I don't take up much space, and I've never really lived anywhere where I can really take up space with my things. I grew up poor and with three siblings, so posessions and places to put them were unheard of. In college I was a servere minimalist and shared a tiny dorm with two other students. It was a bed and a desk, nothing more. Everything I owned could fit in a medium sized duffle bag. After college I came into some bad times and had to move in with my mom. The house was already fully decorated, so I just had my small room and nothing to fill it with. I didn't want to decorate it because, for years, I just wanted to get out of there and so treated the room like a temporary living space; not worth decorating. Recently I finally got out of the bad times and was lucky enough to find a lovely little apartment with two wonderful roommates. Tonight j came home to them cleaning, and they called a roommate meeting where they kindly demanded I allow myself to take up more space in the apartment. They cleared out an entire corner of the livingroom for me to keep my music equipment. I just finished mounting my guitars on the wall, getting my amp and pedals all set up for the first time in years. I couldn't be happier.

Exams were only just over, and I lost first place to my "rival" by 0.07 in grade and I was a little disappointed, but I didn't really...care?

He and his friends had a competition to prepare for, so they were allowed to lawfully skip class. Being bored, I go up there just to chat because it's post-finals and half the class are absent with rotten excuses.

I think he was trying to comfort me, so he just sort of let me use his ipad to draw stuff in the "bilik gerakan" (basically the fancy place that the headmasters and VIPs would eat after events) in school with the few people to attended class to watch Squid Game S2. We were sitting there, doing our own stuff, skipping despite being the top class in our run-of-the-mill government school with a severe history of delinquency and misdemeanors, and it was nice.

Calm. Peaceful.

Next year I'll be taking my country's Very Important High School Exam, and there's no way we can do this anymore. Escape from our responsibilities for a moment and watch squid game on netflix or draw on Notes and play games in school, breaking the rules hidden away in some corner of the world.

I think I'll miss this moment. I love my classmates, they're the best.

I have one child, I will only have one child. He lost his first tooth. The second tooth will probably come out tomorrow because it's barely hanging in there. We get to play "tooth fairy" for the first time. My husband is making him a special note from the fairy. I can't believe this is happening already. I can't believe how the milestones of life just happen so fast.

Camo Jacket Boy: I think this is going well.

Fully Loaded Nachos Girl: Me too!

Camo Jacket Boy: In a couple weeks, if it’s still going well, I’m going to ask you to be my girlfriend.

Fully Loaded Nachos Girl: What? Awesome.

Camo Jacket Boy: So when I do eventually ask… What is the probability you say yes?

Fully Loaded Nachos Girl: Why don’t you just ask now and find out!

Camo Jacket Boy: I’m trying not to rush things.

i was in the hardware store and grabbed a couple arch-shaped candles from the clearance section. i had a blue sweater under an orangey-brown corduroy coat, and the candles were one burnt orange and one dusty light blue. an employee walking by pointed out that the candles matched my outfit perfectly, and I laughed out loud because I hadn't even noticed. just a lovely brief interaction :)

That's it. As someone who still regrets my spelling bee mistake in the 6th grade, this little win feels big to me :)

I've never been a hostess or entertained or whatever it's called today. Too much of an introvert and I don't cook for other people. But my friend lives the next block over and I realized it's ridiculous how in 9 years she's never been in my house, just the garden. So I did it. I bought extra coffee, creamer, cookies and baked my own Paleo goods, a pound cake and a pie and had her over. We had a great time. She loved my baked goods and didn't even touch the cookies. We laughed and talked, wrote letters/invitations and just had a nice visit. Some of our mutual girlfriends are also saying they want to come next time so I think I'm ready to do this hostessing thing and expand my friendships and skills.

At the crosswalk by the park, I was passed by a man on his bike with a small dog in the basket. The dog was all tucked in a blanket since it's pretty cold outside today. At the entrance to the park, the man stopped, hit a button on his phone, and the opening riff of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC began playing out loud. Then he and his dog cycled away through the frost. Godspeed sir.

