Happy Friday! This week I’m sharing the book I’m currently reading, a perspective on work-life balance, my 2025 mileage update, a resource on maintaining a Commonplace Book, and a peek into other posts from this week!
Currently Reading
Last weekend I saw a notification that Shelby Van Pelt will be in town to promote the paperback release of Remarkably Bright Creatures. I immediately bought tickets and got to reading! Right now I’m about 25% through and I can already tell you it’s going to be one of my favorite books of the year.
Glass or Plastic?
You may know I’m a full-time working parent. Every single week my husband and I make decisions about where to spend our time and whether or not we can step away from work to attend my son’s school events, doctor’s appointments, etc. One of my favorite pieces of advice is below. All the balls we are juggling are either made of plastic or glass. When we have a conflict, I always ask myself, “Is this ball going to bounce or shatter if I drop it?”
Read the full thread from Jennifer Lynn Barnes below:
One time, I was at a Q&A with Nora Roberts, and someone asked her how to balance writing and kids, and she said that the key to juggling is to know that some of the balls you have in the air are made of plastic & some are made of glass.
And if you drop a plastic ball, it bounces, no harm done. If you drop a glass ball, it shatters, so you have to know which balls are glass and which are plastic and prioritize catching the glass ones.
I think about this ALL THE TIME. I dropped more than one ball today. It is hard to drop any ball, and I hate it! But they were plastic, and tomorrow, it will be okay.
As this has gone viral, I have seen a lot of people interpreting this as “your kids are the glass ball” and/or referring to speeches made by men about juggling five balls, where work is plastic and family is glass.
That’s not what Nora was saying in this case.
Nora was not talking about juggling five balls. She was talking about juggling FIFTY-FIVE balls. The balls don’t represent “family” or “work.” There are separate balls for everything that goes into each of those categories. “Deadline on Project Y” or “crazy sock day at school”
And her point, addressing a room full of women, was not “prioritize kids over work.” It was “some kid stuff is glass and some is plastic, and sometimes, to catch a glass work ball, you have to drop a plastic family one, and that is okay.”
And the reverse is also true. Sometimes, to catch a glass kid ball, something at work has to slide, and that is okay, too.
If you are juggling 55 balls, some are going to drop, so you have to focus not on broad categories, but on the glass balls.
YTD Mileage Update
You know I’m trying to walk 1000 miles in 2025, so here’s an update on where I stand for the first four months of the year.
- January: 80.6 miles
- February: 89.4 miles
- March: 71.5 miles
- April: 80.5 miles
That puts me at 322 miles so far for the year, averaging 80.5 miles/month. If I annualize that across 12 months it comes out to 966 miles, which is 34 miles short of my goal.
So I have eight months to make-up 34 miles. The math tells me that’s about 4.5 miles per month or 0.15 mile/day. When I break it down like this, it feels possible, but I need to stay on top of it! My goal is to take advantage of the daylight hours and upcoming vacations this summer so I’m not trying to cram it all in December. I’ll keep you posted!
A Commonplace Book
Last week I listened to the Modern Mrs. Darcy class on how to keep a Commonplace Book. Full transparency: I didn’t even know what a Commonplace Book was before this session.
What I learned is that even though I don’t keep a physical Commonplace Book, I have been writing electronically about my favorite books, quotes, authors, movies, and other inspiration for over 10 years! It’s sometimes a messy process but it does make me slow down and digest what I’m reading.
Check out the MMD website!
Catch Up on Posts from This Week
On Monday, I shared the week 4 update on my Lattes for Literacy project!
The Tuesday TBR featured The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, published this week! Read the synopsis and what caught my attention about this book!
A few questions for your weekend:
- Do you keep a commonplace book?
- What are you reading this weekend?
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