It’s not uncommon for the last few weeks of the year to go by in a hurry. But that feeling stayed with me all the way through January. Lots of personal stuff, combined with a week long trip, left very little time to even think of relaxing. When there’s always something important to do at night after the kids go to bed, it’s hard to feel a sense of progress. There’s always the next thing to look forward to (or dread), so it’s a little hard to take note of the present moment.

Travel

As I’ve already posted about, we took a family trip to Disney World for a week. It was enjoyable, and it was travel, but it’s a little hard to call it a vacation.

Video games

I’m not sure I turned on the PS4 or Switch all month. Though I did still get some gaming in. I knew I’d be bringing the iPad on our trip to Disney, so I started a free trial for Apple Arcade. I’d read a few blogs mention the game Grindstone, a sort of strategy game. That seemed like it would be a good fit so I gave it a shot. It might be too good of a fit. It’s fun, challenging, and can be played in quick sessions. But those quick sessions mean I try to cram in a few minutes here and there and it feels a bit addictive for me. I think I’m better off with a Switch game where I know I’ll be spending at least 30 minutes with it at a time. Even if I’m spending the same amount of time playing games, it’s a more intentional choice of how I want to spend my time, and it makes me feel less guilty. So, Grindstone is recommended, but I probably won’t be playing much longer.

Climbing

I’ve started keeping track of my climbing using the DayOne app. I’m keeping a journal just for climbing, and already I love it. I can see my workouts at a glance, but also get some history about when I hit certain accomplishments. There were a few nice weekend days outside here in Texas, but I only made it to the gym in January. I made it 9 times, which is on the low side but I was out for a full week. I spent most of my time bouldering, only a little on ropes. There’s a multi-week bouldering competition starting in February, so I wanted to practice for that. It’s a little hard to gauge progress, because the new routes can be a bit hard or soft compared to the grade they’re given, but I think I’m doing well. I’d say I’m able to climb at least 80% of the routes at my current grade (v5-v6), and that’s noticeably more than a few months ago.

What’s next

For February I’m going to try to slow things down a bit. Most of the personal items from January have been taken care of, so there shouldn’t be as much that I have to get done (at least until all my tax statements are available, that will take at least a few nights). It will generally be business as usual, but I will have the kids on my own for a few days, and that’s always an adventure. I’m trying a new practice at work for tracking and organizing my time. I’m encouraged by it in the early stages, but I’ll spend a few more weeks smoothing the rough edges before I write about it.