five things, april 12 edition
Friday, April 12, 2013 at 05:00AM 
1. I think I'm allergic to Virginia. Cal too. Neel a little but less than us. It's not all phlox and tulips around here. See all that yellow on my porch (You're all so polite, I'm sure you're ignoring the chipped paint, yes?)? Pine pollen. They say that it's not the pine that makes us sneeze or gives us headaches. It's the stuff we can't see. Still, it's nice to have something tangible to blame. Pretty soon we'll see clouds of it blowing through the air, I kid you not. Neel was driving home last night in what he thought was evening fog. It was pollen.
2. I think it's been an odd week. Filled with struggle and delight. Callum's had a rough go, lots of little annoying things adding up (Like his backpack left in the car that he carpools in. He called me from the parking lot at school, "I can see it in there, but their car is locked." Panic. Fortunately he's a good student, and his teachers gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him turn in Wednesday's homework on Thursday.) And reentry is hard. As much as we try to not "do chores" during our weekends, it's our time to catch up, and having company on back to back weekends takes a toll on the laundry and the house and the groceries. Add to that how hard it is to see everyone go. And yet, I got to have some fun too. Lunch with a girlfriend I hadn't seen in ages. We left with the sense that it had been too long and we needed to do it more often. A return to warm temperatures has been such a relief. Even if it has been a bit too warm. Let me just say, it was nice to watch a baseball game where I wasn't huddled in on myself.
3. I think I'm so grateful to Heather over at Heather B design for recommending The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. You can read a great review of it on her blog, along with suggestions for two other books I'm going to try, so I won't do that here. All I'll say is that I pretty much read it in one sitting and was fascinated from stem to stern. I have some habits that I'd dearly love to change and this book might be the key to figuring out how. What do Superbowl winning coach Tony Dungy, Febreeze and Starbucks have in common? Go read The Power of Habit to find out.
4. I think Erin and Theresa have both written such thoughtful posts about giving back lately. I think about this a lot. I do some. I volunteer in our local and state politics, but, really, I think more than I do. And then I spend a lot of time daydreaming about all the wonderful volunteer experiences I'm going to have. So clearly it's time to do more than think. Or write a check. But I do agree with Theresa that sometimes the best I can do is tend to my family. And sometimes part of tending my family is showing them that I do more. I have some ideas about where I'd like to do some more, so now I just need to get past the dreaming and onto the doing. Seems simple enough, right?
5. I think that this is a weekend I've looked forward to for a long time. Like, uh, November, maybe. Sneaking away for a bit with some of my favorite girlfriends, for barely 24 hours and yet it's just what we all need right now. We have a food and drink email chain that's nearing 60 messages long, and we're literally, literally counting down the minutes until we scoot out of town Saturday morning. I'm sure you're all looking forward to your own weekends; I just know you are, but it can't be half as much as I am looking forward to mine.
Reader Comments (10)
Enjoy the time away with your girlfriends Lauren, sounds like fun!
Oh how exciting! I hope you have an absoultely wonderful time Lauren! I'd love nothing more than a weekend away with my girlfriends.
it's supposed to be 18degrees and sunny here on Sunday and we've waiting sooooo long for double figure temperatures. That I am looking forward to.
Happy weekend sweetie xx
I'm right there with you as far as feeling gross from all the pollen! Hopefully it'll get better soon!
Thank you so much, Lauren! I'm so happy that you found them useful! xxoo H
yes, i don't think my weekend sounds nearly as lovely as yours. though finishing up my purging (i found more stuff to get rid of) and finishing up my book sounds pretty darn good. but this reminds me i need to make one of those play dates with my girlfriends, oh life! it can get in the way of those things sometimes. need to not let that happen so much.
enjoy your getaway! xoxo
Ah yes, The Power of Habit. I think my main takeaway from that book was to reward myself after working out. My reward: A large diet Coke from McDonald's after each workout. I think it's working.
Oh honey, have a fabulous time with your girlfriends... such a perfect thing to be doing. And the pollen problem....
The pollen! I've been having headaches every day (they hit at night right before I'm about to go to bed) since spring hit. It's the pollen right? Man, I would be in a world of hurt if I lived in VA. Hey, remember I read The Power of Habit back in the beginning of the year? It was such an eye-opening book and, like you, I loved it "stem to stern." I'm so happy you found it as fascinating. Also, I daydream too much about giving back, as well. Let's think less and do more of what we can, deal? (Thank you for the shout out and thanks to Erin for getting this ball rolling.) And, now I can scream with excitement for your getaway with the girls!!! Enjoy every single second. You've earned it, L! xoxo
I don't think I have bad seasonal allergies, but I think CLOUDS OF POLLEN would change my mind of that fact. You poor things. Your weekend was remarkably better than mine, but that's a story for another time (maybe tomorrow? once I process everything). Thank you for the recommendation of the Power of Habit! I'm always looking for good books, and if this one comes with a Lauren stamp of approval on it, I'm down. Thanks too for the little shout-out. I think my reach needs to be local right now, not global. Trying to do global good is going to drain me, I know it, but I need to do SOMETHING so for now I'll start small. xoxo
My father's favourite thing to say is that helping others starts with helping at home. Then move out, like a ripple in a pond, to help your neighbors, your community, your city, state and country. Because who are you really helping if you can't help at home first?