2026 Goals Update, Quarter 1

I'm sure you're all dying to hear about my 2026 quarterly goals update. Here it is. I've always tried to be like Stephany and be scrupulously honest in these updates, but I have to admit that it always feels vulnerable. I said I was going to do these things and it feels terrible to admit that sometimes they can't get done. Oh, well. Here's my honest report.

******************

At least one trip with Dr. BB and Hannah x
No progress. 

At least two trips with friends x

No progress, but I have one coming up next week. 

At least two trips to Michigan to visit my high school friends ✅

 YES!!! I went on a weekend for a birthday party in February. 

Go to a fitness class I've never gone to before ✅

Yes. I went to a trampoline class in February. Woot! I'd like to go again, but it's sort of far away, so I have to really figure it out in my schedule. 

Make homemade ice cream x

No progress. I haven't even thought about it. Once the weather warms up, this will be more on my radar.

Do one creative thing a week 〰️

January: No progress

February: I went to an art gallery on campus, did some art at the museum when I went with my SIL, made a Valentine's Day card for my husband, and filled out a fun gratitude page for my journal. Let's call this a win. 

March: I went to the same art gallery on campus when they had a new exhibit, colored a page (a cat wearing a hat that I sent to Jenny for her birthday), and went to a very stressful art class at the community center. Is this a win? 

Become a regular reader of at least five new blogs in 2026 x

January: I added one new blog to my feed reader.

February: I deleted a blog from my feed reader. 

March: I barely have time to read the blogs I'm currently following. 

Leave an average of five blog comments on other blogs every day 〰️

January: 26/31 days

February: 18/28 days - egads, I'm a bad blog friend

March: 20/31 - I am not great at this. 

Send at least five postcards every month 〰️

January: I didn't send five postcards, dang it. I did send five cards to graduating seniors on my caseload, so that seems in the same spirit to me. I also sent two items of business, and seven birthday cards for a total of fourteen pieces of snail mail.

February: I sent a lot of Valentine's Day cards (fourteen), so I feel like that's in the spirit of the thing. I also sent six birthday cards, a condolence card, one postcard, and a congratulations card to a graduating senior. 

March: I sent three birthday cards and nineteen St. Patrick's Day cards, but no postcards. I didn't think this goal would be so hard. 

Present at a conference for work ✅

Done. I did this in February. 

Track how many people come to yoga this semester  ✅

January: I only met twice in January, but three people came on the Monday and five people came on the Thursday. 

February: We met eight times in February. Two people came three times, three people came once, five people came three times, and six people came once.

March: We met seven times in March. Three times it was just me, twice it was two people, once it was three people, and once it was five. 

Update my resume ✅

Done. We'll see if I need it. 

Have an ePortfolio example ✅

January: Done. If I have linked it correctly, here it is!

Use a new journal to track goals, plan out the year, and take time to notice things I'm grateful for ✅

January: So far, so good. I used a blank page at the end of the month to track things I'm grateful for and used the weekly page layout for larger goals. I also used the monthly calendar view as a blog editorial calendar. 

February: I really do like my journal. So far, so good. 

March: This is a good system for me. I wish I used it more at the beginning of the month to plan more, but it's a new habit, so maybe that will come. 

    

Take a good photo every week and print them out once a quarter ✅

Yes!  It's fun to choose them to put them in my journal every month. I can fit two to four photos in there every month and it is a bit of a surprise to me which ones I include. I'm realizing right now that my husband holding a giant carrot didn't make the cut. What was I thinking? 

Take photo of five places at least once a month ✅

I've done this, but I have to admit that it's only been one quarter and I'm already sick of this goal. 

   

Pay myself and charity first x

January: Mostly. I'm giving myself 75% on this. Not as much in savings as I would have liked, but still something!

February: I did not do well with charity this month. *sigh*

March: Sigh. I am a terrible human being. 

Reread x

January: I listened to the first Nancy Drew book (The Secret of the Old Clock) and reread In Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris. 

February: No reread this month! Oh, no!

March: Another month without a reread!!

Do a buddy read x

Not in the first quarter, but Sarah and I are already working on this for Q2. No spoilers, but we both really liked the first half of the book. 

Gratitude practice ✅

January: I did it! Every day I wrote down something in my journal. AND, whenever I was in the car with Dr. BB, I'd make him list things he was grateful for. 

February: This was easy with Elisabeth's FIG Collective. 

