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LATELY

There was a fresh snow this morning and it’s even more beautiful when you have nothing you really have to do that day but sit back and enjoy the view. Winter is always a time of year that I tend to retreat anyway, happy to not make weekend plans in favor of staying home. Good thing too given the state of covid and not really remembering what real plans looked like anyway. Here’s a few things that have been keeping me occupied!

WATCHING:

It’s always more fun when my husband and I have a series we both can get into and True Detective has been the most recent show we’ve watched together. We’re finishing up season 3 tonight, the last one and personally my favorite of them all. Be ready to pay attention because to me it felt like between all the people and the details, it was sometimes hard to keep track of everyone and everything. But if you’re into crime shows and looking for something to pass a little bit of time some week (each season is 8 episodes), I’d recommend it if you have HBO.

MAKING:

One thing I do miss about working in person is the potlucks. I don’t know what they’re like for you, but our group designated buffalo chicken dip as a requirement and I miss it. These baked buffalo chicken egg rolls have been perfect for dinner instead when the craving hits!

FOLLOWING:

Sharon McMahon @sharonsaysso over on IG. Former high school government teacher, host of Government for Grownups, explainer of the constitution, and generally just makes me feel like an actual grown up sometimes from the education she provides about current events and how our democratic processes relate to them. All with a Minnesota accent occasionally. She’s a gem.

READING:

Every once in awhile I’ll find a good mystery/thriller that I just can’t get myself to put down until it’s done and Lisa Jewell’s Then She Was Gone was one of those books for me. It has some pretty disturbing details but it was absolutely a page turner. I was hooked enough that it only took me about a day and a half to get through it and I’ll be looking for more of her books to see if they’re equally as entertaining.

jessintheordinary LIFE

A COMPASSIONATE MEDITATION PRACTICE

Between election week and going back to work yesterday after an entire week off, I’m feeling annoyed, tired, and restless. Because I’m sure this week will continue to try my patience, I decided to start my day today with a little loving-kindness meditation I learned about from Celeste Headlee’s book We Need to Talk. Here’s hoping it’ll help me get in the right mindset to be a compassionate, helpful, and maybe even productive person today?

Step 1: Send compassionate thoughts to yourself.

Step 2: Send them to someone you love.

Step 3: Send them to a stranger.

Step 4: Send them to someone you dislike or with whom you are currently in conflict. (ahem, even if you avoid confrontation like me and maybe they don’t even know you’re conflict…)

Step 5. Finally, send compassionate thoughts to all living beings.

jessintheordinary FOOD

CHERRY BANANA BREAD MUFFINS

Banana bread muffins are my favorite baked good that’s easy enough to make at home. I’ll always just conveniently happen to buy a few more bananas than I know we’ll eat just to have the perfect excuse to make muffins. This recipe from The Busy Baker is the one I make each time, so much that I have it almost committed to memory!

After buying 10 pounds of tart cherries from our local orchard this summer and trying to come up with some good ways to start using them, I threw some in my next batch of banana bread muffins and that my friends, was an excellent decision.

We live close enough to where most tart cherries are grown (Michigan I learned) that we seem to be able to usually get them fresh and then we freeze them for year round use. But you can find them frozen or canned at the grocery store.

So here’s what you do. Follow that recipe all the way up to the point where you mix the wet and dry ingredients. After you do that step, do this to add the cherries:

– take about 1 1/2 cups of cherries, this ended up being about 12 oz

– drain them and save the juice – it’s good to save and drink later!

– add the cherries and stir them in really well

– pour evenly into the muffin cups

– sprinkle some raw sugar on top of each muffin

– bake for the same amount time the original recipe calls for, 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes!

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HALLOWEEN BINGO

We’ve had so much fun with our homemade fall BINGO board that when planning some Halloween fun for our kiddos (and us) with some close friends, I jumped at the chance to create a Halloween version! In case this looked like fun for you and your family too I wanted to share. Sneak peek and file download are below – there’s 15 unique BINGO boards and then a 16th page to cut out the squares and call the images out. We bought cute little Halloween stamps for the kids to use to mark off their squares. We found ours at Target (sold out), but here’s some on Amazon too. Or don’t and let them use markers! No rules here.

Halloween BINGODOWNLOAD

Happy Halloween!

jessintheordinary Uncategorized

WHEN MONDAY FEELS TOUGH

photo by Valeriia Miller via Unsplash

A window into my head and my journal this morning. Sharing in case you need this practice too…

7:30am on Monday is too early to be losing your shit.

Close out the email and the calendar. Take a deep breath, reset.

Finish that glass of water, step away to make that first cup of coffee.

Grab the journal. Make a list of of things that are causing stress right now. What things can I not control? Deep breath, move on. What things can I control? Write out action steps for the week and get busy.

