Tag: baby LJ

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weeknotes

weeknotes, 42-45/25

have we really been in the north for four weeks…? time kind of warps itself when we’re not at home, bending in strange ways — these feel like weeks that aren’t part of the normal timeline, like they were hidden in a pocket somewhere.

well, life has been what one would expect from being close to family: a lot of time with them navigating some pretty big life changes and a lot of running errands, but also a lot of cuddling little niece and time spent with my brother and his wife. since we came over for an extended period, there has been a lot of time for other stuff too, like work, sightseeing, trying new things… and saying goodbye to the last bits of summer.

i went back to swimming, which i seem to only do in the north. it’s been nice, and i’m finally feeling ok to swim 1000m without stopping. i’ve tried a couple of new swimming pools and kind of decided that i’ll try and swim in as many municipal swimming pools in the country as possible, as a life goal of sorts. i’ve done 5 so far! :)

that said, i hurt my shoulder while stupidly bench-pressing without much of a warm up on the last day we were home, and it still hurts. it reminded me of this frame from alice bechdel’s the secret to superhuman strength, the book i was reading on the train on the way north:

there’s been a lot of reading overall, in all the in-betweens and late night insomnia, or while the kid sleeps on top of me. from romance to graphic novels to 700 page epic fantasy reads… my favorite of the bunch was probably remarkably bright creatures. i loved the characters and how nicely the story folded on itself. will probably be gifting the book this christmas!

we hiked up senhora da graça — the last time we went was in 2018 with daniela and my legs were sore for days after. 😅 it didn’t help that i went up in campers and my moomin socks, but we work with what we have!

these past 2 weeks we’ve settled down on a houseswap in ilhavo, a town near aveiro, to scout the area and get to know the place… and also, to kind of trial the life we’d have if we moved here. we don’t know what we want to do of our lives in the future, but i kind of want to spend more time around little niece and see her grow, be available for sleepovers and to help when needed.

this time around, we enjoyed some fantastic sweets, visited vista alegre and the local lighthouse, and enjoyed working from the university’s library!

it rained quite a bit though, which always taints the experience, but it’s typical for the area. there’s a lot of water around here overall, between the rain and the lagoon nearby. my sister-in-law’s family has a “marinha” in front of aveiro, a pond where they grow eels — it’s a nice place to work from while keeping an eye on the birds.

but the best part of the whole 2 weeks were the few days we got to spend with the little one! she’s in a very joyful phase right now at 2.5, curious and full of energy. she loves picture books, running and singing happy birthday to everyone (whether or not it’s their birthday)! :D

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one second everyday

august 2025 — one second everyday

ah august, you magnificent beast!

the month started in the north for little niece’s birthday party, but the rest of it was very much spent at home and it was glorious. we spent time with friends who were in the area, fixed stuff around the house, fought the eternal battle against summer ants, attended a few concerts and movie nights, dipped in the pool, cooked new stuff, watched kleo and then welcomed my parents and small cousin just as the month was wrapping up. :)

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weeknotes

weeknotes, 26-27/25

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. :)

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weeknotes

weeknotes, 48-50/24

mostly quiet weeks, brainstorming and buying gifts for everyone, writing a million christmas postcards, tying up loose ends, riding the usual anxiety about the upcoming christmas trip…

i asked my brother if the kid needed anything for christmas, and he said she needed winter clothes… which led me to a shopping spree on vinted. it’s a second-hand marketplace where people sell their old stuff, but it’s especially nice for kid’s clothes, many of which are only used for a few months. i managed to snatch quite a few good deals and became a little bit addicted to it, truth be told. ?

these weeks have been good for reading. i finished the hidden life of trees, which is such an amazing book… you learn about how trees share information and care for each other, and how much they struggle without their forest support group. it really makes you look at trees in a whole new way! i also listened to werner herzog’s the twilight world, read by the man himself in his slow voice, thick with german accent. and i finished she who became the sun, which was intense and beautiful, a wild mix of mulan and some chinese wuxia vibe.

i’ve been trying to get back into running, with the help of the “zombies, run!” app. their couch-to-5k program starts reeeeeeeally slow, with just 15 seconds of running in between 1 minute walks, which feels extremely easy, but i like the storytelling part of it, so i don’t want to skip ahead and miss stuff. there’s a race the family is planning to do in april that i want to try to join for the 10k, if i can keep it up until then.

ever since the conjunctivitis some weeks ago, i’ve had the feeling i had something stuck in my eye, which is not a very pleasant feeling. since it didn’t seem to go away, i went to see a doctor, who scraped my eye a bit (it’s not as unpleasant as it sounds) and prescribed some drops and a cream. it seems to be doing its job and i’ve been feeling less bothered by it.

lately, i’ve been forgetting to take pictures (and make videos) a lot, so i don’t have a lot of pictures to share, but here’s one of tiny niece that my chinese friend qiuyu painted:

isn’t that cute? she’s a wizard with a brush!

these early december days have been sunny and fresh for the most part, around 15 degrees or so. it’s not even properly cold (not like in central or northern europe), but in a house without proper heating, you feel it a lot — it’s enough to throw me into a grumpy, whiny mood and make me dream about escapades to warm places. to curb this grumpiness, the fireplace has been working non-stop, and we’ve holed ourselves in the living room, curtained off from the rest of the house. i wish we could just re-do the whole house and make it better… sigh.

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one second everyday

july 2024 — one second everyday

what a beautiful month july was!

we attended street performances in town, saw some concerts and nice movies, tried a new japanese place, saw old friends, went north to spend time with family and baby LJ… the days were filled to the brim!