March: I am doing it every night in my journal. It does make me stop to think a lot. 

Be consistent in working out (at least 80% of days of 30 minutes of intentional movement) ✅

January: 28/31 (90.3%) days 

February: 24/28  (85.7%) days 

March: 22/31 (71%) days

Overall this is 82.2%, so even though I got off the track a bit in March, I'm still doing okay.

Spend 750 hours outside .〰️

January: 32 hours, 42 minutes - There was a period of very cold weather when I was only getting 20-25 minutes a day. 

February: 37 hours, 42 minutes

March: 48 hours, 58 minutes

119 hours, 22 minutes total. If every quarter I spent the same amount of time outside, this should be 187.5 hours. This does include February (a short month) and pretty cold months, so I guess I should have guessed I'd come under. Egads. 

Get on the same page as my husband about home repairs, investments, and a will 〰️

Dr. BB is going to chat with some folks in his book club about investments. 

Do two more iterations of CBBC on my blog ✅

 The Age of Innocence is in the books. 

Date night with Dr. BB every month 〰️

January: It wasn't at night, but we went to Winterfest in a local town.

February: We did a hike at a nearby park. 

March: We went to visit a friend together? Does that count? Probably not. 

*******************

Just January goals:

No baked goods or candy - 31/31 days - Whew! That was hard. ✅

Do this video to improve posture at least twelve times this month - Twelve times on the nose. The exercises are still hard/impossible. I'll have to keep working on it. ✅

Train Hannah at least twelve times this month - ELEVEN! That's not too shabby.✅

*******************

Just February goals:

FIG Collective - Post something I'm grateful for every day this month. - Yes! ✅

Track where Hannah is when I'm eating at the table  - This was basically to settle a bet with Dr. BB and the data doesn't lie. Hannah is attached to me. ✅

	Breakfast	Dinner
By me	17	15
By Dr. BB	1	0
Her bed	1	0
Living room rug	3	8

Do that posture video again at least twelve times this month - Nope. I forgot about it, to be honest. x

*******************

Just March goals:

Work on my journal project for the rest of 2024 - I did complete 2024. This project will be something I use in NaBloPoMo this year if I can finish it by then. ✅

Message my accountability buddy every day. 24/31 days. Better than I had been doing before, to be honest! 〰️

*******************

How are your quarterly goals going? When's the last time you colored? 

CBWC April 2026: Week 1

It's Cool Bloggers Walking Club (CBWC) time! Hosted by Elisabeth, we're trying for ten minutes of intentional movement every day.

Wednesday, April 1
43 minute walk with Hannah the Dog in the morning

24 minute walk with Hannah the Dog before bed 

Thursday, April 3

26 minute walk with Hannah on a cold, rainy morning. (Imma just leave this here for your listening pleasure.)

Friday, April 3

10 minutes of yoga right before bed. It was a crazy day, so this was what I was able to fit in!

Saturday, April 4

33 minute walk with Hannah on a misty foggy morning

47 minute walk with Hannah on a cold windy afternoon

Sunday, April 5

34 minute walk with Hannah in the morning

32 minute walk with Hannah when we got back from Iowa around dinner time

14 minute walk with Hannah before bed

Sunrise on a grey, grey day.

Monday, April 6

43 minute walk with Hannah in the morning

12 minute with Hannah before bed

Who? Me? I wasn't chasing ducks. You must have me confused for another dog. 

Tuesday, April 7

42 minute walk with Hannah in the morning

26 minute walk with Hannah after work - I felt kind of bad because she clearly wanted to be out longer, but I had to get to my fitness class, so I rushed her a little bit. I hate doing that. 

11 minute walk around the block with Hannah before bed

*******************

Have you seen any gorgeous sunrises or sunsets recently? Who is your favorite walking partner? 

What I Spent: March 2026

As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, car, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out. However, at some point last month, my credit card was used by somebody that wasn't me and they cancelled my card and I had to get a new on and that meant I couldn't pay for the big Costco trip. What that means is that the groceries this month look miniscule, but that's because my husband paid for a big chunk. Muhahahaha. 

Entertainment ($13.70, <1%) - Spotify membership.

Fitness ($15, <1%) - One fitness class.

Eating out ($30.79, 2%) - I got coffee once and had dinner out with friends when I was in Michigan.

Cars ($31.63, 2%) - I filled up one car with gas once. 

