5 Things This Week

We’re checking in with you every week and sharing what we’ve been up to. Kim shared last week – reading, watching, daydreaming, committing, creating and so it’s Tanya Patrice here with you this week.

TANYA PATRICE

+ change! When I sat with my goals this month, it occurred to me that I don’t really want to add one more thing to my year / to my time – i.e. learning Spanish (see Functional #PlanWithMe – 2022 Goal Setting for my goals this year), but I do want to just spend time learning – learning more about things I already do or own or want to improve upon. As simple as it may sound, this month, I spent time learning about hair care – for my locs.

+ cancelled cable this week. We’ve done it before, but it was frankly ridiculous to be spending $200/mth on something we don’t use a lot. I do watch TV but rarely watch anything current on cable – I hate waiting week by week for a show! So we have Internet (which is still ridiculous at $100/mth) and some streaming services – Netflix (subsidized by TMobile phone plan), Hulu (with Disney+ and ESPN+) and Prime Video. We also have a free “flex” box with NBC/Peacock.

+ movie night – my husband and I started having movie night every few nights and this week we watched Dune – both the 2021 re-make, which he did not care too much for, so then he showed my the original one the next night. Of course – we did it with popcorn and gummy bears for snacks.

+ reading challenges – I’ve finished reading the books for the 3 reading challenges we host! All 3 books were really good – Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi for the Books Awards Challenge, Where the Drowned Girls Go, Seanan McGuire, for the Key Word Challenge, and The Unfamiliar Garden, Benjamin Percy, for the Monthly Motif. Looks like reading these books first is the way to stay on top of them. Are you doing any reading challenges? Which ones? Have you read any books for them yet?

+ dressing up at home is something I started doing this week. I was inspired by my sister-in-law and this Linda Vater Youtube Vid (5 Ways to Feel Younger & More Energetic at Any Age). My sister-in-law dresses up “for work” even though she’s working from home. I’ve added it to the end of my morning routine – I workout, shower, get dressed in something nice. It’s not necessarily what I’m wearing but the fact that I put some effort in. I don’t know if I’ll keep this up, but my hubbie likes it (I generally look like a HOT mess when I’m home) and it does make it a whole lot quicker to go out when you’re already dressed! And this also means doing a little beauty care too – really, it’s just lip gloss for me – no makeup.

Do you get dressed for the day? Have you checked in with your goals or challenges this month? How are you doing?