Establishing A Rhythm in February (WOTY and #WBOYC)

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

I decided that Rhythm would be my WOTY and one way I'm trying to establish a rhythm is by keeping a very brief daily diary, to watch for daily and weekly patterns to develop and to be intentional about keeping the good ones going. Once again, not a super exciting post, but I did see that some things really were settling into a regular rhythm of life in February.

February 1 - Taught writing class in the morning, then went to work. Relaxed in the evening. A very bland day, to be honest.

February 2 - Happy Groundhog Day! I never did find out whether the groundhog saw his shadow or not. I did my best to be very productive at work, but didn't get through all the tasks I wanted to complete. Over our dinner and our evening coffee we worked on making a weekend plan with our son and his family, as we wanted to do something to celebrate his wife's birthday.

February 3 - oh it felt good to sleep late this morning! The family came over around eleven, and we all headed to the Dayton Carillon History museum to spend the day. It was very interesting and there is a lot to do and see there, so we would like to go back a time or two. Enjoyed drinks in the Carillon Brewing Company on site and then went into town to The Ladder for dinner. 

Riding the unusual carousel was a fun exercise in rhythm!

February 4 - at last, a day to just relax! Most of the day, anyway. I wasn't on worship team again this week (getting worried they don't like me any more!) so I could sleep a little later. A light lunch and a long nap in the afternoon, grocery shopping and a late dinner in the evening. I had a relaxing evening at home while hubby went to hockey.

February 5 - Another work week begins! The day went well, although the mid-afternoon slump hit hard. Quick dinner of leftovers and then off to chorus rehearsal.

February 6 - Work day felt pretty similar to yesterday. Met with our financial advisor after work to finalize some updates to our retirement plan. Grabbed fast food for an easy but late dinner.

February 7 - Some snags at work but nothing too upsetting. Got home with just enough time to freshen up a little before heading to church for Dinner + Discipleship. Stayed up late again this week to grade papers. (This is NOT a good rhythm, but unfortunately it's pretty ingrained)

February 8 - I love my more relaxed start to the day on Thursdays! Adjusted my lesson plan for this week a bit. Busy afternoon at work, and when I got home I took a short nap before getting dinner ready. Quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things, but it looked like they were doing some renovating or major cleaning? Anyway, no bread to be found!

February 9 - The work day felt long, but I think it was because I was busy and ran into several surprises. Relaxed dinner and evening at home, and I cooked up the chicken for Sunday's meals.

February 10 - Hubby went to work this morning, so I enjoyed a quiet and relaxed morning with my coffee and caught up some blogging things I'd meant to do earlier in the week. Got some housework done in the afternoon. Made a quick run to the grocery to finally get the bread I'd tried to get Thursday (need it to make a bread bowl for our Sunday Funday meal). A light dinner, and a quiet evening.

February 11 - Even though I slept till a bit past eight and had a decent nap in the afternoon, it still felt like a long day. After church I made a bigger lunch than we usually have on Sundays and prepped food to take to our little family SuperBowl party in the evening. And of course we spent all evening together with our son and his family watching the game, which went into overtime so we were late getting home, and I was late getting to bed.

February 12 - And back to the rhythm of the work week! I was glad we had planned leftovers for dinner so I didn't have to rush about much between work and going to chorus rehearsal.

February 13 - Had a good visit with my Mom in the evening for her birthday.

February 14 - In many ways, just another day. We didn't make any special plans for Valentine's, since it was in the middle of the week. But Dinner + Discipleship was a dinner served by the youth, as a fundraiser, so it was special. Followed by an Ash Wednesday service which I had very mixed feelings about. 

February 15 - Taught in the morning and then went to work. Found out I'd been using the wrong deposit slips for a couple weeks, but I hadn't even realized there were two kinds! That was embarrassing, but it was an honest mistake, and now I know. Well, so does pretty much everyone else in the company across several states, thanks to the extensive email distribution list! Argh.

February 16 - I had prepared for a company lunch today, but it was cancelled so that was a bit of a disappointment. It started snowing in the afternoon, so it was wintry mix conditions on the drive home. I stopped at the store and in the fifteen minutes or so I was inside, the condition deteriorated a LOT. The ten minute drive home from the store took at least half an hour and was a tad nerve wracking in places, because there was so much slushy snow by then that almost all the drivers were taking it very slow and we all seemed rather uncertain at stops and turns. Being cautious is preferable to being reckless though!

