I know that traditionally this goes up during the first few days of the month, but I really wasn’t up for writing much more last week after my last post. Plus, I’ll be really honest, I was feeling a little hopeless and it took a few days for me to feel motivated enough to do my Powersheets goal refresh and prep work. I’m so glad I finally did though and I’m ready to get back on track with this month! First, though, let’s recap September…
You can read more about these goals in last month’s post
We cut these angels out after and made a little mobile! That lasted in the kids’ room for about three days before getting destroyed…but they loved it while it lasted!
September Monthly Goals:
Lesson Plan Through October: I didn’t make it through all of October, but I got a really good start and I’m glad that I was intentional about working ahead here.
Photo pages into a scrapbook: Success! This made me so happy and it made my kids happy too to look back through the year we’ve had so far and share gratitude for the memories thus far. This is also such good motivation for finishing out the year strong when it comes to keeping my photos up to date and organized- something I have definitely been slacking on the past few months so expect that to pop back up in November…
Celebrate Hubby’s Birthday: Yes! Pizza, beer, family, handmade cards… we had a good time celebrating with a few of his favorite things!
Celebrate St. Teresa & St. Gabriel: Yes! We did a lot of coloring for these, I wanted to make a cake for ST. Gabriel, but it fell during a rough week and I’d already baked up a storm earlier that week so we needed a bit of a sugar break at that point. I had thought about making something blackberry themed since Gabriel shares a saints day with Michelmas (st. Michael), but I wanted to really focus on Gabriel this year. I think some time either before the end of this year or on a future saints day celebration I will explain a little more about my love of the angel Gabriel. It really deserves its own blog post and the end of last month was just too overwhelming to write it well.
Organize Kitchen: This didn’t happen as much as I wanted it to, although I did make a start and will revisit this in November. I got a little distracted with cooking and baking…
Bulk Cook for October: Not as much as I’d hoped, but a good start for a crazy month ahead. We have homemade frozen burritos and frozen pizzas and what we didn’t have time to make ahead we made up for with splurging a bit more on our Costco budget this month…
Re-Visist Finance Goal Guide: We didn’t end of revisiting the whole guide, but we did check in on our progress and agree that we want to keep working toward the same goals and we celebrated the progress we’ve made.
Create our Cultivated Calendar for the Holidays: We started on this but I need to finish it up still. A good idea of what our “must do” holiday plans are though!
Sell/Donate stuff in garage corner: This did not happen because I didn’t know the dates had changed for collection of these things. I’ve moved this goal to this month!
Oh Fall, you are so delicious…
September Weekly Goals:
Sabbath & Self Care: Overall this went well. Aside from the final week of the month which really was just a bit of a dumpster fire…
Apple Treats: YES! This might have been my favorite goal from last month. intentionally savoring this fun fall flavor before I dive into pumpkin everywhere made me try some new recipes and enjoy some old favorites. We made everything from apple bread to pie to caramel apple cider to something a little more savory with an apple and farro dish. It was a fun flavor to play with and led to sweet memories in the kitchen with my family.
Say the rosary/Write the Word: Overall this happened and was really good for me. I fell into the routine of doing these on the same day each week though, and I need to switch up which day I do the rosary though so I get some new mysteries to meditate on.
Meal Prep/Pack Lunches: We’ve done well here so far! We had to get a little more creative since my son’s school is a nut free zone but we’ve found foods he likes that are still great for our budget and we’ve been good about packing meals for our own workdays as well. Sometimes I’m running late and don’t get it all done… sometimes my lunch is coffee and an apple… but this has gone better than I originally anticipated for sure!
Write!: This sort of happened… I did manage to get a post up once a week which might not happen this month… but definitely not writing to the extent I’d like. Hopefully more time for this in November and December!
Send Happy Mail!: YES! In some of my most frustrating or discouraging moments last month it felt good to send some kindness out into the world and know that people would get a little bit of encouragement or joy in their mailboxes instead of just bills and junk mail! I am definitely reordering these encouragement postcards because now I’m running low and I love them so much!
Budget Check In/Meal Plan/Family Meeting: Yes. I think this is staying on my tending list until the end of the year because it is truly the most helpful routine we’ve implemented this year and it feels really good to check it off each week.
