So many things have transpired since the onset of the pandemia… More to come on that.
As I work the final phases of getting my first book published, there is this seesaw of excitement and hesitancy that keeps my soul young. Looking forward to sharing it with you all 🙂
Today was a really good day and a great end to the 2nd week of homeschooling.
My daughter let me know yesterday that she wanted to go running. So we woke up early this morning and drove to the Bay to run alongside the water. Afterwards, we stopped to find a few items I had been searching for at another health food store in the area. SCORE! I found the garbanzo miso, so I am officially looking forward to trying another new recipe or two soon.
She had a playdate/learning pod meeting in the afternoon for this week. The letter is “S” and the overall theme is: Science. We whipped out the microscope this week, and her two friends got to check it out for the first time. She loves it even more because she has a white lab coat complete with goggles and a name badge that we put on moreso for the fun of it. I also want to ensure that she begins with safety even if she does not fully understand it and we do not do experiments needing such hefty safety precautions… yet.
I am still sleeping really well, had a great eating day and even tried a new recipe that was absolutely delicious. I tried the rice-free sushi, which I will definitely be having again really soon. I think next time, instead of stuffing the filling into hallowed out cucumber pieces, I will not mix the nori into it – instead, matchstick the cucumbers and wrap into the nori like the hand rolls. But it was delishious and I also made more acorn squash fries.
Breakfast and dinner were my tried and trues, just had to make more faux ranch dressing, to which I think I figured out the perfect consistency to mimic the real thing.
Halfway point of phase 1 complete and looking forward to the 2nd half. Back on my working out as well, so I am looking forward to seeing other more noticeable results as well.
~Mai
Something I notice about myself, I a very slow to pull the trigger. I like to marinate on things for a long time, I like to make sure all of the details are just right.
Something I notice about my daughter (and parenting in general), there really is no wiggle room for this. My daughter is at that great toddler age where her interests are vast and her attention is fleeting. You know the time where you finally get into listening to the same song 8 times a day, just created a new dance routine and all of the sudden it’s “no, no, no, no, not that one,” *face palm.*
Yes, those are the times in which we are engaged.
Well, I may have found a great way to a happy medium. She begins her more pointed homeschooling on Monday. I wrote out a very loose themed calendar, with 4 potential themes a month/a theme each week, loosely related to the time of year and the three letters of the month. I say loosely because for instance, last month we were working on her letter “K” and this month, our first focus letter is “A” and whenever I ask her to write an “A”, the page typically looks like the doodles of a white supremacist child doodling on their page during their first propaganda lesson… KKK AK KKK AK
So, I have that calendar prepped as a back up of sorts. As a lead Preschool Teacher and Kindergarten Instructor, I was required to plan the month (or at least 1-2 weeks) in advance. Sometimes it worked out perfectly, other times, a week would go by before any of the topics piqued the attention of the children. It is actually kind of counter-intuitive to what I learned about early childhood education, as we were taught to create lessons geared towards a child’s interest. How do you plan a month in advance when that age group drop best friends and favorite toys just about daily. Granted it is really not possible to do that with 12-20 three-year-old children in your class anyway, but that is another story altogether. I just know that based on how she is feeling that day, certain activities will be more favorable to her.
So, I am gathering free resources from as many different organizations and businesses as I can while this CV still has the world gripped in its net, to create her lesson plans for the future. Free scholarly articles, subscriptions, content, books, etc. I actually have more actual lesson plans/ideas for her middle school aged learning, than I do for her start on Monday.
Because she is only four, where I live she is technically starting 2 years early, so I am starting her out very slowly so we can be all the way into a groove by the time we are required to be fully immersed in the process, legally anyways.
I am excited to see how Monday’s 1.5 hours of schooling goes and where her interests and imagination takes us. These are the last days…
~Mai
I just skimmed through a few of my old blogs and it warmed my heart to review the state I was in back when I first began this blog. It is a beautiful thing when you can look back and chart your growth, current and possibly continued struggles from that point in time, but also the success.
