I find myself without words as I read the news regarding the terrorist attacks on Israel,which is horrifying. I also am embarrassed at how much I do not know about conflicts in the Middle East. All I keep do is praying and thinking, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
So simply, let me share Psalm 122, which is where the saying, “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” originates:
Interesting read: Israel at War
I am not sure what news will have happened before this posts, but it is worthwhile considering this attack through a lens of normal people, not combatants, who are experiencing the terrorism.
Thomas Friedman of the NYTimes also asserts how Hamas has been a “deadly curse” for the Palestinian people since it took over Gaza in 2007.
I wish I were more knowledgeable about the situation. How did I not know, for instance, that Israel left and closed down all of its settlements in Gaza many years ago? I have a lot of reading and learning to do.
I read Bari Weiss’ book How to Fight Anti-Semitism when it first came out. It was very eye-opening for me, and helped me understand how pernicious and how evil antisemitism is, from the far right, the far left, and radical Islam. She also covers some of the ways to fight it, and one of those is to be sure to educate ourselves. But I am still so uneducated about this—it’s time for a re-read of this book, and finding others to read.
Interesting watch: Taskmaster— “Find Out the Gentleman’s Occupation”
G had her birthday last week, and had us watch some clips from this very funny British show called “Taskmaster.” I had never heard of it, but it’s really worthwhile. This is probably the funniest clip that we watched.
An action item: Spend some time praying for the peace of Jerusalem
This is self-explanatory. If you want, you can just pray (read aloud or to yourself) Psalm 122 above.
What are you doing this weekend?
You know the drill here. Now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally)
This was my statement recently after a highly challenging conversation with a younger person (not a relative) that I know well. I don’t want to go into too many specifics, because it’s not my story to tell.
But suffice to say: any suggestion, idea, or thoughtful “what do you think about…“ was met with various non-answers that showed the person was not open to consider other options for improving the situation. It’s not the first time I’ve had such a conversation with this person, and surely won’t be the last, but it’s maddening.
This isn’t just a rant against this poor person, but it got me thinking about what I consider “invincible ignorance,” and how we are all prone to it in certain areas. And we should want as much as possible to get rid of it, not just to stop annoying me, but because it hurts ourselves.
Invincible ignorance is actually a theological term for someone who is not culpable for their actions or beliefs because they have no way of knowing the truth. We’d have to get the theologian in the family to chime in on what it actually means as far as a person’s actions, but if you’re interested in some of the concept, this article is less esoteric than most of what I found out there. A quote from it:
“In short, it means that we’ll be judged based on what we knew (or should have known), not for what we didn’t have the power to know.”
I was trying to find or make a graphic to represent “invincible ignorance” and this was about the closest I could get.
My definition of Invincible Ignorance
When I say “invincible ignorance,” I mean things that people refuse to change their minds about, no matter how much they learn or are presented with evidence to the contrary. That is what I find maddening.
Let’s say this person, who shall remain nameless but who “might” resembls Dad, still reads the nutrition labels on food items, and rejects ones that have what he considers to be “too much saturated fat” or “too much fat.”
Fortunately, this person still eats a lot of whole foods that do not have nutrition labels, so isn’t harmed too much by the false belief that avoiding at all costs saturated fat should be a top goal for humans.
But people around him might be harmed by raising their voices to say, “Fat isn’t the enemy!” every single time. But I digress. (wink).
Anyway, to me, that invincible ignorance doesn’t serve us well. How can we avoid it?
My number one idea is that we should be open and willing to change our minds.
I have a plan at some point to do a commentary/summary on the series, perhaps here, because I found it a vital and thoughtful listen. The final episode is titled, “What If You’re Wrong?” It’s a conversation between JK Rowling and host Megan Phelps-Roper about discernment and holding space for the possibility you could change your mind.
This is especially important and relevant for Phelps-Roper based on her background, which she elaborates on in this essay. (It’s so worth a read, as is her book
We all have these blind spots or ways of thinking that are not helpful to us, or those around us. They might be small, or big, but even being aware of the possibility is the first step in being more self-aware. Maybe it means you change your mind; maybe it means you get to the point where you don’t see saturated fat as the enemy. But most of all, it can help you be happier and wiser.