February 17 - Hubby went to work in the morning and I enjoyed a rather leisurely cup of coffee by myself to start the day. After he got home and we'd had lunch, we napped for a bit and then went to get some groceries before spending a quiet evening at home.

February 18 - Church in the morning and to my surprise, I think I'd become used to the rhythm of sleeping in on Sunday mornings! I had to rush a bit to get ready on time. Lunch was leftovers, and the kids came over in the afternoon. We made a field trip to BJ's and then picked up Chinese takeout from a restaurant we hadn't tried yet and it was very good! 

February 19 - And back to the weekday rhythm again! Busy day at work, and I managed to get home with enough time to cook a quick dinner and sit down and eat before heading to chorus for the evening. Speaking of rhythm, we worked a lot on the tempo and rhythms of one of our songs, and I think it was really helpful. I had the privilege of pairing up with one of the younger members for that part of rehearsal, and enjoyed it - she reminds me a little of my daughter.

February 20 - I think I slept in a bit this morning, as I felt like I was running behind while getting ready, but I did get to work on time. Picked up cold medicine and a few groceries on the way home and spent a quiet evening.

February 21 - just a regular Wednesday. I hadn't graded papers earlier, so I looked at them in the evening and decided that I would not stay up late to do it. It would get done on the weekend.

February 22 - class went well, but I was a little later leaving for work. Got to work and found out the reason my GPS wasn't working on the way was because of the big AT&T outage. And I suspect the outage contributed to a quieter than usual day at work. Was nice to come home to dinner ready to eat, since I'd put a pork roast in the crockpot.

February 23 - work was . . . interesting. Since the phones were out, there were some oddities in closing manifests from the day before. At lunchtime, I happened to be in the lunchroom when a group of employees got into an argument that was a bit out of hand. I didn't take it seriously because I never did figure out WHAT the disagreement was, so I was a little surprised when it progressed to some threats and then when I was asked to submit a statement since it had been seen - but not heard - on the security cameras. All ended up well and apparently they all shook hands when they were interviewed by management, and one of them even came to my office and apologized. Not part of the usual rhythm of a workday! In the evening hubby and son went to the hockey game (the tickets were our birthday present to our son), and daughter-in-law and granddaughter had a Girls Night In with me.

February 24 - woke up to snow! For the next little while, I expect the rhythm of Saturdays to be that hubby goes to work for at least part of the day and I have a relaxed morning at home and try to get caught up on household chores. That's how this Saturday went anyway.

February 25 - After church, we went to lunch with our 55+ Dinner Club group. Tried a restaurant called Mellow Mushroom that was new to us. Food was great and we had a really good time making connections with some new friends. 

February 26 - busy day at work but I got home with enough time that I didn't have to rush around dinner before leaving for chorus rehearsal.

February 27 - decided that in order to keep up with household chores better, I should keep myself accountable to get one of the bigger jobs or part of a project done after dinner on nights I'm at home, and not sitting at the computer or in front of the computer until that's complete. Tonight I took on the kitchen.

February 28 - early in the morning there were tornado warnings in our area, so we woke up to sirens and a major thunderstorm. By the time we left for work the storm had passed, but my commute was much delayed because a tunnel had been flooded and was partially closed. Would have been a good day to take the back roads, but I didn't know that until it was too late. 

February 29 - made a last minute decision to cancel the co-op class for today, so I had a relaxed morning but was able to leave for work a bit earlier than usual for a Thursday. Now, I wonder if I can get to bed a bit earlier than usual too!

 Rhythm is my Word of The Year for 2024 because I realized I'd need to adjust my routines and work on my time management as I started a full time work schedule, and I couldn't be striving or fighting all the time - I need to establish a healthy, balanced rhythm to my days and weeks. And additionally, in the last part of 2023, I felt like God had really been speaking to me about the subject of Sabbath, and that he was inviting me to be more intentional about practicing and celebrating a Sabbath rhythm in my life. Here's my WOTY post to explain: WQ - Rhythm Inspires

 

What's Been On My Calendar? #WBOYC

This post is linked at What's Been On Your Calendar #WBOYC hosted by Deb's World.

Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.