hApPy hUmP dAy, pals, and welcome to Currently 02.2021. I am linking up with Anne and today we are talking about what we are loving, reading, remembering, sharing, and wishlisting. I hope you’ll join in with us.
Also linking up with Joyce for another round of Hodgepodge (first one, here). And linking up with my new friend Denyse for her #LifeThisWeek link up. Plus – sharing an update on my winter goals. Seems like a lot of series are scheduled for the same days this year. But we can do this!!
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Without further ado, I give you…
Currently 02.2021
Wanted to come up with some unique responses to this month’s prompts but not sure I did!
Loving…
my family, my kitties, my time at home. And my new treadmill. It is teensy. And portable. Opened up it only measures about 4 feet in length. Folded up, it is only about 10″ deep. Would fit under a bed or easily into most closets. We have set up a cute little gym in our garage. We have a rowing machine, elliptical, and now a treadmill and our bikes in the garage. Inside we have weights, bands, and yoga mats.
Working on my bikini figure every day.
Reading…
my online book club, “Come Read With Me,” just selected our February title, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I am reading it with my ears as in listening to the audio version. It is captivating so far.
Also reading – with my eyes – Rosemary: the Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson. Started out with background information about Rosemary’s parents. Anxious to ‘meet’ the main character.
Remembering…
to work on my #100DayProject every day. Have pulled out and dusted off the mosaic table top I began several months after retiring 7 years ago. Discovered the #100DayProject through a friend’s blog. Decided it was the perfect push and encouragement I needed to get back to work on this mosaic. So far, so good.
Here’s how it looks today. I am working on the red around the outer edge.
Sharing…
not germs!! At least, I hope not. We have been well – thanks to God, and to a lot of handwashing, mask-wearing and staying our butts at home for the most part.
My sister and I did share the fun we had making our laundry day collages with a collage for our mom. Valerie made some of the dresses that hang on the clothes lines of the collage. And made the others. I put the pieces together on the canvas and mailed it to Mom today. This was such a great collaborative effort. Bought Mom a little easel on which to display her collage.
Wishlisting…
the children’s award books. The American Library Association recently released the winners of their prestigious children’s book awards for the year and I am wishlisting many of the titles. Yes, I do remember that one of my winter goals is to consolidate my children’s book collection. And I have done just that in the past few months. Almost all of my nonfiction has been donated to our neighborhood Little Free Library. But I like keeping up with current notable titles. Once a librarian…
If you are interested in checking out these award-winning titles, click here. I am picking up several of the titles from the public library (which just reopened drive-through service this week). Will peruse them before buying.
The winner of the coveted Caldecott Award for illustration in a children’s picture book is El Chupacabras by
[source]
Also wishlisting things I have seen on everyone’s Prime Purchases posts. Like Kellyann’s cute pjs. And magnetic eyelashes. And Lea’s magnetic bookmarks. Would LOVE to send one to each of my book club members. And a raised garden bed similar to Carrie’s.
My Winter Goals Update
- Create and keep to a blogging schedule: made a list of the posts I want to write and the series I want to link up for and plugged them into my planner. ✔️
- Set up planner: made a huge mess of the first 6 months of my planner because I got off a month as I was filling in blog posts and plans but it’s done. ✔️
- Purge clothes: clothes and jewels purged. Now if I could part with some shoes. ✔️
- Declutter: have worked on the closet and the kitchen. Following this decluttering program. We are decluttering and organizing recipes this week. I ordered this recipe binder with page protectors for my print recipes. This goal is a work in progress. 💪
- Consolidate remainder of children’s books: donated about 3 boxes of books to Lauren, Kindercare and our neighborhood Little Free Library. Still have some books I probably need to part with. Underway. 💪
Hodgepodge
- Feb 2nd is Groundhog Day in the US of A. Tell us about one day you wouldn’t mind living over again, and why you chose that day. Probably the second day we were in Cancun. I was just in awe at the beauty of the beach and the resort and the fact that everything was all inclusive.
- Something you know beyond a ‘shadow of a doubt’? I am loved.
- Give us an example of history repeating itself in some way, in your own life or the lives of your children. As I have shared, I’ve been married too many times. History repeated itself in my two marriages before PC in that I married someone I loved but someone I thought I could save or help. And in both cases, I was unable to do either.
- Snowed under, snow job, not a snowball’s chance, snowbird, on thin ice, snug as a bug in a rug, tip of the iceberg, snowball effect, run hot and cold….choose a wintry idiom and tell us how it best applies to your life right now. I often feel snowed under trying to keep up with all the blogs I want to read. My Bloglovin’ feed is ever-growing. But the hours in my days seem to be shrinking. I don’t know how to get to everyone’s blog in a timely manner. I know it must seem that I run hot and cold with my blog reading but if I miss a day (or if Bloglovin’ isn’t cooperating as has been the case recently), I find myself way behind. Then I don’t have a snowball’s chance of catching up. This isn’t a snow job. It’s just fact. I’ve been reading all afternoon while working on this post, and have just read the tip of the iceberg!!
- Your favorite sign of spring? Days staying light longer.
