Recalibrating myself after the last puppy adoption

This month I want to systematically “get back on track” with my life. Whatever that means. In taking stock, here are the things that have absolutely changed since the doggo campaign started and ended: less time for parties past 10pm (though more house visits), less time and energy for fancy make up, less energy for cleaning and home improvement, and a change, death? lol, of social life.

A fourth of July snap with my Brady boy. He’s now 7 months old and living la vida loca with Drew. Beautifully socialized and just all-around guy this Brady.

Homemaking and fixing up the house
First order of business is making sure my house is not a complete disaster. Believe it or not I have been cleaning for about a week now, or trying to, with no avail. It’s not even about mopping, but cleaning out old broken things and reorganizing drawers and stuff. To purge, if you will. This time I want to focus on the feng shui. DearModern on YouTube is my favorite for that.

Earlier this year, my mother gifted me her old sewing machine, which instead of turning off, surprisingly really filled me with a curious wonder for the world of sewing. It all started with wanting to make homemade scarves for the dogs’ 1st birthday later this year and then I decided it wouldn’t be so bad to learn how to tailor my own clothes. I have the NECCHI 3205FA model and started this Skillshare course.

Well, I started the Skillshare course and never quite finished it but that’s what this month is for. Speaking of Skillshare, I was also inspired by a zero waste course that I took on there and would like to continue making my home more environmentally friendly. My goal is to have some kind of zero waste, Mexican rustic, colorful vibe for the apartment. As a TCK, “home” is complex, but it’s time to make it mine.

This is the look I am going for. I am nowhere near this, but a girl can dream one Home Depot trip at a time. What would you call this aesthetic? Provincial but IKEAish, with a splash of color? Tell me in the comments below, I'm curious!

Trying to get back to get back to podcasting
This project realllllllly fell of the wagon, but this month I am committing to getting back to it even if I don’t publish right away. My goal with writing and podcasting was always to get know people better and enjoy the editing process anyway so I think this time around I will take it easy and remember why I ever started it in the first place. I’m excited to keep learning about interviewing skills and digital storytelling techniques.

These past few months that I haven’t been working on episodes, I’ve taken time to listen to podcast episodes and there are few that I just really enjoy. The MUBI Podcast’s Rico Gagliano is just a master storyteller and his episode on Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless actually left me breathless. His episode on In the Mood for Love is still my favorite, but man, the Breathless episode really inspired me to learn more.

Another favorite podcaster of mine is Katy Beauvais from The French Instinct. Katy never fails to make me fall in love with French. She makes French beautiful and gentle with her soothing voice, lovely choice of topics that inspire the courage to not give up on learning. One of the most recent episodes that I enjoyed was on “Ratiboisées : je suis une meurtrière”. If I can learn to speak like her, I will die happy.

Becoming a better teacher-preneur
Finally, teaching. I’ve been teaching all along but I decided to bring my website back to life and to have a real think about what I can package for my students to help them study. I have a very specific niche of students whom I love and they have very specific needs that a weekly class just doesn’t meet. In the past I made workbooks, tried out SuperPeer for teachers, made handouts, tried TikTok, but it was not… it.

Making something useful for someone is not the easiest task. Much less charging for it. The thing is though that I have 4 years worth of notes of all the speaking quirks my ESL students have and what skills they need to train to speak English “like a native”. Now I realize the answer is simple. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. What I need to do is keep teaching and make something with someone in mind and see if others like them are interested. Yes, I finally understand customer avatars.

My cats have been great during this whole doggie saga. I will be spending more time with them during work outs, writing sessions, and sewing sessions. I’m glad they have each other. Juliette was the best idea for Casanova (●'◡'●)