Curious April – Looking back with Curiosity

This post hits the internet a day late as I had a lot of living to do in April. It started on a higher note and unfortunately ended with an impromptu trip to the Dominican Republic to bury my mother-in-law. We came back early this morning (00.45am) after close to 35 or 40 hours of travel. Writing this post I am trying to find some sort of structure to head into May.

I satisfied my curious mind by

• picking up books again and good ones too.
• spending some time in the AI community.
• working on an Canva course to familiarize myself with all the options the app offers and use it more thoroughly.
• attending a live surgery with a surgical robot and creating content. Learning many things spending a few ours in the surgical ward.
• being able to communicate in Spanish and understand so much more than I would have thought. Rather proud about this.
• acknowledging the hardship of saying good bye to my mother-in-law and the guilty feeling of not seeing her for so long and now never to be able again.

I satisfied my curious life by

• trying out a dying project for easter eggs – total fail, nothing to show. Also another technique to engrave easter eggs but als not too satisfied with the result. But it was fun dabbling and making my brain think for solutions.
• earning my golf license and spending two weekends on the golf course.
• traveling to the Dominican Republic.
• discovering bollitos de yuca con queso and maybe a new favorite food. It’s a battle between quipes and the bollitos right now. Also tried casabe and hated it.
• spending six hours in Madrid sightseeing during our 13 hour layover on the return flight.
• tending to the terrace garden a bit – not as much as planned and hoped for.

I satisfied my curious connections by

• hosting a wonderful Easter brunch for my family.
• having lunch with a potential new friend.
• lots of church volunteering and organizing. A bit much but I enjoy it.
• spending time with my husbands Dominican family.
• getting to know my husbands friends better.
• having some raw and intimate moments with the husband.
• phone calls with my mom and sister.

I tickeled my curious soul by

• trying to recenter and taking it slow – the death of my MIL kind of interrupted that but I did ok until then.
• doing a few meditation sessions.
• took a bath after a day at the golf course.
• taking photographs of life in the DR.

I curiously continued my health journey by

• going to dental cleaning and check-up.
• swimming for 30 minutes two days. I loved it. I need to get back to swimming.
• one bike ride with 10km but rather leisurely.

I was most curious about

• golf.
• Dominican food.

I did one new thing

• conversed in Spanish with people who knew no other language.
• ate things I have never eaten before. Including a fresh chinola aka passion fruit from the garden.
• was the first person to check-in for a flight.

I managed to check off a few not so curious things

• wash bedding.
• cleaning the oven.
• bury my mother-in-law.

Shadows on the cemetery.

I will tickle my curious mind by
…reading. Picking up the book I’ve been putting off for so long.
…actively participating in the AI community.

I will tickle my curious life by
…starting a 100 day project with scrap paper punching.
…thinking and planning our summer vacation. We won’t be able to travel (husband’s business situation and the unplanned trip to the DR) so I need to figure out how we can make the most of it staying home without wasting time.

I will tickle curious connections by
…seeing my best friend again. It’s been too long.
…welcoming my niece into the world.
…getting back to blog reading and leaving comments with my online friends. → roll-over goal. I don’t know what is going on anymore.

I will curiously continue my health journey by
…continuing to use apple fitness and testing it out. I think I want to try the HIIT and/or strength classes this month.
…making a new fitness plan and set up a routine. I feel like raising my cardio fitness is something I should be focusing on. → roll-over goal.
…making an appointment for skin cancer screening. → roll-over goal. I tried many times but no appointments available.
…making an appointment with the orthopedic – I have an issue with my shoulder and I fear I have plantar fasciitis.
…getting back to better eating – fresher foods, more proteins, less sugar. → roll-over goal.
…going to the piercer to finally change my jewelry – 4 months later than I should have.

I will tickle my curious soul by
…catching up on my daily journal and keep being more consistent with it.
…listening to the wind in the trees. Watching the clouds move. Smelling the blossoms in the air.
…not spending as much time in front of the tv.

I am going to be curious about
…reset. grounding. breathing. Building on my resilience. I need another slower month. A month where energy needs to build. Reservoirs being filled.

I will commit to the following not so curious things
…repairing my laptop display (which of course got cracked on my flight to the Dominican Republic).
…deep cleaning the terrace floor and make it pretty again. This year we borrowed a pressure washer – so no more broom action. → roll-over goal as there was no weekend spend at home in April.
…trying to figure out how to stop the ants from spreading. This might be a project to fail
…bike cleaning and maintaining. → roll-over goal
…cleaning the windows. At least my plan says it was due in April.

Any curious things happened in your life? What are you currently curious about? Any curiosities you want to explore in May? What curiosities could you have skipped in April? What is the last new thing you ate? Do you remember meeting your spouses friends and seeing a new side of him/her?