Heart Tests and Holy Week | weekly notes (march 30, 2026 - april 3, 2026)

Monday 

I'm really excited for this week because it is Holy Week. Yesterday was Palm Sunday and I watched a beautiful church service online. This upcoming Sunday is Easter and I'm so excited for that and the holiday weekend. I've still got to pick up a few things for Easter like candy and eggs for our home egg hunt tradition we do every year, some fun breakfast and meal foods, maybe some ingredients to make a festive dessert and then our typical groceries. Between that and planning out the week ahead, today is going to be a planning heavy day. I typically use Mondays as the day to fill out my planner, write my master to do list, figure out what days I'm going to do certain cleaning tasks, write down what events are going on in the community that week, etc. It's been nearly a week since I picked up a ton of library books, and although I started on one of my poetry books, I haven't read any of the fiction books yet. I want today to be a starting point for hobbies I want to get back into like reading, writing, and crafting. I was also in a good habit of taking book notes at the beginning of the year on whatever creative self help book I was reading, one of which is the Artists Way that I want to pick up again. I'm currently editing a video diary that will go live this week and I'm trying a few new editing styles for this video and I'm excited. It's also about that time to create this months zine issue which is always fun. This week I have my last heart test - a treadmill stress test and then I'll be getting my results from my heart ultrasound, heart monitor and then this test in a few weeks. I'm ready to put all of this behind me, and I'm hoping that I'll be getting great news. 

I ended up doing a lot of digital maintenance work today. I edited a week in my life vlog and posted that. I tried out a new editing style which was fun. I also created and posted the march issue of my zine. And I spent the rest of the day making grocery lists and finalizing what we need for our egg hunt next weekend. I still have to figure out Easter meals and festivities.

Tuesday

Today is probably going to be similar to yesterday. I have my march vlog I need to put together and edit. And I still have to make the master grocery list, because yesterday we just picked up a few things. Tomorrow is my last heart test - a treadmill stress test - and I would like to get a treat for myself for after, as it gives me something to look forward to. I can't have caffeine today or before the test tomorrow, which stinks because I'm feeling really tired this morning. But I can fill my day with fun drinks like sparkling water, smoothies, warm almond milk with honey, maybe get an olipop. 

I can't believe it's the last day of march! I want to spend more time today crafting and reading, alongside the tasks I want to get done. It would be nice to get outside for a short walk as well because it looks like the weather will be nice today. It's been raining for what feels like forever.

Because I had to go the whole day without caffeine, I got a headache and ended up having a restful day. 

Wednesday

Today's the day! Hopefully this will be my last heart test and I hope it's easy! All I know is is that they are going to have me walk on a treadmill at different elevations to track how my heart reacts to physical exertion. Afterwards, I decided to treat myself to a matcha and then we plan to head to Walmart to pick up a few things. I saw that Walmart is partnering with Build-a-bear and they are carrying bears, clothing and some exclusive items, one of which is a mystery plush. I decided that would be my thing to look forward to after my appointment. I hope after I have some caffeine, my headache goes away. The thing is, I'm not even a big coffee or heavy caffeine drinker. I typically have matcha and sometimes decaf coffee, but maybe thats enough for my body to react this way (if it's even related). I still haven't put together my march vlog, so that's something else I'm looking forward to doing if I feel up to it. 

and just like that it's over! the test itself wasn't long, but it was a bit overwhelming because I didn't know what to expect. For my specific test, they said it could have been anywhere between 5-12 minutes long and they just had me walk on a treadmill, would increase the speed and incline, and check my blood pressure. I was wearing anywhere between 10-15 wires, it at least felt like a lot. At one point I was walking so fast, I was like "am I supposed to be running?". I'm just glad it's over. Now all I have is my results appointment in a few weeks for all of my tests. 

