Welcome to February

January seemed longer than a month, didn't it? I feel like it should be March already, but no... it's only Feb. Good news is that Inky weighed 9.9 pounds today! The doctor should be pleased at her checkup in April; he said she should be 9-ish. Since October 1 of last year, she's lost .7 of a pound, which is pretty significant for someone so little, so we will keep on going with "the plan," since it seems to be working. I, on the other paw, have lost only half a pound, which is pretty insignificant, but I'm focused more on being healthy and making better food choices. I've been exercising more too, though it's still on the light side, due to all my issues with neck and head pain. Constantly doing puzzles is probably not great for my neck (even though I try to be mindful), but it helps me to stay relatively sane in this awful news era. For whatever reason, doing a puzzle totally absorbs my concentration to the point where I don't look at my phone for hours. Generally, when I'm reading a book or watching TV, I still check my phone frequently.

I also tried some "neuro art" today, which sounds very simple, but it's quite absorbing as well. You start with a piece of heavy paper (I used watercolor) and a black sharpie type of pen. Write three intentional words on one side or write an intentional sentence ~ keep it positive rather than things you don't want. For my first picture, I wrote calm, peace, and mindfulness. For my second one, I wrote love, kindness, and forgiveness. Then you flip the paper over and while thinking about your words draw freehand curvy lines from one side of the paper to the other until you're happy with the result. Next, at the intersection of the lines, make the crossing (x) more pronounced by going over it with your pen. When you're ready, start coloring in the sections, using maybe five different colored pencils to get an interesting result. It's not rocket science, but the soothing, repetitive action of coloring while keeping my intentions in mind put me in a bit of a Zen headspace. These are not pictures I would hang on my wall! They are only for meditative purposes.

I also have crossword and other paper puzzle books and a watercolor painting set to keep me occupied on upcoming weekends when I don't have social plans. Of course, there are still a zillion books I want to read and a couple movies I might like to watch. It is the month of hearts and flowers however, so I plan to treat myself accordingly. Meghan Markle says for us to be our own valentine, and I'm totally on board with that plan and have been for years, not that I'm going to buy her outrageously priced goodies. I am down with buying myself flowers from Trader Joe's though. Some upcoming events I'm looking forward to are my grandson's third birthday party, a cookie decorating class, two game nights with friends, a book club luncheon, etc. February looks to be a fun month indeed (crosses fingers).

Hope you all have at least one fun event planned in the near future!