this was february

02 Mar, 2026

February was a month that kind of flew by. I mainly worked on getting my knee strong and pain free again. Because of that I set some new intentions to keep my body moving regularly: I bought new hiking shoes and started hiking again.

It was definitely a month with a lot of tv! I watched some series, 3 documentaries and quite some movies together with D. Unfortunately it was not a good month for reading. Even after I made reading before bed one of my goals. I seem to just not really get into it?

For the goals I made for this month it was also not a good time I guess. I had plans to reorganize the attic, but nothing of that really happened (like in January). I can't pinpoint it, but I was feeling a mixture of tired and a bit lazy? Maybe my focus was more on my knee and getting better and that made my head too full to get into other tasks? Every time I thought of starting to clean in the attic I got a lot of resistance ;)

But, now at the end of February, it feels like I'm on the verge of getting into full blown 'getting stronger mode'. I am feeling very motivated to go on with the exercises for my knee and even adding more. I hope I can turn my motivation into real action and a steady routine.

february in highlights

✶ knee problems
In January I already wrote about it... my knee is not doing so great. I found out that I have something that's called a 'runner's knee' (patellofemoral pain syndrome). Which means the tendons around my kneecap hurt. Kind of a funny injury for someone who never ever runs ; )

This month I started up physiotherapy to get my knee healthy and pain free again. And that meant saying goodbye (for now) to qi gong. Not something I enjoyed doing, but I had to find out if the lessons were adding to the pain. I got myself a exercise bike, because I had to bike daily. I started to tape my knees every week and did daily stretching and strengthening exercises. It slowly got better!

✶ carnaval
Here in the South of the Netherlands theres the yearly celebration of carnaval. I'm not a big fan of this tradition, but I want to let my daughter have the experience. She celebrated at school mostly, and we went to a carnaval parade in Germany. It's tradition there to throw candy from the parade wagons and we caught a lot! We went home with 3 bags full!

✶ let's go hiking
Now that I didn't have my (almost) daily qi gong practice anymore and switched it for physio exercises, I felt like I was missing a steady routine of exercising and moving. So when the weather was better again, I set a new intention to go on a hike at least once a week. I came to the conclusion that my hiking shoes needed to be replaced, so that's something I did. A good motivation to put them on more regularly!

✶ the PMS, ughhh
February was also the month that I couldn't take it anymore... The PMS moods were getting bad for 6 months now, and I was so fed up with it that I started to search for solutions. At least before seeing a doctor about it, I wanted to see what I could still change or improve myself. I started researching supplements and added 2 to my daily meals. In hopes this would balance my hormones and mainly the monthly moods.

this was week 6 ✦ this was week 7 ✦ this was week 8 ✦ this was week 9

details worth remembering

✏ the month started with a slow Sunday with swimming in the morning and watching a movie with homemade popcorn in the afternoon.

✏ the daughter had 2 days off from school that we spent with family; one day a visit to her aunt and one day a visit - by bus - to the grandparents.

✏ I started physiotherapy for my knee. I got a diagnosis and had to directly stop all qi gong lessons and trampoline jumping, meh.

✏ the daughter caught a virus and I took a leave day home from work to take care of her.

✏ my parents cleaned out all the books from my youth, so now we have them at home and the daughter can read them.

✏ for carnaval the daughter dressed up as a super cute lion and she had loads of fun celebrating with her school.

✏ I updated my 2026 page.

✏ I got new hiking shoes and set the intention to go on more hikes.

✏ it was a good month for secondhand shopping; I found 2 smart games puzzles for the daughter.

✏ we had (a less busy than other years) Valentines Day at work.

✏ we visited the grandparents in Germany and went to a carnaval parade.

✏ at the end of the month the Sinupret was my lifesaver again for not letting a cold get bad (thankfully, it didn't!).

✏ we went to see Paw Patrol in the theatre with D and she loved it!

✏ I enjoyed the ranunculus and daffodils on the table this month.

✏ we got the melty beads out and I made some beads figures with D.

✏ there was finally some real sunshine and it did wonders for my mood!

