April 2023 Recap
Broadway & Buckthorn
I’m starting a new thing: a monthly online journal recap. For many years of my life I was a daily journaler. As my life got busier, and quite honestly better, the habit faded away. And even now the thought of putting my thoughts to paper on a daily basis feels daunting and unnecessary.
Yet I believe there is much to gain by documenting the broad strokes of my life as it changes. Not for the sake of posterity, but because I fundamentally believe you can better connect and appreciate the thematics that weave throughout one’s life if you merely take the time to state them.
That’s my predictably complex way of stating – welcome to my recap of April 2023. Here is what happened this month.
Early April found us visiting NYC for the first time since pre-pandemic. This marked the first time Shannon and I spent time in the city together and we were fortunate to share the experience with two of our closest friends.
It was one of those Spring weekends where it never felt quite warm, but the sun was shining, the trees in Central Park were blooming, and there was a palpable type of energy that comes from people emerging all at once from winter.
We never left Manhattan during our three day stay. Even so we walked 20+ miles and saw a lot of the “must see” NYC attractions. Which for me was highlighted by seeing my very first Broadway show – ‘Book of Mormon.’ It was delightfully hilarious and the perfect Broadway intro.
The best food we had was at Katherine. The best drinks we had were at Dead Rabbit.
I started getting back in the habit of meal prepping. A routine which really fell off over the last seven months since we moved into this house. The key for me is really locking in the breakfast, otherwise I will skip that meal altogether. I’ve begun exploring around with the Vitamix blender and whipping up a week’s worth of banana protein shakes into a collection of mason jars.
For lunches and dinners I tend to go with the same protein and just mix up the sides. Nothing fancy.
Our big outdoor project this spring is a complete landscaping overhaul of the south side of our property. The first step entailed the clearing out of some of the nastiest Buckthorn and other equally awful thorny shrubbery that was overgrown and an eyesore to look at.
This effort will not only save the good trees that are being choked out, but will allow us to plant something new and nice in the cleared out spot. Updates to come in May as this project continues.
We’ve been dreaming about a pedestal dining table to replace our beautiful, but impractical metal/wood hybrid table. After a few weeks of Facebook Marketplace searching we nabbed this table and four chair set. It has a lovely finish, but eventually we will sand, and refinish to give it a slightly more contemporary look and extend it’s overall lifespan.
Had to rent a Uhaul van to get the table set home. I quickly learned I am not meant to drive a van. So no #VanLife for us in the future.
The weather in New Berlin, WI was warmer than previous years. No accumulating snow in the month of April is a rare thing for us.
|
|
High
|
Low
|
Average
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Temperature
|
83.0 °F
|
25.0 °F
|
48.9 °F
|
|
Dew Point
|
62.0 °F
|
9.0 °F
|
33.8 °F
|
|
Precipitation
|
0.57 in
|
-
|
2.40 in (sum)
|
|
Gust Wind
|
48 mph
|
-
|
7.8 mph
|
My full media diet log can be found here. My favorite book I read in April was Uncle Tom’s Children by Richard Wright. My favorite film I watched in April was The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
👋