Currently | April 2019

Tulips in London market.

Feeling happy and satisfied and content with our recent trip to England and Scotland. Loved experiencing these countries so much and just really glad we went to the conference. London, Liverpool, and Edinburgh will live in my heart for many years. I enjoyed being a tourist, learning new things and seeing new places, and (my personal favorite) visiting museums. There is something about a museum that calms and clears my soul.

Reading a book about my One Little Word (OLW) for 2019 (habit) called Making Habits, Breaking Habits: Why We Do Things, Why We Don’t,and How to Make Any Change Stick by Jeremy Dean. It’s giving me some good insight so far (only on chapter one) into what a habit is, what it feels like, and why we need them as humans.

Thinking about my word, habit. Feeling a bit more curious about it and connected to it. (The book is helping to pique my interest – I like the more scientific approach to understanding habit, rather than the “self-help” approach many books take.)

Browsing books online. I love doing this as much as I actually love the act of reading. I read about books, make lists of books, and add books to my TBR (to-be-read) pile and it makes me so happy. Hello Goodreads and Instagram Book feeds.

Taking a break from the news cycle for a bit. Mostly this is happening because we’ve been out of the country for a couple of weeks and I just didn’t keep up with what is happening, but it also feels right at the moment, like it might make me a bit happier and less stressed out. Yet I worry at the same time because these past two years have shown me more than ever how important it is to be connected, to be aware, and to pay attention. I don’t want to be clueless about things that don’t affect me just because it’s the easy thing to do. But what Ali Edwards wrote in a blog post today about the same topic really made me think about my current motives for following the news closely: is it spurring me to action (no), or am I just consuming it (yes)? So I’m going to “unplug” for a little while and come back to it later, refreshed and maybe with ideas of ways to make a difference (better than I do now).

Liverpool

Watching a recurring sketch on Late Night with Seth Meyers called “A Closer Look”. It is mostly politics-related (so I won’t be doing cold turkey from politics and news completely), but it is something Nico and I have occasionally watched before bed as a part of our bedtime routine. Lately Agus has asked to be included, so once we are ready we go get him (he is usually on the orange chair listening to music before bed), and the three of us sit down together to watch. I enjoy this time with them both and like that they are interested in something I enjoy as well.

Planning meals for the week. I’m ready to make some changes to my diet – the last three months of just trying to lose weight through exercise have been disastrous – but one thing I have learned is that at this point in my life, exercise alone isn’t going to work. What I put in my body may be more important than how much I actually move it, and it’s time to recognize that fact. I don’t expect it will be easy, but hoping the book I’m reading will give me some ideas of how to tackle this change and make healthy eating a bit more of a habit.

I love book stacks but I don't like that books in Spanish never standardize their spines. It's a bit chaotic. 

Buying books in Spanish from a colleague at work. Excited to read some books that were originally written in English and then translated to Spanish (Rusia by Edward Rutherford, The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne). I like this sort of “genre” better (books translated from English, well, except for the Verne), probably because the thought process is more familiar to me and I can work on the language rather than the organization of the writing.