Some of My Favorite Things – February 2026

My birthday!

February’s my birthday month and it’s therefore one of my favorite months. Sometimes my birthday has the knack of falling during Lent, which can be bittersweet in that it means I can’t celebrate as much because, well, it’s still Lent and my Lenten penance prevents me from eating cake and sweets, but it’s still a very happy occasion that warrants gifts :D.

This year was a very unique birthday in that we were recovering from the flu, wah-wah. I was stuck in bed most of the day earlier that week but was much better just in time for my big day, which really put the concept of a brand new year into perspective. My family and I got the gift of actual health for my birthday, and that’s priceless. So what if I couldn’t eat a slice of cake or have some ice cream? That time will come.

Lent

I’ve never not enjoyed Lent. Back when I couldn’t care less about it as a “Catholic in name only,” I obviously didn’t do anything for it.

Then we reverted a few years ago and decided to make Lent even more meaningful. We have a neat Lenten family devotional that we read every night, we’re following a Lenten Narnia reading plan that a Catholic couple started, and us adults are avoiding sweets, fasting, and abstaining from beef, pork, and chicken on Fridays.

But it hasn’t all been as terrible as some people make it seem, so I wonder if we’re doing something wrong? Is increasing your prayer(s), your donations, and your fasting supposed to hurt? Really hurt?

Because Fridays can get tricky mid-afternoon if I’m starving and/or I didn’t have a good-night’s sleep for some reason, but I also get very excited for the upcoming pescatarian dinner ahead: is that how it’s supposed to be? Am I allowed to feel glad for a meal even though our Lord fasted for 40 days? Eschewing temptation hasn’t been difficult, mainly because I can say I’ve always had good willpower, so I’m sot sure it feels like I’m suffering. Sometimes I feel guilty about celebrating later in the season because Jesus didn’t experience such a luxury. Instead, he…died.

Or perhaps I need a harder sacrifice, something that WILL sting. Last year, I quit social media in general thanks to The Minimalists (which has been great) and abstained from added sugars during Lent. I also did a Lenten Lectio Divina-type journal and read Dr. Taylor Marshall’s Lenten mediations from St. Thomas Aquinas. This was all very instructive but upon reflection, also felt like busywork, like things I HAD to check off for the sake of having a more fruitful Lent, and I didn’t want a repeat. So I’ll have to think harder about a better penance for next Lent, I guess.

Counter-cultural podcasts and the knowledge (books) they recommend

A recent episode of The Modern Ancestral Mamas (MAM) podcast featured “1000 Hours Outside” founder Ginny Yurich, and within that hour-or-so-long conversation Ginny proceeded to namedrop, what felt like, at least 20 books. This episode was on the importance of letting kids spend (way) more time outside but she somehow seamlessly managed to bring up many diverse ideas from numerous authors and books.

(As a side note, the links I shared are from their Apple Podcasts profile because they don’t seem to have a website. This is my PSA for podcasters: GET A WEBSITE if you don’t have one already and keep it updated! Yes, you can talk and edit a conversation, but providing that information in writing is invaluable. The MAM ladies wrote in their description for that particular episode that “There are many more [books] we couldn’t fit in the description!” but they wouldn’t have that excuse if they had an actual website. Come on, people.)

Unless they come recommended in book lists from homeschooling mentors I respect and admire, I RARELY buy most things that podcasts recommend, so I was surprised at how many books I ended up buying (including. all of Yurich’s) just from that episode alone. In fact, every time I read the description, I spot new ones I want to get! Other podcasts and shows have made me want to keep going: In another MAM episode, the ladies interviewed The Brave Learner author Julie Bogart, whose book I ended up buying as well.

Then thanks to MAM, I started following Ginny’s podcast 1000 Hours Outside and began listening to her earliest episodes. In a recent episode she brought up the book The Price We Pay (about the scam that our healthcare system seems to be), which I added to my Cart. Then a Joe Rogan Experience episode featured author and mom Rachel Wilson, wife of Andrew Wilson, whose book Occult Feminism, is sitting right next to The Price We Pay in my Cart :).

I want to get those last two so badly as well, but in the meantime, I’m working on finishing the dozen or so that I already have (feat. an eclectic mix of subjects such as homeschooling, parenting, Catholicism, and motherhood) in our kitchen basket so I can make room for more. As Ginny says, “a chapter a day,” and sure enough: it works!

I’m also re-reading Animal Farm (it’s been about 25 years since I read it last, yikes!) and I heard recently that I should read it alongside The Communist Manifesto, but I don’t know if I have that level of commitment. (What do you think?) I should share what they are to give you ideas and so you can share yours, too!

The most recent iOS update

It’s no secret the “Liquid Glass” update messed up with many people’s iPhones, and mine was no exception. After being an Android user for about seven years, I recently returned to iOS and I was ecstatic. Apparently I didn’t realize how much I missed it but I knew I was done with Samsung and Pixel phones. At some point I upgraded to iOS 26 and that seemed to have negatively impacted my battery life but I chugged along (charging it every two days) hoping a fix would come soon.

Well, the 26.3 update seemed to have fixed that (and hopefully other things I haven’t noticed?) because at one point I didn’t charge my phone for at least three days despite regular use. It’s like it was back to (or better than) pre-Liquid Glass performance, and I welcome the change. Hopefully it stays like that!