The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

I didn’t feel like writing today so no poems. I wrote every single day this week besides today so I feel accomplished. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel more creative. I’m trying to be gentle with myself in April because in March I wrote an entire poem every single day. In April I’m allowing for days off and days where I might write just a few lines of a poem.

1. Exercise makes me feel great afterwards, even if I may struggle to get myself to do it sometimes.
2. A good cup of cinnamon tea with almond milk and vanilla flavored creamer. It’s one of the highlights of my day. The mixture of flavors is amazing.
3. Reading a good poem that sticks with me.
4. Finishing a poem or artwork. I feel so accomplished and happy with myself when I finish something.
5. Eating out at a restaurant with my husband. Having cocktails and dinner together or brunch just for the fun of it.

I did strength training today. I got up at 4am (I do all my chores and writing in the morning) because I had planned to have breakfast with a friend at 8am so I needed to be done working out by 7am so I could take a shower and get ready in time. I managed to use the 15 pound weights for the heavy dumbbells part of the workout. My arms ache a little, but other than that I am okay. The crunches were hard today and I almost didn’t do them because when I finish the 20 minute workout video, I struggle to do the rest of my workout (which is the crunches for about 5 minutes and a then leg lifts for about 4 minutes each leg so 13 additional minutes of working out). I do a combination of 6 different kinds of crunches 10 times each in three sets.

So that’s 6 workouts this week. Tomorrow I have off. Goal accomplished. Next week I start over. I have the half marathon next Saturday so that will be my long run for the week. I only have 3 short runs throughout the week and two days of strength training. Ideally I’d like to get it all done by Saturday so I can take Sunday off.

I still have to shop for my husband’s Easter basket. It’s a tradition with women of my family going back to my grandfather and grandmother, that wives get their husbands an Easter basket every year. I think I’ll go to the store today because if I leave it too close to Easter they sell out of the good candy. We are not religious and don’t go to church, but Easter baskets are just a nice thing to do.