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Mid-Year Check In Part 2

When I did my mid-year check in post last week, I left out two very important things!  One: I was at Barnes and Noble, and right on schedule for “halfway day,” they were putting out the 2025 planners.

One side of the finished display.

Just for fun, I looked through them but couldn’t find anything I like as much as the planner I have.  This is a planner I picked up randomly at Tj Maxx because I liked the cover:

…and found out that I absolutely love it!  It has everything I need- plenty of space for every day of the week (equal space for weekend days), a “priorities” box, and I also like the “this week” and “next week” spaces.  The back has a ton of blank notes pages, which I’ve been using to track my reading, my TBR list, and various other details.

Since this was a random find at TJ Maxx, I’m worried I won’t be able to find something similar for 2025.  On the back it says “Punch Studios”- is that the brand name???  I guess I’ll be going back to Tj Maxx soon and frantically rifling through the shelves to find “my” planner again.

The other thing I neglected to talk about was my phrase of the year- “Every Day Counts.”  This phrase comes in especially handy in difficult times.  Because of an ongoing calf issue, I’ve decided to take this week off running, which of course means the week is going to suck… right?

But wait!  This week counts too!  These seven unique and precious days, precious because the days are finite for all of us, count just as much as the most fun days ever.  In order to make this week special, I’ve dubbed it the “week of strength.”  Every day, in addition to whatever cardio cross-training I’m doing, I’ll also do a strength workout.

Instead of “the week with no running” it will be “the week of strength.”  It puts me in a much more positive frame of mind, and I figure- getting stronger can only help (right???)

Do you have a way of reframing difficult situations?

Do you use a paper planner?  Do you buy the same one every year?

Top photo by Crystal Y on Unsplash

 

More Posts

Reading and Eating

I’ve started Edge of Eternity and we are now in the 1960s!  It’s amazing to me how much I actually don’t know.  Yes- I did know there was a wall in Berlin.  But if you asked me when it was built, I would have said… right after WWII?  No!  It was built in 1961, after the US and USSR threatened war over the Berlin crisis.  This was going on during the Civil Rights protests in the US.  What an incredibly turbulent time!  Needless to say, I’m loving this book. This is the third book in Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy, and in between books 2 and 3 I quickly read this: This was a reread, as all Agatha Christies are for me.  I found it at the used bookstore, flipped through it and didn’t recognize any of the character’s names.  I took that as a good sign, and decided to risk it.  So many times I start an Agatha Christie (I read them all at least thirty years ago) and remember the ending about halfway through. Not this time!  I KNOW I read this one, but I truly couldn’t remember it.  I even tried out different “ingenious” solutions: “The narrator is the murderer!  The priest isn’t really a priest!  Someone is a long-lost son!”  Nope.  The ending was a complete surprise.  I really enjoyed this reread! Eating wise… I’ve continued to pretend that it’s not hot, muggy, and steamy here, and made chili!  I while ago I made Vegan Cincinnati Chili from this website. I was planning to make that again, but when I went to the website, I noticed he also has a recipe for “Texas Chili” which is called Best Damn Vegan Chili Ever.  Well!  I had to try that. It was very good!  I’m not sure I believe the claims that this chili is “award winning.”.  But to be fair, I did leave out two “optional” ingredients, pickled jalapenos and masa harina.  Mayne next time I’ll put those in and see if it wins any awards. I will say that my husband LOVED it!  We ate it for two dinners, and both times he exclaimed over how much he enjoyed it. Chili: Cincinatti, or Texas style? What are you reading now?

