May Goal Post

Today I finished a book and logged a run, so I might as well do my monthly goals post.

This month was weird. I was highly motivated during the first half, and then I fell into a book and decided to stay up late reading and sleep in! I also stopped using my sticker tracker, even though I only had two daily habits to track.

Well, there's no reason to wait until next year to do better. I'm going to keep the same two daily habits and track them for the entire month of June! Cheers to the progress I made this month and to even more progress in June!

Read 30 Books: 12/30

I read three books this month, and they were all great! I haven't had a month like that in a while. I was so engrossed in my reading at the end of the month that I put off running. Good thing I'm still on track with both books and miles. Take that, limited attention span!

The first book I read was The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, a very good beach-read novel. I've read another book by this author, and she writes drama in spades. Love it! It was a great way to start the month, and I finished it in a week. It won't make the bookshelf, but I still enjoyed it.

The second book I finished was The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore. This was a book that had been on my to-read list for so long that I can't even remember how I heard about it. But I thank my past self for adding it because it was right up my alley. It's a fictional story based on real history. Mirielle contracts leprosy in the United States during the 1920s, and the doctors send her to the country's only leprosy colony. That's where the story takes place. That colony was a real thing! I definitely recommend this one, and it's going on the bookshelf.

My last book in May, A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, completely consumed my evenings. With only ten days left in the month, I wasn't sure I could get through 600 pages, but I finished the last 20 pages as soon as I woke up this morning! I could have finished it last night, but I was sleepy, and I knew I would have had to reread the ending if I didn't wait until morning.

This was the second book in the series, and I wanted to start the third one the minute I finished it. Unfortunately, I didn't have it, so I ordered a copy and started another book from the pile. Ugh. I know I've been wishy-washy about fantasy, but these books have me hooked. I definitely recommend them, and I'll be keeping the series, which is why I've been buying the hardcovers!

Run 620 Miles: 280/620

I ran 54 miles in May. I had wanted to run 65 and probably would have done it, but during the last week of the month I slept in and stayed up late reading! Oh well, back at it tomorrow.

Since I don't have another race until November, I'm going to make my June goal 60 miles.

Grow My Savings by 60%

I did a good job saving in May, and what I thought was going to be a car repair ended up being only a new battery. Yay for Jeff figuring that out before we took it to the shop!

UFOs (Unfinished Objects) to Be Completed, in No Particular Order

I'm keeping this list here, but I'm not entirely sure why. LOL. I'm doing my best just to get the three goals above this list done. Maybe I'll get my life together in June and work on the backlog. Probably not, but maybe!

• Alpaca Quilt
• T-Shirt Quilt
• 2 photo books for Daryl and Alex
• 1 knit project from stash
• 1 stitched project from stash

Yesterday, Alex and I went to Salina so he could play some tennis matches. Getting some car time with him was fun! Now I need to kidnap Daryl for some reason to do the same. 

My Mexican Sunflowers are thriving!

Lola wondering if I can stop reading now to pet her....

More Graduates!

When you send your kids to five different schools, you end up having to be in a lot of places at the same time. PS, do not recommend. LOL!

Yesterday was also Aaron’s 8th grade graduation from Landon Middle School and Joseph’s 5th grade promotion from Whitson Elementary. With both 8th grade ceremonies happening at the same time (8am), we had to divide and conquer. Jeff went one way while I went to Alex’s ceremony.

I’m sad I missed Aaron’s :-(

We all met up at Whitson later for Joseph’s 5th grade promotion at 10am. Both Aaron and Alex wore cords celebrating their GPAs, and Joseph received a couple of academic awards too. What can I say? I’m surrounded by NERDS! :-p

After the ceremonies, we had to have our traditional last day of school lunch. But even that had to change because we always went to Red Lobster in the past. This year we went next door to Chili’s, and while the company was great, the wait for a table definitely was not! We may need to rethink our last day of school lunch spot.

So happy that next year we’ll only be at 3 schools instead of 5, with 3 of our kiddos at T-High!

This morning, the first day of summer break, I was almost late to work because I didn’t have to take anyone to school. The summer schedule is definitely going to take some getting used to!

Happy Graduation Aaron!

Happy Promotion Joseph!

Last day of school 2026

Last day of school 2019!

Happy 8th Grade Graduation!

Today Alex graduated middle school. Can you believe it? It seems like 8th grade just started, and now it is done. I will miss Robinson. I have been taking a kid there for six years. It is a great school, and it was great for my boys. Many times during graduation, the students and staff said, “Once a Raven, Always a Raven.” By the end, I had tears in my eyes because that is true. The foundation that Alex got at Robinson is going to set him up for success in high school.

I can’t wait to see what both boys do at Topeka High next year. When Daryl came home around lunchtime, I gave him a big hug and told him he is a senior now! He said, “Yay, I guess.” LOL!

That's a wrap on 8th grade!

Mother's Day 2026

I know that Mother's Day can be complicated for some people, and our house is no different. While I win my fair share of "Worst Mom Ever" awards and the newly minted "Step-Monster" award, I also get the privilege of seeing all these kids grow up. It's rough some days, but it's pretty great on other days. Some of the kids in my house don't have their mom anymore, and now Jeff is a member of that club too.

I was ready to have a low-key day to respect everyone's feelings, and you know what? I had a great Sunday, and all the kids and Jeff made it that way. For weeks, I had requested art, and I got some amazing art! I asked for a run with some of the kids, and Alex ran with me. Daryl and Alex wanted to take me out for lunch, but they respected my wish not to sit in a crowded restaurant, so we had KFC at home while I stayed in my sweatpants. Such a great day!

Mother's Day was also Aaron's 14th birthday, so of course there was cake! So now we have a 17-, 16-, 14-, 13-, and 11-year-old! I can't wait until they're all two years apart again come September. ;-)

My Art from Joseph!

The Purl potato on the bottom is the best!

I've never looked better!

❤️❤️❤️

Alex gave me some art on my card envelope! Love!!

My real present was my run! 

Happy Birthday Aaron!

April Goal Post

Looking through this week’s pictures, I have planting flowers, Small Business awards, the 8th grade dance, and Lemonade Day! It was a busy but good week! Here is last month’s goal recap. I’m doing pretty good on everything but the UFOs. Maybe tomorrow...

Read 30 Books (up 6 from 2025) 9/30

In April, I got to read 3 books. The biggest detriment to my book reading is mindlessly binge-watching shows, and I didn’t do that in April. I’m also making good use of the nice weather and my new rocking chairs to read outside. It’s lovely!

The first book I completed was already half done when the month started: The Autobiography of Cotton by Cristina Rivera Garza. It is an award-winning book, but not a winner for me. I couldn’t really follow the story, and at one point I thought I was going to learn about growing cotton in Mexico, but I didn’t really. Soooooo, not a keeper.

The second book I finished was A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I know I said my fantasy quota was filled, but this one was really good. The world of immortal faeries and humans was written so well that I got the second book to read in May! Keeper.

My last book in April was Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. I finished this one while staying in Phoenix and keeping Jeff company on a work trip. It has been a long time since a book destroyed me, and this one did in a good way. I decided the weather was so nice that I could read in the hotel’s courtyard, so I hope no one minded that I was crying for a good 15 minutes. It was the best book of the month, and I borrowed it from the library. So go read it!

Run 620 miles (down 30 from 2025) 226/620

I ran 68 miles in April. I had one race and did really good on mid week runs. I was happy with my race but I don't have another one on the books till November. Hopefully I can keep my miles around 60 a month. 

Grow my savings by 60%

Made another savings deposit in April. Haven’t booked our house project yet. I hope someone will want to do our fence with the metal panels. Fingers crossed!

UFOs (unfinished objects) to be completed in no particular order

I don’t think I worked on any of these projects in April. Oops. Too many good books!

• Alpaca Quilt
• T-Shirt Quilt
• 2 photo books for Daryl and Alex
• 1 knit project from stash
• 1 stitched project from stash

Got my planters filled up from last week's plant sale!

Dance pick up picture! They had a blast (I had a spy on the inside.)

Supplies for 10 Lemonade stands that happened on Friday. My 4th grade students learning about small business did great!

Got to see one of my YEC kids get recognized at the Small Business Awards, it was so cool! 

From Doubleheaders to Dinner Galas

This weekend was full of activities, and I’m glad I was in town for it!

Daryl had baseball on Friday. It was a doubleheader, so I saw the last inning of his first game and all of his second game. He did great pitching and fielding, but he’s having a little bit of trouble with his bat right now.

On Saturday, we started at the Master Gardener Plant Sale and got some flowers for the porch. Planting them in pots might be next weekend’s chore! That evening was the inaugural Robinson Gala. Alex was in two of the student performances, and all of the performances were very good.

There was also a silent auction, and I bid on and won some reserved seats for 8th grade graduation! So now I don’t have to be there an hour early to make sure I have a good spot to take pictures. It was a good night.

Today, I had an easy run and then just caught up on some house stuff. It was the relaxing weekend I needed. Now to get this week back on track, waking up early and getting to bed early too. Here we go, May! The next post will be a goal update.

He is officially taller than me!

Their dance was pretty cute!

The song was also cute!

What do you know, a cute baseball player!!