Moer Notes // 001.
In which she tries to do a monthly recap (again), she makes no promises that it will stay consistent, and she reserves the right to change her mind about what she includes here. SHE'S TRYING.
Welcome to Moer Notes, Hannah’s monthly recap post.
You may be wondering, “What month are you recapping?” Happy to share. On this, December 16, I am sending you… my November recap post.
If I’m being fully transparent, I thought it was December 9 until I looked at the date in the corner of my computer screen. Time has been a thief lately. Add to the normal November/December fullness: a cold that won’t seem to leave, a quick plane trip to snuggle a new niece, play practices (!!!), and all the flooring in my house being ripped out and replaced (with all our personal belongings scattered through the four corners of our house)… November and December have been a time.
But now, I am tucked away at a favourite Edmonton cafe with a friend where I have committed to an hour of writing, and dang it, I will send this recap! Before I overthink it for a moment more.
On a monthly basis, this is hopefully a little peek into my life — maybe with fun other themes emerging. You know what I’m thinking now? Emerge would have been a great verb for these categories. I digress.
This may be short, it may be a scroller - but it will be what I’ve always wanted here: a standardized recap series, all my own.
LET’S GO, PALS.
MAKING
A category to capture what I’m proud of in my journal, or what I made in the kitchen, or what I have taken time to create lately.
In November, I was making playlists. Specifically, I was making a spreadsheet to pair people with other buddies so they could make each other playlists — running my playlist exchange! Then, I was making a playlist for my friend,
. (She made one for me too!)I was reminded that it’s fun to make things with care. I spent days thinking about what to put on Rachel’s playlist. I’d listen to it on the drive home, or while I was getting up to read, or while I was in my office. It didn’t need to be perfect, but I loved that when I was finished with it, it felt right.
One of my favourite things about the act of making is when you get to share it: whether it’s in progress or the finalized product, with someone else. Making is fun! You should do it and then share it with someone.
OBSCURING
A category to explore what is unclear and difficult to understand; what’s been a thing or two that is keeping me from seeing clearly and moving forward?
Living in a house that we1 are renovating in significant ways is… truly a choice we made. I never forget the privilege we have in making this place our own. And also… it is a choice I underestimated.
The flooring upstairs always needed to be addressed — after we moved in last summer, it began flaking in sections of the house. We choose the flooring after I agonized over the options for a month, and then let the boxes sit in our basement for the last ten months. In November, Dave began methodically moving through the house to do the flooring updates we’ve been dreaming of.
I love the wood ceiling in our living room. I love the coziness of the fire in the winter. I love the weird basement bar, and all the wood panelling in the basement.2 I love the light fixtures we’ve chosen, the way our furniture is cozy and functional and aesthetic, the way the limited hours of light fill our house. I love the paint we chose for our walls and the paint we chose for the trim and the flooring we chose!
And, I have never lived through a renovation as an adult, and it is not a Hannah Moerman is Thriving scenario! The whole house feels fragmented. I feel like I have such limited imagination for how things could be when everything is just torn up. I have a hard time seeing clearly in the midst of change.
I am theoretically so good in moments of change, dealing with the thing right in front of me… and so bad at thriving in change when it is not where I want it to be.
I’m very excited — but if I’m honest, renos (and to dig one level deeper, my lack of imagination in the process) kept me from seeing clearly in November.
EXPERIMENT
A category to look at what I’m trying; what habit, rhythm, routine did I try in my day to day life?
In November, I found myself taking a break from optimizing my life, my routines, and my schedule.Although again: I’m not sure this is a Hannah Moerman is Thriving scenario, or a Hannah Moerman is Just Trying to Make It To the End of the Year scenario. I think more of the second. So - there were very few habits, rhythms, and routines. (And if there were any of habits, it was “Spending the first hour of my day scrolling” - so like, not my ideal to write about here!)
One thing I did try in November was writing my Substack on a weekly basis. I loved this rhythm of writing and publishing, and I felt like I gained a lot of clarity on what I want to do with the publication going forward. Writing is one of those activities that truly makes me feel most like myself, and then being able to share it with all of you is a favourite.
READING
A category to be a (maybe) brief look at what I’m reading, what I’m liking, and what I’m screaming about from the rooftops.
The theme of this reading month was, “Books My Sister Told Me To Read and I Finally Got From The Library”.
You Again by Kate Goldbeck // ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // To my core, I am a When Harry Met Sally girl. My sister told me she was weepy at the end of this one; I thought there could be no way. I had heard this described (I think by Bad on Paper) as Emily Henry if the main characters were completely unlikable. And then! Surprise! Yeah, I felt feelings when two very complex people were learning about their feelings. It is what it is!
The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman // ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // I’ve become a Bad on Paper girlie with the encouragement of
& loved reading her debut! It was a tender and joyful friendship story. I loved the New York setting and the look at Christmases past and present.The Summer Girl by Elle Kennedy // ⭐️⭐️⭐️ // I’m just too deep in this series to stop. It takes place on a coastal town, and it’s just a spicy little romance set in the summer. Would I re-read? Never. Do I love a little easy page turner? Yeah!
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center // ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // Another one that my sister said, “YES READ IT!” when it came in at the library. I always know what I’m getting with Katherine - a love story with a plucky heroine and some tenderoni moments.
Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce // ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // I love this little World War II series about a journalist named Emmy Lake. (Dear Mrs. Bird and Yours, Cheerfully are the two that come before!) Every book in this series makes me cry. Can’t explain why that happens! I think they will be nice World War II books, and then they are tender and big hearted, and I am crying.
The Wake Up Call by Beth O’Leary // ⭐️⭐️⭐️ // This romance between two co-workers in a hotel setting was fun, but it wasn’t my absolute favourite Beth O’Leary. (That’s The Switch, in case you’re wondering.)
Beartown by Fredrik Backman // ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // I told myself this winter, I would re-read the Beartown series. Every time I read one of these books, I am reminded of Backman’s mastery with words — how he takes the ordinary and the complex of a hockey town and makes it so I am reading the whole book with a lump in my throat. Forever a favourite.
NOTING
A category to clock what I’m noting from my life; what are the notes from my journal and the things in my life that I’m taking note of?
Coming into this category, I was going to be really hard on myself. While I did feel numb and like I just needed to get through the month (all I wrote on my November goals page was “Make it to November 14” and I apparently never came back after that)… I also took time to notice some things.
I noticed when I didn’t want to write.
I wrote down some oppositional thoughts I was holding.
I wrote down notes about my character for an upcoming play.
I gave myself an inside treat page where I just wrote down thoughts and things — really, I set a timer for ten minutes and tried to see if I was brave enough to write down some of the things I was thinking and feeling. In some ways, I was — in others, I wasn’t. That’s the way it goes.
I wrote down a page where I had titles for December goals, cannot decide, and trying to avoid.
So at the very least, I knew I was holding complexity and avoidance tendencies.
OWNING
A category to look at my spending habits; what did I buy, if anything? (And maybe, what did I wish I bought?)
November was a no-spend month for me, and I proudly did well with that! I followed a tip from The Organized Wallet - naming my low-buy / no spend month goal. (For me, it was the purchase I made on the last of the month!)
The secret other trick to have a successful low buy month: do it in November when the time change happens. Also, live in a place where you’ll now have about eight hours of sunlight, so you’ll basically never want to leave your house. Another tip: jam pack your schedule with meetings and practices so you don’t have time to spend money. You’re welcome.
On the last day of the month, I got some boots I had been saving up for — from a company that feels like a “living in Alberta” right of passage. Big thanks to Dave for a birthday gift card that made this purchase possible.
TAKING CARE
A category to do a little self-reflection; how did I show myself a little self care?
In November, there were a few little and big ways I took care of myself: I started saying “no” a lot. Not because I wanted to, but because my schedule just didn’t allow for me to say yes to more things. I started deciding once and just had sandwiches for lunch every day — and I felt like I was perfecting them, and I was eating lunch every day — two big “take care of yourself” wins. I ended up having a solo dinner one night, with my journal and my book in tow. I think back on that night quite fondly. I committed to walking Pip on my days and tried to do it in daylight. I made my phone background photo the ultimate photo of my nieces and nephew. I invited a co-worker over to work at my house. I finally got film for the Polaroid camera I thrifed this summer.
ENJOYING.
A category for gratitude; literally answering the simplest and also maybe hardest question of what am I grateful for?
In November, I was grateful for Twilight Day.
Twilight Day was when I invited three of my friends over, and we shared snacks and drinks, and we watched four Twilight movies (Twilight, New Moon, skipped Eclipse, and went into Breaking Dawn Part One and Part Two) with the intention of roasting them.
One of those friends had never seen them before, so her reactions were truly a gift.
We also made friendship bracelets for each movie, with inside jokes or the funniest line from the movie, and then exchanged them. I cannot recommend this enough.
It was such a fun day to laugh and hang out, and then the Oilers won (which was a rarity at the beginning of November), and it’ll go down as one of my favourite days in 2023.
SAVING
A category to name what stood out to me; what’s a quote that I just had to write down this month, or a post I saved I absolutely want to include?
Would you believe that I saved very few words in November? Or that I only wrote down quotes from two scenarios this month — Beartown and Connor McDavid’s first press conference after my favourite of the Oilers coaches, Jay Woodcroft, was fired? BELIEVE IT. And because of that, we’re ending with a few Connor McDavid quotes, combined, from that fateful press conference. (I’m not proud but this is a truthful recap.)
In reference to the Oilers less than amazing start… “It’s the reason two good guys lost their jobs. They never lost the room.” - Connor McDavid; November 13, 2023
And that’s all from me! Honestly, if you haven’t done an intentional look back at a month in a bit, I highly recommend you do so. I think I had written November off as all bad, no good, Numb November… and as I went through, I was surprised and delighted at all the good November held. Go make some categories and reflect! Do it! Even December 16 is maybe not too late! (But I will try to do this sooner next time. Maybe. Don’t hold me to it.)
Let the reader understand that Dave is renovating, and I am maybe painting walls and trim, but only with a roller and never when the work required is super detail oriented.
Except in the basement bathroom, which I have tried rebranding to be the sauna.
Hannah Moerman Is Thriving would be a bookstagram fave novel. It would be a Read With Jenna pick and be included in BOTM.
i have to tell you that i couldn't even make it through reading this because your new format inspired me to go think about my OWN ideas for a new rad recap format, and truly, that sums up so much of how i engage with what you share online! you post, i'm inspired, i go create, i come back to reengage with what you posted, and i'm inspired all over again.
thanks for giving gifts of such goodness in all that you do and make, but mostly, just in by being who you are. it's a joy to bear witness to your life, HMO!