Fall Fun

I had a really nice, fall-ish weekend!  When I say “fall-ish,” I don’t mean I visited a pumpkin patch or went apple picking.  No, we don’t have that in Florida- although, I’m pretty sure it’s too early for those things just about everywhere right now.  But those are things that never happen in Florida, so we have to make our own fall. We may not have cool temperatures and falling leaves, but we do have football and homecoming!  Saturday night was our high school homecoming dance, and my daughter went with two of her friends, looking amazing in her new dress.  I got a lot of GREAT comments on my post about the suit vs. dress dilemma, including one from Julie saying that she wore a tux to her prom!  For this dance, my daughter wore a dress- who knows what will happen in the future. I dropped my daughter and her two friends at the dance, and I loved seeing all the kids dressed up.  I also loved that these three girls didn’t feel like they needed dates- they were happy to be going together.  I was excited that it was my daughter’s first high school dance. I was also excited that after the dance, another mom was picking the girls up and bringing them back to her house for a sleepover.  I knew that my daughter would be in good hands and I knew she would have fun- and my job was done for the night. I got home just in time for the start of the Baylor game.  It was gloomy and rainy outside (a typical South Florida evening in September) and my house was so cozy!  We broke out the fall food and beverages. We tried each of the beers: the Oktoberfest was very good; the Pumpking Ale was okay, and the Howling Gourds was terrible.  The only one we actually finished was the Oktoberfest.  It turns out some things just shouldn’t taste like pumpkin, and beer is one of them.  But it was fun to try them all. I LOVE chips and salsa, but don’t normally eat them.  It’s one of those thing I can’t stop eating once I start, so I usually don’t let myself start.  But I made an exception since they were “fall-themed” (holiday foods don’t really count, right???) and I loved them.  The pepita salsa is delicious, and chips are always good.  Plus they looked like fall leaves! We also had this: It was good.  I mean- it was good for a prepared dinner.  Elaborate cooking wasn’t in my plan for this night, so we definitely enjoyed these “heat and serve” enchiladas. We watched Baylor win, and oh yes- I was wearing my new favorite pajamas. After the game, I stayed up late reading, and finally crawled into bed, knowing that there was no work or school tomorrow, and no one would be needing me for anything.  I could sleep as late as I wanted, and didn’t wake up until 9 am.  It felt AMAZING. After a nice slow start to the morning, Sunday got underway.  I picked up my daughter, did the grocery shopping, and started thinking about plans for the week.  I felt a little melancholy that the weekend was coming to an end.  Sometimes everything just comes together perfectly.  I know there will be more fun times this fall, but it’s possible that I’ll look back and say “Yes, that was the best night of the whole season.” Are you starting to think about fall, or are you still in a summer frame of mind? Pumpkin ale- yay, or nay?

Weekly Rundown- Everything is Awesome!

I don’t want to say this injury is behind me, because that would be tempting fate a little too much.  But let’s just say “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie has been running through my head, and life seems good!  I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown.  Here’s how it all played out… Sunday I walked one mile and ran 3. Everything felt good! Monday I did lower body strength at home, including single leg exercises and squats.  One of the (few) things I’m proud of from my work this summer is the progress I made in the one leg sit-to-stand.  It’s one of the foundation exercises on Sally McRae’s app and also one of the hip stability exercises from Brad Beer’s book.  You start sitting on a chair or bench, and stand up using one leg, then sit back down, stand up again, etc. only on one leg.  When I first started I could only do five reps on each leg- now I can do 36 reps!!!  At least something has improved. I also did Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout..  I’m really tired of it by now! Tuesday I walked 3 miles… … and then did a different core workout!  I did Caroline Girvan’s Standing Abs Workout, and I liked it.  At least, I liked doing something different. Wednesday Again, I walked one mile and ran 3.  Still feeling good! Thursday I did my single leg exercises, and another core workout.  This one Engie recommended, MadFit Standing Core Workout..  I liked this one too!  Then I had time for 20 minutes of walking. At night we watched the Dolphins game, which was a complete fiasco.  We lost, and our quarterback got ANOTHER CONCUSSION.  The poor guy will be out for… ever?  The rest of the season?  I feel really bad for him, and now our season is a shambles after only the second game. Friday Gym day!  It was a very squat-focused workout, because I skipped deadlifts.  My low back is nagging at me again, and deadlifts sadly make it worse.  After squats and Bulgarian split squats I did some core (abs and low back machines.) At night I planned to go to our high school football game, but it rained so much that the band couldn’t play (so I didn’t go.)  They did manage to play in the rain and our team won!  This was our homecoming, and last year’s homecoming was completely rained out.  September outdoor events just shouldn’t be a thing in South Florida. Saturday This was a big day- I walked one mile and ran 4!!!  I’m getting there! At night we watched the Baylor game.  FINALLY.  A game where it didn’t rain, no one got injured, and we WON!  At least the football week ended on a high note. Sunday Off!  Sleeping in and waffles will be involved (obviously.) So, it was a good week.  Moving forward, I’m going to cautiously try running every other day.  Running every third day was great to get me back from this injury, but I can’t do that forever! How was your week?  Were there any moments where you sang “Everything is Awesome?” Top photo by Stainless Images on Unsplash

