In March, spring break felt like the theme of the month even though it was just a week plus a Monday. Dash got pretty sick over spring break too so instead of parks and adventures we had several cozy couch days watching movies. It wasn't how I expected to spend the week but I did feel very thankful not to be dealing with trying to take time off work to be with a sick kiddo.

On the creative front last month I was productive but always want to do more. I'm reminding myself that I'll probably always feel this way. It can be frustrating but in my opinion it's better than having lots of time and not knowing what to do with it. This year it's been so valuable to learn about how I work when I'm on my own schedule. I think I do a pretty good job blocking out work time but so far I haven't ever felt like I'm as on top of my book writing, blog writing, and podcasting as I want to be all at the same time. This might be the best I can do while I have Cedric at home two days per week (which I want to continue to do).

The weather has been perfect and after school we've been staying at the park until nearly 5 p.m. I love that we have these long afternoons with the boys spending so much time running and pretending. "Discovering" and "science clubs" have been a big theme and I am here for it. Dash will start a weekday soccer practice this month and I want to start up swim lessons again so our weeks will get a little busier soon. I don't love weekday commitments but hopefully it won't feel like too much.

To wrap up the month, Dash and I went to Austin for five days!

I love going to Austin in March when the wildflowers are blooming. Reading back in my One Line A Day journal I saw that Dash and I went to Austin almost exactly a year ago...and five years ago! So I guess it's a tradition! Next time I'll bring Cedric although it's Cedric's turn next time. Traveling with only one kid is so easy – I can read on the plane! – and I really like getting the one-on-one time with one kid (Dash tends to be more attached to Chris and Cedric more attached to me) plus the one-on-one time they get with my parents. It was a short but relaxing trip and I fit in several of my favorites: back porch time with my family, hanging out with my sister, long hang outs with best girl friends, a run on the hike and bike trail followed by delicious breakfast tacos and coffee (sad to see my favorite Sweetish Hill is closed for renovations but glad it's not permanent – please keep the oatbran muffin!), more breakfast tacos, and Amy's Ice Cream (cinnamon + chicory coffee). A highlight was meeting my friend's baby and getting some snuggles.

Update on March goals:

+ 9 p.m. bedtime. Although I had the worst track record this month for my daily health challenge I still loved having it. I had some planned exceptions to going to bed at 9 p.m. and then some unplanned exceptions as well including staying up later than planned (although should have expected) when I was in Austin. Overall I learned that even if I want to stay up later I won't regret turning the light off at 9 p.m. and I'm going to try to do it more often.

+ Finish planning Dashiell's SIXTH birthday party. Yes! Party is planned, invites went out to classmates and friends.

+ Get feedback on my two sample chapter drafts. I made some but not as much progress as I wanted on my book proposal. Losing two Monday writing days to spring break had more of an impact that I expected. I sent one chapter to Chris and he gave me some great feedback that I started to work through. 

+ Finish a draft of the credentials section of my book proposal. Nope. But started a draft this week.

+ Get quotes for backyard work. We're going to put this project off now. Instead we hired a company that sealed every crevice and crack inside and outside our house where scorpions can get in. We saw another one in the house (guess my beautiful vent fan cover work was not the magic trick!) and it was the last straw for me. I'm sad to not move forward on the backyard but excited to be rid of pests that give me chills.

+ Evaluate the boys' spring/summer clothes and buy what they need. Essentially Dash needs a whole summer wardrobe! Those long legs don't fit in size 5 shorts anymore but Cedric has plenty of hand-me-downs. Buying clothes is on my to-do list. I did take advantage of an LL Bean sale and got both boys flip flops and water shoes. They'll be wearing them before we know it.

Other March wins:

+ Went to our first spring training game. It seems like the rest of the valley enjoys this spring past time and we finally checked it out (thanks to friends who organized!). We had lawn seats and sat on blankets and ate snacks while the boys ran around with lots of kids.

+ Hung out with dear friends who were visiting. It felt like old times to laugh together and get caught up.

+ Golden book club. All nine of us were at March's meeting and everyone gave A's to Where The Crawdads Sing.

+ Had a problem with our car checked out. I was bracing myself for a $$$ repair but it turns out no repair is needed – hooray!

+ Coffee + walking date with Chris one morning.

+ Decluttered my social media accounts. This was so satisfying! After reading Digital Minimalism I cleaned up my Instagram and Facebook accounts so that my feeds are less busy. It was also a reminder to practice good phone habits. Over the past year I've been working to delete content from Facebook like photo albums and all conversations in Messenger. Maybe it doesn't matter since it's all still in FB's archives plus I use Instagram regularly (and FB owns Instagram) but I'd rather have as little active information in Facebook as possible. The only reason I keep Facebook is because my book club coordinates there otherwise I would delete it entirely.

+ Visited a friend in Tucson for a day.

+ Austin trip with Dash.

I hope you're enjoying the longer days and that spring is making an appearance in your neighborhood.