Personal care ($80, 5%) - Face lotion and a hair cut. 

Gifts ($85, 5%) - Some birthday gifts and greeting cards. 

Savings ($200, 12%) - I tried a system earlier in the year to increase this and it worked for exactly one month. 

Bills ($300, 18%) - Water/sewer, home and car insurance

Pets ($420, 25%) - Food for both, litter for the cat, probiotics for the dog. and I had to buy a card for Hannah's baths. Hannah's probiotics are literally like $2/day, so they add up!

Groceries ($490, 30%) - We spent almost this at Costco last month, though, and Dr. BB paid for that. 

******************

April's going to be a bit different, though, because I'm going on a trip with Bestest Friend, so the entertainment number will be much higher! And groceries will definitely increase. I'm not mad about that, though! What's the last thing you bought? 

Five (Plus One) for Friday, Edition #41: The Gallimaufry Edition

1) The ghost: I think our house is haunted. Let me explain. There was THIS DAY. Here are the events that unfolded on THAT DAY.

• When I walked Hannah in the morning, the back door was locked when I got home. I swear I didn't lock it, but I'll grant you there was a slim possibility I did. But it was probably the ghost.
• The doorbell didn't work when I tried to ring it to get Dr. BB to let us in. I had to wander around the house banging on windows looking like a burglar. This, it turns out, is because the doorbell battery was dead, but I think the ghost did it.
• When we got home after work, our front door was WIDE OPEN. And I think it had been open ALL DAY when we were not home. I mean, Hannah would have murdered anyone who tried to get in, but we very rarely use the front door. How was it open? (Hypothesis: Dr. BB left it open when he was fiddling with the doorbells. I mean, maybe. Or it was the ghost.)
• When Dr. BB went to take a shower that night, there was stuff all over the bathroom floor. The squeegee we use to clean the shower door, a washcloth, and my towel. On the floor! I had just been in that room to clean the litter box and nothing was on the floor, but obviously the ghost had a beef. 

2) Passwords: I recently had to change my password at work and I realized that I've never talked about my password strategy. I go to the last note I've made in an ebook and I use that as a guide. The last thing I marked is from the book The Martian Contingency and it's the following line: Purim is easily the most fun of the Jewish holidays. I'm pretty sure I marked it because I've never heard of Purim (because I suck).

Anyway, if I were going to make a password from this (I am not because I already changed my password recently), I'd make it something like Pizez!!!mostest1001 because 1001 is the location number on the Kindle. And then I'd think about that book every time I type my password, which is dozens of times a day. I had a password from the mediocre book Zazen for a time and I always sort of wished it was from a better book. But the password I currently have is from a book I actively disliked, so that's even worse!

What's your password creation strategy?

3) It takes a village/I am THAT NEIGHBOR/are the boys okay?: Two incidents in my neighborhood have me concerned that I am the neighbor other neighbors talk about.

• There's a "rustic road" that I take to get to the next town over. It floods at least once a year, has potholes the size of a VW Beetle, and is sort of hilly, so the sightlines can be tricky. It's also a popular place for people to cycle, walk, and run, so you have to stay alert. Constant vigilance, as Mad-Eye Moody would say.  I was driving Hannah to get a bath and I noticed a person in a black hoodie sitting on the side of the road with their back to it - their back to a road with bad sightlines and no shoulder. I pulled over, threw on my flashers, and went to see if the person needed help. It was a teen boy and I asked if he was okay, thinking maybe he'd fallen on a run or something and he started laughing and said they had problems on a boat (who's they? what boat? I don't know) and he was waiting for someone to come pick him up to take him to the truck so he could pick up his brother. I was very confused by this description of events, but just as I was about to ask if I could drive him to the truck, an ATV pulled up and he got in.

• This next one, though, this is the one that's keeping me up at night. I was walking back from the community center on Monday night and I noticed two little boys PLAYING ON A ROOF. TINY BOYS. ONE WAS ONLY WEARING A DIAPER.  (A lot of houses in our neighborhood have porches/additions with flat roofs that you can access from windows/doors on the second floor. Our house has this exciting feature. This is what they were playing on. Not a pitched roof. It was only one story up and flat, but if a baby falls from one story, they can STILL DIE.) Another man was headed in my direction and he asked me "did you notice those kids on the roof?" and I said "did you do anything about it?" and he just shook his head. Meanwhile, there were THREE OTHER ADULTS across the street yelling at the kids, but not doing anything.
  