Think of the good and what things are bringing joy. Working in a freshly painted room and home and I’m in love with the color. (Better yet, I wasn’t the one to have to paint it). A school schedule that’s back to more certainty, at least as much as covid allows this year. A small self care tradition kept up, nails once again pretty from another at home manicure. A chance to make a good meal for people I love, appreciated even more since having company feels out of practice (again, thanks covid).

Another deep breathe, now back to work.

jessintheordinary LIFE

JUST FOR FUN

A last minute change by our school district to flip back to virtual, a rush to get the house ready for a last minute slot that opened up on our painter’s schedule, the anniversary of a friend’s life lost way too young – it’s been a kind of rough week! But having to hurry up and finalize paint colors and waving the white flag and taking some hours off work several days was a good distraction.

This week’s tiny victory: I joined a gym this week! And I’ve already gone three times! Although the hardest part will be to keep that momentum going.

This week I’m grateful for: a freshly painted house! (or soon at least) / take out when neither of us felt like cooking / signing off work early on a Friday…

Some things of note that I’ve enjoyed lately…

A topic in our besties group chat – how the pandemic is impacting women. An article we shared around about how mothers are the “shock absorbers” of our society.

I ordered the prettiest little birth flower necklace with my little guy’s birth flower and it arrived last weekend. It’s just the delicate piece I was looking for after breaking an old favorite hand stamped necklace months ago.

I’m glad Grace shared her feelings on not wanting kids and that being ok! It’s totally possible, and fine, for a woman to not want children of her own and still be wonderful with the children in her life. I’ve thankfully been on the receiving end of a friendship like that. As a mom to one who loves motherhood but doesn’t feel the urge to add more kids to our family, this also got me thinking about even once you have a child, the pressure and questions about when you’ll have another.

We did indeed go with this pretty blue for the spare bedroom/my office and now I’ve moved on to planning the decor for the rest of the room. I’m thinking these pretty prints would look perfect above my desk.

I tried Dani’s hydrating cocktail idea with water, Kinky vodka, and fresh lemon juice and she’s right – it’s good! Planning to probably raise my glass with one tonight to kick off the weekend just right. Take care friends!

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THE RULE OF 3

Let me set the scene. It’s winding down to the end of yet another work day, frustration has firmly set in with the lack of progress made on anything you set out to do today which is shocking given the amount of work that you know you spent time doing. It feels like it’s now or never, you sit down to finally focus – and then all of a sudden your attention is required elsewhere and you feel so overwhelmed and annoyed you could just. lose. your. shit.

That’s how I ended up in an argument with a 5 year old from the other side of a bathroom door. Not my finest moment.

You’ve been there too, right? If your kid wasn’t the tipping point, it could just as easily be a spouse/partner, a co-worker, a parent, a friend or roommate. Please tell me we’ve all had a similar breaking point we’ve experienced.

But I’ve found something that’s helping! It’s called the Rule of 3 and while I’m positive the concept is not new, I was introduced to it through a quick 23 minutes SkillShare class I took on productivity. While the class describes it as establishing 3 priorities for the week, 3 priorities for the day, and 3 wins for the week, I’ve been simplifying it. I’ve been focusing on just the 3 priorities for the week while mapping out what smaller tasks I need to accomplish and when to make sure those 3 priorities happen as planned.

Now, if you’re a good goal setter and can easily hold yourself accountable while tuning out distractions then I’m sure you’re good to go. But for me, in a collaborative and service oriented work environment (I’m an academic advisor and lead for a team with myself and 7 other fantastic advisors), it’s been a really great approach to help me feel like I’m contributing in a more pro-active way rather than the reactive approach of only managing the things that are brought to me. Have I gotten everything on the list done every week? No, but I’m getting more done and mentally doing worlds better. And at the end of a work day, and especially the end of a long work week, that feels good.

Some other things that are helping…

– Focusing on a task associated with one of the top 3 priorities for the week first thing in the morning. It’s good to start the day off with a win!

– Using the Pomodoro technique – setting a 25 minute timer and work on the task at hand for that full time – no checking my phone allowed! The timer really does set a sense of urgency and even if something else that needs your attention pops up in the middle, it’s almost always something it’s fine to put on hold until that timer goes off.

– Don’t get overly ambitious. Keep it manageable. Know the cycle of busy seasons and plan accordingly. Our next one is coming up next week and I recognize that more of my time and energy will have to shift to the more day to day work that needs to happen. I’ll just scale back and focus on smaller but still impactful steps toward projects and goals each week.

– Find an app you like to help you track your to list each day. I’ve been using Todoist to enter my 3 priorities, the tasks associated with those with a due date assigned, and then I can toggle back and forth between only seeing the current day’s list (good to avoid feeling overwhelmed) and seeing my entire week at a glance.

And that’s it! Hopefully you’re feeling good enough by the end of the week to close out the work week on a positive note and feel good about enjoying your weekend!

jessintheordinary PARENTING

OUTDOOR BINGO/SCAVENGER HUNT

We’re bringing back an activity I tried with absolutely zero success early on in covid days, when everything was shut completely down and prying my son away from electronics was a daily battle. The outdoor scavenger hunt/bingo game – really whatever you want to call it and however you want to do it. It’s your family’s game, you make the rules! As long as you’re getting outside and having a little bit of fun together, then you’re winning the game and mission accomplished.

