May is a month of birthdays and celebrations around these parts. My birthday, my husband’s birthday and then my father-in-law’s birthday. The girls are playing softball like every free moment. And there was the dance recital. Plus two lost teeth. A surprise leak in the basement that turned out to be more than a quick fix.

I kept my head above water mostly. And had a load of fun.

Here’s where things stand after five months:

Things I want to do weekly:

• Exercise 4x a week: 19! That’s at least 4x a week. Pulled a muscle in my back during the last week of the month but I’m back in business.
• Give kids weekly allowance: Slipped a little this month. We had two visits from the tooth fairy and our Friday night Shabbat dinners haven’t been less consistent.
• Do one act of kindness each week: So I managed to accomplish 1 out of 4 opportunities. I brought flowers for the girls’ Hebrew School teachers on their last day of religious school for the year.
• Read one full length article in a magazine every week:
  • NYT Housing Inequality by Matthew Desmond
  • My Family’s Slave by Alex Tizon
  • Margaret Atwood: Prophet of Dystopia by Rebecca Mead

Things to do every month:

• Regular library trips: We are CRUSHING IT in the library department. This is my most favorite development. My girls have fallen into a routine where we hit the library every other week and they have been devouring every book that crosses their paths.
• 2 Yoga classes: Nope. Lots of regular exercise but no yoga.
• Read 2 books: Big movement in the reading department this month!
  • The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
  • The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
• Write 2 blog posts: I wrote one blog essay and have two in the works.
  • Thank you (and also Happy Mother’s Day)
• Choose outside: The weather is turning so we have been outdoors more often just because. I’ve been at nearly all of the girls’ softball games.
• 1 date night: Two!! Two date nights this month. We had a super night out to celebrate David’s birthday plus a day date in New York City to see Hamilton. We snagged tickets over nine months ago!

Some other great stuff that happened this month:

• External writing projects: Working on book chapter due July 1st
• Beyond Prof Webinar: Very excited about this webinar I hosted in the middle of the month on the Stage of the Job Search Process. It is my second year contributing to the Beyond Prof online conference and I am so happy to could be a part of it.

Gotta get some movement on:

• Kitchen savings
• Guitar lessons
• Run (like a race or something)
• Podcasting oral histories

On to June!