Alright! Transition week. We have shaken off January and officially moved into February. Time, like usual, is flying by but if I am being honest, this year I started looking forward to the month change around January 15.
The week started off strong with celebrations for my husband’s birthday that happened over the course of two days, to work around our busy schedules but still get all the fun stuff in. I think we did ok, managed to get some birthday breakfast, fun bowling and drinks, and dinner at a local brewery.
The end of the week was not great. We had a family emergency that is still ongoing. Keeping our fingers crossed that things will return to normal soon.
On the Writing Front:
Like I mentioned previously, there were a lot of distractions this week, but I still did my best to get some writing work done. A few highlights include:
February 1st – I purchased a Moleskine Pro Project Planner. I have never used one before, but it looked like a potentially helpful tool to keep me on track with my writing goals. So far so good. I have enjoyed using it to map out my weeks and to specifically focus on my writing tasks and progress. It is still too soon to tell if I will stick with it until the end but as of now, that is the intention. I will provide updates weekly to report on the usefulness of this tool as time goes on.
February 2nd – This was my one good writing day this week. Unfortunately, I was not able to spend more dedicated time this week on my writing work but am happy to report that I managed to put out 8 solid pages of typed words. Hooray! I got with Estella, the story tella typewriter I spoke about last week and got some work done. It was nice, I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. Looking forward to my next writing session.
This coming week should be better for writing. Fingers crossed.
I didn’t get as far with my writing as I had wanted to in January but am learning to be grateful for the progress I do make instead of focusing on what I didn’t achieve. It’s a new month after all and there are new opportunities to adjust goals and reach new milestones.
Weekly Reading:
Literary Fiction Novel
Title: Maame
Written by Jessica George
Published: January 31, 2023
Started: January 27, 2023
So far I have read through about 20% of the book and have enjoyed every page. Maddie, the main character, explains that Maame means woman in Twi. A fitting title for the novel since it is a coming-of-age story about a 25 year old who is transitioning from being her father’s caretaker to living life on her own for the first time.
The story is told from the first-person point of view and reads almost like a cozy story despite touching on heavy issues like mental health, racism, caring for a chronically ill parent and more. I am enjoying the tone the author uses to talk about these issues. Going through heavy life things is of course difficult, having books like this one that show a person navigating the tough terrain with a sort of naïve innocence and almost upbeat attitude about the future, is helpful. Maddie has a lot to deal with, but she doesn’t let that get her down. She does her best to face her struggles with dutiful diligence and love.
I am looking forward to continuing to delve into this story in the coming week and see how Maddie navigates through her life as she tries to carve out more space for herself and her dreams.
Angelica Sophia 
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