a week in the north, catching up with family and friends, and running all the errands. on our way to the hospital for the post-surgery check up (all good) we got rained on so hard that it felt like we were inside some cartoon, with rain just being poured on us by a crazy god. maybe it doesn’t rain that hard in the south? or maybe we just don’t go outside when it does, not really having to be anywhere in particular on any given day.

my only surviving grandma (who makes the best fried codfish) turned 90 years old and the family threw her a little birthday party on the weekend, with her 7 living children and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. it was a loud and happy affair, as these things tend to be. it was also nice to spend time with tiny niece, and hear her say “a-na” for the first time. :)

entertainment-wise, we played carcassone with my brother and his wife (the big box, filled with expansions!) and i finished 2 books from the murderbot series. now i’m on the last one, and it feels a little bittersweet to be almost closing this chapter. :(

i also went swimming three times this week! years ago, i used to be really lazy whenever i went north, and do zero exercise for the duration of our stay. but last year, i started leaving a bag there with all the pool stuff in, and it changed everything. i got some pool cards for the swimming pools near my parents and the boy’s parents and just started going there. it works!

the bad news was that i seem to have caught a bug, either from the kid or from being rained on so much lately. *sigh*.

we spent a few days (including the boy’s birthday) decompressing in comporta, in a tiny home in the middle of nowhere, with no one around. it was just us and the pine trees swaying in the wind, a big window with a view to the pond. every time we are in a tiny house, i get a little enamored by the concept and dream of a tiny place of our own. i think part of the appeal of it is just the need to forcefully declutter and live with less stuff. it’s kind of hard to do that in a big house, but i find the idea mentally soothing.

we drove north to plant trees in leiria with postcrossing friends that we see once a year for this event. it was a hard job this year, with lots of rain the whole morning. i’m glad i had my yellow raincoat from aldi with me! <3

we watched “a colorful dream” (a czech animation movie the boy remembered watching during a long flight) and i finished reading funny story, a light romance as a palate cleanser. i immediately forgot my plan to read the library books and dipped into book 5 of the murderbot diaries. i’m a little bit obsessed with the series at this point, and can barely put the book down.

i overdid it on the running and spent the week with shin splints, which wasn’t much fun… but being back north, we got to spend some time with this cute marshmallow! she still doesn’t talk all that much, but she’s easy-going and up for anything — even with us, the uncle and auntie she only meets every few months. i’m really thankful for that.

spent the week tottering on the edge of overwhelm, but also kind of letting it propel me forward. we gave a long webinar presentation and answered questions from the audience for a couple of hours, and i had 2 chinese classes, one art class, and one general assembly of the local eco-association (which did not go well…).

the boy had to go to faro for a doctor appointment and i tagged along to get some new running shoes, some books for the kid and food stuff that is harder to find here. we got some russian sushkies, some pickled herring, jalapeños, and indomie goreng (which i had heard some weeks ago from the little mail carriers stay in bali). we topped the noodles with fried eggs, and… wow! the flavor was so familiar, like old school instant noodles from a decade ago. i bought a package of 5 and i’m already regretting not bringing more.

i took the new shoes for a couple of runs and broke the 5km barrier for the first time in a long time. running is starting to slowly change for me, from being something that drains me completely into something i can keep doing for a longer period of time at a low pace and not die. :) not fun, but not unpleasant either.

i’m sure the new treadmill is helping too, as walking while working has sort of become a background thing — i walk for hours and don’t even notice it anymore. it’s kind of amazing, what a human body can do when it is healthy and strong.

finished reading a court of wings and ruin, which took much longer than expected but was ok in the end. i’m reading “funny story”, and listening to “our malady” (one light, one heavy) but after this i think i’ll take a break and read the books i’ve brought home from the local library, which have been gathering dust in side tables. i wanted to read more in portuguese — it’s time to do that.