January progress

 I was trying to think of some measurable goals for 2022. Not goals for the scale, apparently I am exactly as fat as I was 12 months ago. And not for the garden or the property or the kids but for my own development.  

So: walking 365 miles, reading 12 books and finishing 12 projects I've left half-done.

January Goals: walk 31 miles, read In the Heart of the Sea and fix my favorite antique globe the kids dropped months ago.

How are we doing? Shockingly well. The globe is fixed. Here is the before:

Oh this picture hurts to look at. Mr. A had gotten it off of a high shelf one day while I was making coffee. He and Baby P were looking at it gently when I found them but he must have dropped it getting it down for it to split. The globe is from the early 50's and made of paper.

Well, it's fixed. I used a disection tool to tease the  brittle, flaking equator tape out, a syringe to pipe a line of glue, some squeezing and rotating and a lot of pleading. Also some paint. It's not perfect and will forever be "The Globe that Mr. A Bounced".

I'm thrilled.  Check one off the list for January.

This book. It's been sitting on our shelves, unread, for years But I picked it up last week and finished it today. This book blew my mind.  I had never heard the story of the Essex, a ship that was attacked and sunk by a whale, and the story of the crew's survival. That it was the basis for Moby Dick. I had NO idea that Nantucket was an overfarmed dirt patch by 1800. NO idea that the Atlantic was dead of whales at that point  from overfishing. NO idea that New England whaling ships left America, went AROUND South America and did all of their whaling in the middle of the PACIFIC. That because the men were all gone for years at a time, Nantucket was run largely by women, I could go on and on.  This book was so engaging to read that pages flew by, even when the subject matter was heartbreaking. Husband is going to read this book now and I'm dying to talk about it with him.

Check #2 off for January. 

So now we are not halfway through the month and I'm not sure what to do next. Never, ever did I think it would have gone this well. I may order Moby Dick as my next book as we don't have a copy.

My miles are on track in spite of snow, cold and rain. I'm only counting deliberate walking, most often with a mindset class playing. 

Very exciting,  this orchid bloomed for the first time in 2 years (?). It is actually faintly fragrant,  almost like a rose.

Time to pick up the oldest 2 from the inlaws.  They had a sleepover and my husband, Baby P and I all slept through the night until 9 a.m. I have not slept until 9 a.m. in years.