Field Trips, and Goals with Books

Thank you for your prayers for my grandmother and my family. Her funeral was packed and because she played the organ for so many years, my family used recordings of her playing her favorite hymns for the service. Not many people can perform at their own funeral! I got to catch up with friends and family I hadn’t seen in years; funerals are always bittersweet that way. It will be weird to not call her this year to rehash my Easter menu, or share the latest on the kids. But I’m hopeful she’s been reunited with my grandfather, her husband of 54 years, who died 20 years ago, and her mother who my grandmother lost when she was 15.

This Christmas, the kids got a bunch of experience gifts and with a of couple first class feasts and beautiful weather coming up, I was able to finally able to deliver the goods. Edie and I visited the Philadelphia Seaport Museum on the Feast of St. Joseph. It’s a great museum if someone in your family is into boats (like Edie), but I’m not sure it would hold the interest of kids under 10, or people without a nautical passion. We got a tour of a submarine, and the Olympia, which served during the Spanish American War in the Philippines. The cost to park was INSANE, because Philadelphia, and lunch was also on the pricer side. If we go again (she got a membership as a Christmas present) we will wait until the food trucks along the waterfront open back up and maybe try taking public transportation.

Fulton and Teddy got aquarium tickets, and so on the Feast of the Annunciation, we visited the Camden Aquarium. I feel like I’ve been to the aquarium a million times, but most of those visits were when the older three were little and so Fulton and Teddy really don’t remember anything. Teddy went for a class field trip about six or seven years ago, but it was so crowded with several schools and we had to stay with a group of classmates, and he didn’t really enjoy himself. This time, we focused on whatever the boys had the most interest in, and after lunch when the few school groups that were there cleared out, we went back and revisited several exhibits. The food court had also been redone since we’d been there last and the meals were really good. Fulton shared he’s more of a zoo person, so I guess a trip to the Cape May Zoo will be in order soon.

Now that we’re at the end of March, I can review my New Year’s resolutions. Checking in quarterly is something I started on the blog last year, and it’s definitely helped me keep my resolutions front of mind more than previous in years. I also keep my resolutions written on an index card I reference regularly during my daily and weekly planning. This is also a good time to check in on my Lenten resolutions since we hit the midway point on Thursday, and this weekend features Laetare Sunday (also known as Mothering Sunday). Wear pink and rejoice!

1. I will try to eat plant-based 70 percent of the time, which means about 15 meals a week
   • Struggling here. I need to do more planning and meal prep but I tend to default to my usual menu. I’m eating less meat, but not necessarily eating more vegetable in their place.
2. Engage in more meaningful rest/ downtime.
   • I have been reading more and when I’m feeling wiped in the afternoon, I’m trying to remember to make that when I say my rosary. I’ve also been good about charging my phone away from my bed so I don’t stay up late scrolling.
3. Be purposeful in my social media and online time.
   • Back in February, I started only checking social media (Facebook, Instagram) one day a week. I was on a few extra days around my grandmother’s death, but otherwise I’m just not active much. I’m trying to log on and just engage in my ministry’s Facebook group. I don’t really miss it, but I do find sometimes when I’m tired I will waste more time on Pinterest or YouTube which I never did when I was checking other forms of social media. I just finished reading Superbloom by Nicholas Carr and if you need any more reasons to give up social media, his whole book is full of them. It’s a little denser I think than his book The Shallows, but both are must reads to gain an understanding on how the way most people use the internet and social media is changing us as individuals and as a society; and not in good ways. (affiliate links!!)
4. Read four spiritual books this year and attend daily Mass at least one time a week. 
   • I do get to Mass most Fridays thanks to co-op. When we don’t have co-op, I tend to forget to attend. I think I need to pick another set day during the week to attend. I am reading a spiritual book, but I tend to set it aside for other books. Hopefully I can finish it in the next couple weeks and another before the end of the second quarter.
5. Complete one Pinterest project a month.
   • I have been craftier! Though my project for February is taking awhile so it also counts for March. Hopefully my next projects will be smaller and take less time.
6. Lent – So far I’m keeping up with things, but I’m really wiped and I’m wondering if its due to the fasting. My small meals have started getting larger; I’m not offering up my hunger as easily by this point. Without any more first class feasts to break things up, I know the next few weeks will be a challenge. We’ve been pretty good in the ‘no buy’ category, though my two field trips ate up some of the extra money we might have saved. I am doing…okay…when it comes to less swearing. Lastly, I am loving doing the Emmaus 90 program and am already thinking of ways to maintain the habit of starting my day reading and reflecting on scripture once this program is over.

I’ve also added a new goal to start writing fiction. I hope to spend three evenings a week somewhere outside the house (library, brewery, coffee shop), writing for at least an hour. I’d like to reach at least 20,000 words by the end of the second quarter. Tony is convinced I could write a best seller and is very supportive of me pursing this goal so we’ll see what happens. I will update y’all at the end of June!

Teddy got a cold so say a prayer we are able to keep it under control. April and May are historically our worst months (most hospitalizations) but I’m trying to remain optimistic. Hope spring has sprung in your neck of the woods and that your families stay healthy!