April - The Rhythms of Springtime

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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. I do like the rhythm of writing a phrase or sentence about each day and making it into a summary post. Seems like rhythms are changing again as the days get longer and warmer. I haven't been doing as well with meal planning, and it's harder for the evenings to run smoothly when we don't know for sure what's for dinner!

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April 1 - Took the morning off work so I could see the kids off on their way back home. Thankfully an easy afternoon at work. Chorus was a lot of fun, but also had some big emotions that took us a bit by surprise.

April 2 - Storms started during the night and there was heavy rain and some flooding to deal with, but no other major disruptions to our daily rhythms. I bought my tickets to the Twenty One Pilots concert in the fall, but that was a whole ordeal!

April 3 - Good work day and a good evening at Dinner + Discipleship. Got to sit with friends we hadn't visited with for awhile so it was good to catch up.

April 4 - Class in the morning, work in the afternoon, and rain most of the day. 

April 5 - Was surprised that I made it home from work before hubby. Relaxed evening at home and tried making some plans for the weekend.

April 6 - Had a lazy morning at home by myself, and didn't get much done! Shame on me. Hubby got home in time for us to go to the eagle watch hike in the afternoon. Went out to our favorite Greek restaurant for dinner.

April 7 - We were both on worship team at church. Monte Cristos at home for lunch, then after a long nap we went for a walk at one of the Metro Parks, then picked up pizza for dinner. And purposely ordered extra so we'd have leftovers for our lunches!

April 8 - Eclipse Day! I was at work, but we were all given eclipse glasses and could step outside and have a look at the event. I went out for a little bit before, during, and after the totality (or as close to it as we were, about 95%). It was really cool, but I guess even that 5% made it far less dramatic than it would have been a bit further west of here. 

April 9 - Didn't feel like a Tuesday since there was no chorus rehearsal the night before. I stopped at the eye doctor after work and got an updated prescription, and ordered glasses for work.

April 10 - An ordinary Wednesday, complete with Dinner + Discipleship.

April 11 - Co-op and work like most Thursdays. Talked to my daughter in the evening, and helped her finish up her taxes, and I tried to finish up ours.

April 12 - A regular workday, but with the added stress and anxiety of needing to file taxes, because we ran into a snag and couldn't e-file. An old hassle from a previous health insurance was screwing us over yet again. I hope to be done with it after this!

April 13 - I went with a group from our church to the district missions convention. It's been twenty-some years since I went to any district events for the Nazarene church, so it was different! Had a good time with the group I was with. After I got home, we met our son and his family at what we called the "hippie farm" (actually Groovy Plants Ranch) and then went out for dinner in Sunbury.

April 14 - We were on worship team at church, but had no other plans for the day. So we had a long nap in the afternoon, went walking in the evening, and picked up some groceries. Finished state taxes - at least we're getting a refund there! But a huge downer when I realized that we have to file city taxes separately, and we owe a lot. City taxes were NOT explained well to us last year, or we neither one of us understood any of what we were told. 

April 15 - Taxes suck. There, I said what we all think. On the plus side, it was a chorus day and the first of our Sing Into Spring guest nights, so it was really fun!

April 16 - Actually filed city taxes. A day late because, at this point, one day wasn't going to make a difference.

April 17 - Work and then Dinner + Discipleship. The drive home from work was harrowing, as I was driving when a severe thunderstorm went through, and spent about 20 minutes driving through a hailstorm! Very stressful!

April 18 - Another very ordinary Thursday, with co-op class in the morning, then work, and a quiet evening at home.

April 19 - I hurried home from work, with a quick stop to pick up some hot dog buns. The kids came over and we grilled hot dogs, brats, and corn on the cob. 

April 20 - Hubby worked, and I went to meet him there after lunch so I could see the tulip fields. The Tulip Festival was pretty much over, since the rains and hail earlier in the week had done some damage, but it was still pretty. In the evening we went to serve dinner at a mission church with others from our church.

April 21 - Our church service was early this week, and afterwards, we helped collect donated groceries throughout our neighborhoods. We relaxed in the afternoon, then attended the evening service together. Hubby went off to his hockey game (his team won the city championship) and I stayed for some ice cream at church before heading home.

April 22 - work and another fun guest night at chorus rehearsal.

April 23 - stopped to pick up my new glasses on the way home from work. Had a really quick shower when I got home and then went with hubby to a work dinner at a Japanese hibachi steakhouse. One of the interns had finished his term and was heading home so it was a dinner to celebrate with him. 

April 24 - Work followed by Dinner + Discipleship. Afterwards I called my aunt for her birthday.

April 25 - An easy co-op class, and I had a little extra time at home afterwards because I had an appointment with the oral surgeon to check my post. Got there and they were running behind so it was a long wait and I didn't get to work till mid-afternoon.

April 26 - Glad to have a quiet and ordinary workday and a quiet evening at home too.

April 27 - Opted to stay home all day (except for a short grocery run) in hopes of getting some housework done. Didn't do as much as I'd wanted, but made some progress and worked on some plans for upcoming weekends.

April 28 - Worship team and church, followed by lunch with our 55+ Dinner Club. Took a short nap when we got home and then went for a hike with our son and his family. Checked on the eagle family at Hundred Acre Woods and explored the hilly section of that trail. Came back home for hot dogs and wings. And to check on Jemima Puddle-Duck. She certainly has a predictable rhythm of life as far as we can tell and is perfectly fine with our rhythms of going past her morning and evening.

low quality (zoomed) photo of adult 
and juvenile bald eagles

April 29 - Worked and stopped at Wendy's for this week's fast food dinner. Chorus rehearsal was good, and I got to sing in the quartet for a new member getting ready to audition.

April 30 - Just when I thought I had a great morning routine established, I was a few minutes behind schedule this morning. Then was considerably delayed going around an accident. Just tired all day too. And that's a wrap for April!

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 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

 

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