Action Replay + Gratitude List: February 2018

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The shortest month of the year also turned out to be one of the best months that I've had in a long time. As quickly as it passed, it left me with a lot of smiles and contentment. Professionally, I was very busy with work and for a couple of days I had to stay up at night to continue working. The current project I'm a part of at work, gives me time to pursue my hobbies as well. While the work is good and peaceful, occasionally there is a hitch and I have to stretch and figure things out. This happens very rarely, so I don't mind it at all. I learnt to love my job a few years ago and since then I have never complained about it. I am a workaholic and give more than 100% to my job. But that doesn't mean that I neglect my personal life. I give a 100% to both of it but if a day comes when I have to choose work over something personal, I'll go ahead and do it. My job has given me everything that I have today, I can never forget that.

Health has been good since the time we made a lifestyle change and stuck to it. We've been eating healthy and working out regularly. Ever since I hurt my back five years ago, trying to do a cartwheel, I have stayed away from yoga. Now, slowly, I have been getting back to it. Flexibility has gone for a toss and I'm struggling with balance as well. I've gotten better since the day I started and hopefully, I will soon be back to how I was before. While the intent is also to lose weight, most importantly it is to get my hormones back in control and keep PCOD at bay. I have modified my diet to include more fresh vegetables and protein. I have almost totally given up on rice too and include millets as part of my regular diet now. I still use rice in making idli and dosas though. The South-Indian in me can't do without them.

I have also started doing a weekly meal prep now. Every Sunday I stock up my fridge and pantry and prepare a meal plan for the week ahead. Since I cook all the three meals at home, I like to keep it fresh and simple. I hate cooking in bulk and storing it in the fridge. Apart from dosa batter and chapati dough, I barely stock any cooked thing. I like to freshly make food and serve it hot immediately. Thankfully, by now I know how to cook exactly for two and rarely do we have any left-overs.

Reading was good this month too. In January, I read 8 books. In Feb, I outdid myself and read 9 of them. This was again a mix of paperbacks and ebooks. I started February continuing to read 'Persepolis' and I loved the book. It is never easy to read about war, but when it is illustrated so beautifully and has a woman as the protagonist it gets easier. I read the classic 'Pride And Prejudice' and hated it. Nothing about the book connected with me and I hated every female character in the book. Maybe, had I read this book years ago, I might have liked it. 'My Cousin Rachel' was a delightful read. After 'Rebecca' I never thought I'd read another book of Daphne Du Maurier because I wanted her to only be associated by Rebecca. But Rachel was a lovely mysterious character as well. 'The Wife Between Us' was an interesting read and the twists and turns in the book had me hooked. 'Moby-Dick' was a really long read and I actually skipped ahead when there was too much talk about the anatomy of whales and the ships. In the end, it was an okay book with an okay enough moral.

'The Perils Of Being Moderately Famous' was a breezy read and nothing great. Soha Ali Khan's writing style is good and the language used is brilliant, but apart from that it just comes across as a half-hearted autobiography. But, with a fitting tribute to her famous parents. 'The Diary Of A Young Girl' was a poignant read and I so wish that I had read this book while growing up. It would have given me more strength and vision. I recently discovered that the James Bond series were originally books by Ian Fleming and I found some of their ebooks. Did you know that 'Casino Royale' was the first book where Bond was introduced? It only made it to a movie recently. I loved this book and Bond is described so stylishly that you cannot help but lust after him. Love? Well, maybe as an after thought. I ended my reading for this month with 'A Man Called Ove'. This was a book that stirred something within me. You can read what I felt about it here.

Writing was pretty decent this month too and I also ended up discovering many new blogs. Good ones I mean. These days everyone is a blogger with zero content to back their work, but when you find a space with delightful content that speaks to you, it feels so refreshing. Earlier, I stuck to reading only a few blogs of people I knew very well. In February, I realized how interesting it is to read the views of a stranger and connect with them on a certain level.

Since I've started making gratitude lists from this year, here's what I'm thankful for in February:

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~ My job: Nothing else in the world will give me the satisfaction that my work does.

~ Books: 'A Man Called Ove' in particular for teaching me so much about life and kindness yet again.

~ Music: I recently went back to listening to music regularly and realized what I had been missing so far.

~ Consistency: It is not easy to choose a healthy lifestyle and not slip once in a while. I have stayed pretty consistent with my diet and workouts.

~ Small Celebrations: It is important to celebrate small joys. We did this by ordering a dozen donuts and letting our diet slip once. We did make up for it by working out extra the next day.

~ Meal Prep: This is one of the best things I've done recently. Since the menu for the week is planned, everything is sorted and I do not have to waste time deciding what to cook.

~ Local Markets: Since I work full-time, I usually shop for groceries on my way back from work at a super-market close to my apartment. I didn't know how pricey they were until my husband took me to a local market over a weekend. I went crazy there! The freshest of vegetables and fruits at less than half the price that I used to pay earlier. Needless to say, my fridge is stocked for more than two weeks now.

~ Love: Find someone who makes you fall in love with them every single day. And stay there. Like I've always said, falling in love is not important, staying in love is.

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How was your February?

Linking this post to Vidya's Gratitude Circle for this month.