February 2026 Recap

It’s weird how February’s over when it just, like, started yesterday.

Time is crazy.

Instead of putting pressure on myself to show up here to document the days, I’ve been doing a few minutes of journaling each morning and evening. So then, maybe I’ll just transfer some stuff here to sum up the month. Along with some photos. Yeah?

This month, I have been:

playing a LOT of Pickleball. We went from playing once a week to three times a week. My body is more tired but my soul has never been happier. Ankur suggested I try a backhand serve because I’m able to control my backhand better than my forehand (this is true in tennis too). I didn’t think it was gonna work. But I pretty much get all my serves in now and it’s delightful. I jokingly told him that the day he suggested that is one of my top 3 moments of life – perhaps even before the birth of our children. (Ha. Jokes. But, TRULY, I’m so happy about it).
watching the newest season of Shrinking. And, gosh, it just makes me so happy and emotional and all the things all at once. I laugh out loud and cry all in a span of a few minutes. It’s simply the best.
using these few mantras:
- I choose calm over urgency.
- Being needed does not mean I have to rush.
- I do not need to let outside noise into my inner world.
- Connection before correction.
- My calm is the lesson.
- Feelings first, fixing later.
reading a ton of books. A ton. I will do a separate post on that tomorrow with all my reviews compiled from GoodReads. (I’ve also embraced the fact that I will likely never be a StoryGraph girlie. I just like what I like, y’know?).
enjoying “false spring” in Chicago where the temperatures have been a little more mild and the sun is out. I keep Ishu out of school on the days when the weather is real great and getting to spend all day outdoors is a win for us all.
jotting down all the funny things that Riyu has been saying
- While holding the game, “Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza,” he turns his little hand up and asks us, “Do you wanna do cards or dancer or muffin? MUFFIN!”
- When he finishes his lollipop, he tell us his lollipop is “empty.”
- He picked up “6,7” from LifeTime and will now sometimes sing, “6, 7, ELEVEN, go to HEAVEN with KEVIN”
- Took him with me to an eyebrow appointment. Because he hears “appointment” mostly in reference to a doctor, he asked me, “Mama, are your eyebrows hurting?” I responded with, “No, they’re just going to fix them.” He asks, “Mama, are your eyebrows broken?”

Two things I want to be better about in March:

More Leg Day. Ha. I think I’ve been so excited about Pickleball that I’ve stopped doing as much strength training and man, oh man, can I feel it. Especially in my knees with all the abrupt stopping and bending in Pickleball. So, I’m hoping I can do a few more squats in March. 🙂
More homecooked meals and 1-2 new recipes each week. I think we’re all needing a little more variety in our diet these days. And I want to spend more time being thoughtful about what we’re going to eat instead of just throwing together whatever I can as fast as I can to get food on the table. I mean, there will certainly be a lot of that. Probs for the next 10 years. But, if I can carve out some time to make something a little MORE a few times a week, that’d be pretty great.

Photo Gallery of our February: