March 2024 Recap

Well, March rounded out a tough season overall. More kid illnesses, sleepless nights, and the struggle to establish good routines. BUT...as I noticed when I wrote a month in review for January and February, there was actually a lot of good things that crowded out the bad. Its easy to focus on what's tough, but where's the joy in that? While I am very happy Q1 (Jan - March) is over, I am also happy to reflect on positive things - what I read, listened to, worked on, and enjoyed. Bring on spring now, please!

What I Read:

The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the world’s scrappiest organizations for tackling complex problems (Savaget)

This was an interesting book I got a lot out of. I am a rule follower. Sometimes that serves me well, other times it does not. This book is for anyone who needs a little encouragement breaking rules, breaking rhythms, thinking divergently, or finding their inner scrappy. It was a quick read with many useful ideas. 

The Comfort of Crows ( Renkl) winter weeks 10-13 and spring weeks 1-2:

This is a year-long read with a short chapter for each week of the year. As would be expected, some of these brief, season-linked chapters were hopeful. Most people can’t help but feel hopeful when spring starts to peak out. But also, they were sad and striking. The second chapter of spring in particular. Renkl wrote about the changes in nature, including profound losses we are experiencing in the plant and animal world. Two particularly heartbreaking comments struck me: “The world will always be beautiful to those who look for beauty” and then “Apocalyptic stories always get the apocalypse wrong. The tragedy is not the failed world’s barren ugliness. The tragedy is its clinging beauty even as it fails. Until the very last cricket falls silent, the beauty-besotted will find a reason to love the world.” I am her so-called beauty-besotted. I will always look with hope for joyful, beautiful things no matter how much change we endure. But also, until the last cricket falls silent, I will find a reason to believe people can do better by our natural world. 

Magazines:

This was a month that saw a lot of lost sleep. When that happens, even, reading feels hard. At the end of difficult days, I don’t want to look at a screen but I am too weary to read. That’s when I can find happiness between the pages of a home decorating or food-related magazine. This month I enjoyed the spring issues of Magnolia, Adirondack Life, and Country Living (you know you’ve been in rural America too long when these are your magazine choices…but I am here for it).

What I Listened To:

The Lazy Genius
Favorite episodes: "Your Planning Playbook for Spring 2024" and "7 Routines that World for Me."

The Mom Hour
Favorite episodes: "Living a Writerly Life" and "Always in Rotation Dinners"

The Tea's Made
Favorite episodes: "Cozy and Creative Spaces with Sarah Powers" and "What's Happening in My Kitchen Right Now"

(sensing some themes? See the What I Struggled With section below)

What I Worked On:

A presentation for the Society for Applied Anthropology conference. I presented and attended remotely, which translated into not very much engagement. I need to be in-person at conferences. Home life is currently very distracting and I really benefit from the dedicated days to learning, networking, and exploring new directions. Still, I had a chance to share my ideas in a talk called Heritage Beyond UNESCO. I recently accepted three invites to speak at events this summer. Its been awhile since I spoke in a non-classroom setting, so this presentation will also benefit me as I prepare for those in-person events.

A post for my personal blog on resisting quick fixes by adopting a heritage-making mindset, shared here, as well as some thoughts on the one year anniversary of my LLC. 

This piece on parks and happiness studies for the Heritage Engagement Project with Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy. The U.S. dropped its happiness score on the World Happiness Report released in March. Consequently, thinking about happiness-linked features of public spaces seems like a good idea. We should be paying attention to the wealth of research on human flourishing and use what we know to do better.  

Taxes, for the family and two LLCs. Its a bit of an ordeal, but I have a lovely tax accountant who always makes it less painful. 

My four classes for the semester (two sections of Introduction to Anthropology, an upper-level Applying Anthropology class, and Introduction for Forensic Anthropology). While they are taking up way too much time, I am working with some awesome students who make it all worthwhile. It is a good semester to go out on.

What I Struggled With:

No Yoga. The new semester coupled with three months of nonstop sicknesses broke my yoga routine. I could no longer attend the class I went to all through my pregnancy and postpartum recovery, a new class I found was canceled after a month, and then no other options have been feasible. I may need to wait until the academic semester is over, which is hard. Yoga is very important to my well-being. 

More kid sickness. Really…enough is enough. 

Easter festivities. This one makes both the ‘what I struggled with’ and ‘what I enjoyed’ lists, as is common with holidays in this season of life. We travel for most holidays and its hard. None of us sleep or eat well. This holiday trip felt especially exhausting.

Continued lack of solid routines and process. I feel like we can’t get a good grasp on daily routines or life with three kids yet. I know attention to processes and organization is badly needed (can I have just a week to reorganize my life please?) It doesn’t help that I am looking at big changes in May and June (end of my teaching contract, new work directions, elementary school year ending, my husband's landscaping season revving up). Anything I establish now will inevitably have to change. Still, there is a lot that could be done to improve our day-to-day operations around here.

What I Enjoyed:

Meeting my nephew! My sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who I was able to meet a mere hour after he entered this world. My youngest is only 8 months old, and yet the rawness of a new life still took my breath away. So much, born in such a little body. I can’t wait to see the little man grow up alongside my own son.  

My oldest playing in his first real hockey game. He moved up to a team from the learn-to-skate program at the end of the season to give it a try, and did amazing. It was really amazing to see him play, mainly because he started the season too afraid to get on the ice. From filled with fear to a full-fledged hockey player in five months. Kids are amazing.

A cabin weekend  in the Adirondacks with my college roommates. Sparkly snow fell all weekend long while we ate, drank, read, and talked. It was the perfect farewell to winter and the perfect time spent with each other. This weekend really turned around the month for me, reminding me that even in tough seasons, happier times may not be so far away afterall.

Celebrating my LLC’s One Year Anniversary: Its a small thing, but marking occasions like this is very important to me. My boys even bought me a small bottle of champagne and an ice cream cake. Celebrating stops me from focusing on what I didn't get done this year. It shifts my mindset to the positives.

Long coffee date with a friend and fellow professor. These things are hard to prioritize, but always worth it when I do. 

A glass of champagne with my husband to celebrate the day we met, before we both passed out exhausted. 

Easter festivities, including an egg hunt in a local park near my parents, a cousin birthday party, early morning Easter basket hunting, and time with family.  

Morning reading with my eldest. Despite a lot of poor nights of sleep, I was able to get up most mornings and meet my 6-year-old on the couch for 20 minutes of early morning reading before others got up. I sensed he needed some more one-on-one time last month, so we agreed this was a good way to spend time together and practice his reading. Still managing to do it despite all sorts of middle-of-the-night baby dramas felt like a major victory.

So, reflecting on the first three months of 2024, I can honestly say this was a tough season. Despite that, I am very hopeful about spring. It is my favorite season, and last year the months of April, May, and June were exceptional. Warmer weather, happiness-inducing activities, the retreat of winter illnesses (hopefully) and more time in nature are anticipated. Please make your way to North Country, springtime! We are waiting for you.