sometimes i delay the writing of these words, and then so much takes place in the span of a couple of weeks that it’s hard to remember what we did. but let’s see…
on week 26, we went north by train, to see the family again, as it was my mom’s 70th birthday! she has been saying she’s going to retire for a few years now — first, when little niece was about to be born, then on her 70th birthday… but guess what, she’s still going to work a couple days a week, splitting her time between porto and celorico. :D well, as long as she’s happy!


we spent time with other small cousins and little niece too, and took care of some bureaucracy and doctor appointments with the boy’s parents. my brother and his wife officially sold their house while we were up there and moved to aveiro! our old car, forever parked in my parents’ garage, came in handy to move a lot of their stuff back and forth. i feel like tavira and aveiro are kind of similar in some ways (both are flat, waterfront towns, and both have lagoons with lots of birds), and i kind of like the symmetry between them. maybe someday we’ll consider spending some more time there.
anyway, after the week in the north, we came down and settled back at home, at long last. it felt really, really good to finally sit down properly at my desk and work, without other distractions. i’m still running behind on my tasks, but i’ll get there. it was a big week for postcrossing, as we finally launched a product we had been working on for ages. everything went really well, and we sold out of it in a few hours. now we can make more!

now that things have quieted down, i went back to art classes and to the gym as well. it feels really good to lift some heavy stuff, and to see the weights slowly increasing! i don’t exactly have concrete goals, other than to feel a bit stronger and stave off the osteoporosis threat that comes with age.
i’ve been reading quite a bit too, but mostly chunky books, so there’s not a lot to show for it. i read craig mod’s japan walking memoir things become other things, and also the first book of the fourth wing series, which it was surprisingly good — like diving into a harry potter-like universe again, but with sarcastic dragons! i’m making my way through the second book now. we also watched king richard and went to town at night for the first street performances of the year, a really nice, alien-like performance.

summer is definitely on now, and our temperamental AC seems to have called it quits, without a possibility of repair… so we’re getting new ACs soon. in the meantime, i’ve set up the little pool outside, and i shall splash to my heart’s content for the next couple of weeks. :)