What Saved My Life in March
Tracking what is saving my life each month gives me an extra boost of gratitude. I highly recommend it. Sometimes, I'll sit down with my journal and the dog at my feet and think, "Nothing. There is nothing good right now." And then I will tell myself, "Look around you and find something good." And then--it's there, waiting for me to notice it.
March was a weird month. Weird weather. Weird feelings. My husband traveled a ton and our family rhythms had to change. But weird isn't always synonymous with "bad," and this month found us laughing hard and making good changes.
Here are the things that helped me through March:
Fish Oil
I have mixed feelings about supplements but I heard someone talking about the benefits of fish oil so I decided to give it a try. The effects of this supplement are subtle, but I feel good and doing something positive for my health each morning has a great psychological benefit.
Water Challenge
I joined a facebook water challenge. The goal was to drink half your weight in ounces of water each day. At first, this seemed like a ton of water. It was. But I did it. And I'm still doing it. My skin is clear, my appetite is manageable, and my pee is the right color.
The caveat to this challenge is that you wind up going to the bathroom so much more. This was annoying in the beginning. My body has adapted a bit and I now think the cost of spending a few more minutes in the bathroom is totally worth it.
Roomba
My husband scored a Roomba on sale during Black Friday. I scoffed and said he was foolish for investing in a machine that won't clean well and will break. I was wrong.
This little beauty is a lifesaver. We have a big dog and lots of girls so there is hair everywhere. I just hit a button and Rosie (named after the Jetson's robot maid) gets to work. My only regret is that we didn't buy two--one for upstairs and one for downstairs. God bless Roomba.
Michael's Craft Stores
I took the kids to Michael's so one of them could get supplies for a school project. While we were there, we found materials for crafts that we've been wanting to do and all the stuff I needed to make a super cute terrarium. Plus, the spring decor can't help but make you feel happy. I only picked a few little things to spruce up our house, but those things have made the weird weather of March seem much less depressing.
Reruns
I am a huge fan of reruns. I often blog with an old episode of Psych playing softly in the background. I rewatch Parks and Rec while I eat lunch. My teen daughters and I are working our way through Friends and The Office.
There is something so comforting about watching reruns. I don't have a ton of time to get invested in a long series and the way people watch TV now is overwhelming. I miss having only one episode release each week with breaks in the summer to catch up on anything you missed.
Binging goes against my core beliefs that watching that much TV in one sitting will rot my brain or I fall asleep after more than an hour and a half max. One of those things is definitely true.
I don't feel bad about falling asleep with reruns on the TV. I've probably seen this episode at least five times anyway.
Army Guys
My son is always asking for ridiculous things like apple watches and iPhones. Well, the other day he asked me for army guys. I was like, "Is that some sort of war game for the PlayStation?" But no, he wanted a bunch of plastic army guys. I was like, "Wish granted." When they arrived, he went to work setting up complicated battle scenes. We couldn't use the dining room table, but he was quiet and entertained with something other than a screen. I felt like the best mom, he used his imagination for five minutes. Everyone was winning.
One Thing I Can Do
When my husband travels, I tend to let things go around the house. This time I decided to spend any time I was home after 4:00 focusing on "one thing I can do." I wouldn't look at the whole house because that would be depressing and overwhelming. Instead, at 4:00 I started looking around me and saying, "What's one thing I can do here?" I'm making dinner--I can wipe the counters when I have a free minute. I'm done signing papers for school--I can tidy the family room. Nothing major, just little things that kept our house from feeling like it was spinning out of control.
Those are the good things I found in March. What was something small that saved your life last month?
March was a weird month. Weird weather. Weird feelings. My husband traveled a ton and our family rhythms had to change. But weird isn't always synonymous with "bad," and this month found us laughing hard and making good changes.
Here are the things that helped me through March:
Fish Oil
I have mixed feelings about supplements but I heard someone talking about the benefits of fish oil so I decided to give it a try. The effects of this supplement are subtle, but I feel good and doing something positive for my health each morning has a great psychological benefit.
Water Challenge
I joined a facebook water challenge. The goal was to drink half your weight in ounces of water each day. At first, this seemed like a ton of water. It was. But I did it. And I'm still doing it. My skin is clear, my appetite is manageable, and my pee is the right color.
The caveat to this challenge is that you wind up going to the bathroom so much more. This was annoying in the beginning. My body has adapted a bit and I now think the cost of spending a few more minutes in the bathroom is totally worth it.
Roomba
My husband scored a Roomba on sale during Black Friday. I scoffed and said he was foolish for investing in a machine that won't clean well and will break. I was wrong.
This little beauty is a lifesaver. We have a big dog and lots of girls so there is hair everywhere. I just hit a button and Rosie (named after the Jetson's robot maid) gets to work. My only regret is that we didn't buy two--one for upstairs and one for downstairs. God bless Roomba.
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I took the kids to Michael's so one of them could get supplies for a school project. While we were there, we found materials for crafts that we've been wanting to do and all the stuff I needed to make a super cute terrarium. Plus, the spring decor can't help but make you feel happy. I only picked a few little things to spruce up our house, but those things have made the weird weather of March seem much less depressing.
Reruns
I am a huge fan of reruns. I often blog with an old episode of Psych playing softly in the background. I rewatch Parks and Rec while I eat lunch. My teen daughters and I are working our way through Friends and The Office.
There is something so comforting about watching reruns. I don't have a ton of time to get invested in a long series and the way people watch TV now is overwhelming. I miss having only one episode release each week with breaks in the summer to catch up on anything you missed.
Binging goes against my core beliefs that watching that much TV in one sitting will rot my brain or I fall asleep after more than an hour and a half max. One of those things is definitely true.
I don't feel bad about falling asleep with reruns on the TV. I've probably seen this episode at least five times anyway.
Army Guys
My son is always asking for ridiculous things like apple watches and iPhones. Well, the other day he asked me for army guys. I was like, "Is that some sort of war game for the PlayStation?" But no, he wanted a bunch of plastic army guys. I was like, "Wish granted." When they arrived, he went to work setting up complicated battle scenes. We couldn't use the dining room table, but he was quiet and entertained with something other than a screen. I felt like the best mom, he used his imagination for five minutes. Everyone was winning.
One Thing I Can Do
When my husband travels, I tend to let things go around the house. This time I decided to spend any time I was home after 4:00 focusing on "one thing I can do." I wouldn't look at the whole house because that would be depressing and overwhelming. Instead, at 4:00 I started looking around me and saying, "What's one thing I can do here?" I'm making dinner--I can wipe the counters when I have a free minute. I'm done signing papers for school--I can tidy the family room. Nothing major, just little things that kept our house from feeling like it was spinning out of control.
Those are the good things I found in March. What was something small that saved your life last month?
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