- Insert your own random thought here. It is so warm here today that I feel certain Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction does not hold water for El Paso. I have the back door open and am wearing short sleeves! Glorious.
Your Turn
How would you respond to the prompts for Currently 02.2021? What are you loving, reading, remembering, sharing and wishlisting? Are you making progress on your winter goals or resolutions? I am so proud of me!! Might get all of my goals achieved by the first day of spring!!
Hope you will run by to visit Anne and Joyce and some of the others participating in these posts today. Have a quick rest of the week! Thanks for stopping in.
Hugs and kisses,
Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life
That treadmill is perfect for us! We need something tiny! Thank you for sharing it.
And how can you not buy children’s books? LOL. You made room so you can fill that space back up! 🙂
I need to write all this down in my planner – the Hodgepodge and Seasonal Goals posts always look so fun!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Love the idea of buying new children’s books to fill up the space left when I purged the old ones!!
Joanne
Your mosaic is turning out so nice!! I love that and can’t wait to see the progress you make on it.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you!! I am enjoying the work on it.
Lovely
You did great with your winter goals! Love the mosaic table project. Can’t wait to see the finished work.
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Lovely!! I am finally really excited about this mosaic. I think I can get ‘er done!!
Pamela
Great post! I love to buy children’s books. My daughter is a preschool teacher and I have been busy helping to build their classroom library.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for finding my blog and leaving a comment to say hello. Yay for you to be helping your daughter build her preschool library. I have been donating to our neighborhood Little Free Library and my granddaughters’ Kindercare. I so enjoy children’s literature!! So nice to meet you!
Nancy
How good of you to work out at home. Isn’t it nice, I like it a lot. We have our rules extended so no hair dresser and going out for dinner for a long time. Have a good day.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, Nancy, I didn’t realize how bad thigs had gotten over there. I need to get a hair cut just in case things close up here again. But I received my vaccine and feel a little more confident about being out and about.
Deb
The mosaic table is beautiful! Keep going!
Great idea to set up your mini gym, there’s no excuse now for not exercising (although I’m sure I’d find one if I looked hard enough 😉 )
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Deb. I can say I am enjoying work on the mosaic more now than ever before. Can see the light at the end of the tunnel and truly want to finish it. Not sure what I will do with it then, though!!
Anne
Love the home gym setup! My treadmill is on order and I am eagerly awaiting its arrival… it’s COLD here. And I have heard so many good things about The Midnight Library that I keep thinking I need to move it up my TBR list. Maybe I should suggest it to my bookclub, and then I’d definitely read it soon 🙂 Happy February!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Anne, we are enjoying the little garage gym. If you read The Midnight Library, I hope you will share your review. I am not yet finished but it has me wondering how in the world it is going to end, and thinking about it when I am not reading. That’s a good thing!!
Dara
I have heard The Midnight Library is good but haven’t tried it myself! I have to check out the children’s book award winners! I use feedly to follow blogs, after bloglovin was giving me issues!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Bloglovin’ has been a mess. I have missed posts of some of my favorite bloggers because I thought they weren’t blogging as Bloglovin’ said they had not new posts. Now I double check. Kind of a pain in the behind. And often times the comments I left using the Bloglovin’ app from my phone didn’t show up on the blogs I follow. Very frustrating. Might need to look into Feedly.
ShootingStarsMag
I am curious about The Midnight Library – hope you enjoy it! I do love children’s books as well so that’s great you’re looking into the award winners.
-Lauren
Leslie Roberts Clingan
I can’t decide what I think about The Midnight Library. I am listening to it and I like the narration but there is a lot of philosophy that hurts my head and makes me think to much. Will be interested to see how it all winds up.
Gale
Hi, Leslie! Enjoyed your post! I, too, keep favorite printed or clipped recipes in a similar type of binder, and it has worked really well for me. I need to go through it and toss a few that I don’t really make any more. I really want it only for ones I love to make time and again.
Also I’m right there with you enjoying the daylight getting longer each day. Somehow it makes things happier!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
My recipe notebook has arrived. Now to get busy weeding out the recipes and, like you said, filing only the keepers. So glad to hear that this system has worked well for you.
Lisa Elliott
The mosaic table is lovely! We have a big treadmill in the garage. It is a heavy duty one and we have had it for 20 years and it still works and is used daily! I’ve always wondered about those tiny ones. When you are walking on it, is it a smooth walk?
Leslie Roberts Clingan
The tiny treadmill is not as nice by far as our large one. But it is in the garage!! I wanted the large one in the garage for years but we were going to have to disassemble it to get it out there. When I sold it, we had to take it out the guest bedroom window!! Ha!! I miss my larger one but this one will suffice for now. It is a pretty smooth walk but I like to run. And the running area is short on this one so I tend to almost run off the thing!
Mica
that mosaic is awesome! It’s so nice to see the progress you are making with it, and wonderful you have achieved so many of your goals recently! 🙂 I like the idea of checking out the awarded kids books each year too! I am pretty good at requesting books I want at the library and putting them on hold, but I need to do that more often with the kids books too!