  You know what I did? I marched to the house, knocked on the door, and when a lady answered, I asked her if she knew her boys were on the roof and she said A LOT OF SWEAR WORDS and ran upstairs. I heard the older boy say "she's telling mom on us" as I waited below the porch with my arms out (liked I'd be able to catch one?) while the mom corralled them back inside. That lady was mad and I heard her say a bunch more swears as I walked home. Why did any of the other FOUR ADULTS who noticed this before I arrived on scene not do something? I had a nightmare that night and the adrenaline from seeing those kids on that roof is not something I ever want to relive. 

4) Wherefore art thou green beans? - I had all the stuff for my green bean salad except for green beans. EZ. Go get green beans and have a salad ready for lunch all week? Don't mind if I do. Except I went to five stores and four of them had ZERO green beans and one of them had DISGUSTING green beans. Is there a green bean shortage I am unaware of? 

5) CBWC - April is Cool Blogger Walking Club time! Elisabeth sponsors it and it basically just asks that you do at least ten minutes of intentional movement every day. Who's in? 

6) It's gawk at dangerous weather time! - I'm currently helping a friend so I am not at home. Last night there was a tornado watch/warning/watch at my home and Dr. BB was home alone with the girls. He laughed about how all the neighbors were out stormwatching, but then was no longer laughing when the sirens were going off and he had to somehow get two four-legged creatures into our asbestos-filled basement. They both had to be carried down and I have to admit that I am a bit concerned that my chronic rhabdo having husband carried a presumably squirmy 50-pound dog down the stairs.

Let tornado season begin!

In the meantime, my friend is mostly sleeping and I have been able to get a lot of work done (when you're not at the office, you get shit done because no one is stopping by to irritate you) and read a lot. I even did a short yoga thing. I'm "helping," but it actually sort of feels like a vacation? 

******************

Have you had an adrenaline raising situation recently? Ever "saved" children on a roof? Who's in for CBWC? Are there too many capslock in this post? 

March 2026 Accountability Buddy

After a strong start in January and February, I was felled by a cold in the middle of March, which decimated my stats, but I also wanted to give myself time to rest.  I think I'm still doing okay for the year.

*******************

Sunday, March 1

30-minute full body strength training - This is an excellent video. Eight supersets done twice. I liked it. 

Monday, March 2

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime

Tuesday, March 3

Day off

Wednesday, March 4

30-minute no repeat HIIT full body and strength

Thursday, March 5

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime

60-minute Zumba class after work

Friday, March 6

45-minute Two Birds Yoga Grounding Practice - I can barely move my left leg after Zumba. *sigh* Oh, well. I worked from home today, so I had time for a nice long yoga practice. 

Saturday, March 7

30-minute yoga to stretch away fatigue - I could barely bring myself to do this. *sigh* There's a great orange cat in this one and at one point the kitty is purring and it's caught on the mic and it's glorious. 

Sunday, March 8

35-minute full body circuit strength training

Monday, March 9

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime

Tuesday, March 10

45-minute body blast class at the community center after work

Wednesday, March 11

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime*

Thursday, March 12

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime

Friday, March 13 - Sunday, March 15

Days off - I am sick!

Monday, March 16

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

30-minutes of shoveling after work - I didn't talk about this on my blog, but we had a fucking blizzard last night. Now, you might look at this and think "hey, you can see grass" AND YOU CAN, but let's not discuss the three foot drifts and crazy winds, okay?

I don't mean to complain (but I'm going to). I still feel like death warmed over and was trying to really take it easy today, but Dr. BB has a chronic case of rhabdo, so guess whose responsibility became removing evidence of the mid-March blizzard? Oh, it's me. 

Tuesday, March 17

Day off

Wednesday, March 18

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

Thursday, March 19

30-minute yoga video in the student union at lunchtime

Friday, March 20

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

Saturday, March 21

35-minute full body workout - I like this one. It went by fast. 

Sunday, March 22

40-minute walking workout - Kat Gates- Buettner is always a hit for me. It's perfectly in the fat burning zone for me. 

15-minute post workout yoga flow

Monday, March 23

35-minute yoga video in the student union at lunchtime

Tuesday, March 24

45-minute body blast class at the community center after work

Wednesday, March 25

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

30-minute Japanese walking workout - sweaty!

