May update 2026

 Honestly my only goal for may going into the month was to feel like I have more control over my life and maybe not feel so lonely. 

1. Save more I'm at a plateau at the moment. Given my current housing expenses and upcoming travel and medical care, I'm setting aside what I can. When I am able to decrease my housing cost towards the end of the year, I'll be at a place that I can increase my monthly investments. 

2. Travel More I've booked my accommodations for my summer travel - YAY I can start to look into activities, hikes, hot springs and cafes I'd like to visit along the drive. I had 1 trip booked for May, and my favorite artist is coming to Portland next November so I booked a little weekend trip for myself for her concert. 

For Memorial Weekend I went down to the Columbia River and enjoyed a few hikes, a thermal spring, brewery and then up into south eastern WA to do some space exploration in Goldendale. 

3. Don't cry over men I lasted almost 2 whole days. Not so much crying about a man in particular, but about situations I wish I wasn't in.  If I've been told I'm not a priority right now or that this doesn't have a future, I shouldn't "get" to be upset when I'm reminded of those things, but my tear ducks don't seem to care.  To go from having someone around to not, even if the reasons are all valid pulls at the strings between my heart my eyes and my brain. 

Also when an ex tells me I'm the one that got away- but they did nothing to keep me over a decade ago- that's not cool.

In other news, I haven't had steak at home since I left my husband. I moved out January 11, 2024. So I decided it was time to learn. Was my first try perfect? NO of course it wasn't. But it wasn't bad either. cooked in a pan on stove top, finished in the oven, it wasn't hard, I was just afraid. Afraid I'd discover something I'd never have again because that marriage ended. But that's not the case and I will get better. I don't need a man for this. 

4. Find Joy in work. I had almost no joy in my job at the end of last month-none. 

In May I had the opportunity to do some union work outside my normal work and it's good to get connected in new ways.  

I find joy at work about half the days. The other half I want to shake someone and the world should just be happy I showed up and made it through. 

One day that was filled with joy in May was Prom. I was lucky enough to have a dear friend be my date to prom to make sure I had just as much fun as the kids. 

5. Get rid of over 500 items.   Coming into May I've gotten rid of used up 520 items, so now I'm just focusing on cleaning my home, getting it to feel livable again.  April was really hard, it was month where I didn't really take care of myself, my relationships or my home. As I clean I find more to trash and give away. I am also keeping track of what I use up, but its not the big purge numbers

Donated: 

1 piece of clothing

4 pieces of Jewelry

2 Houseware items

1 toy

Used Up:

3 Hair care items

4 Skin care items

6. Keep learning - Great Courses must be making bank on people who have forgotten they had a subscription, because my dashboard says I watched more than 85% of their uses last month and I watched just shy of 12 hours. My goal for may is to watch at least 2 lessons from each of the courses I have going and find a new course in a category I have not yet watched.   

Current learning at the end of April:    Lessons: 191 Hours: 100.6

Learning completed in May: Lessons: 26 and Hours: 14.06

• America's State Parks- By National Geographic -  JAN: The man lecturing claims to be an expert but as someone whose been to a lot of these places, his pronunciation sounds like someone who has no idea what he's talking about as he is saying words phonetically that I promise you no local would every say that way.  They also don't include any MN state parks when talking about the Great lakes, which is nothing but a disappointment. Certainly good to learn about potential travel opportunities for my cross country drives, but has several short comings. Listened to 3 this month. FEB:8 more this month Made it through the ones that currently interest me- things along drives I will be doing this year. Got good ideas for trips I already have planned. I may circle back to the rest of them at some point, but for now I feel good about what I've learned and that I can actually use it in the next 12 months. March Update: Nothing April Update: Strong Desire to go back to the east coast and explore New England. May update: I probably wont be heading to the southern Appalachia any time soon, but state parks near the National Parks in Florida probably sometime in the next few years. 
• The Geography of the National Parks- By National Geographic New for February. I am not doing these in order I am doing them based on upcoming trips, So I started with Joshua Tree and Death Valley and moved on to summer trips though I find it all very interesting.  There are 36 lectures in this series and I have currently done 7. March Update: I watched 11 this month. I appreciate that they discuss geography of similar national parks in both Canada and Mexico, reminding me of just how special this country is and cementing my goals of seeing more of America without feeling so much pressure to see what else is out there globally as we have so much here. April Update: watched the episode on Big Bend. It's a pain to try to get to but I look forward to enjoying it on it's own at some point, looks like it has so much to offer. May update:
• World's Greatest Paintings New In March: There are 24 lectures in this series and I can already tell this will be a slow roll.  I have long been visiting and learning about the AP art curriculum thanks to my work bestie who teaches the class and in supporting her in creating rubrics and materials that are more accessible. Every year there is 1-2 AP scores that surprise me. This past year there was 1 in particular that got under my skin as it felt like a personal opinion and not an art critique. I want to better understand how people may be trained to explore great art and potentially by connection give meaningful thoughts when I talk to students about their work.  April Update: nothing to update May update: Honestly boring. I watched a few - did the 2 I said I'd do, but probably will skip next month. 
• Great American Musical: Broadway New in April A 200 year journey through the history of American Musical Theatre.  This series got me back into enjoying Great Courses this month. A history of a type of music I have loved most of my life and it's intersection with race, expectations and culture.  May update: Finished. This is a great review of over 100 years of musicals in America. If you were a theatre kid, you will love this. 5/5
• Ancient Civilizations of North America New in May: As a fervent explorer of America's National Park systems I am very interested in how the land was lived on and used prior to colonization. I find this super interesting and was already 4 episodes in before I realized I had completed more than 1. The lecturer provides background on terminology, concepts, carbon and other forms of dating before moving into different theories about how people came to be in different places. After the scene and background are set he move on to talking about the similarities and differences between groups of peoples that show up in different parts of the vastness that is north America.