The winter chill is gone. There was one glorious summer day recently, and then, as if the weather realized it had jumped too far ahead, some days of generous rain. The apple blossoms and lilies in the yard are blooming white and vigorous.
Last week was Spring Break, and I got a brief, tantalizing reminder of life without school. I went to the gym three days out of that week. I finished one book, the brilliant Between Two Fires (medieval and religious horror), and made a little progress on another, A Crown of Chains (a fantasy retelling of the Book of Esther). The rest of the month has been bleak accomplishments-wise, so I was glad to have that free week if nothing else.
I can’t wait to graduate.
Progress on Primary Resolutions:
1. Treating writing as a craft
I tried a couple of times to edit an old and difficult ghazal (a type of poem made of couplets, originating from the Arab world) from a few years ago. I want to say too much with it and can’t sort out my thoughts.
I can’t say enough what a treat it was to read for fun in long, uninterrupted stretches again. Yes, I know this isn’t about writing. But you know what people say about pouring from an empty cup.
I have two reviews pending now, from Between Two Fires and The Thing That Would Make Everything Okay Forever. I think I should try to be less formal and approach these more as a brain dump, because otherwise I may never finish and post them.
2. Transforming my bedroom
I bought the transition piece to fit between my floating floor and the outside flooring. I couldn’t get the piece in the thickness I needed, so I bought a thicker size to trim down. I then took the piece to a lumber mill so I could ask them to trim it with a table saw, but they had no table saws on site. Bewildering. Like a bird with no beak. Now I am going to spend two centuries whittling down the piece with my little random orbital sander, because I don’t trust myself enough to use a proper belt sander.
3. Spending more quality time with God
I have been spending less quality time with God. There’s no good reason for this, I’ve just stressed with school and turning to my phone more often.
Which is not to say there has been no quality time. There have been some issues in my family that keep me talking to God throughout the day, though not in the long, uninterrupted stretches I was aiming for with this resolution.
One thing I’m aiming to do is to let scripture guide my prayers. I saw a post where someone suggested this, and I thought… why haven’t I been doing that already?? Very excited about this.
4. Being better at self-maintenance:
I’ve been feeling blah this month, and I feel like this has seeped through in how I present myself. Some of this has been due to going to the gym less often, I think. When that habit falls, so do a bunch of others. Here’s to a better and healthier April.
Progress on Secondary Resolutions:
Watching 30 minutes of Dreaming Spanish a day
After the first week of March where I watched 0 minutes, I’ve been watching 30 minutes… a week. I know this is still abysmal, but I’m surprised and pleased I improved on this from last month. A small victory.
I watched the first season of Bluey in Spanish. Oh, to have the listening comprehension of a Latin American toddler. I’d say my comprehension is 70-80%, maybe a little more.
Watching more musical proshots
I said last month that, by the time I posted this entry, I’d have watched Into the Woods. I have not. Every time I thought about it, I’d think of my homework and reading assignments and decided watching a musical took too much time. Then I’d feel stressed, scroll on my phone, and spend more time scrolling than I would have spent watching the musical.
Miscellaneous Updates
Gardening
I bought different vegetable seeds. I have not planted them. I wanted to plant carrots directly into the ground, but was reminded that my dog uses the entire yard as a toilet, and did I really want to harvest dog-fertilized carrots? My mom told me that she has a spare container I can use, so even though it isn’t my preference, I’ll start my carrots there. I just have to get to it, like with everything else…