Hope that you are having a good week 🙂
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, Mica, check out some of the American Library Associations recent award winners. They are so good this year. I am thinking I need to buy them I loved them so much.
Jennifer Smith
Hi there, friend! Oh it is so nice to get caught up a bit! I love all your newsworthy posts! I so admire how you can keep up with it all!! Maybe a schedule is the key…or at least a good beginning. I am going to work on one of those tonight! I’m also more than impressed with your home gym and your dedication to keep working at it. I would say I’m going to start that as well…but, that might not be the case. But you do inspire me!! So glad you are staying well and healthy!! Texas has had a time of it! I will stop by often…so glad to be back at the computer!!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
So glad to hear from you, my friend. Have missed your mug and your voice. Covid stress had me eating far too carelessly and I am just beginning to get back on track again. The mini gym in the garage is helping. But I have to eat better, too!! But these have been extraordinary times and we have to give ourselves grace. Welcome back!!
jodie filogomo
I love that the days are staying lighter too Leslie. We always say that in mid March and April , we need to really appreciate it and not wait until June!!!
That portable treadmill is brilliant. I may have to look into that too. Granted, we are taking walks right now, but when it gets hot, it’s harder. And we just can’t stand going to the gym and wearing a mask while we are huffing and puffing!!!
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Leslie Roberts Clingan
It is so hard to want to walk in 100* dry heat!! This treadmill is the perfect size for a small space. Hope you will check it out.
Leanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au
Hi Leslie – I love your mosaic tabletop and also that collage was gorgeous. You’ve certainly been keeping busy. We’ve just had a 5 day full lockdown (due to ONE positive covid case 2 hours drive away!) and it’s reminded me of how tedious it is to have a lot of your options curtailed. Fortunately it ends tonight and life will go back to normal – until the next case! Despite the annoyance, I’m very grateful that I live in a country where one case is a catastrophe – rather than thousands of positive tests a day like others are dealing with.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Leanne. Hope by now you are safely out of lockdown and back to life as close to normal as possible. I got my first vaccine this past weekend and I feel so much less stressed about the virus now.
Jill
What a nice set-up in your garage for working out! Your mosaic table looks gorgeous! Can’t wait to see it when it’s finished! I’m jealous of your warm weather! It’s 10 degrees here today!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Jill. We are enjoying our mini-gym. And I am finally having fun with my mosaic. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with it. After 7 years!!
Christie Hawkes
I always love reading your updates, Leslie…like checking in with a friend. Your garage gym is perfect, especially your compact treadmill. I need to get some exercise equipment in our southern Utah home. We’re all set up north, but when I get down there, I do a lot of walking (which is great), but have few other options for mixing things up. Your creative art projects are wonderful; thanks for sharing them with us. I am impressed indeed. I can also relate to your challenge of keeping up on everyone’s blogs. We’re a prolific bunch. You couldn’t possibly read everything. Now to answer one of your prompts…my favorite sign of spring is when the daffodils peak through the earth and the buds start forming on the trees. It’s so gray here during the winter that the first sign of color truly feels like an awakening.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Our weather has been so warm that I am afraid the trees are beginning to bud. I usually love to see that but our temps are going to be well below freezing with snow in the forecast for Sunday, Valentine’s Day!! Would hate for everything to get frost bite.
Thank you for the kind words, Christie. Wish we could meet up for a morning walk together now and then!!
Natasha
I LOVE your mosaic. I also want that treadmill! My husband and I have talked about getting one but haven’t done it yet. That one would actually fit in our house!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Natasha. I am so happy that I am actually working on my mosaic it and enjoying it!! The treadmill is not real heavy duty but it is perfect for what we needed. And takes up very little room!!
Liz Klebba
Ah…. The shoes! So hard to get rid of! I can’t wait to see your table when it’s completed. I bet it will be gorgeous. (And off your mind!) I disposed of a lot of my children’s lit last year when decluttering my teaching boxes. It was SO hard. I love a good book, and especially a good children’s book! XO
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Liz. Parting with adult books is so much easier for me than saying goodbye to children’s books. And there are always new ones that I want to buy!!
Amy Johnson
How sweet that you feel loved beyond a shadow of a doubt. So many people can’t say that.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Amy. My people sure know how to show me love!!
Kristin
So much goodness in one post! Where do I start? I’ll start at the end….I too have a hard time keeping up with reading blogs. I use Feedly to keep track of all the posts. Then I try to devote one day per week to reading and commenting (today is the day!). Sometimes I go too long so I’ll just start with the most current post on each blog and comment there. In theory I would go back and comment on all the posts, but sometimes that’s not a reality.
I’ve also been trying to keep a blogging schedule. It works as long as I’m not too busy working on the business side of things. But I like having a list of ideas so I don’t have to ‘think’ about it too much. Where do you come up with your link-ups that you participate in? I’d like to do more of those but don’t ever seem to find any.
I love all the projects! The table, the collage, the gym! Well done. You are inspiring me to finish setting up my little gym to get me through the rest of this winter. It seems like it will never end (the winter, that is).