Thursday, March 26

35-minute yoga video in the student union at lunchtime

Friday, March 27

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

30-minute no repeat full body and abs - Look, I hate working out on Fridays. I'm so tired after work, but sometimes you dutifully half-ass a workout. That was me today.

Saturday, March 28

20-minute Yoga for When You're Feeling Unmotivated - I don't think I need to tell you how I'm feeling, do I? I put my yoga clothes on at noon to remind myself to do yoga and it's closing in on bedtime and I'm just now doing it. 

15-minute bedtime yoga

Sunday, March 29

30-minute functional fitness total body dumbbell workout

20-minute fascia stretch

Monday, March 30

Unplanned day off. Stupid life.

Tuesday, March 31

45-minute body blast class at the community center after work - I had to drag myself to class, but it was really fun. Our instructor accidentally had two different shoes on and it was pretty funny and made us all laugh. I managed to get everyone in the class to participate in the foot selfie! It's just a matter of time until someone asks for my blog's URL, isn't it? 

*****************

*Our local healthcare organization does free stretch classes virtually three times a week. Sign up here! It's free. It's fun. She has the sign-up through June, so you can basically register for half the year at one time. We regularly talk about candy and what's for lunch. It's a delightful break in the middle of the day. You do not have to have your camera on. 

*****************

Total: 22/31 (71%) days doing thirty minutes or more

Cardio/strength: 12 days

Yoga: 10 days 

Short stretch classes at lunchtime: 6 days

*****************

Do you ever take foot selfies? What's the largest number of shoes in a photo you've taken?

What I Read: March 2026

I read some real bangers this month. Yay for a solid reading month. 

3/5: Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke (library, 2021) - Pure joy. *dusty stick* 5/5 stars

3/6: A Wish for Winter by Viola Shipman (library ebook, 2022) - This book IS MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED PAGES. A good 100 pages is praying and giving Bible quotes. Also, did you know Viola Shipman is a pen name for a DUDE? I got conned into reading a pseudo-Christian romance with a LOT of preaching written BY A MAN. Thumbs down. I only kept reading it because I didn't know it was 416 (!!) pages and kept thinking that surely I was almost done. One star because I did finish it. Half a star because I have to enjoy someone who loves Michigan as much as I do. 1.5/5 stars

3/8: Wild Eyes (Rose Hill #2) by Elsie Silver (library, 2024) - I think I read the first book in this series, but I can't find a record of it on my blog, so it must be my imagination. Anyway, I loved this book even though it has tropes I do not usually care for. 5/5 stars

3/12: How to Find a Missing Girl by Victoria Wlosok (library, 2023) - Girl gets murdered in her small town. Another girl starts a podcast about the investigation. Then that second girl gets murdered. What's going on in this town? The premise is good. The YAness of it is YAful and I guessed the murderer on the very page they first appeared. *sigh* I have got to stop reading YA. 2.5/5 stars

3/15: The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (library, 2019) - Historical fiction about a woman who grew up in an island in Korea through WWII and the Korean War. I wanted to like this book, but there were some things that just didn't work for me. 3/5 stars

3/19: Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy by Chris Duffy (library, 2026) - Very helpful and fun. 5/5 stars

3/21: In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard (library audiobook narrated by the author, 2011) - Funny coming of age story about a girl in the 1970s. 4/5 stars

3/23: The Global Pigeon by Colin  Jerolmack (university library, 2013) - Boy did I enjoy this look at pigeon-human interactions in urban environments. 5/5 stars

3/25: Dreadnought (Nemesis #1) by April Daniels (library ebook, 2017) - Transgender girl is secretly painting her nails when the superhero Dreadnought dies in front of her and passes his superpowers to her. What follows is a poorly paced action novel with lots of transphobia. I'm glad someone is bringing trans representation into superhero novels, but this didn't do it for me. 2.5/5 stars (I have to stop reading YA.)

3/28: Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon (library, 2024) - A pretty good thriller in which I learned a lot about the murdered and missing indigenous women movement. 4/5 stars

Total: 10 books
Average star rating: 3.7/5 stars

Did Not Finish

Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler (library, 2025) - I'm sure this is a very good book, but I am 100% not into the idea of reading about an authoritarian surveillance state while I live in these United States in 2026. DNF on page 103 (31.6%). (This is happening in my county right now and no one is talking about it. They're too busy complaining about pot holes and discussing the flavors of ice cream at the newly opened for the season ice cream place.)