Since that initial blog post of me introducing myself, I have basically done all those things and more. It has been quite the thing to keep positive and forward moving with everything this year has birthed. The CV, fires from the Amazon, Australia, Hawaii, and all over California. Locust plagues. A shift in the focus of sex-trafficking, the racial climate (that has been in existence since the founding colonizers took over this land, but people are just now talking about it and its real effects all of the sudden), & holding people and businesses accountable for general NGAF. Dual storms over Texas. Coin shortages. Clorox wipes being wiped off the planet during the time we all need them most. Folks grabbing up all of the toilet paper, baby wipes, bread, and pasta. Many people loosing their jobs and businesses. An election with two candidates with supporters on each side hurling insults and seeming “evidence” of the other candidate having historical ties of various “ist” and “ism” communities. This is about 1/8 of everything that has and is being disrupted right now.
I am doing the very best that I can do to stay focused and doing exactly what I need to do to stay aligned with this forward momentum. I am looking forward to birthing a few of these projects I am working on mentally & in my lab, out into the universe. One hint, several of these have to do with writing ;).
I start another cleanse next week and I look forward to continuing on into our THIRD YEAR of the CHALLENGE page’s monthly exercises. I have also added some weekly cardio, that I plan on turning up this week as well. Looking to pair a cleaning of my internal (fasting/cleanse), physical (upping the CHALLENGE ante), & mental (writing, KonMarie the home, set up home office), for maximum results in them individually, collectively and beyond.
Also, our early start home schooling! 2 years early according to the state I live in, but I think a super slow start, early, makes sense with how my child engages with her world. I am surely looking forward to more art, lesson plans, scaffolding, mini-projects, science and math.
This is reading a bit like a check list of accomplishments, current events, and current projects – but after reviewing my posts from 2 years ago, being able to look back at something like this is very heart warming. And I always, always, think about the fact – that if you do not write your own story, others will. And it is IMPOSSIBLE to write another person’s story FOR them, no matter how well or long you have know them.
Most folks in your life, you simply have a few pictures of moments you recall of them. Others that may have been in your life for longer or more deeply, they may have a commercial or two. Some more inner circle – family, loved ones, siblings, parents, spouses, may have an episode. The only person that can do justice of retelling your motion picture, with behind the scenes footage, biography accuracy, and direct quotes is you. So every word, every click, every utterance via lips or fingertip – is me documenting my journey. It is about time we all told our stories, while we are living them to maintain the accuracy and passion of it all.
So here is to an explosive month and the synergy manifested from each of my concurrent focus areas!
So, I have been on a hiatus, I took some time off of social media as I do periodically and it was great while it lasted!
Now, I am back on & am jumping into another challenge & have some new recruits joining with me. I will most likely try to record and upload daily for accountability purposes & so I can look back and see my personal growth / journey.
If anyone else wants to join us, my friends, family and I will be dong 50 squats a day. Any time, and way, any method, as long as it is daily and you do at least 50. I am going to start out really simple with basic squats & do as much as I can in the a.m. before I shower & go to work, and only do what I have left over when I get back from work. Honestly, the goal is to get all 50 done at the beginning of the day.
I am definitely going to stretch tonight, make sure I am limber again. I fell ALL the way off after my last 90-day challenge and am still psychoanalyzing myself how I can be SO DISCIPLINED once whatever innate on-switch is turned on, and completely apathetic when the switch is off. Do I have to actually challenge myself, compete with myself, in order to reach my goals? Not quite sure, but I am still mulling it over to make sure I am getting the most out of this life by understanding and figuring myself out as I continue to evolve.
T-Minus 7 hours until day #1…
~Humbly submitted *Mai*
Housekeeping, Gender reveals, travels, & much more. Working on a master plan and will fill in the details shortly 🙂
~Bests
~Mai
IM DONE! IM DONE! IM DONE!