Friday Coffee Date!

Hey, it’s Friday!  Pour yourself a beverage in your favorite fall mug (wait- you do have one, right?) and join me. Let’s talk about the weekend!  Tonight is another high school football game, and I will be there.  The last two weeks have been away games, so I’ve missed going.  But you know what that means- it’s time for Homecoming!  My daughter decided to go to the dance with a group of friends, and we started thinking about what she would wear.  But let’s back up for a moment… The high school concert band uniform is tuxes for the boys and long black dresses for girls.  When my daughter was a freshman last year, she said she would prefer to wear a tux. Now, I wasn’t entirely opposed to this, but I just preferred that she wear a dress… like all the other girls?  I told her that whatever she decided to do was fine, but there’s a reason boys usually wear suits and girls usually wear dresses.  Girls are more curvy, so dresses flatter them more.  My daughter is very curvy, and I thought a tux would just make her look kind of big all over. She decided to wear the dress, and I thought she looked lovely!  Then I was telling my friend about how well I handled that situation, and she thought I was VERY WRONG.  Why, she asked, did it matter how she looked?  Why did I make that the most important thing? Er- good question.  When it was time for New Year’s, my daughter wanted to wear a suit to the party.  I agreed immediately, and she actually looked kind of cute (not that it mattered!) Later I asked how she liked wearing the suit, and she said “I loved it.  I felt really confident.”  Okay then. Back to Homecoming!  My daughter said she wanted to wear a suit, and we got to work on her outfit (I was tasked with finding her some new pants, which was surprisingly hard.) Then yesterday she went to the mall to help her friend find a dress, and came home with… a dress, which she is now wearing to Homecoming. You guys, I can’t keep up!  Girls are so hard!!!  Boys are so. much. easier. Anyway, while my daughter is at the dance on Saturday night, my husband and I will be watching the Baylor game!  I have a fun fall-themed dinner planned, with some new things to sample from Trader Joe’s. One last thing- I’ve submitted my request for postponement of jury duty.  Weirdly, the request had to be submitted in writing, and by that I mean I had to write a letter and mail it through the U.S. postal service.  When was the last time you did that? I was so confused.  I couldn’t even really remember how to do it.  When I printed out my letter, my husband looked at it and said “You didn’t leave room for your signature.”  Oh yeah- I totally forgot.  Then I had to find an envelope and a stamp, and take it to the mailbox… I mean, don’t we have more modern methods of communication nowadays?  Anyway, I hope it gets there, and I hope I get my postponement (actually, I’m hoping they forget all about me, but if worst comes to worst I’ll take a postponement.) That’s it for this week! When was the last time you mailed a letter?  I don’t mean a greeting card or postcard, but like an official letter?   Do you think I was wrong to encourage my daughter to wear a dress?  How much does appearance matter? What are your plans for the weekend? Top photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

34 Responses

  1. Love the cover!!! I want one too! cat obsessed people are alike! 🙂
    yes, framing is super important, I can totally see why a no run week could be a suck week, but you’ve done it! strength week that is! life is short and we should enjoy it every day!

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  2. Every day counts— such an excellent phrase for a year. I have tried a million planners and keep coming back to a plain old lined moleskine notebook for to-do lists

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    1. Well- that obviously works for you! But wait- you have so much going on with all the kids, I can’t believe you don’t use a planner. Once again, what you’re doing works though.

