Every month I set a few simple goals to add focus to my life. Here are my monthly goals for September 2026.
How was August 2026?
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The first third of August was lovely. I celebrated both Lily and Anna’s birthdays, and got some crafting done. I managed to finish my summer term of school early, and that gave me a little extra time.
August Part Two Surgery
On August 11th I had surgery and it really threw me for a loop. It was a very necessary hysterectomy to treat diffuse adenomyosis. I mention the actual diagnosis because it took a really long time to figure out what exactly was wrong, so maybe mentioning it here can help someone else.
I also had a couple of other smaller procedures done at the same time that I had been offered in the past but hadn’t felt were worth general anesthesia. General anesthesia really knocked me out (they wound up keeping me in the hospital an extra day just because I was very much not fully awake), so I’m glad I was able to get everything done at once.
I do feel a lot better already, but this type of surgery has a long recovery time, so it will be a while before I’m back to normal. I was extremely grateful that my sister flew out; I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. Friends also brought dinner every night for the first week, and that was amazing. My boss at work has been extremely kind about my much lower productivity during recovery, too.
Time With Kids
I was in a pretty solid post surgery haze when Emma visited; I was pretty much asleep most of the time she was here. I did enjoy seeing her, but I was not much fun. She says I kept talking about how now I was missing five body parts. It’s true: one kidney and my appendix (the latter taken out as a precaution) from when I was a toddler with cancer, and now my uterus and both fallopian tubes (they like to take those out as a precaution too). Thankfully these missing body parts bother me a lot less now that I am more fully awake, but I’m sincerely hoping I am done, because I truly am running out of things that can be safely removed.
Settling Into School
My kids all started school while I was in a post surgery haze, too. I got a photo of Lily’s first day of senior year and Anna’s second day of freshman year (they started on different days since Anna homeschools). Johnny is enjoying his freshman year of college and Emma is happy starting her junior year. All four kids are extremely busy with classes but they all manage some fun things too.
Lily’s Hair Donation
Years ago, I mentioned that I really hated losing my hair to chemotherapy as a toddler. Lily started quietly growing out her hair, and this month she was able to donate 19 inches to help some other child who really wanted hair. I really love that she did this. As a bonus, her new haircut really suits her!
August Crafting
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I managed to make tine for some fun crafting right before surgery, sewing things two pencil cases using the Sallie Tomato Russell pencil pouch pattern. I LOVE this pattern, because it looks nice, is a great pencil case, and can be sewn very quickly. I’ve sewn five of them since June, starting with the one pictured below, which I made after initially buying the Russell pencil pouch kit.
I have to say, having sewn with random cork fabric, it’s okay, but the Sallie Tomato cork fabric (that the tan and gold in the above photo) is much nicer.
I also finished my nephew’s ammonite before surgery – and blogged about the process of sewing this prehistoric sea creature as well.
1 Second a Day for August
This year I’ve been using the 1 Second a Day app to create mini videos for each month. This was August:
Setting Goals for September 2026
Here are my monthly goals for September 2026:
- Keep recovering from surgery. I will be so excited when I can lift more than ten pounds again! That’s a very limiting restriction. I can drive now, and that is super helpful.
- Keep up with my own fall term school work. I’ve cut it close a couple of times due to being behind in general due to surgery.
- Keep up with work work.
- Keep working on my Jane Austen cross stitch kit.
What is August looking like for you? What are you hoping to accomplish this month?
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.