Hasta la vista, April. I’m not gonna lie: there were good and bad days, and I’m okay with seeing April in my rearview window. My depression, which had been chilling in Antarctica or some place far from me, made an unwelcome reappearance in my life. Beyond work, I didn’t feel like doing much else, except the much else is all the important stuff, like living. While I very much enjoy my work, I don’t live to work. Or at least that’s not what I want to do. Now I’m behind on my goals and my mojo is still low, which means I’m playing catch-up, relighting my spark and moving forward because that is all I can do.
April Showers Bring a Brighter May
Now to be clear, April was by no means a bad month. It just feels like I lost some momentum because I had the blahs. There were still lots of good things that happened, which is what I’m going to recap because I am a glass half-full kind of gal.
Funny Cat Memes
Full confession: my largest Pinterest board is my I Heart Cats board. This is my happy place. It also drives Max crazy when I coo to the other cats, since you know, they are not in front of me, ready to play and be petted. 🙂
Every cat owner has woken up to the cat in your face who just wanted to say “hello”. And Max also loves boxes, bags, dresser drawers and sinks.
This is My Life
In one meme.
What I Designed
You, hopefully, noticed the changes here at A Mindful Migration and can learn more about the tweaks to its focus, here. I also installed a new website for The State Bank of Taunton. It was a complete overhaul to coincide with the launch of their new mobile app and looks terrific IMHO. If your website needs a makeover, let’s chat. I’d love to help and am accepting new projects to begin June 1st.
What I’m Eating
The blahs led to a lot of non-action with my getting healthy goal. My motivation went on an extended vacation, and eating healthy wasn’t really on my mind. The good news is I’m doing better. 🙂 One recipe that is helping me eat well, even when busy, is the very delicious Cajun Shrimp and Andouille Sausage in Foil Packets. And in anticipation of Mother’s Day, I also made a gorgeous and tasty Strawberry Cheesecake Poke Cake (try saying that fast) that moms everywhere will love. Or at least my Mom will!
What I’m Reading
In my giddiness, I put 15 books on hold at the library and requested a bunch of books through NetGalley and it’s too much. I love to read, although it’s starting to feel like work. My reading pile is a mountain, which doesn’t excite me but puts fear in my heart. Okay, that’s an exaggeration; however, it is starting to feel like work versus pleasure. And I never, ever (just call me Taylor Swift) want leisure reading to feel like work. That being said, I read some really great books that I can’t wait to discuss in my monthly review, which will now be on the second Monday of every month.
What I Can’t Wait to See
You know I love cats, right? And on Friday, Key and Peele’s new movie, Keanu, comes out and I can’t wait to see it. It’s going to be a silly movie, which is just what I need.
This is the red band trailer, so don’t play it at work if cursing is going to get you in trouble. 🙂 Also for those of you who are confused, this is a riff on John Wick (a great movie), which starred Keanu Reeves, hence the title.
My Favorite Posts
These are the posts from my fellow bloggers that I loved this month. Enjoy!
- Budget and the Beach: Ikigai is Not Some Creepy Dude at the Bar
- Jana Says: Stuck and Afraid and On Depression and Infertility
- Optimal Actualization: The Side of Me You Don’t See
- The Random Path: Every Great Dream
- TexErin-in-Sydneyland: Serious Talk
- See You in Porridge: Checking In With My Eating
- Life According to Steph: My Go To Chicken Marinade for the Grill
That’s a Wrap for April
Like I said, lots of great stuff happened in April, and I have no doubt that is what helped lift me out of the blahs. And May will certainly be full of plenty of amazing stuff too!
How did April treat you? What’s the best thing that happened to you?
Tanya
i hear ya on the depression. i’m pretty sure i’m in the early onset of menopause and it’s been messing with my moods. my greatest fear is that the wacky hormones will trigger my depression again so i’ve been in full-on prevention mode…that means regular visits to my acupuncturist who’s helping me with hormone balance treatments and after my 1st session, i did a total 180 and haven’t feel this happy or great in months! hope things turn up for you; the blahs really do suck.
