Hi there,
As youāre reading this Iām camping with my clan. The weatherās supposed to be beautiful, weāve got a few more days still until Spring Break winds down, and weāve got one of the better camp spots at our favorite go-to local state park. We booked this weekend ages ago as a way to celebrate a final family hurrah before the oldest kiddo gets married (in less than two months now š¤Æ)āunbeknownst to us at that time, her fiancĆ© would now be living in the area, too, so heās joining us as well!
It should be a delightful spring weekend.
5 Quick Things āļø
1. One of the challenges of camping this time of year: Lent. Since we fast from meat on Fridays, and since weāre big meat-eaters in our family, letās just say the weekly Lenten fast feels very ā¦Lent-y for our clan. But weāre gonna try fish tacos over a campfireāweāll see how it goes!
2. If youāve read 5QT for any length of time, you know of my great love for Arthur Brooks. Iāve already pre-ordered his book that releases at the end of this month, but I was happy to recently see him chat with George Kamel, a more recent follow of mine (as I continue to do research for my upperclassman personal finance class next fall). It was a great conversation (here it is in video form, if you prefer).
3. This past weekend we got another five ladies for our backyard flock! The chicks are currently living in a big cardboard box topped off with a window screen in our dining room and are incessantly chirping at all hours of the day. I used to be intimidated at the prospect of chickens, especially in the early stages, but once you get the hang of it itās really pretty simple. Theyāll live indoors in their box for a few more weeks, and then weāll slowly introduce them to the big girls currently in the coop out back. Thereās a whole art and science to that part, but weāll get to it later. ā¦Letās just say it involves watermelon.
4. Speaking of chickensā¦ I really enjoyed this piece from Jenna Kutcher about why all the girl bosses suddenly want chickens. It was reminiscent of my about-face I had in light of burnout in my work about eight-ish years ago, so I wouldnāt exactly say āsuddenlyā hereāIāve seen a slow, subtle change with a lot of women in this line of work since I started writing online more than eighteen years ago now. But I totally get what she means, and it made me all the more glad I waved goodbye long ago to places like Instagram and media like girl-boss podcasts (and goodness, I havenāt made a funnel in years): āWeāre not checking out. Weāre hedging in the most human way possible.ā
5. And finally, because you know I canāt go too long without sharing one of these from Max Millerā¦ Hereās that deep-dive on what pioneers ate on the Oregon Trail that you never asked for.
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Quotable š¬
āReal freedom does not mean being ruled by oneās impulses from one moment to the next. Just the opposite. Being free means not being a slave to oneās moods; it means being guided in a course of action by the fundamental choices one has made, choices one does not repudiate in the face of new circumstances.ā -Fr. Jacques Philippe2
Itās been a couple months nowā¦ How are those New Yearās resolutions/goals/plans coming along? š„
This question was a suggestion from Kyle, and I thought it was fun because I genuinely, legitimately forgot that New Yearās was even not too long ago. ā¦Jokeās on it, though, because I had no goals or resolutions to remember in the first place, like the majority of you. I typically do make some sort of quarterly goal, but what with absolutely everything on my plate this springādaughterās wedding, book deadline, class, senior graduating, etc. etc. etc.āI gave myself an overload of grace this year. And Iām glad I did.
Iām guilt-free because I never made āem in the first place: 65.3%
Uhā¦ Theyāre ekeing along, I suppose. Hit or miss: 20.6%
Solid! I review them weekly and track my progress: 7.5%
Oh yeahāI completely forgot about those: 6.6%
Find the next poll here.
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āThere is no other place like Scotland in the whole world.ā - Sir Walter Scott
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Question(s) For You to Ponderā¦ š¤
Youāve got a weekend free, but with only enough time to go somewhere nearby with one tank of gas, there and back. Where do you go?
Have a great week,
- Tsh
p.s. - NYC dogs in bags.
Iād seen the thumbnail of the show for a while but didnāt give it much thought, but once we finished The Count of Monte Cristo we decided to give it a go. So far itās much more charming than I thought itād be!
Once more, itās my main man from my current Lenten read.