I know I have these blind spots, too, and feel free to tell me (nicely) about them. I want to be open to change.
My one quibble? In many scenes, it shows the host, Dan Buettner, riding his bike through these gorgeous areas—Okinawa, Japan, steep hills in Sardinia, etc. AND HE’S NEVER WEARING A HELMET.
I kept yelling at the TV, annoying Dad to to no end, but honestly? We’re trying to promote healthful living, and we are not.wearing.a.helmet?
An action item: Time to Update Your Net Worth
I’ve gone back and forth about this, but I want you to consider doing this. I typically update our Net Worth Calculator quarterly, and September 30 was the end of Q3—Quarter 3, in the calendar year.
This may take slightly longer this first time, if you have not done so. But I promise you, over time, you will be happy that you do this.
The reason I hesitated is that it could be pretty likely you have a negative net worth, largely because of student loans. But that’s will be so temporary (over the long haul!) that you should not be discouraged by it.
When people begin to track their net worth, they call it “getting back to zero” when they have a zero net worth. That may not seem promising, but it’s a great accomplishment for those who have paid off a significant amount of debt, whether student loan debt, credit card debt, or other types of debt. And it can be very encouraging to see an improvement in your net worth over time.
*Unfortunately, Google Sheets does not allow password-protecting of items. I prefer to keep this information, and most of my spreadsheets, in a format I can password protect. Think Microsoft Excel, Apple’s Numbers, etc. You can even do this on paper if you want, and store it somewhere safe.
*There are two “sheets” in the spreadsheet I’ve shared—the first is a blank one, and the second is a sample with random numbers that I have included.
*Sometimes people do not add in their vehicles or mortgages, but I prefer to, because you can see how much equity you have in the house or vehicle. But I mentally don’t include them the same weight as other assets, since they are not liquid and it’s not likely one would sell them for living expenses, whether in retirement or out.
What are you doing this weekend?
You know the drill here. Now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).
I know that I talk a lot about the good money decisions Dad & I have made over the years. But honestly, a lot of those were due to our general frugality and saver mentality, more than any intentional “good decisions.”
But since about 2013, I’ve turned toward being very involved in personal finance, trying to actively max out retirement accounts, optimize our money, understand where our money goes, and begin planning for the future. I am grateful that I started down that path, because knowledge of our finances went a long way towards making them better. And you all know many of the wins, because I’ve shared them!
I thought it would be helpful to list some of the mistakes I’ve made. This isn’t to criticize myself—that’s what I have kids for, after all, LOL. But just a few:
Mistake 1: Cashing out a retirement account early in my career
I cashed out a retirement account when I left my first post-college job to go to grad school. I had to pay taxes on the amount that year, and I have no idea where that $1,000 or so went, but if I had just left it there, it would be worth more than $0 today.
I don’t even think I necessarily “should have” rolled it over into an IRA and had it grow all these years. If I weren’t going to do that, here’s the mistake: that I didn’t use the money for anything memorable.
If I would have intentionally used that money for something—like a trip, or a special piece of furniture for my apartment, I would still remember and get enjoyment from that. But I don’t have any idea of where the money went, so it feels wasted.
A brief digression to explain
Here’s a story to explain what I mean about spending intentionally: One of your cousins recently thanked me for giving her advice about where to store the savings she had to pay off her student loans during the federal student loan pause. I advised her to stash it in a high-yield savings account, such as Discover or Capital One. The current interest rate at both is 4.3 percent—so great!
She took my advice, and she was able to use the interest to use as her “wedding fund” to travel to friends’ weddings. (And she kindly sent me fancy chocolates as a gift for my advice).
an intentional way to spend money: send fancy chocolate bars to a favorite aunt
Great move #1:
Listening to my advice, haha. But seriously, putting into effect a plan for her money, based on solid advice and doubtless her own research.