How to do this:

1. Take a piece of whatever kind of paper you happen to have laying around the house.

2. Draw lines to make the squares if you want to play bingo style.

3. Write down some outdoor things that shouldn’t be overly difficult to find in your area. (Some ideas we had thanks to a recent Ranger Rick issue + Grammy having fun sending ideas to us by mail below for you)

caterpillarpine conegrass hopper
wild mushroombird featheracorn
wildflowerduckhawk
3 leaf cloverwormbutterfly
wormspiderwebspider
birdfeel a breezesomething red
small fallen leafbig fallen leafa smooth stone
squirrelinsect homeberry
leaf changing colorsleaf that will stay greena puddle
*Tip – We did 25 squares for a true bingo game, but next time I’ll do less (maybe 15 instead). With 25 things, both of us kept forgetting all the things on there and kept having to look back at the list to remember what we were supposed to be on the lookout for.

4. Take a stamp or stickers with you for a bingo chart, or just a pen to cross them off if you’re going with the list style.

5. Happy searching!

Besides just being a fun way to get outside, this is a good way to slow down and pay attention to what’s around you and that seems like a lesson lately that I could certainly use help with. Slow down, take a look around, and just enjoy what you’re doing right now.

jessintheordinary LIFE

JUST FOR FUN

Even with slightly warmer temperatures around here this week, it finally feels like fall. Change is in the air – cooler mornings, leaves starting to turn, and officially jumping into the first days of hybrid kindergarten for our son. A change in the seasons, both in weather and in life. I think I’m ready.

This week’s tiny victory: We put our son on the bus for the first time and watched it drive away for his first in person day of kindergarten (our district is starting a hybrid schedule after being fully virtual) and I didn’t cry.

Good for a laugh: My favorite part of virtual learning has been getting to discreetly listen into their class conversations and 5 and 6 year olds can be incredibly entertaining without meaning to be. When the teacher recently asked the class what their favorite thing to add to oatmeal was, one kid shouted “pancake sauce!” (syrup) when it was his turn to share!

And with that, some things of note lately…

After probably years of neglect, a weekly at home manicure is back on my to do list. Vain? Maybe, but I can’t help but feel like it’s been the perfect pick me up to get me through the work week. Olive & June’s IG marketing got me, but it’s been worth it! I can go about 7-9 days without chipping. So far this gray is my favorite, but this pretty red is up next and I have high hopes for it.

The first time temperatures dipped I jumped on the chance to try Aubrey’s chicken pot pie recipe. If you’re looking for a short cut like me, just pick up a rotisserie chicken instead and then it’ll really live up to it’s name of semi-homemade chicken pot pie.

Added another coffee mug to my collection this week. If I thought parenting + morning coffee led to endless coffee reheats, then parenting + morning coffee while trying to also work from home took that to the next annoying level. These mugs are my favorite to keep my coffee warm long enough to drink it, and their smaller size is perfect.

Jessica Yellin’s IG page is now my go-to space in that online space to keep up to date on political news. The former CNN Chief White House Correspondent’s quick and frequent updates are enough to keep me feeling knowledgeable about what’s going on without feeling overwhelmed with information.

After months of constantly being at home, I’ve finally been talked into finding someone to get the half of our house repainted that really needs it. Feeling overwhelmed by all the different shades of beige to pick from for our hallways, and trying to find something fun for the spare bedroom I’ve been working out of. Gray has been vetoed by my husband, but I’m thinking of getting as close as I can with either a bluish gray like this? Somebody else pick for me please!

Happy weekend friends, hope it’s a restful one.

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ALL THE CUTE TODDLER BOYS CLOTHES I MISS

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1 / 2 / 3

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1 / 2 / 3

1 / 2 / 3

At some point over the past year my 5 year old son made that jump that felt more like a leap out of the toddler sizes and solidly into the kids sizes and I have feelings about it. I’m the nostalgic type and clothes have always been one of the many physical objects I attach emotions to. How can my baby be big enough that I can no longer find all the cutesy little shirts and hoodies that have the adorable little prints all over them?!

These days I can’t find those in his size, I suppose because kindergarteners probably want to both act and look like the big kids they’re starting to be. (If you want to talk about feelings, just ask me how I felt last week when he started politely asked me leave the room so he could do his class google meet alone.)

A summer growth spurt and change of seasons meant another round of clearing out dresser drawers and saying good bye to some old favorites. While I’ve let many a Super Mario and Pokemon t-shirt take their place, it was fun to go through and wistfully browse all the things we’ve either owned and loved over the years (like that raglan style baseball tee I’ve bought in every size since 2T and the little dino backpack!) or that I would’ve bought if I still could!