This was one of those weeks that I hypothetically planned for at the beginning of the year. I spent two days staying with my mom and driving her to some appointments. She’s been sick for a couple weeks and my dad had to go out of town for work, so I happily adjusted my to-do lists for the week and drove 45 minutes to their house on Tuesday morning. I was still able to get stuff done, but being out of my normal routine always put a hitch in my productivity. I think if I had come into 2021 with the mentality that I had to hit hard and fast goals on a strict timeline, this would have thrown me for more of a loop. Instead I was able to take it, adjust as needed, and still make some headway on my own stuff while getting to be present and support my family!

1. Rearranging and decluttering – This seems to be a never ending task in our house as we are constantly discovering new and better ways to use our space. Earlier this week we decided that we want to build a new kitchen table that will fit our space better and start utilizing the bar countertop we have. This meant I needed to find a new place/configuration for the storage shelves that are currently under the bar area. And then move the trash can under another counter into a cabinet area. Both of those actions required decluttering some other cabinets and drawers to free up space to relocate items. Whenever I have projects like this, I go into a bit of a frenzy to get it all done at once. But when I finished, everything had a place minus a few old pans, a teapot, and some other hodgepodge items to donate. And I like the new configuration so much more! We now have room to get a new table and some chairs for the bar!
2. Watching Disney World YouTube with my mom – We had to postpone a big family trip to Disney World until next year, but we’re already in planning mode! Since we were just resting and relaxing at the house, my mom and I watched a couple YouTubers walk through Animal Kingdom and it was a lot of fun! If you are planning a trip anywhere, rest assured that someone has done a YouTube video with all the things you can do and see!
3. Lilacs are blooming – Lilacs are pervasive where I live and I love this time of year when they all bloom in colors of purple, white and pink. In my neighborhood there are some giant lilac plants with tons of blossoms. My own little lilac didn’t bloom last year, we think some weed killer blew onto the buds because the leaves came in all deformed. But this year it is happy and healthy and full of flowers! Makes me very happy.
4. Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup meal prep – I’ve been really into having soup for lunch but it was getting a little spendy to keep buying it at the store. I mean, I usually wanted to get the good soups, not just ramen or Campbell’s chicken noodle. So this week I told myself I’d make a big pot of soup for the week and it was delicious! I didn’t really follow a recipe, but I sautéed half a diced onion in a tiny bit of olive oil, then added a few cups of cubed red potatoes (I think they hold up better in soups than the big russets), chopped broccoli florets and 4 cups of vegetable broth and let that cook for awhile until the potatoes were just tender. Then I added 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and 1/2 cup of milk. I let that simmer for a few minutes and then added a lot of shredded cheddar cheese. It was not a healthy soup, but it was deeeeelicious! And a small bowl of it was nice and filling.
5. Writing inspiration – I had a few really good writing sessions this week where the words and ideas just flowed. It feels really great when you sit down and realize you’ve written 1500 words in 30 minutes! For reference, other days it’s like pulling nails to get 500 words on the page in a full day of writing. So hopefully I’m moving in the right direction with my ideas so inspiration keeps coming!