Great move #2:
Intentionally using the extra money (the interest produced) for a specific purpose—in her case, wedding travel & gifts — and enjoying it guilt-free. That is something I have not been as good about over the years, and I’ve tried to work on.
Back to my mistakes….
Mistake #2: Spending money on “things”
I spent way too much money on “things” when I was younger. Don’t get me wrong, I still spend plenty of money on things. But younger me was much more prone to actual shopping. The second ever IKEA that opened in the US was in Woodbridge, VA.
And when I lived in DC, I used to go there a lot, and buy various things. Some things I needed, like bookshelves, and some things I didn’t need, like the various tchotchkes they sell.
Also, that IKEA was near an outlet mall, and I would go through the Gap Outlet, and various other store outlets. I remember I enjoyed getting a “bargain” on clothes, most of which I don’t remember and didn’t need.
If online shopping had existed back then, I’m sure I would have been prone to overspending there as well. I wish I had given myself a certain amount that was okay to spend, and then not feel bad about it. Instead, I just spent whatever. I never went into debt, but I wasn’t very intentional about it.
I’ll stop here. Some of the other mistakes I want to write about might implicate Dad as well, and I don’t want to tell anyone else’s story, even if it’s the story of both of us. There’s no need, as I have certainly made plenty of mistakes by myself!
But as the headline said, by keeping our overall expenses low, and steadily contributing to retirement accounts and avoid debt, the mistakes don’t matter as much.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
An interesting read: Financial Conversations to Set Your Marriage Up for Success
Full disclosure: Dad & I didn’t have these kinds of in-depth conversations before we were married. And I think one of our mistakes was not having enough financial conversations through the years.
Before we were married, I do remember sharing my long-held belief of paying off credit cards in full each month. And when we bought our first house, I remember both of us being committed to getting a mortgage far below what we could “afford.”
I guess my advice on this would be to always be learning about financial things and talking about them together, and to always be open to changing your opinion. I certainly have over the years!
An interesting listen/watch: Joby Aviation Flying Taxi
She saw several of these crafts flying low near her last week. It’s like the Jetsons coming to live. Then I thought, it kind of looks like a helicopter—how is it different? Well, take a few minutes to watch the video in action from the company’s home page. Very cool! Especially the intriguing “script” on the video itself to explain the craft’s qualities.
An action item: Practice intentionality with money
I think most of you have high-yield savings accounts. Take a minute to look at the total interest that you have earned this year on those accounts. It’s surprisingly high this year, compared to the last few years, when interest rates were so low.
How can you intentionally allocate that money so you will remember it?
The “practical” move would be to allocate it to student loans or something similar, but I encourage you to assign it to something fun. That could be a weekend trip, or a goal to eat at x number of cool restaurants before the end of the year. And then enjoy that without concern for other goals, because you’ve made that the goal for “this money.”
What are you doing this weekend?
As every week: Now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).
I’m still recovering my energy from COVID, and beginning to like food again, which is a good sign. But I still want to take naps every couple of hours. 🙂
What to Do About Student Loan Payments Restarting? Good Question.
“(P)utting things in autopilot on student loans typically does not yield better results.”
—Sarah Catherine Gutierrez, CFP
Payments on student loans begin again after a 3-year plus hiatus, so it’s time to consider options.
Let me say, after doing a lot of research and reading: it is …. confusing. When I first began to look at this, it seemed as if the new SAVE plan would be worthwhile for everyone, including those who are still in graduate school. But now I’m unsure.
Just because it’s confusing doesn’t mean that you should do nothing. That’s the easiest path, and, trust me, I’ve been there. But doing nothing is NOT the right move—see the quote that begins this!
Rather, it’s worth spending an hour or more this week figuring our your student loan plan—for now—and implementing it. As I read it, even if you join the SAVE program, you can change back if you want.
I would listen to the first half of this podcast episode from the White Coat Investor.
Listening to this got me started on exploring the SAVE program and encouraging those with student loans to make a plan for future years. (You can read the transcript at the link if you’d rather not listen.)
