in elementary school, we used to get magazines every so often called the weekly reader. although i can’t remember the content exactly, i still remember the excitement bordering on unadulterated glee i would feel when these babies were passed out to us.

i think i’ve always had somewhat of an awe of the written word, even to the point where now if i write something down it will endow it with almost magical powers. so sometimes when i need to get clarity on a thought or idea, i will write it (or blog about it) and lots of times- to the continued amusement of every member of my family- i will make lists.

i have to-do lists, and shopping lists. i have project lists, and idea lists. i have lists of things i’m in the middle of and lists of things i should get around to some day and lists of things i want to try to forget (oh i do love a good bit of irony now and again!).

happily, i don’t ever feel buried under by my lists; instead they bring me comfort and peace of mind. they give me a sense of satisfaction and inner calm; even if i can’t actually attend to everything i need to or want to, i know it is patiently waiting for me on a list somewhere.

and if it isn’t, then i can create a new list to accommodate it!

beauty at its finest!

but tonight i was inspired to make a new kind of list (for me at least): a review type of list. a round up of things that have already happened.

because this week i’ve struggled with a few things and i wanted to get down some of what i’ve accomplished in order to make it more real and give myself some well-earned pats on the back.

i said to someone the other day that sometimes we get so comfortable moving in a certain groove that our groove becomes a rut and we eventually get stuck in it.

so in an effort to dig myself out of the well-worn trench of self-deprecation (and not the funny kind), i thought i would really put some thought into what i’ve done right and model some “good for me!”.

this won’t be a global feed-the-needy, save-the-downtrodden kind of list, but these are some of the things i’ve accomplished this week in spite of the things its in spite of:

1- i baked about 20 loaves of really yummy bread. most went into the freezer, but not only did i make a roll for my daughter who always wants one, i broke my cardinal bread rule (i usually bake in order to freeze or for meals only) and told my kids to go ahead and cut open a fresh loaf and eat it just because. yes, it’s such a small thing, but it scored so many happy points for such a small investment. that should be a no-brainer every time!

2- i did a major produce shopping and went to 2 stores. i stocked up on bulk stuff at the bulk place- 50 pound bags of potatoes and onions, multiple gallons of milks and yogurts, 50 pounds of tomatoes, a dozen heads of romaine lettuce, and a bunch of stuff i can’t remember right now- and then went to a little kiosk-type place because the owner is sweet and i just irrationally want their business to succeed. i bought almost all of their leeks, which i sautéed and froze in batches. the owner was, like, gleeful- and it was such a win-win transaction! we bought some big beets that were sweet like sugar,  and then a bunch of assorted fruit which delighted my kids. such a small thing, but again- it just gave them so much joy to have so many yummy fruits to choose from and it made packing lunches this week so much fun. *h was a real hero and went with me to both places, which saved me in a big way, so major kudos to *h!

3- we went. as a family, to a friends’ parents’ beach house. normally i would opt out of such an excursion, but for a number of reasons, i said yes. it’s an incredible thing to put aside illness and embrace life once in a while, and it’s a beautiful thing to be able to make memories with the family. sometimes it just pays to get out of the comfort zone of saying no to everything. so, it was a yes day and i had no regrets. enough said.

4- i’m going to mention, even though this is standard, that i did tons of laundry and cleaning around the house. i do this every week, but it really is a lot of work, and i feel like it deserves a mention. so now i’ve mentioned it.

5- we have officially started the homeschooling as of last week, and i am proud to tell you that we are still going well. this week and last we’ve had such fun with british history! even though it was a bit off the topic we have been studying we watched braveheart today (with the deletion of one or two scenes) and it was as good as i remembered. as with all the movies we watch, i stopped it as needed so we could discuss points as they came up and address questions from the kids, and it really reinforced lots of reasons i love to homeschool. also, i am happy to have really cool kids and i enjoy spending time with them! :)

6- we made some salsa, which did NOT turn out great- but that is also a learning experience. we did some other baking and made a big batch of non-dairy ice cream to go on top of homemade blueberry cobbler.

7- i’ve been doing a lot of reading, just for pleasure, and just because. i’ve been laying around a lot, and i’m not going to make any excuses for that, even though this is a post about how much i’ve accomplished.

my real temptation is to end off with a caveat that i’m sure there are zillions of other things that i did this week that i can’t remember to list, but you know what? right now, i’d rather just spell check this baby and forget about it and go to bed.

because really i think that’s the best gift i can give to you and to myself.

and that’s what i think i’ve really accomplished.

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