Monday: It was MLK Day (no work), so John & I went for a walk in the afternoon. We walk by this each time we take a walk and each time, what do I think those grassy mops in the water look like?
Cousin Itt from the Addams Family!
Tuesday: Progress, progress, progress on the built in bookcases in our living room. I married a talented man!
Wednesday: While working on the built ins, John was watching the inauguration on his phone. There were a lot of great moments in the ceremony, but the poetry reading by Amanda Gorman, was amazing. It gave me great hope for the future.
Thursday: For the Boston Bruins home opener, the team honored a 40+ year season ticket holder who passed away from COVID-19 two weeks prior. The anthem was sung outside of his house with his family packed on his porch. A nice tribute.
Friday: Friday was a sing along kind of day. I went from Foreigner to Fleetwood Mac and then to the Pointer Sisters. Listening to this I was thrown back to junior high. We had a talent show and my friends & I did a routine to "I'm So Excited." The big controversy was that we wanted to throw glitter at the end and our principal was against it. Yeah, we went to Catholic school. Apparently glitter is sacrilegious. 😎
Saturday: Woke up to this. Even though it was only an inch or so, it was not welcome.
BOOK REVIEWS 2021
Book #5: We Came Here to Shine by Susie Orman Schnall
Summary: Set at the iconic 1939 New York World’s Fair, Susie Orman Schnall's We Came Here to Shine is historical fiction featuring two bold and ambitious women who navigate a world of possibility and find out what they're truly made of during a glorious summer of spectacle and potential.
Rating: B+. I specifically gave a short summary to entice you. This is a fast/simple read but the backdrop of the 1939 World's Fair was fascinating- slighty more fascinating to me than the actual characters. It's a fun read.
Book #6: Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Summary: The ultimate playbook for developing brave leaders and courageous cultures. Daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100% teachable. It’s learning and practice that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with our whole hearts.
Rating: B-. Admittedly this was not a "for pleasure" read. My supervisor recommended it and I decided to give it a shot. Brown is hilarious and her wit and humor helped me to get through the book. Admittedly, I did take a lot of notes (stickies galore) and want to document them here:
- (page xviii): "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better." WOW- right off the bat this book was speaking to me & my personal experiences.
- (page 8): "Rather than spending a reasonable amount of time proactively acknowledging and addressing the fears and feelings that show up during change & upheaval, we spend an unreasonable amount of time managing problematic behaviors." This is cited as one of the 10 reasons that get in our way of leading bravely. Agree!
- (page 20): In relation to the first bullet above, Brown refers to critics as "cheap-seats feedback." She constantly reminds the reader to avoid the cheap-seats feedback. (I need to work on this!)
- (page 21): "Cruelty is cheap, easy, and chickenshit." Hilarious, but oh so true..
- (page 38): "What does support from me look like?" I really like the way this is framed and will try to use this going forward.
- (page 63): "I am a traveler, not a mapmaker. I am going down this path same as and with you." This is brillliant.
- (page 214): Brown talk a lot about assuming positive intent. I have some work to do this in this area, but I am glad Brown continued to hammer this principle.
- (page 256): Box breathing/tactical breathing- strategies for reckoning with emotion.
- Inhale deeply through your nose; expanding your stomach, for a count of four.
- Hold in that breath for a count of four
- Slowly exhale all the air through your mouth, contracting your stomach, for a count of four.
- Hold the empty break for a count of four
- (page 258): I am going to write these out and put them on my computer monitors:
- Do I have enough information to freak out about this situation?
- If I do have enough data, will freaking out help?
Morning KT
ReplyDeleteThe first photo the "cousin it's" look like some type of clump grass. Since it cold up your way not sure what type
The book cases look great! What kind of wood stove are you putting in? Maybe not wood- pellet?
I miss our wood stove, we have a gas fireplace here. It's a good thing since we don't live in the woods anymore.
I remember going to the World's Fair. It was in Flushing NY- not far from where we lived. Wonder if I still have the ticket stub- LOL
Till next time
Linda