More resources:
Here are a few articles to read about student loan payments restarting and making a plan:
The benefit of both of these is that the people giving advice are trained on student loans, and give advice only on student loans. Getting advice, even if it is “free,” from someone else, like a financial advisor, might be sub-optimal.
My thoughts
If I had student loans now, like I did 100 years ago, I would be interested in paying them off as quickly as possible. Even though taking out loans for school is “good debt” to incur, I don’t think it is good debt to “keep on the books.”
I might enroll in the SAVE program, then use those low payments and interest pause to save aggressively for paying them off (and other goals). At some point, I’d probably pay off the student loans in one fell swoop.
There are only two kinds of debt I would not want to get rid of quickly:
*mortgage debt.
*very low, or 0 interest debt. This could be, for instance, a car loan taken out when rates were much lower. No need to pay that off, when you can earn close to 5 percent in a high-yield savings account.
Otherwise, I would make a plan to pay things off as quickly as possible, at the same time saving for future goals. The order I would pay them off:
*high-interest credit card debt.
*other high-interest debt, such as a personal loan or higher-interest car loan.
*student loans.
If I worked at a PSLF-qualifying organization, such as a non-profit hospital or government agency, I would investigate going for that—public service loan forgiveness. If you work for a qualifying employer, your loans are forgiven after 10 years. Here’s an overview of the PSLF program.
Also, while we don’t have Parent Plus loans, it looks like there is “cliff” approaching in 2025 that would limit options for paying it off or enrolling in income-based repayment plans. If I had these, I would review this article and keep track of any changes.
Remember: Everyone has different goals and risk tolerance when it comes to money. I don’t think there is a one-size-fits all approach, but it is worth exploring your options and making an informed decision. You know what they say—the more you know….
Love,
Mom
An interesting read: We are repaganizing
This recent piece from Louise Perry entitled “We are Repaganizing” is extremely important, and I urge you to take the time to read it. (I know it seems out of place in a student loan-themed newsletter, but this is just so well-written, I didn’t want to put off sharing it).
Finding a good quote to excerpt is difficult because I want to quote the whole thing. Here are just two:
The supremely strange thing about Christianity in anthropological terms is that it takes a topsy-turvy attitude toward weakness and strength. To put it crudely, most cultures look at the powerful and the wealthy and assume that they must be doing something right to have attained such might. The poor are poor because of some failing of their own, whether in this life or the last. The smallness and feebleness of women and children is a sign that they must be commanded by men. The suffering of slaves is not an argument against slavery, but an argument against allowing oneself to be enslaved.
Most cultures—perfectly logically—glorify warriors and kings, not those at the bottom of the heap. But Christianity takes a perverse attitude toward status and puts that perversity at the heart of the theology. “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
…..
The moral innovation of Christianity was to reconceptualize rape as a moral wrong done to the woman herself, regardless of her birth. Paul’s prohibition of (to use the Greek term) porneia—that is, illicit sexual activity, including prostitution—upended an ethical system in which male access to the female body was unquestioned and unquestionable.
An interesting listen: Founders podcast on Rose Blumkin—Warren Buffett’s Favorite Founder
I found this such an entertaining listen about Rose Blumkin, a woman who was the founder of Nebraska Furniture Mart, bought by Warren Buffett. I definitely would not have wanted to be her, but she was a true force of nature.
David Senra does such a great job profiling different “founders” throughout history by reading extensively, telling (in this case) her story through his perspective, comparing to other founders he’s profiled. Here are the show notes.
An action item: Two action items, actually.
1. make sure you have an account on https://studentaid.gov/ and check in on your student loans. You should be able to see them, and sort them by amount, interest rate, and more.
2. Run a calculator with your amounts to see what might be the best option for you in terms of your repayment. Here are two calculators I found that offer some good information:
That should get you started, and reading and listening to the linked pieces above will also help give you information.
What are you doing this weekend?
You know the drill here. Now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).
Several subscribers asked specifically about the Coast-to-Coast Walk—what it is, how I found out about it, and why I’m so interested in it.
