February Goal Check and Photo Recap

For as long as January was, February was soooo short. It's like I blinked and it was over. The overview of the month was Middle School basketball, friend's 40th birthday weekend, Walking Lola with some regularity and visiting Arizona for the second month is a row with Jeff. Maybe that is why it went so fast, I didn't waste any of it! 

Read 30 Books (up 6 from last year) 4/30

I finished three books in February. 

I started the month with a stinker. I read a lot of it in January and pure stubbornness made me finish it. I obviously was drawn to it by the title but I do not recommend The Topeka School by Ben Lerner. To be fair my friends Jaime and Elise warned me but I read it anyway. Next time, when two very well read friends say "don't bother," I won't! 

My second book was another find I picked up at the Lawrence Library book sale. Stay Up with Hugo Best by Erin Somers was a breath of fresh air after the stinker book. It was Erin's first novel and you can tell it was well thought out. A fiction story about a weird workplace relationship that tempts romance for the entire book kept me intrigued. Would recommend, it falls in beach read territory for me. It won't make the shelf but I found it at a library sale so maybe someone will find it again at the Topeka Library sale! 

The last book I finished was my first non fiction of the year. The Five Resets by Dr. Aditi Nerurkar was some good food for thought on the science of stress on our bodies. It had some stuff I had heard before and some strategies I hadn't. Her book is referenced in the popular Let Them book that I read last year. If you like strategies to help with stress backed up with research, this is your book. Would recommend and will keep on the shelf. The shelf at my office! 

Run 620 miles (down 30 from last year) 93/620

I ran 43 miles in February, a little short of my 50 monthly goal. If I hadn't had molar week I probably would have made the monthly goal. But I am giving myself some grace because last year February almost tanked my entire year. In 2025 in February I was packing up my house and preparing to move and it was also very cold. I only ran 15 miles. For the entire month! So while I missed the 50 miles I can make up 7 miles, no sweat! 

Grow my savings by 60%

Made another savings deposit this in February and I am right on track for my savings goal! 

UFO (unfished objects) to be completed in no particular order 

I did stitch a little on my needlepoint project this month. But not enough to finish it. I also did go through my T-Shirts in the basement and realized I have enough for many quilts. Not changing the goal just preparing for that project! In March I really need to attack the many many pieces of my alpaca quilt that are all cut out and waiting for me......  

    Alpaca Quilt

    T-Shirt Quilt

    2 photo books for Daryl and Alex

    1 knit project from stash

    1 stitched project from stash 

When you invite your running friends to your birthday weekend, we are going to make you run! Dang those Missouri hills! 

Take me back to watching Sail Boats on my long run!

Young, Scrappy & Graduating: 8th Grade Graduation Meets Hamilton

I know we still have a few months of school left, but Hamilton doesn’t tour in Kansas City every day. So a couple of months ago, Jeff and I got tickets for our 8th-grade grads. Alex’s favorite musical is Hamilton, and Aaron loves all things theatre. They were both super excited, and that was enough of a win.

We started with dinner at Blue Sushi, and then we walked to the theatre. It was amazing! I was so happy to be with Alex and Aaron as they experienced Hamilton live for the very first time. Jeff and I saw the show for the first time last summer in Omaha, and we both thought this cast was a little better. But maybe we were just so happy to share it with our graduates!

Innings Music Festival Review

Last weekend Jeff and I headed to Tempe for the Innings Festival. Neither of us had ever been to a music festival before, so we happily checked that one off our travel list together.

I originally found the festival because last year I missed my favorite college band, Bowling for Soup, thanks to another commitment. When I looked them up to see if they were touring again, I stumbled onto Innings. Judging by the sea of 1985 T-shirts in the crowd, we were not the only Sunday ticket holders who showed up specifically for that 3:30 p.m. band.

The surprise of the day was Big Boi, one half of Outkast. I wasn’t sure how much solo material he’d perform, but he rapped almost all of my Outkast favorites. It was such a fun set! I was dancing around like I was back at Colby Community College!

Closing out the main stage were Sublime and Blink-182. We opted for just one day (because we are realistic about our age) and splurged on upgraded tickets with seats. Zero regrets. 

The weather was perfect, I squeezed in two great runs, and I’d absolutely go back. On the flight home, we finally connected the dots on the heavy baseball theme , the festival happens during Major League Baseball spring training. Apparently there were even MLB players signing autographs. Who knew?

