Categories
just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 24-25/25

we were back in tavira and then immediately hosted my brother and his gang, including little niece. she’s almost 2, knows lots of words and her favorite is a very clearly enunciated “não” (no). she likes ice-cream (frozen banana whizzed with yoghurt), pizza and blueberries, making soap bubbles, listening to stories and going to the slides in the park. she does not like to walk by her own 2 feet and demands to be carried everywhere, like a tiny tyrant princess.

other than that, i just feel stretched very thin and in need of some quiet weeks working at home to recover. i never seem to learn the lesson that i need buffers of time between stuff — it’s always too tempting to cram things, to batch trips together and make traveling more efficient… but the result is that everything seems to overwhelm me and fall apart. *sigh*.

Categories
just life

weeknotes, 2/25

so… how does it feel to have half a thyroid? not that bad, actually!

the surgery went well: the nodule came out, my parathyroids (the glands that regulate calcium levels in the blood) were preserved and they didn’t touch the nerves that go to the vocal cords, so my voice is still the same. hurray! i stayed in the hospital for a night, and everyone was super friendly and helpful. the hardest part of the surgery was to find a good vein to put an IV line on my hands… several different nurses and doctors tried, giving up after many painful attempts. in the end, i received anesthesia via a mask instead, like they do for the little kids. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

apart from a little pain while swallowing and some discomfort moving the neck (and apart from the scar, which i haven’t even seen yet), i’m mostly back to my normal self. so now we wait to hear back from the pathology results.

in the meantime, because of all this i found out i had a vitamin D deficiency. it’s hard to believe that someone living in algarve could have low vitamin D, but apparently it’s relatively common in southern mediterranean countries. it’s kind of scary because it feels like it is rarely tested, but vitamin D levels impact so many aspects of health — there are even studies linking it to alzheimer. so i’ll be having supplements for a few months, and making an effort to sit in the sun everyday. we’ll see!

Categories
just life one second everyday

august 2024 — one second everyday

august had a lot of friends and family in it, but also events and things happening! it feels like the month burst its seams in all the good ways, and recharged our batteries for a long time.

Categories
just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 34/24

the big news this week is that i got us an inflatable swimming pool. it was cheap, but it’s surprisingly roomy for a couple of adults. the boy is not a big fan of it, but i love it! taking a dip in the middle of a scorching day is just bliss!

this week we went to quinta do lago, to check out a trail our friends are fond of. we saw a lot of birds, including a few new species like little bitterns and black-headed weavers. our bird count is now up to 149 different species — not bad!

in turn, we took them to a local japanese place that opened this year that we really like, and they became fans of it as well. they do a bit of everything, but the bubble tea and the egg waffles in particular were a big hit.

also this week, our friend J discovered sugarless jello, a game changer for her as a diabetic. apparently, jello is not something kids eat in austria… who knew?! jello is so familiar to us, such a beloved childhood dessert, that it’s mind-boggling to think there are grown-ups out there that never tried it. so she went on a spree and bought all the flavors in the supermarket. 2024’s summer shall be known as the summer of the jello!

Categories
just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 33/24

what a nice week. our friends and our dogs arrived, and they’ll be spending some weeks here with us. i’ve been stocking up on all the dog cuddling time!

our friends gifted me a pocket thermal printer — the cutest thing! i’ve been printing little pictures and to-do lists on it, and it gives me a lot of joy.

the boy had his first injection at home! after doing a few of these at the hospital, he can now pick them to do at home. soon he should be able to pick a few of them at a time, so that we don’t have to go to faro once a month.

the yearly outdoor cinema festival took place in tavira, and we saw 2 movies: miyazaki’s the boy and the heron, and nanni moretti’s a brighter tomorrow. the first was pretty, but also confusing and a bit unsettling… the latter was just a joy, a love letter to cinema itself, featuring all of moretti’s quirkinesses. note to self: make sure you have a nap before these night sessions… ?