After my appointment, I treated myself to a matcha with almond milk and maple syrup with pistachio cold foam. I'm hoping my headache goes away soon. Then we went to Walmart and I found the mystery Build-a-bear plushies. It was so odd seeing Build-a-bear in Walmart. We got three, but I already want to go back to get more. Of course I didn't get any of the ones off of my top 3, but that's whatcha get with mystery toys. I really want the bunny or the lamb. But I also like the pastel kitty, sea monster, and elephant. This time around we got the pastel splatter cow, longhorn, and rainbow friends bear. I'm pretty happy with the cow because there was a time where I was collecting cow Squishmallows and Build-a-bears a few years back. I also got a rapid rehydration gatorade so that I could sip on that today, in hopes it'll help my headache as well. It's already noon now and I'm feeling exhausted from the anticipation of the test, to the actual physical aspect of the test, to just ending my period. I also didn't sleep well again last night, so I'm continuing to take it easy today. I'm really excited that the weekend is right around the corner. I still have yet to figure out what I want to do for Easter breakfast and dinner, which is kind of exciting because I always enjoy planning holiday meals. Today I'm soaking in the simple things like observing nature from the patio, being in cozy clothes and fuzzy blankets, and nourishing my body. Even in the midst of the chaos, it's simple things like these that carry me through. I completely forgot that I also picked up a gluten free carrot cake from one of my favorite local bakers, so that's another treat I have to look forward to. 

wow, what a day! When my husband was done with work, we placed an order for takeout and then headed to the beach to watch the rocket launch. The beach was full of people waiting to see it. It was a really cool thing to be a part of. We were near a waterway walkway near the marina so we decided to do a sunset walk. We ended up seeing what appeared to be a moma puffer fish and her baby. Puffer fish are one of my favorite animals so that was really cool to see. Then we headed to Walmart to pick up a few things, and I got 3 more mystery Build-a-bear plushies. I got some of the ones I wanted, but still no bunny! It was a long day of activities starting in the morning and ending in the evening and I know I'll be tired tomorrow.

Thursday

It's 7 am and I just finished my first Mary Oliver poetry book. It was beautiful. I can't wait to read more of her work. I really relate to it because I like to reflect on the natural world as well. My book goal for the year is 50 books. I've finished 4. I track my reading on Goodreads and it says I'm behind 8 books. With how many days are left in the year, i'd have to finish reading a book about every 5-6 days to reach my goal, which I think is doable because I've finished books in 2 days before. I just have to get out of my reading rut. I'm hoping to start one of my fiction books I picked up from the library a few weekends ago, because they're due soon. The sun is still rising and from what I can see, it looks like it's going to be gloomy this morning. I noticed the weather report for today shows a rainy afternoon. I'm not too sure what I'll get up to today, but I still have a few tasks from earlier this week like my march vlog to edit, Easter planning, and so on I can work on. And CRAFTING! Easter is right around the corner and I have yet to do any Easter crafts. Today is the day.

It sure has been a gloomy day. It's been raining off and on. Some of the fiction books I got at the library aren't going to work out. But the third one I picked up seems to be decent. I'm just glad I'm trying to get out of my reading rut. I finally started editing my March vlog. I had over 300 video clips and close to 50 minutes of footage to sift through. Right now it's down to about 15 minutes and it's just supposed to encompass the month as a whole. We also did 2 easter crafts - crayon resist watercolor easter eggs and a sock bunny. I used a white crayon to draw designs on a piece of paper and my daughter used watercolor paint to reveal the designs. We also tried to follow a sock bunny tutorial, but it kind of flopped, no pun intended. I'm hoping to start a new crochet project this weekend, and I'm thinking I'm going to try a mini Easter basket.  

Friday

Today is Good Friday! I'm going to spend the morning reflecting on what that means, reference bible verses and take notes on it. There is going to be a church service later I want to attend as well. As for the rest of the day, I'm not sure what our plans are. We might go see a movie. If the weather allows, it would be nice to get outside.

We ended up going to an animal sanctuary, the store, and mini golfing. It was an eventful day! It rained on and off but we just went with it. I was able to pick up the last of the Easter things we needed like the egg hunt stuff and some food. We're going to do waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast and something simple like chicken, rice and salad for dinner. We got some of our fav ice cream BOGO at Publix so that's just what were going to have for dessert. For the egg hunt, I got a yellow egg with jelly beans, a kinder egg, a ring pop, filled one with quarters, and then the rest have little eraser characters. 

Content from this week

YouTube

Podcast (auditory witnessing)

March Zine