailed time tracking right now!!
• I also decided to pause on my wardrobe tracking. This was fun, and interesting, but I am wanting/ needing to SIMPLIFY a little. I still think paying attention to clothes I’m not wearing is valuable, but overall, I ultimately want managing my clothing and wardrobe to take up less of my mental space, not more.
• I’m doing more paper planning than before! (doing a daily page each morning and really enjoying that practice.)
• Working on more phone-free time! This is a big one. It has been brought to my attention that a constant barrage of inputs + mental stimuli is, um, NOT good for my mental health. I’ve been working on leaving my phone in my bedroom as much as possible when I’m home (the “foyer method”, essentially docking your phone and mostly just using it in that spot. You know, like we used to for decades before mobile phones existed?!). My morning dog walks have intentionally been “phone free” time to just clear my head (literally leaving phone at home/no podcasts!). I have also changed my iPhone “sleep” downtime mode to begin at 9 pm, instead of 10. Finally, I’m no longer allowing myself to scroll on my phone right when I wake up. I haven’t been checking social media or my email until much later, after my morning routine is complete.

Books Read:

• Finished Matthew Perry’s book, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. SAD SAD story!!! Gosh. What a very difficult life he lived.
• Finished Gretchen Rubin’s Secrets of Adulthood.
• Still reading: Harry Potter #3!!! My fiction reading mostly happens before bed, and I usually only read a few pages before I start getting sleepy, so it’s slow going…. but still really enjoying this 2025 quest to read HP!
• On Deck:
  • Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. “Everyone” has read this one already, so I’m excited to have my turn! Haha. Ironically, my sister is also currently reading it, so I can have a mini- book club with her by text. 😉
  • Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling. This is a professional development book that was recommended by a mentor/course leader from an “Improvement Champions” course I took through work last fall.

Upcoming in June:

🔷 Summer break! Ethan’s already out, Asher gets done next week.

🔷 Copenhagen!!!!!

🔷 Asher heading to Virginia Beach + Williamsburg for a weeklong swim team training trip.

🔷Few other major plans so far!! I do have some “summer fun” thoughts (i.e. bike riding, walking to get ice cream, etc.), but with our trip right in the middle of the month, we’ll play things by ear. Hoping to also knock out some nagging household tasks, like finally getting hardware bought for our new bathroom and decluttering some larger junk items we need to get rid of. Clean out my storage room? Maybe? (Been dragging that along since 2020, so, there’s no big rush, CLEARLY. lol.)

Really can’t believe we’re in Month 6 of 12 already in 2025, but here we are, so, ready or not….

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for the little back up cameras on new cars! That was really a nifty invention, whoever came up with that. 🙂

Bonus gratitude: I am grateful for the photo Memories option! It is fun to get fed little reminders of fun things from the past. Today, apparently, we enjoyed these beautiful views on Oahu…. a whole year ago!! Crazy.