Author: ana

about me

weeknotes, 36/25

a full week with the parents + the small cousin around! there was a lot of beach and a lot of “first times” for her: first time in the ocean, first time seeing jellyfish and crabs, first time on a boat, first time writing a postcard, first time using binoculars and seeing flamingos…

wanting company on her walks, my mom promised her an ice-cream for every 10k steps she did, and she had icre-cream every single day! 😂 to pass the hot hours, we played uno and she painted everyone’s nails, as if she were a professional nail technician. i hope she’ll keep fond memories of her time here, and that she’ll want to return someday. :)

i ordered some sturdy shelves and we put them up on the bathroom we use as crafts&storage room. they look huge, and i hope they’ll be a good place to put the stuff that has been spread a bit all over the house. this messy room has been making me anxious for a long time now – hopefully when things are tidier, it’ll be easier to use it.

on saturday, we drove north with the parents so we could attend the 25th anniversary dinner of our uni class! it was fun — everyone is older and telling stories about their kids now, but the faces and the voices are all so familiar. we all spent so much time together, and it feels like we slot right back into those times.

we also had a bit of time to squeeze little niece and cover her in kisses… before finding out she has lice. luckily, we don’t seem to have caught it!

just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 35/25

just a quiet week, filled with busy work days in which nothing else happened. we worked, and went to the gym, we ate and took care of things, preparing for september and its winds of change.

we finally received the samples of the new batch of commemorative postcards (they look good!) and then they were on their way to latvia, and off to the shop.

i listened to the martian, which was good, but not as good as project hail mary. super looking forward to the movie!

my old birkenstock were splitting apart in the back, and i macgyvered them with a bit of silicone. let’s see how long they’ll last!

on my getting-rid-of-stuff spree, i sold the old treadmill + a pair of new shoes. the shoes were bought in desperation for an event a few years ago, but they were too large for me and ended up staying in the cupboard, unused. it’s good to see them fly to another pair of feet!

and then on saturday, the parents and little cousin came, with their usual whirlwind of activity and energy. :) i can’t believe this kid has never seen the ocean… it’ll be the first thing on our list!

general

weeknotes, 34/25

got the hsk6 books for the new school year (discounted on vinted, hurray!), and i don’t know how the teacher is going to do this feat of finishing a book each semester… it will be intense, to say the least, and i don’t feel very confident about this transition. i haven’t even done the hsk5 exam yet, and we’re already jumping ahead…

the free days in the middle of the 10 hour ones continue to be the most relaxing ever — like a mini-vacation every other day. i have so much energy to do things on those days, and long postponed to-do lists are just melting away. of course, everything will change when the parents come to visit next week, and when classes start again. but i’ll appreciate it for as long as it lasts!

continuing on our let’s-fix-stuff streak, paulo replaced the battery in my 15 year-old kindle, which refused to switch on. it worked! last week i also successfully sold the portable AC unit my brother had lent us, while our own was broken. why is fixing old stuff or selling stuff you don’t need so extremely satisfying?

this week, i increased the weight i put on the barbell for squats and deadlifts quite a bit, and it felt good to see progress at the gym. i’m still very much a newbie, but i’m enjoying it — especially how quick the workouts are. 30 minutes of sweating, and afterwards i can do sauna and sit a bit in the swimming pool.

also on the list of “things that never get done” was to repot some plant babies, so now there’s a few more specimens throughout the house. we’ve done a good job so far of picking only sturdy plants that can go a few weeks without water, and some of ours are over 10 years old now. i’m hoping these ones will do well too.

general

godchildren

i stumbled on similar photos of me and my two godchildren, some 20 years apart :)

made me smile to notice the symmetries — them looking at the camera, while i look at them.

general

weeknotes, 33/25

a really nice week… ah, how i craved this quiet time at home! now that the AC is fixed, i don’t even mind the heat that much — between that and the little pool, i can survive these temperatures without a problem. it helps that we don’t really need to get out of the house during daytime and can become night owls, mostly going out once the sun sets. the little pool has been hitting 30C regularly… it’s like having a jacuzzi without having to warm up the water!

we have gone out a few times though, mostly to meet friends for ice-cream and see movies at the outdoor cinema in town at night. this week, we caught 2 movies: the room next door (a somber almodover movie about friendship and euthanasia) and the marching band (a slightly more light-hearted drama, filled with music). the cinema festival is now over, and it will be missed. we also ate a fartura, one of the few of this summer!

the 10-0 work day cycle continues, and i’m enjoying its rhythm. the 10 hour days are intense and demanding, and with food and gym thrown in, there’s barely time for anything else… but that’s ok, because i know the next day is a zero-hour day, and that’s just pure bliss: i putter around, read, write, cook, work on life admin stuff, get bored… everything rights itself and gets back on track slowly.

at home, i replaced the headband and earpads of my headphones and they look shiny new. and i also sold the portable AC that my brother lent us while ours was being replaced. it feels really good to pass stuff along to new owners, or fix old things. less crap in the world!

and i finished listening to project hail mary, and it was a blast all the way through. the story was good, the writing and topics suit me and the voice actor who narrated it was really engaging. i heard it in every pocket of time i had (while cooking, cleaning, riding my bike or working out at the gym) until it was over. now i’m a bit at a loss as to what to read next…