i guessed this one, too. i’ve read too many mysteries, but it was still a good and fast read that kept me busy.

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i’ve read so many mysteries by now that i keep waiting for the other shoe to drop constantly. the whole time. i liked this one and enjoyed the fast read.

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fun, fast mystery with twists and turns that I guessed but still enjoyed.

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Beautiful cover and yet another memoir of a cheating husband of a newborn baby. They are a plenty.

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Another memoir about divorce, this one comes with the added crazy of the cheating husband’s mistress being Monica Lewinsky and the husband cheating the whole time before he even proposed. You can’t make this stuff up.

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i’ve been reading a lot of these memoirs. They are devastating and also so very ordinary in all the sad ways. it’s amazing how much they all have in common even though they feel so uniquely devastating.

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Outstanding, beautiful, heartwrenching and honest memoir. Really creative structure with using essay topics, too. I loved every moment I spent with this and highly recommend it on audio.

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3.5 stars.

I read this because someone in my book club suggested it. It was a fun and interesting read even if some of it was a bit outdated.

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I’m going to attempt to go back to my more usual [...]]]>

Ok month five! I feel like the beginning of the year is so slow and then it races by. As I think about each month so far, I feel pretty excited about all the progress I’ve made this year already. I’ve done a lot of the physical parts of the work I was hoping to accomplish this year between my yard, garage and all the cleaning. I made major progress in cleaning, learning, driving, taking care of my peeps. Less progress in health and food and Sadie.

I’m going to attempt to go back to my more usual way of making plans for this month but we’ll see how it works.

Big Goal: The big goal for this month is going to be health and food related. I think it would help me if I made a big push in that direction. For health I would like to do some combination of stretching, yoga, core and weights and restorative yoga or meditation for mental health. For food, I’d like to eat a lot more vegetables and fruits, especially now that it’s getting closer to the summer months. I also will continue to paint and journal which helps me stay grounded. And some more on my skin health, teeth/gums, etc. The goal is not to drive myself crazy or reprimand myself. It’s just to try to take a big step forward if I can.

• Progress on the big five:
  • Y: Go through the stuff in the side yard that I want to throw away. Buy one thing.
  • G: Do the trash pickup, find a donation place, buy one thing.
  • S: Laser appointment two and maybe three. Research if there’s any other prep work.
  • Sa: Start week one ideas little by little.
  • D: new commute and visiting M might be a bunch for this month.
• Three Medium goals:
  • Do one workflow at work.
  • Research some ideas for backyard and garage.
  • Make a list of ideas/thoughts/belief to reclaim. Start exploring what they want.

• Start: Support D in his transition.
• Stop: going to sleep late.
• Continue: to spend time with people even when you don’t feel like it.
• Brave: plan a trip to go see D together.

I thought it would also be helpful to look through the lens of some of the themes I’d wanted for this year and see where I am and what (if anything) I might want for May:

• Rebuild: The backyard was a big rebuild project. Maybe the next one is rearranging the living room.
• Release: Garage was a big release, so was all the cleaning. Next big one might be around inner work.
• Research: A few things that could fall in this category that I haven’t done much with yet are retirement plans, thinking about where i might want to live long-term.   
• Build: Training sadie is in this list. Slowly starting on that one. So is establishing a cooking and exercising routine.
• Brave: Driving is at the top of this list. Making strides on that one. Letting go of some of what I’ve been carrying for 50 years is also on this list. hard hard work.
• Help: Have already been doing this with A prep and daily lives of my kids and at work. Next big ones here will be college prep and job search/where to live.
• Seek: The major areas on this one are seeking connection which I’ve been making efforts around. Also figuring out if and where I might want to travel.
• Grow: Art has a been a major investment here. A few others are dancing, cooking, exercise journeys.
• Tend: Tending to my skin. Tending to my soul by journaling. I’ve done more of both of these. Learning make up will also be on this list. Tending to my back, my hormones are also on the list.
• Finish/Settle: Well yard and garage could easily be here. To be honest there’s nothing else I feel strongly about. I have some ideas for plans but nothing that needs to be done this year. I had a topic that needed to be settled, and I think we settled it.
• Plant: Planting plants was on this list! Dancing is here. Maybe a few more fun things?
• Reclaim: Oh a long list on this one. I think this will be a May project.

Here’s to another month. Paying attention. Loving my people. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.