Reflection & Rejunvenation: September

And with that, August is gone. 

Swoosh! 

I want to personally thank Sunset Magazine for making their September issue a sort of "Ode to Summer" instead of making me read about Fall in the heat of August. Down here in Central Texas, summer lasts quite a while.

Aside from living within a not-so-fun budget (which I'll address later in the week), life is good. I'm gearing up for another round of Purposeful Conception. During this course, I think I want to focus on reducing stress in my life (which definitely affects my cycles). As part of that, I really want to examine the amount of complaining I do, perhaps even revisiting the book, A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted. I want to continue working on my healthy eating and exercising. 

This past month, Matt, Henry, and I started going to church. I grew up Presbyterian and Matt grew up Catholic, but we both wandered away from church because it never really resonated with us. Lately, I've been craving community, support, and reflection. I also want Henry to interact more with people of different ages and to have a touchstone in his life that he can return to again and again (especially when he's looking for someone/something other than his parents). We've been going to a Unitarian Universalist church whose mission statement is the following:

"We gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice."

Yes, please! 

I've also been thinking a lot about rituals and what kind of family we want to be. Saturday mornings, Henry, Hoss, and I go for a long walk around the lake while Matt goes running. When we return, we cook pancakes on an electric griddle on the table. On Sundays, we go to church together and then go out for breakfast tacos. 

I've also been brainstorming ideas for my next e-course: Purposeful Parenthood. Ritual is going to be touched upon in the course, so I'm eager to think through ideas with fellow kindred spirits. 

As far as our house goes, we've officially submitted the construction budget to the bank. Now we have to wait for an appraisal and cross our fingers that they don't think we're trying to build a house that is too expensive for the neighborhood. 

Henry starts an awesome, authentic Montessori school on September 10. He's been in a Montessori-inspired daycare for the past six months, but I can't wait for him to be in a pure Montessori classroom with a certified Montessorian. I think kids really flourish when their school environment aligns with their home environment. I'm also eager to learn from his teacher about how we can implement more Montessori at home. 

This month I want to be very intentional about the goals I set for myself. They need to be at the intersection of ambitious and feasible. Let's see how I did last month: 

• Plan a pop-up dinner party for September: Yes! I even made and mailed the invitations.
• Start working on Henry's Halloween costume: Yes! My first attempt was an epic failure, but if at first you don't succeed...
• Get our rental house organized once and for all (this gigantic goal is broken down into smaller goals on the whiteboard in our kitchen): Whomp, whomp.This goal was way too lofty. I did knock out the hall closet and some of the craft closet, but I didn't do nearly as much as I wanted to.
• Ask our landlord to fix the three broken things in our house: Yes!
• Get Henry three cheap little stools for around the house (one in the bathroom to sit and take his underpants off, one in his bedroom to aid in dressing, and one by the front door for getting shoes on and off): I tried to go to Goodwill once, and I poked around online. Our spending hiatus has made this goal difficult. What's a girl to do?
• Submit the construction budget to the bank so we can see what kind of loan we qualify for and they can do the appraisal to see if we can build what we want to build in our neighborhood: Yes! We have one tiny piece left.
• Run at least three times a week: Yes! I skipped two days, but other than that, I ran three times a week every week.
• Do a sun salutation every night before bed: Half-and-half. Sometimes I just forgot. But I loved it when I did it!
• Go to the ob/gyn for a yearly exam and pre-conception visit: I'm working on scheduling this. I want to find an internal medicine doctor. I like how they understand the body as interconnected systems.
• Go to the dentist: Scheduled! I used Yelp to find what looks like a good one.
• Read this book about personal finance: Yep! It wasn't the greatest book, but reading about finance always inspires me to work harder to save.
• Track my points every day via Weight Watchers: Half-and-half. Some weeks I did and some weeks I didn't. I really need to get in the habit. Tracking my intake is the best way for me to be honest with myself about what I'm consuming. 

 So my goals for this month include:

• Work on Purposeful Parenthood (no pressure to finish it)
• Get the bulk of Henry's Halloween costume finalized (I'm thrilled that I can re-use my costume from four years ago for myself)
• Work really hard for Magnolia Montessori For All to plan an awesome "Meet & Greet" event 
• Attend a parenting bookclub (we're reading Parenting from Your Heart)
• Get some fiction books from the library to help with my process of decompressing before bed
• Enjoy the pop-up dinner party

That feels just about right! 

Photo Courtesy of the Nikki McClure Calendar

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