September Daily Goals:
9.5k Steps: This was going really well until the final week of the month where I just kind of personally fell apart mentally and physically. I’m ready to up my game next month, even in the midst of scheduling chaos!
Yoga/Workout: Overall this went well thanks to a lot of flexibility and adjusting. My schedule is very different for this next month but hopefully the habit is solid enough that I can get back to it regularly come November.
Morning Routine: This was also going really well until the final week of the month
Evening Routine: This was going really well until the final week of the month. Knowing that our nights are going to be very full/late this next month I’m putting this on hold until November.
Tend the Garden: Yes! A few missed days but overall it’s fun watching which plants are growing like crazy, which had a slower start, and which we may need to just try again next season. I’m hoping to have some zucchini soon and it’s lovely to have the pollinators back in our yard after the barrenness of the very hot summer.
October Monthly Goals:
Bring my A game to Much Ado Rehearsals: I am just so excited to be directing again, especially with my love on one of our favorite shows. I know that life is crazy and the whole world is crazy so I’m going to be extra intentional about being present in rehearsal and loving the heck out of creating with others this month.
Make Halloween Costumes/Celebrate Halloween with the kids: Here’s a confession- I don’t really like Halloween. Which makes me a little weird amongst my theatre friends. BUT- I DO love celebrating with my kids and any excuse for wacky time together is a win in my book. We’ll probably end up buying at least parts of our costumes, but I’m hoping to have some parts still be homemade!
Donate box in garage: I messed up my timing on this last month and I’m ready for that stuff to be gone and out of my life! I’m trying really hard to keep my monthly goals simple this month, but this one needed to stay on there.
Be present. Be grateful: After all, we are heading into fall. I don’t want to be discouraged and live without hope. Gratitude is the antidote to despair.
Research Kindergarten choices: I can’t believe how fast time is flying and that I already need to think about this! But enrollment applications for most schools start in November so I need a good idea of where we want to look by then.
October Weekly Goals:
Family Fridays: Fridays are the days we won’t have rehearsals and that I have one on one time with my daughter while my son is at preschool. It has already been so tempting to fill the Fridays with catch up and to do lists and more, but I want to keep this time to be together, make memories, and recharge.
Budget check in, meal plan: It’s what’s keeping our family on track so it’s staying on the list!
Meal Prep: It’s going to be tempting to want to sleep in on Saturday and just relax, but we’re going to need to use that day to prep all the things if we want to be sane the next week…
Get outside!!!! : It is hard to describe how excited I am for fall weather and to start running outside again instead of on a treadmill and to go hiking and take zoo trips and just enjoy the sunshine without feeling like I am melting! So I want one intentional outdoor activity a week.
Social Media Free Weekends: Because time is now at an extra premium and sometimes you just need to get away from the extra noise and catch up later.
October Daily Goals:
10k Steps: FINALLY setting my goal at the recommended step count. I am tempted to be negative about that and how long it took to get here, but instead I’m choosing to be proud of my progress and also realize that hitting my steps has become SO MUCH EASIER since weaning. I miss the snuggles but it is good to get more regularly active.
Hydrate: Especially since I’m planning to get outside more this month but also because I’m going to be busy and I want to reduce my chances of getting sick by doing whatever is in my power to stay healthy.
Journal: This kind of relates to my “bring my A game” goal for the month- when I was doing the Artist’s Way the morning pages really helped clear my mind and free up some creative thinking. I want to do my best to keep that kind of creative channel open for rehearsals and teaching.
Morning Routine: I’m letting my evening routine go for now but don’t want to lose my morning routine I’ve worked so hard on all year.
No Spending: I’m not expecting to hit this every day and I’m not including groceries in this equation, but I KNOW it is going to be so tempting to eat out or grab something extra convenient and we need to save up for the holidays. I’ve sort of cheated on this already because I bought alllllll the birthday gifts for this month the very end of last month… but I feel like this is partially just a mental game and I want to build up a streak of using what we have and (hopefully) everything else we can use the whole necessity is the mother of invention method.
Tend Garden: One of my favorite parts of fall here is that while the rest of the country is watching the end of a cycle of life, Phoenicians are starting a new one as the heat resides, we all get to head outside, and the garden starts to grow again.
Alphabet Resolutions 