✏ the husband gave me an unexpected gift, a karlsson coockoo clock that sings every hour.

the stories of the day

Every day I write down what the 'story of the day' was. I try to look at my day with a cinematic eye and filter out the most important thing that happened, and that I want to remember. Here are the stories of January:

week 6 ✦ week 7 ✦ week 8 ✦ week 9

photo of the day

here you can see all pictures of february

what I listened to

apparat - hum of maybe
bente - hoogtevrees
harry styles - aperture
jamie XX - hold tight

what I watched

series
blind sherlock ★★★★☆
lincoln lawyer S4

movies
secret life of pets ★★★★☆
madagascar ★★★☆☆
madagascar 2 ★★★☆☆
madagascar 3 ★★★☆☆
miss moxy ★★★★☆

documentaries
take that mini series ★★★☆☆
minentaucher ★★★★☆
reality check: inside america's next top model ★★★☆☆

what I wrote this month

03.02 goals: what I want to do this winter
04.02 photo apps I use
07.02 designing your bear blog
08.02 riding the waves
09.02 it's a journey
09.02 one last time
10.02 random things about me
10.02 just a bit more dumb
11.02 what my ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ blog is about
11.02 just some thoughts
12.02 how I keep my photos
12.02 new: comments!
18.02 morning pages #1
18.02 morning pages #2
18.02 what I spent my money on this month
22.02 sylvia made me into a pixel bear!
24.02 i miss skating

goals for february

✘ get back into regular trampoline jumping
This one I had to cancel completely. Due to my runner's knee I wasn't allowed to jump. So instead I started indoor biking and going on hikes more.

✔ fix my knee with physiotherapy
Well, it's not fixed yet... but I've been working on it since February. A slow and steady process. But I'm getting there! My knee doesn't hurt anymore now, but with exercises I can feel that it's still very unstable. That's what I'm trying to fix now. But I'm glad I managed to reduce the pain!

✔ make the first puzzle of the year
I guess it was the 'winter blues' this year that prevented me from finding any motivation to make a puzzle. I just wasn't feeling it! At the end of February I started to get more headspace to catch up with my hobbies. That's when I ordered a new puzzle and started with my yearly puzzle goal again.

✔ make sure theres flowers on the table every week
This is a goal that worked! After buying the perfect vase for our home, I managed to have a bouquet or some single flowers on the table at all times. It was really nice to have something bright and cheerful on the table, adding some extra color to the gray days.

✘ buy storing boxes for the attic
I was hoping to do this in February, but it seems I had other things I wanted to focus on more. I can put it on my list for March, but if I'm honest, I am probably too busy and focussed on my sports to add this one. It's not very realistic at the moment, to think I will work on this goal very soon. So I'm leaving it for now. And who knows, maybe if I have a sports routine that feels steady, there's new room to pick this one up in a few weeks or months. I'm not in a hurry!

✘ organize the attic
The answer above explains why this one didn't work.

✘ only read blogs with a timer (see last goal of January)
I didn't read a lot of blogs this month! If I look at my laptop usage - which my macbook always shows me on Monday morning - I wasn't on my laptop a lot at all. I didn't check in on my bear blog a lot, didn't read a lot online... I was busy doing other things I guess?

✘ try to read 1-5 pages a few times a week before sleeping
When I made this goal I thought this wouldn't be a hard one to start. Just go to bed 15 minutes earlier than normal and read a few pages. But to be honest, I didn't manage to even do it ONE time ;) Most evening I was happy I had a bit of couch time to watch a series with the husband, after a busy and tiring day. That meant not going to bed earlier, because I wanted to finish the series. And there were also quite a few evenings where I fell asleep on the couch already. So this one didn't work at all! I will keep it in mind for another month.

✘ make a linocut
This one didn't work at all! I didn't have any headspace free to take up anything creative in the evenings. I guess February was the stepping stone to moving more and putting my focus on my body and getting healthy. You will read more about that below.

things I would like to do in march

> do something creative (make a linocut, make something with melty beads, draw in procreate... something!)
> go to the zoo
> make a puzzle
> go on a weekly hike
> find another gift for the husbands birthday
> work an afternoon in the garden (with or without D)
> go on a scooter ride with D
> start up daily creatine shake again

what I want to focus on

In March I want to focus on exercising. I am adding pilates to my weekly routine and will make a schedule every week that I want to follow.

I am also starting up the qi gong lessons again, slowly. It's a great way to warm my body up before doing my pilates lesson. I will keep it light and without the knee bending (for now). That way I can be mindful about not overusing my knee.

my schedule in march
monday: qi gong (without legs) / pilates
tuesday: physio exercises & stretches / indoor biking
wednesday: hiking / qi gong (without legs) / pilates
thursday: rest day
friday: indoor biking
saturday: rest day
sunday: physio exercises & stretches / indoor biking

The schedule fits my working schedule. On my workdays I have rest days or only low impact biking planned. That way I can keep up with it without tiring myself. My main focus is getting stronger muscles and getting my right knee as strong as the other again. And most importantly, starting slow and pacing, so my body can get used to everything.