Such an amazing feeling that I completed this, three months of shutting down excuses and just doing it. Listening to my body those 5 times when I just was not able to do it those days.
Awwww, it just feels so amazing.
Also finally got in touch with a woman I’d met on my travels to Meritah (Africa) and we had a long, amazing, and long-overdue catching up session. Hopefully, we will get to link up later this year in person as well.
Well, nothing like a warm shower to “consummate” the closing of this challenge.
Next challenge to begin in: 35 days!
2018 = 5 million!!!
Second half of challenge totals:
TOTALS!
>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<< ~Mai
These German Sauerkraut Potato balls were amazing and the chunky salad I paired it with cleansed it right down. Heavy + Light = balance 🙂
Type the name into Pinterest for recipe.
This will now be a MaiMuna’s Kitchen staple.
>Respectfully Submitted<< ~Mai
Workout completed at the gym today with my mother after speed-walking the greater part of an hour on an inclined (4.5) treadmill.
After that, was able to grab sushi with the family and then see some AMAZING model homes that were staged beautifully. It has me SUPER motivated to get my ducks in order so that we can transition into our home that is going to enable me to run my business. I am beyond ready to step up my work 2 notches to bring this into fruition like asap!
Well, until then, going to enjoy this amazingly beautiful weekend and awesome start to Spring 2018.
#Countdown9toGo
2018 = 5 million!!!
Second half of challenge totals:
Totals for day 90/99:
>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<< ~Mai
Workout completed, another successful day in the books!
I am somewhat behind in my reading for the month, so I definitely have to power through these next couple of weeks / weekends if I want a shot at finishing both of my books for March & April.
In other news, we have a temporary solution for her escaping her bassinet in the middle of the night, so tonight is her first night back in her own room *crossing fingers.*
I feel like my timeline & in my life, there has been a lot of the #metoo and stories of victims of sexual abuse & at SUCH YOUNG AGES… It truly is a scary situation as a mother to a young daughter (although boys are not immune to the mental illness that is pedophilia either)… I know I am already super protective of her as my baby girl, my firstborn, and just know how sick this society is; and the stories I have come across reaffirms that protection. I look forward to being able to get her into her martial arts classes in the near future and may also take some myself as well.
Looking forward to the amazingly sunny days that we have been getting out here & hopeful for many beach days in the near future!
#WorkingOnThatSummerBody #Igot5onit99 #NewBathingSuitIsTheGoal #NewBodyWhoDis?
#Countdown12toGo
2018 = 5 million!!!
Second half of challenge totals:
Totals for day 87/99:
Level Up #1 | Level Up #2 | Level Up #3 | Level Up #4 | Level Up #5 | Level Up #6 | Level Up #7| Level Up #8 |
>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<< ~Mai
Whooo hooo, workout finished!
Long night cooking & playing with this super active little girl! I cannot believe how much she is growing & how intelligent she gets with each passing day. I cannot wait to get her into a few organizations when she is a tad bit older to support growth in other areas as well.
Some news of potential growth, challenges, and changes on the horizon. Putting good energy towards that & hopefully it comes to fruition. Until then, still pushing forward in these last days of the challenge.
#Countdown13toGo
2018 = 5 million!!!
Second half of challenge totals:
Totals for day 86/99:
Level Up #1 | Level Up #2 | Level Up #3 | Level Up #4 | Level Up #5 | Level Up #6 | Level Up #7| Level Up #8 |
>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<< ~Mai
Oh man… this little girl is on a roll…
So, I get a text from the fiance while I am at work. Apparently, she had climbed on her toy box, onto her clothing drawers, and pulled the screen off of the window. So, he said we need to re-arrange her room ASAP. No doubt, so I take out the toy box & rearrange her room as soon as I get home & then take her out to the park by the coastline.
