Happy Monday and more importantly, Happy New Year! Now that it’s January, I can basically backtrack and fill you in on how the past few months have been going.

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Through a thin thread and without trying, I ended up getting a job as a teacher at my daughter’s school. Within a few weeks, I realized that the school was not a good fit for her and for myself. We both ended up leaving.

Honestly, working was hard but it was also very nice to be out of the house again: drink hot coffee whenever I wanted, interact with people who are not 5 years old and younger. But the thing with teaching is that while it’s rewarding, it also sucks the life out of you. The sheer amount of work is ridiculous: 15-17 hour days 6 days a week. Politics and nepotism at a small school. Teaching high school kids makes you an automatic target. There were so many things at play here, but eventually we came to the decision that while working is nice, this is not the place I need to be at right now.

Coincidentally, it was not the right place for Serena. As you know, she has Celiac and it was just not an environment where she was thriving and growing. In fact, she ended up in the ER because of something that happened at school. That was the last straw for us and we pulled her out the next day. I’m happy to say that she’s at a new school with an amazing teacher who works with her medical needs, all the while helping her growing into a strong student.

Anyway, we’ve also been settling nicely into our new home. Unpacking hacks and tips coming soon since we’ve moved so many times in that past few years. The location is perfect, but the house is a little small for us. We’re hoping to move in 2021 into our dream home so we’re just working diligently towards that. In the mean time, I’m working on making this home as organized as possible. Unpacking so many boxes while working so many hours has proven to be difficult. But once things are organized, it gives me life. Also, it’s such a timesaver when you know exactly where things are when you need them.

Here’s my list for this month..

Reading
I have been reading nonstop. I got a library card with our new address and they have an app that lets you check books and audios out for free. It’s been a game changer. I’ve read so many books recently including this – Silent Patient, this one, and this one. I joined a book club and have been welcomed with open arms by these fabulous ladies who share my passion for reading and discussing. Also, we do this over food so it’s been nice!

Watching
I haven’t been watching too much TV, probably because we don’t have a TV in the living room, but we have been enjoying following this series from the beginning. Of course, one of us falls asleep within a few minutes of turning on the movie, but it’s nice to have some down time once in a while!

Listening to
Well, since November, we’ve been listening to Christmas music. Yes, since November. It’s been fun, but I am soooo glad that the kids are okay returning to regular music. I think next year, we’ll start embracing Christmas magic starting December.

Working on
Since I’ve been reading more, I’ve been making more of an effort to stay off the screen. I’ve actually been measuring my screen time and have reduced it to an hour a day. This has helped me be more productive and intentional with my time during the day. Here’s to hoping that 2020 is super successful!

One of my goals for 2020 is to continue to be organized and efficient, not just as a mom, but as a blogger. I started this as an outlet, something that is just mine. And in the past two years, it’s become a source of great networking opportunities. I had to put things on pause temporarily to help my family deal with health issues, but I’m ready to focus on me again. I think a part of my hesitation to get back to blogging is that I always need everything to be perfect. Like, this picture is not perfect so I can’t post it. Or, the SEO on this blog post is not the best is can be so I need to rewrite it until it is. And then just going back to thinking about whether people even care about what I have to say, if it’s even genuine content anymore. What could I possibly say that hasn’t said before? How can I actually really contribute?

But the thing is, maybe my audience doesn’t know how to plan a cross-country move. Maybe y’all like hearing about Celiac life and Autism. Maybe you want to start teaching your kids more at home and you don’t even know where to start. All I know is that I’m going to start sharing things without being perfect, and without second guessing whether I’m good enough.

So here’s to sharing more and being more candid in 2020.

Thanks for sticking around.