– my new hobonichi is here and the first date on the calendar was november 27… so of course i immediately jumped into it. :)

– lately, i’ve been kind of fascinated by ultramarathons, and we watched a few documentaries about them this week. i’m not a runner, but i admire people who can run the whole day, and then the next day, and the next day, and the next day ad nauseum for weeks on end, up and down mountains. like… how?! i can’t even make it around town for a 5K…

– friends from abroad staying over always means re-discovering our region through their eyes. we overdosed on portuguese classical dishes and desserts, did the touristy things and even taught one of them how to solve a rubik’s cube!

– i finished listening to the high mountains of portugal, which was a curious and strange book. the title is misleading (or perhaps ironic?) and the country portrayed is a strange version of portugal where weird things happen… though not weird enough to call it a fantasy novel. maybe the title created expectations in me that didn’t pan out in the end.

– it’s 2 weeks until we head north, and already the pre-christmas anxiety is setting in. i don’t know why i seem incapable of just enjoying the season. even though i realize i don’t even have to do much in the end, i feel stressed by all the errands, the demands on my time and the close proximity of an overwhelming number of people… i know i’ll appreciate a lot of it in the end (and this year, there’s the added bonus of a baby niece!), but it’s not my favorite part of the year.