February 12, 2026

I missed a week, so I’m posting at a random time. And I may do more of this! The whole point of weeknotes is to post once a week for accountability, but anti-weeknotes should be more flexible.

It has been a bit of a week, which is why I didn’t post last weekend — life threw a curveball, and then the kid got sick. I have, however, had many lovely reminders of what a kind and supportive community we have — both here and elsewhere.

I noted in my last post that I wanted to get back into some of the routines I’d developed early in the year and had already dropped, and I did, and that has helped. I’m going to bed earlier and getting more sleep overall. I’ve been listening to more music instead of defaulting to my usual soundtrack of podcasts and audiobooks, and I’ve been turning my headphones off more. Mostly, I’ve been paying attention to all of the various inputs and pacing myself better.

My hands are also mostly fine now. I’m still being careful so that I don’t exacerbate things.

A’s parents came over to watch the Super Bowl (which was honestly pretty dull and uninspiring except for the halftime show). The Liverpool vs. Man City game earlier in the day was utterly bizarre and far more interesting. Yes, I managed to watch two games in a day. We had dinner with friends on a weeknight. I’ve been catching up with friends by text. Actually, I’ve been sending more random texts to people as I think of them, which has been fun. I’ve tried to prioritize connection and calm.

Unsurprisingly, I’m not the only person in search of some calm these days. I like Rob Walker’s newsletter because he always offers new ways of pausing and observing, and the most recent one on seeking calm was timely. I like the idea of finding "pockets of calm." It reminds me of something my doula said oh so many years ago about labor – that the pain isn't constant; you have to focus on getting from one break to the next. Or, as Katrina describes in The Sound of Silence, the most beautiful sound is the quiet found between noises.