I found out about the Coast-to-Coast Walk this spring while hiking with one of my sisters. She sees other “regulars” on her hikes, and one of the ones we talked with for a bit said he was training for the Coast-to-Coast Walk, and in the middle of his description I thought, “I want to do that one.”
Here’s an excerpt from a description from one the many companies) that will help organize or plan a trip for you; making your reservations, and transporting your bags.
Devised by renowned walker and writer Alfred Wainwright in 1973, the Coast to Coast Walk is the most famous long-distance trail in UK. At 315km or 195 miles, the Coast to Coast Walk uses a network of public footpaths tracks, permissive paths and access land to cross England’s huge variety of landscapes, terrain, villages and three unique national parks – the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors.
Walkers are encouraged to dip their boots in the Irish Sea the before setting off and in the North Sea at the end of the trail.
Starting in the tiny Cumbrian seaside village of St Bees, the trail climbs steeply into the Lake District National Park, home to spectacular lake and mountain scenery, before crossing classic rolling farmland, the Pennine Hills and the mystical cairns atop Nine Standards Rigg.
Follow the beautiful River Swale to the historic market town of Richmond before leaving the Yorkshire Dales to cross the low-lying Vale of Mowbray and linking up with the North York Moors National Park. From here the trail undulates spectacularly before depositing you at Robin Hood's Bay.
As you make your way across the Coast to Coast trail on foot or by bike, enjoy staying in specially handpicked hotels, guesthouses and pubs, where you’ll come to appreciate just how much a full English breakfast will set you up for a long day of walking or cycling.
Because of the popularity of this trail, people often fall into the trap of thinking that it is easy. However, our trips on the Coast to Coast trail are amongst our most challenging but rewarding tours in Europe.
Experience the diversity of England by choosing a guided or self guided walking or cycling trip on the Coast to Coast trail.”
COVID strikes again
This week I had a topic all queued up, but I tested positive for COVID on Sunday, so editing on that is not happening. Saturday was really my worst day, but I’m still pretty achy and tired. About a 3 on a scale of 1-10.
I keep telling friends and family that this is way better than having COVID when we first got it, back in August 2020. This was before the vaccine, and all of us were isolated, and exhausted, at home, for the better part of that August. We lost a month.
I remember not having the energy to do much of anything, even pay attention to something on video or tv. I feel a little bit like that now, but it lasted so much longer back then.
Do you remember how it would exhaust us to even eat something? Not that we wanted to eat—that was a struggle enough. I’m still not quite in the mode to eat real food, so thank God for electrolyte powder mixed with water, and for the blandest possible pretzels.
Back in 2020, I also remember how weird it was to lose my sense of taste and smell. It hasn’t totally gone away this time, but it’s diminished for sure.
Maybe I’m the only one who experienced this, but do you remember finding it exhausting even to be around each other? I just wanted to be alone with my misery, haha. That’s how I feel this time, too.
Here’s hoping that I’ll be mostly better when it’s time to schedule next week’s newsletter, and we can get back to regular programming.
According to this, I would be isolating through Thursday. Then, I would be allowed to be out and about— but with a mask—through Tuesday, September 19 (coincidentally right in time for the next Mom Weekly!) I think I will probably continue to isolate (but not as strictly), for the second five days.
An interesting listen:
It kind of hurts to listen to or watch anything. So I’ll ask you: anything good you are watching or listening to lately? Once I’m back in action, but surely still a little tired, I will want to have things to watch or listen to.
An action item: Consider stocking up on COVID tests
I wouldn’t overstock these, because they do expire (but many still work after their expiration date). But they are good to have on hand if you want to check.
What are you doing this weekend?
You know the drill here. Now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).
I keep meaning to make notes about prior weeks. Two weeks ago, several of you pointed out that the Oppenheimer article link was behind a paywall. I apologize for that. I know many times paid Substack newsletters have occasional free posts, but I didn’t check to see if this was one of them. Basically, the article was making the point that bad choices can lead to bad consequences; and that we can still feel pity for ourselves and others who make bad choices, while not excusing ourselves or others.