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    2. Sarah – inquiring nosy minds want to know – how do you track the kids’ activities? How do you let everyone at home know the plans? I’m thinking google calendar + giant whiteboard? But that’s just a random guess! Please share if you can! It’s not very summer themed but would be an awesome blog post! Or BLP guest episode, if you are game . . .

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      1. Ha! BLP guest- that would be awesome! I’m pretty sure most people would be fascinated to know how Sarah keeps it all together.

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  3. I love that cover! I have used the wonderland 222 planner for over 3 years but this summer I decided not to order one for 2025. I find I am only using the notes pages at the end. I live and die by my outlook calendar at work. That is where I keep all my and the boys’ appts and such and where I mark the days off for daycare and the school year. If I could access Google calendar from work I would probably use that but all Google applications are blocked at work. 🙁 So at the end of 2024 I will probably get a notebook from this same company or I will get a different bullet journal or something. I want to be a paper planner person but I need electronic reminders in this stage of life. And then I can forward stuff to Phil’s work email so it’s on both of our calendars.

    I think about the phase ‘there will be a time after this’ quite a bit which I learned from Nicole who learned it from someone else. I am using that phrase currently to get through this hand pain situation. I am really hoping to hear from my doctor today. She’s usually so responsive but she was on vacation for most of last week. I know she is slammed so am being patient but my mom is ready to track her down on my behalf. Ha. My mom might be more worked up over this flare than I am.

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    1. Yes, that is VERY helpful. Whenever I have a running injury I remind myself- I have a 100% success rate in recovering from injuries, and the same with your RA flares. You’ve recovered from all of them and you’ll recover from this one as well. It would be nice if it were sooner rather than later, though.

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  4. Yesssss – the week of strength. That sounds amazing and like something to do purposefully rather than as a plan B!

    This is the first year I’ve tried using a planner, and my experience has been a big flop. Not the fault of the planner, though! I am just not used to making it a habit in my life, so I forget about it. In fact, I forgot about it for several weeks until I read your post. Whoops!

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    1. It took me a while to get in the habit of using it. I just got tired of being astonished at calls from the dentist, reminding me that my appointment is “tomorrow.” WHAT??? Now that I use my planner regularly, those things don’t happen (as much.) I also use it to record my workouts, so I have a good reason for opening it every single day.

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  5. Yes on the reframe, you know I love it! I am glad you didn’t write off a whole week because yes, while not being able to run sucks for you, that doesn’t mean the week has to suck. I love reframing things, I think of the saying “what you focus on is what you see more of” and I try to do that. I mean, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes things suck. But also sometimes that opens the door to other things.
    I like that Lisa thinks of “there will be a time after this” because it’s what I always think of at difficult times.

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    1. What you focus on is what you see more of- it really is true. And- “there will be a time after this.” So, SO true! When I think back on my sprained ankle- I couldn’t even walk, and now that ankle is 100% normal. I try to remind myself that a time will come where I can’t even remember which calf was the one that hurt.

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  6. I’m so glad you’re reframing your no run week as something more positive! Our mindset really does matter and I think a week of focusing on strength will really help as you heal your calf issue. And hopefully taking a week off now means you won’t have to take more time off later!

    I bought my 2025 planner a few weeks ago at Target, I think it’s the same brand as last year but it has a different cover. Hopefully you can find one you like just as much for next year!

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    1. Yes, I realized I can’t keep messing around with this- I have a race in November, which means I need to start ramping up my distance NEXT MONTH. I have to get this fixed now!

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  7. Love the reframe! And love your slogan. My now teen gave me a handmade card that said “Make today count” a long time ago, and I still have it on my altar. It’s a nice reminder that a day is a fresh start. Also *gulp* on your “days are finite”–it’s true though.

    I’ve been using the same kind of (basic) planner with the same method for about 15 years now… https://www.pocobrat.net/2021/03/days-are-short.html

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    1. Ooh, I looked at that post- I love the color coding. I should start doing that. Right now I just draw a box around any “kid” stuff to make it stand out. Color coding would be better.
      And yes- “make today count!” I love it.

