Author Archives: msnewleaf

Last week, Collette from Wine to Water nominated me for the Liebster Award. Thank you, Collette! I was touched that you thought of me. For those that don’t know her, Collette is a lovely person and a beautiful writer. She always provides much nourishment for the soul and brain. The Liebster (NOT Lobster, auto-correct!) awardContinue reading “Lobster Award, Part I”

I’m feeling pretty grateful today. Still trapped, of course. We’ve been on lockdown now for soooooooooo long. But also grateful. Grateful that I’m sober another day. Grateful that my mom is still healthy. Grateful that my friends and family are healthy. Grateful that I have a home and a job. Grateful that my cat isContinue reading “Both Trapped and Grateful”

This will be a brief surfacing from my deep pit of work obligations. I meant to write this days ago, but I’ve been too crazy busy to do anything but work most of the time. My partner is home schooling all by himself (poor guy!), and our house is unbelievably disgusting. But, with any luck,Continue reading “A brief and off-topic post”

Wow! It is such a nice day outside! My bedroom is on the 3rd floor of an old house, and I have a lot of windows on the side facing the yard. And it is sunny, blue sky, with birds chirping and insects buzzing, few car sounds. It is glorious. My boss just emailed thatContinue reading “Blue Sky Outside!”

Aaaaarrrrrgghhh! It’s day 20 of the lockdown now, and it’s getting to me. Pacing back and forth, I am like a caged animal, too, now. The stress of the homeschooling plus my job plus the regular freak outs my partner goes through on a daily basis is all too much. Still, I’m OK. We allContinue reading “We Are All Caged Animals Now”

It’s officially day 12 of the lockdown here, but I’ve been in the house/remotely working even longer (17 days, I think). We are a little cranky and prone to bickering a bit, but it’s not that bad considering. Nothing serious. The lockdown is easier for me than for my partner because I am generally happyContinue reading “Lockdown: Day 12”

It’s the little things that are getting me through this lockdown. Eating chocolate. Making a chickpea curry. Teaching my daughter to write a paragraph with a topic sentence and supporting sentences. Being OK with my daughter and my partner playing too much Super Mario Odyssey because it gives them so much joy. Organizing my pantry.Continue reading “The Little Things and the Big Thing”

I live in an area that is now pretty much in lockdown. We have been ordered to stay in our homes, and we are not allowed to leave except to buy groceries, go to the doctor, or other very basic activities. We must work from home or not work (unless we work in an “essential”Continue reading “The City Is Quiet”

A week ago, I very deliberately decided to experiment with drinking alcohol. I was taking my friend to an extravagant birthday dinner where martinis are the usual first order of the night, and I decided to see what it would be like. So … here’s what happened: it was just OK. It was an underwhelmingContinue reading “The Experiment”

At the suggestion of some of my blogging friends, I decided to start doing some reading on habit change. I plan to read many more books on the subject (including the ones recommended), but I started with Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit as it was the one at the top of every book listContinue reading “Health and Habits”