“Sin is, in fact, the most pitiable thing of all. We’re all wandering around, broken people making broken choices, doing our best and missing the mark and failing in dramatic, devastating ways.”
Slightly adjacent, on a humorous side: it reminds me of this meme I encountered somewhere recently, and I think I shared with some of you.
Remember you can reply to any of these emails, and I will get it. I love feedback!
He identifies four travel personalities based on whether you are an introvert or extrovert, and how much you like planning.
“The Spontaneous Socializer” — extroverted & hates planning
“The Gregarious Planner”– extroverted, loves planning.
“The Surprise Avoider” — introverted, loves planning
“The Lone Wanderer”—introverted, no planning
I don’t really resonate with any of those personalities. Perhaps, part of me relates to each of the personalities. But it is a good starting point to talk about travel or vacations, and to get to think about some fun future travel!
Let’s go ….
Some other important questions or categories for me would be:
How do you travel with people close to you who might have different travel personalities?
How far in advance do you plan vacations or travel? As you probably know, I love planning trips, I think it’s the best way to operate, and I will die on that hill. 🙂
If it were up to me, I’d plan travel out a year or more in advance. Maybe I wouldn’t have all of my plans made for every minute—but I would know how we were getting there and where we were staying. To me, the planning helps solidify a trip and begins the enjoyment of it far in advance. As I’ve often said, planning helps you enjoy a trip before, during, and after.
Here are some trips that I would like to go on in future years. These are not in order of priority, but I’d love to do each of them:
Trips I’d Like to Take
*pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This one would be best as a tour, very structured, because of the location, and just to be able to see one. My current favorite idea for a Holy Land tour is one with The Catholic Traveler — his Holy Land trip descriptions sound great.
*western US national parks road trip-Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana (or more). I’m trying to convince Dad to do this soon.
*European river cruise—I’ve never done a cruise, but these small cruises sound like the right way to give it a try. We’ve watched the ads for Viking Cruise Lines on Masterpiece Theater shows, and that has me interested.
*Alaska cruise/rail trip. I don’t know the best way to explore Alaska, but I’d like to research it.
*Scotland—I don’t know why, but I’ve recently been interested in exploring Scotland.
*the Coast to Coast walk. This is very high on the priority list, definitely for the next year or two. I may do half at a time, so I don’t have an entirely rural UK experience.
*a month in the UK. This could be combined with the above two.
Wow, was this a terrific exercise!! I have gotten a lot of happiness out of making this list! This is the “before” part of enjoying a trip, even far in advance. I highly recommend you do this, too!
You can hit “reply” to this email to let me know if there’s any of those trips that you would like to go on, or to share some of your favorites. I’d love to maintain a list of great trips, and get a chance to actually complete some of them.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
An interesting read: The New Old Age
Dad shared this article with me from The Atlantic. It’s wonderful. I know you kids are younger, but it’s important to know that people can re-invent themselves all throughout life. We are all growing up, all the time.
An interesting listen: Looking for a good classic movie
Some of us who were home this weekend watched, “His Girl Friday” on Amazon Prime and let’s just say, it did NOT age well. Oy vey. I don’t even know where to begin. So now I’m trying to find a good old movie to watch, or at least have a list of them. I thought about trying some Frank Capra films—I vaguely remember “Meet John Doe” and think it might have been good. I’ll keep you posted. Do you have any watching or listening recommendations?
An action item: Make a list of trips
I keep a list of small action items to put here, and when I looked at it, “Plan a trip a year out” jumped out, naturally.
But I’m going to change it slightly, and ask you to make a list of fun trips you’d like to go on, even years from now. I promise you will enjoy this! And share it with me, if you’d like to. The first step to going on a great trip is to think about it!
What are you doing this weekend?
The Mom Weekly schedules to post on Tuesdays. One of the reasons for this is to encourage you (and me, too!) to think about weekend plans. All too often, I have let that go until Friday, and then it’s hard to get people together, or make plans for coffee, or figure out when you go to Mass (other than the default, which is what we typically do).
So, now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).