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  8. I don’t have a daily planner. I do use a journal to keep track of my goals. I’ve never really found one that is PERFECT. When I was in high school and college, I was very loyal to a Mead planner that could only be purchased at OfficeMax or Office Depot (I can’t remember which one now). I should see if I can find that planner again.

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    1. Yes, I can see how a journal might work better for you, because you have a LOT of monthly and quarterly goals.

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  9. I love the cover of your planner so much.

    I did a lot of biking this weekend, so yesterday I was pretty sluggish for my workout. This morning I still felt sluggish and was in that inbetween area of not wanting to do my normal workout but also not wanting to skip it. I immediately thought of you and took a power walk outside! It was delightful. So because of your blog this morning really counted for me!

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  10. Love your reframe! And hopefully this rest week will do wonders for your calf.

    I do LOVE using a paper planner. I find it soothing. I used a Sprouted Planner and really like it, but honestly feel like I could make just about any planner “my own” if I used it long enough. For YEARS I used (and loved) a DollarStore planner that was less than $5! I agree that cover is just too cute and perfect for you!

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    1. That’s funny that you went from a $5 planner to Sprouted, because those are pricey. It does seem like the Sprouted planners work well for you- but I agree, I could probably make just about any planner work.

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  11. Well, I obviously love planners 🙂 And I continue to find paper the easiest/simplest solution for integrating work and life — however, 100% agree there are so many awesome different ways to do things! (I feel I need to know what Sarah above does to track her kids’ activities!!!! Guessing google calendar but I kind of want specifics!)

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    1. We’ll have to get Sarah to give us a glimpse of her planning life- she MUST have an amazing system.

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  12. Kitties on a planner!!!! Love.
    Do you have a way of reframing difficult situations? Not a phrase but, sort f a reminder to self, that many situations will not matter in a year. Heck, they will not matter in a month. So, really there should be any stress.

    I do use a paper planner and no, I use different ones every year. I don’t really have a preference for a layout: horizontal, vertical, who cares. But I do like the planner boxes to be of nice size, since I am very much near sighted and live in my contact lenses and glasses. So I usually go on Amazon, see what they have and pick one with a reasonable price. I think the most I ever spent was $30?

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    1. Hmmm! Maybe I’ll check Amazon this year. I’ve never tried a vertical layout. But yes- I need the boxes to be a good size.

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  13. What a great reframe, Jenny! I want to be a paper planner person but I am so bad at committing. I end up keeping lists and ideas on my phone’s Notes app. My guy and I use a shared online calendar, but then we also have a family calendar in our kitchen where we list events, activities, etc. I just got a seasonal calendar for that room (and some fun color coding supplies) after listening to a podcast which may win me over to being more consistent with a paper planner next year, though…

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    1. Hmm, I’m wondering what podcast that was! Obviously whatever you’re doing is working for you, because I don’t hear you complaining about being confused and missing events and appointments.

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  14. Looks like you’ll be able to find your planner online…
    https://www.punchstudio.com/
    Love the reframe- I have a reframe for hard things that are bad “This too shall pass” or like Daria “I’ll look back on this in a year and it will be a vague memory”. And for hard things that will be rewarding “FFT” from Brene Brown. The reminder that all first times are F*** hard, and the only way past them is through. And reframing anxiety as excitement!

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    1. Yes- I did hear that one on a running podcast. If you’re anxious or worried about a race, reframe it as excitement. Great tip. AND- Sophie to the rescue! I guess I should have thought to check online- thank you!!!

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  15. I do love that planner.

    No I do have 2 paper calendars but mostly use my digital ones for work and personal. And the blog.

    I like the way you think.

    This is the week where I get to avoid the weather and run if possible.

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  17. Oh I LOVE that planner. Not just for the cats, but I love the way things are laid out. It looks perfect! I need to make sure I go to TJ Maxx to search for a paper planner. I always want to use one but I’ve yet to find one that meets my criteria. Although, I am gobsmacked that we’re already thinking about 2025 planners. WHAT!

    Reply

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