She was NOT having it, she did not want to play with the other children, did not want me to put her down. If I even moved my hands on her back, she gripped me with both hands and squeezed herself into me. This happened about 10 times. Fed her, changed her, tried putting her down, she grabbed my legs and begun pulling my pants down she was pulling so hard. We went back to the car and I just let her chill in her car seat, windows down, jazz music on. Never will I wake her up from a nap to go to the park, lesson learned.
But wait! There’s more..
Come home, she eats again, change her again, then put her down because the only nap she had all day was less than 30 minutes long and the whining at the park let me know she is reaching levels of fatigue reserved for parenthood. She is chitter chattering, babbling for a good 45 minutes and then we do not hear anything, WHEW she is asleep! Wrong..
A few minutes later we hear a light thud, I look at my hubby and said was that here (in our home)? He said naw, it was next door. Shrug it off and continue talking. Moments later, our bedroom door is pushed open which scares the living SHIT out of me. I’m getting angry thinking one of us left our front door open and someone had the audacity to walk in. Wrong again..
Here comes a clothing-less & smiling little girl who walks over to the computer and starts banging on the keyboard. My jaw drops & I know my eyes are HUGE. I rush over to her, she is smiling and laughing – check for knots and I do not see or feel any. It was clearly her that the sound came from, but luckily with the arrangement of her room and her alphabet squares floor mat, her fall must have been broken. I am just in shock and scared out of my mind.
How the hell did she do that?
Where are her clothes?
Did she poop / pee everywhere?
Are there bumps / knots / bruises / scratches somewhere?
What if this had happened in the middle of the night while we were asleep?
OK, I TRULY have to completely baby proof the home, because this is serious business now.
Of course after the shock wears off, I take her back to the room and I see that she stacked up her mat and blanket and with her extra 6+ inches, she was able to get out. But wait, how exactly did she do it? I had to know.. so, I put her back in and low and behold she immediately got up & almost fell face forward out of it again. Not sure if that made it better or worse for me, because if she did it this way the first time, I’m pretty sure she landed on her head in some way, shape, or form.
I took out her extra thick blanket to see if that would make a difference? Nope, she just pulled herself up with more of her strength in her arms this time, relying less on her height advantage.
*sigh*
I thought we had another 6 months before we started having to LOOK for a bed, but as soon as I get back from the gym in the morning, we need to find one ASAP and get it this weekend.
Now, I cannot even shower until she is fully asleep because if not, I am pretty sure she will walk in and try to hop in along with me now.
Parenthood… Motherhood… 18 month-old ninja.
>> Respectfully submitted<< ~Mai
Workout & the majority of my physical therapy stretches completed! The brown rice and curry are both almost done as well. I feel amazing getting everything done early, now I have time to actually clean the floors, read, do my hair, or just even relax (baby girl just went down for a nap). After the day I had a couple days ago, this is a nice balancing day 🙂
In other news, just 20 more days left in this challenge! Man, then I am going to have to find something else to write about, lol. I am still doing my monthly book challenge, and I think I am going to take the organization of our home once I complete this class in June. Maybe at that time, I will document my process through that?
I am also looking to transition to more formal “lessons / activities” with baby girl as she has shown for a few months that she understands what I am telling / asking her and following a good portion of the commands I am giving her (bring mama the cup, pick up your blanket, sit down so you can eat, come to the bathroom for a bath / to go potty, etc.)
After much consideration, I have decided to not put my child out there for modeling… yet. I will revisit the idea when she is 2 or 3 to see if it is something we want to move forward with. I do not want to further distract my time & energy from my business ventures I am knee deep in, nor do I think it is a good time for my daughter. If there are any parents reading this, would you (or have you already…) put your child/children in auditions under age 2? Why / why not?
Shower time, then it is book in hand & pillow under head.
2018 = 5 million!!!
Second half of challenge totals:
Totals for day 79/99:
Level Up #1 | Level Up #2 | Level Up #3 | Level Up #4 | Level Up #5 | Level Up #6 | Level Up #7| Level Up #8 |
>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<< ~Mai
