Adventures with My Forties

Ep. 39 Why Do Women Love True Crime?

This week, I explore the question, Why do women love true crime? I myself listen to true crime podcasts and often wonder, Why do I love listening to these stories? And perhaps, more importantly: does my interest in true crime suggest some sort of moral deficiency on my part? Spoiler alert: I think my interest in true crime comes from a place of empathy and empowerment.

 

Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. Thanks for listening! 

Ep. 38 It’s Fall, Y’All!

Autumn is here! First, I reflect on ways to welcome the change of seasons. Then, since it's autumn, of course I need a new bucket list - but I swear, I first did some soul searching to make sure my fall bucket list would serve my happiness. After I created my fall bucket list, I created my Fall JOMO List: a list of all the things I will NOT be doing this fall. 

 

Shownotes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com

 

Ep. 37 Rebuilding My Mind-Body Connection

This week, I talk about my mind-body connection, or lack thereof, and how hot yoga and the enneagram are helping me rebuild my relationship with my body. Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. Thanks for listening! 

Ep. 36 The PathTo Enlightenment Is in The Elementary School Carline

Every school day, when I drop my kids off, someone in the car line is a jerk or idiot or both. And this used to rile me up and I'd feel outraged at the injustices of car line. but recently I realized: what if the path to enlightenment is in car line? What if I stop letting other people steal my serenity over dumb things like car line? Someone is going to be rude and block the car line and make everyone wait while their prince or princess takes an absurdly long time to get out of the vehicle. I don't have to let this rudeness snatch my serenity.  

 

Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com

 

Thanks for listening! 

Ep. 35 When You Get Sucked Into Other Folks’ Agendas

Hello! This week, I'm talking about Human Giver Syndrome and the ways women get sucked into doing work for other people's organizations. I talk about ways I got hijacked by other folks' agendas into doing volunteer work that doesn't actually align with my values and beliefs. Specifically, I'm looking at AYSO, Girl Scout cookies and the frenzied hell that is cookie season, and the PTA membership drive. 

 

Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. 

Ep. 34 Setting My Intentions For The 2023-24 School Year

I'm back! It's been over a year, and I finally have the time, energy and bandwidth to record a podcast episode. How are you? It's been too long. In this episode, I catch you up on the past year of my life. Long story short: I volunteered for too many things, and then my dad had some serious health issues. This led to some epic burnout, so my intentions for the upcoming school year are to (a) volunteer way less and (b) take the time to heal. 

 

Shownotes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com

 

p.s. You are awesome! 

Ep. 33 Your Kids Are Entitled to Your Mistakes

On Father's Day, the kids were sassy and rude, and I lost all my shits. It was not my proudest parenting hour. But then, I apologized and explained why I had overreacted to the kids, and we hugged and made up. While I would love to be the "perfect mom," my kids are entitled to my mistakes. If they think I am a superwoman who never makes mistakes, then they will beat themselves up when they invariably make mistakes. Life is messy, and mistakes are part of the journey. So rather than beat myself up for losing all my shits, I'm giving myself a trophy for apologizing to the kids. (Not an actual trophy, but that would be cool if they did give out motherhood trophies for that sort of thing.)

Be sure to get your copy of my first novel, Confessions of an Imposter Room Mom. It's the perfect beach read. Or park read. Or waiting for the kids to finish soccer practice read! 

Shownotes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com.  

Ep. 32 Grief Sucks But I’m Getting Better At Embracing It

It has been a month since my last episode and life has been a lot. My uncle died in mid-January and my grandma died on February 1. I was very close to both of them and have been exhausted from all my grief. But I think I am handling my grief for my uncle and grandma well - or, at least better than I handled grief when I was nineteen and lost my cousin Kym and grandpa. When I was nineteen, I buried my grief and pushed on with my life, and the grief festered. Now that I am forty-three, I am allowing myself to feel my grief and live a little more slowly. Grief sucks. But i'm getting better at embracing it. 

 

Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is Carefree 90s from Tune Tank - https://tunetank.com/t/4k8s/3740-carefree-90s. 

Operation: Reclaim My Life!

Last week, I told you about my 22 Projects in '22 to keep my momentum strong. To deepen my self-work this year, I am also launching Operation: Reclaim My Life. In this episode, I talk about why I picked "reclaim" to be my word of 2022 and my four areas of focus: Reclaim My House; Reclaim My Body; Reclaim My Inner Child; and Reclaim My Stories. Bonus: I also vent about pandemic life, including Julian's week of distance learning after being a close contact. 

 

Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is Carefree 90s from Tune Tank - https://tunetank.com/t/4k8s/3740-carefree-90s. 

 

Ep. 30 Twenty-two Projects in 2022

Happy 2022! This week, I share the twenty-two projects I am pursuing in 2022 to keep my momentum strong. The projects range from "publish my first novel" to "get a posh trash can for the kitchen" and everything in between. Not all of these projects will happen, but this is my process and I'm excited to see what sticks and what gets abandoned. 

 

Show notes are available at CourtneyHenningNovak.com. The music is "Carpe Diem" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.