Menopause is coming sooner, rather than later for me too. And I’m a little nervous about how the changes will affect me too. It’s smart to go into prevention mode. I’ve never tried acupuncture before. As I shared in my comment on your blog, it kind of scares me! But I’m glad it’s working so well for you and it does make me a bit more curious about it, although I’m still not sure if I could do it. I’m kind of a baby when it comes to pain. 🙂
I feel really bad for people who suffer from depression. I have no idea what that feels like but I can imagine it’s pretty awful. Hope you can somehow snap out of your funk! That movie looks hilarious btw!
The worst part for me is the numbness and low energy. It really throws me off my game with my goals in particular, which bites. Thankfully, it’s much, much better these days but every so often, it likes to let me know it’s still hanging around. The first time I saw the trailer for Keanu, I watched it like ten times. #NotAshamed!
Thanks for the link!
I’ve been overwhelmed by books before, I just return some and put them on hold again! No guilt, no work! Don’t feel bad.
LOLOL @ the fence meme. Life is so like that sometimes, yes?
You’re welcome, Steph! Yeah, I sorted through the books and prioritized them by the ones that I could easily get in the future and the ones that I likely couldn’t. It felt weird returning books without reading them but I also felt a lot of relief too!
And yes, the fence meme, so me. So very, very me!
i had a bit of a blah month too so i feel you! i also feel you on the books. i went through a reading rut and then i got out of it and requested like 75 books and now i’m feeling pressured and don’t want to read at all, so i just need to take it slow and stop thinking of it as work. that movie looks hilarious and i need to check out your pinterest cat board because #crazycatlady. thanks for the shout out pretty lady, hope May is better for you!
LOL! I’m the same way, Kristen. I swear it seems like the books I want to read, I don’t have. And the mountain of books I do have, I’m like meh. I really need to rethink how I checkout library books! And yes, to taking it slow and keeping reading fun versus work. Like I said, my I Heart Cats pinterest board is my favorite. Seriously, it’s kind of embarrassing but I don’t care. It makes me happy!
I hear ya about depression rearing its head when you least expect it 🙁 Just keep pressing on and remember each day is a new day.
I love the cate memes, especially the one where the cat is inside of a box in his cat bed! SO CUTE!!
Thanks for mentioning my post Tanya 🙂
Some days I think it just likes to punk me. I’ve been feeling pretty good for most of this year and then bam-o. Just blah. And you’re right, my friend, every day is a new day!
Cats and boxes. I just don’t get it. Emeril was actually never really into boxes, but Max loves “containers”. Boxes, paper bags, hampers, sinks, laundry baskets, plastic bins, dresser drawers. If he fits, he sits (or more like naps).
Thank you so much for including my post in your monthly wrap!
That strawberry poke cake…I’m pretty sure that I could eat that for the next week and be happy.
Since we announced that June will be all about reading books from our home shelves, I’ve been going extra crazy at the library (as if I wasn’t crazy enough already) checking out so many books!
You’re welcome, Erin! Thank you for writing such a great, honest post.
Ahhh .. the strawberry cheesecake poke cake. I did eat it for a week and I was pretty darn happy while eating it too! LOL!
I don’t know what it is but everyone few weeks I get a real bug and reserve a ton of books at once. Then I’ll go to the library to pick them up and have to browse, just to see what else they have. Ummmm … maybe read the books you have checked out first before adding to your pile. I am so book greedy!
I had to back off putting books on hold because I was getting overwhelmed with the amount of books I have.
Depression is an asshole. I’ve been going in and out of mine for the last couple of months and it’s a motivation and self-esteem killer. I feel ya.
Thanks for sharing my posts. And we need to have a Skype chat about site design stuff 🙂
It seems like everyone has been reserving too many books at once. I’m glad I’m not only one with book FOMO! 🙂 Honestly, there were some books that I thought would take months before they would reach me and of course, I get them right away. I forgot the library orders like 8-10 copies of really popular books, which is nice but not when you getting emails twice a week about another book being available. #booknerdproblems
And yes, we definitely need to connect to about your site design. But let’s get real – our first conversation is going to be about books. And I will apologize in advance for constantly putting Max in front of the camera but …. #crazycatlady.
Keanu looks ridiculous, so I’ll probably see it! haha That sausage and shrimp packet sounds amazing! I am really glad April is over. I had a big work thing that I had been dreading for almost a year now. The introvert part of me can relax now. I LOVE your business name! So cute.