All in all, it was a great weekend and I would do a laid back music festival again! 

Last Week was Formidable!

Trying to come up with a word that really described last week was hard. I settled on formidable because it means “difficult to deal with.” Yeah, that’ll do it.

It was a decent work week and a good week for the kids. One of my molars decided it was time for us to be done with each other. So tooth pain on Monday turned into mouth pain on Tuesday and then total head pain on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon I had the sucker pulled and started the road to recovery! A week out, and I feel great.

Enough about me. Alex has been keeping busy with his middle school basketball team and tennis clinics, preparing for that season. I’m trying to play it cool, but I can’t wait to see him play this year. He has put in so much work since last season, and I’m ready to watch his 8th-grade season.

He visited Topeka High two weeks ago, and I can’t believe that will be his school next year. He said he and Dad visited three tables: Band, Tennis, and Science. Then they bounced. LOL. That sounds about right.

Aaron visited Topeka High as well, and going from four schools this year to two next year is going to be AMAZING! Aaron checked out the theatre table, and that was good to see. I love that T-High has something for everyone.

You can tell my monthly goals went off track during my Molar Week, but I’m back on track, and Lola and I have gotten our walks in all week. She is still very distracted by EVERYTHING, but we’re working on it. I just wish she didn’t see squirrels as such a threat…

My molar diet consisted of soft foods and ice coffee. Finally got hot food and drinks back on Sunday!

Getting serious about Lola walks! 

January Goal Check!

My word of the year for 2026 is "Focus." I want to keep my goals front and center and be better at recognizing when distractions are pulling me away from making progress. We all need some mindless activities to deal with the stress of life, but I do not want to lose too many hours doom scrolling or binging TV when I could be learning something, spending time with my family, or learning something together with my family.

With that in mind, I actually increased my reading goal this year, including a smaller goal of reading 10 nonfiction books. I also want to find a new way to serve my community, and Aaron and I are talking about volunteering somewhere together, which I think could be really fun.

I lowered my mileage goal a little so I can also focus on walking and doing group fitness classes. It still keeps me moving but takes a little pressure off the running goal.

I also set a savings goal that includes one big house project (a new fence) and another family trip. It is good for me to set these goals early in the year before I accidentally spend all my money on shoes. So… fence, family vacation, and THEN shoes. Everything in moderation. Need to also do a one in, one out for the closet.....

Thank you for being part of my accountability as I work toward my goals all year. These monthly posts really help keep me on track. I would love to hear about your 2026 goals too!

Read 30 Books (up 6 from last year) 1/30

I finished one book in January. I was close to finishing another, so hopefully February will have a few more check marks. I read The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, which Jeff gave me for Christmas, and I really enjoyed it. It is set around a summer camp and follows several families whose stories connect in interesting and sometimes surprising ways. It definitely kept me turning the pages. I would recommend it!

Run 620 miles (down 30 from last year) 50/620

I ran 50 miles in January, which was exactly the goal. After my last run of the month, I ended up at 50.2 miles, which I am counting as a win. My goal for February is also 50 miles, and thankfully the weather is starting to cooperate a little more. Treadmill miles are just… not my favorite.

Grow my savings by 60%

I made a solid deposit into my savings account in January and am already 19% of the way to my yearly goal. January is one of the two months each year where I get three pay periods, so I am really glad I used that to get off to a strong start.

UFO (unfished objects) to be completed in no particular order 

I didn't work on any UFOs in January. Oops 

    Alpaca Quilt

    T-Shirt Quilt

    2 photo books for Daryl and Alex

    1 knit project from stash

    1 stitched project from stash 

On Friday, we went to our first Scarecrows hockey game. 

They lost but it was still a lot of fun!

Lola got new shoes for my new February focus. Walk Lola every day! 

Basketball , Wrestling, Band and Burrrrr

I should have posted a week ago, but the crew has been busy! Alex has started his basketball season. The JV has had one win and one loss after two games. Daryl ended JV wrestling at Topeka West. At that meet, he had two wins and one loss. Last Friday, Alex had honor band at Washburn University. Whew! All while it has been super cold outside.

It is Feb. 1st, and while this isn’t my goals post, I do have to show off my 2026 planner. As someone who really has to plan my month so I don’t waste it, the Commit 30 planner keeps my goals in front of me. In January, I finished my first sticker page, and I didn’t do too bad. I’ll update the rest of my goals in my next post.

January felt like 100 days long. Excited to see what February brings!