Orbital by Samantha Harvey (library, 2023) - Sorry to my friends who recommended this to me. I found the introspection boring and gave up after leaving it on the table for more than a week and never wanting to pick it up. DNF at page 29 (14%) 

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin - I do want more trans representation in books, but I swear to all that's holy I would have been just as grossed out by depictions of dirty, sweaty people who haven't showered in weeks even if those people would have been straight. NGS out. DNF at 24%. 

****************

What's the last five star read you read? 

Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon

I read Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon to complete the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge prompt about a character who runs a marathon.

Quill is out for a run on the reservation where she lives in Minnesota one day when she hears a scream. She reports the scream to the police, who do a half-assed investigation and when she returns to the scene of the scream the next day, she finds an earring and tire tracks. From this point on, Quill sinks deeper and deeper into the mystery of women going missing. 

This novel draws attention to the plight of murdered and missing indigenous women in the United States and Canada. Women in indigenous communities go missing at a higher rate than other communities, as well as face higher levels of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and murder. Quill's experience here shows the ripple effects it has on all women, including those who are in stable, healthy relationships with safe homes. Quill is herself in danger when she starts investigating the disappearance of her friends, she has to change her running plans and routes because of the danger, and at one point, she's in danger of losing her children. And Quill has done nothing wrong, but because she lives on a reservation and is a woman, her life is impacted. If you then imagine what it's like for women who might lead riskier lifestyles, it all compounds in a messy stew of danger. 

I really feel like Rendon does a great job of weaving in details about Quill's daily life - what she cooks, wears, and chores she completes that are sometimes quite different from what my life - without this becoming a preachy book that veers off course from what is, at its heart, a thriller. 

It was an interesting setting and an interesting topic. There wasn't too much about running, but just enough so that you know it's important to Quill. I liked the female relationships Quill had with her friends and relatives. Sometimes it's nice to know that there are women out there who like other women, you know? 

It is a thriller and there are descriptions of violence against women, so if that's a dealbreaker for you, be forewarned. 

4/5 stars

Lines of note:

After running Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, she set her sights on the Boston Marathon. (page 25)

Justification for using this book in this PSRC prompt.

Quinn put Cheerios, water, an apple, and gummy fruit snacks into a bag. Living in northern Minnesota meant you never left home for a drive in the winter without extra food, blankets, and good winter boots. (page 41)

I had a colleague who had a flat tire once on a major interstate (I-39/I-90 for the locals) on his morning commute on a cold, slushy day. He got frostbite ON HIS KNEES. There's always a blanket or towel in our car and if I'm wearing dressy clothes to get to work in the winter, I throw my boots and snowpants in the back, too. I never have to pack food because I always have food with me. I honestly can't imagine living somewhere where you don't have to take these things into consideration. 

Quill struggled to tell one white guy from another. (page 67)

Preach it, yo. Cross-racial identification is challenging. 

Things I looked up:

Strong Women's Song - an anthem for Indigenous women's empowerment and strength, and signal the distinct challenges Indigenous women face. It was composed in the 1990s by some of the inmates in the Prison for Women (often referred to as P4W) in Kingston, Ontario, as a means of communicating among and offering support to one other while they were in their cells (they tapped on pipes and metals bars with the drum beat and sang aloud). (source - I have university credentials and downloaded the full article. If anyone wants the article, let me know)

On the third round, the women, who were carrying their kookum scarves or had them tied on their wrists, counted coup on the door like they did on the pickup trucks and big SUVs...(page 205, emphasis mine)

Among the Plains Indians of North America, counting coup (coup is French for 'blow' or 'shock') is the warrior tradition of winning prestige against an enemy in battle. It is one of the traditional ways of showing bravery in the face of an enemy and involves intimidating him, and, it is hoped, persuading him to admit defeat, without having to kill him. Historically, any blow struck against the enemy counted as a coup, but the most prestigious acts included touching an enemy warrior with a hand, bow, or coup stick and escaping unharmed, and without harming the enemy, except for the enemy's wounded pride.

Hat mentions (why hats?): 

No hat. (page 73)

wearing a hat (page 91)

duckbill hats (page 118)

beaded top hat (page 147)

passed the hat (page 200)

********************

Do you stock your car differently during different seasons? I always have a snack with me and it's generally trail mix or a granola bar. What are your go to snacks to have when you're leaving the house?