Hello, Reader.

March is upon us, although I can't say it rushed in like a lion. The weather here has been beautiful -- warm, bright, and mild -- perfect for spending as much time outdoors as I possibly can, even it it's just sitting on the front porch reading a book and petting the friendly neighborhood cat who spends the majority of her days lounging under a shade tree in our yard.

I'm not sure whether the start of Daylight Savings Time is something you'll want to celebrate or not -- I'm never as happy about losing an hour in the spring as I am about gaining one in the fall -- but it's definitely something to remember. That happens this Sunday, March 8. So remember to set your clocks forward before you go to bed Saturday night or you'll be late to church.

The topic of this week's link list? Other March holidays worth remembering. Enjoy!

Fun holidays for you to celebrate this month:

• March 4 - World Book Day – Pick a genre from our Reading Challenge for All Ages​
• March 8 - National Preschoolers Day – lots of fun ways to keep preschoolers occupied​
• March 14 - International Ask a Question Day – good time to try our Conversation Starters​
• March 17 - Saint Patrick’s Day – color an Irish blessing or host a Leprechaun Lunch​
• March 20 - Bibliomania Day – sign up for My Reader Rewards to earn free books & Bibles
• March 28 - American Diabetes Alert Day - review the signs and symptoms of diabetes​
• March 29 - Palm Sunday - our Hosanna Coloring Page recalls the welcome Jesus received

What I'm reading this week:

I recently listened to Mark Sloan's Cancer: The Metabolic Disease Unravelled, but am now planning to order a hard copy, too. The author makes a lot of broad, sweeping statements -- a few of which I'd never heard before -- and I'd like to investigate more closely some of the studies he cites (over 3500 of them, per the book's description on Amazon). I found the book intriguing. It prompted me to make a few tweaks to my diet, such as adding a daily serving of whole, fresh citrus fruit. The book's conclusions may be over-simplified, but the information presented warrants a closer look. This second installment in a two-book series makes me want to go back and read the first book now, as well.

What we're eating this week:

By special request from my kids and grandkids, homemade tortilla soup is on today's lunch menu.

What we're watching this week:

One of my sons sent me a link to this award-winning 13-minute short film with a challenge: "See if you can detect worldview of the animators prior to credits." It's well worth the watch.

On the podcast this week:

I have another episode from the archives this week. Hope to get back to recording new ones by April!

Loving Life at Home: Episode 39 ​SHOULD A MARRIED WOMAN HAVE CLOSE MALE FRIENDS?​ How should husbands and wives navigate individual friendships with the opposite sex? That’s our podcast topic this week, prompted by an email I got from a reader who was having to deal with this very issue and all its implications at the time. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I only finished 5 of the 7 items on my to-do list last week. Namely, I ✅ taught my craft class how to carve ink stamps, ✅ transferred my dry beans and grains to new glass containers, ✅ wrote the sales copy a my new workshop (hope to have the whole thing ready to share by the end of March!), ✅ crocheted 20 36 granny squares for a new cardigan, and ✅ completed 4 more pages in ​my Easter Journal.

However, I completely forgot about the fact I'd be out of town all weekend and would also spend a 14-hour shift working the polls during Tuesday's primary election, so I did NOT ❌ paint any more flowers on my backyard mural, nor did I ❌ organize the cabinets in our butler's pantry. So I'll carry those tasks over for one more week before giving up and moving on to less procrastination-prone projects.

Personal goals for this week:

• clear out butler's pantry 🧺
• paint hydrangeas on wall 🪻
• attend my precinct convention 🗳️
• host this month's Grace Girls meeting 🎉
• reduce inbox to fewer than 50 emails 📧
• record video lessons for my workshop-in-progress 🎥

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Thanks so much for all your help! I'll be back next week with more links, reviews, and resources. If you have any special requests, please let me know. 😊