december was pretty much dedicated to friends and family — both in the south and in the north.
our social batteries have been fully recharged, and we’re ready for the year ahead!
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weeknotes 52/23
last week of this cursed year! 💀
i got some nice gifts for christmas! tons of socks and fun underwear, nice body shop thinguies, a pessimistic towel, a seed calendar, a couple of books (one about stationery and one about nature!), a set of ramen bowls, some fun legos, as well as sweets. i must have been a really nice person this year!
miraculously, i’ve managed to stay covid-free despite living with 2 infected people for a couple of weeks, thanks to a lot of strategic masking. hurray! now everyone is healthy covid-wise, but the boy seems to have a sore throat…
we’re spending new year’s with the family, to make up for christmas fiasco. normally, i would prefer a quieter celebration, just me and the boy, thinking about the year and making plans… but since christmas was a subdued affair (and mom was sad about it), we decided to come together to celebrate this “little christmas”, as the old people say. one of the good things about being here (apart from the family being here, safe and healthy) is all the clementines from my parents trees — they’re the best! 😍
i hope 2024 will be a better one, with more good health! how brilliant is a new year that starts on a monday? i love it so much!
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2023 in books
my reading seems to have continued its upward trend in 2023. i feel like i’ve read a bit of everything: a lot of light romantic novels, children’s stories (which often got gifted to my little cousins or niece), historical stuff, health books, books about life in faraway places, books about making art and comics, quite a few featuring death, some graphic novels, a whole series from elena ferrante, and a lonely planet guidebook… i like the chaotic nature of this selection — it feels right for my scattered brain and its many interests.
some thoughts:
– the number of books read surprises me a bit, because i don’t feel like i spend a lot of time reading — apart from audiobooks or time spent in waiting rooms, i rarely read during the day. i had an inkling that i did spend a lot of time reading fanfiction in the night, but it’s only now that i’ve replaced it with books that i know how much i was actually reading. 😳
– getting a digital library card definitely helped, as did the new kindle with backlight. i still wake up in the middle of the night a lot, and reading helps pass the time until sleep comes again. as a result, most of these were read in digital format, then some in paper form and less as audiobooks (mostly while cleaning or cooking):
– i’m the kind of person that gifts books to all the children in my life, and i’ve doubled down on this since my niece came along. it’s been a pleasure exploring new books for her, discovering the ones that are appropriate to different ages and will help her stay curious. i have been making a little stack at home, ready to dole out at the right time.
– highlight reads of the year… probably discovering the light, fanfic-ish style of ali hazelwood, which became a kind of comfort reading. the same with alice ozeman‘s heartstopper series (which i’ve read in one go, on a bout of post-christmas indigestion). i think outlive was probably the book i “underlined” the most, and mouth to mouth was the one that surprised me the most at the end. there were 2 books that i finished but did not enjoy: all of this and i feel bad about my neck.
– looking at the nationalities of the authors i’ve read, i think i actually did a good job spreading things around… but i feel like i could have done even better. in 2024, i want to try to read works from a wider set of nationalities— i guess that will be my reading goal for the year.
november had good weather, laughter, fresh produce, knitting projects and a week in beja exploring alentejo! :)
on the last week before coming north, we cleaned up the house, made some last christmas shopping for the children, wrapped up the presents and ate everything from the garden — i even made caldo verde with the leaves of the broccoli plant! :)
on the first days in the north, i saw my niece LJ, the cutest 5 month old ever! she’s in a really nice phase now, laughing easily at everyone and charming us all.
then we drove further north to be with the parents for christmas… only to find them infected with covid. :( so it’s a bit of a lonely christmas this year, every branch of the family in its own home, and the boy staying with his own parents. my ears hurt from all the mask-wearing, but so far i’ve managed to stave off an infection. fingers crossed it stays that way and that everyone will be bug-free by new years!
because there’s not much to do, i’ve managed to do a bit of reading to wrap up the year: i’ve finished the sweetness at the bottom of the pie, bird by bird, check & mate and olive kitteridge, as well as a few children’s books. each one of these was great for its own reasons: some for the surprising format, some for being really well read by the author, some were just comforting in their predictability… it’s been a good year for books.