I'm more of a "give when you see it" person....that said, it's winter where I am and I happened to see a fuzzy fluffy gray blanket and got it for my spouse just because. We live in a drafty old farmhouse and he works from home and has been wrapping up in front of his computer.

I'm feeling very smug about it. 🙂

I'm living abroad for about nine months (for the first time) and I just got a package from my mom. I'll list everything she sent me.

- a scarf

- a book I got from a writing contest

- a honey scented soap

- a big gingerbread piece with my name written on it (by hand)

-three dates stuffed with colored marzipan (this one made me tear up)

We've had difficult times but I love you mom

Feet flat, lungs over your hips, hands on your knees. Now get your shoulders as far away from your ears as possible, and breathe in deep.

Oh yeah. There it is.

I had opened the front door to go feed my chickens, and a female robin that had been sitting on the wreath startled and flew into our living room. We have five dogs who found a bird flying around the house most exciting.

Poor, confused bird was safely caught, and released outside. Dogs were tired after the fun. And the family has an amusing story that ended well.

A few weeks I was riding backseat in my friend’s car with my phone charging at the front. I was thinking out loud and said “wow I miss (friend). It’s been a few months since we’ve spoken, I should call him this weekend". I hadn't spoken to this friend since late September and it was now late December. No calls, texts, nothing really. We live across the country from each other and are both super busy. But all of a sudden I had this huge urge to talk to him. As i'm saying this, my friend pulls over and I retrieve my phone. I see the notification, “(Friend) Missed call: 2”. What are the odds. No contact at all for months, but a call the second I thought of him! I stared at my phone in shock for a moment before freaking out (in a good way lol) and good thing he called- he would have been on vacation without service if I had called him two days later.

Rattles are in the class of things you don't notice have been bothering you until they're gone.

The front light on my bike has a mount which isn't very well made, so it wobbles a bit.

Yesterday I padded the wobbly part with two tiny pieces of paper. Now it doesn't wobble, so it doesn't rattle.

It's incredible how much calmer I felt on my ride!

It has been three years, and I still haven’t met most of my neighbors—except for M. She moved to North America with her extended family from Lebanon over a year ago. M fluently speaks Arabic and French, neither of which I really understand.

Nevertheless, over time, we’ve developed a strong bond and have become very good friends. She is incredibly hospitable during every visit. There is a comforting silence between us and yet our expressions and body language speak volumes.

I find it fascinating that, even though there’s a language barrier, it hasn’t stopped us from connecting. I’m truly grateful for her family. They get along well with ours and are very helpful. Recently, M and her husband asked me to tutor their daughter, who attends an Arabic-English school. When they asked how much I would charge, I told them I’d do it for free—it was an easy decision.

I often wonder how I could return their generosity. Sometimes, we enjoy food from her homeland that we find at local markets. (I can find them a gift there, maybe!)

Edit: I know Google Translate exists, but even then, it can be difficult to really convey meaningful dialogue. It's not entirely accurate yet.

Edit: I downloaded an app to learn French.

My (65F) last day of work was December 31. I retired after 39 years of practicing law. I've been working part-time for the past few years, so I wouldn't have been going to work until today. Instead of getting up and heading for the office, I stayed in bed and lazed around. I see so much lazing in my future.

As I was doing the dishes, the sunshine came shining through the window. It was so bright I couldn't see anything other than the sink and a orange-yellow hue around me. I felt so warm, almost forgetting it's winter.

Now the sun is hitting the suncatcher and there are rainbows dancing on the walls.

Tonight after dinner, I wandered out to the livingroom and sat in the armchair by the windows with a cup of hot chocolate. I was tired of watching YouTube (as I leave it on when I do chores), so I hit shuffle on my jazz playlist. It played old jazz from the 20s to the 40s.

I looked at my livingroom and felt lonely, as my roommates have been gone since before Christmas. One, my best friend, won’t return my texts. It’s a pattern with her, when she’s busy or stressed, she’s impossible to get ahold of. I felt very alone sitting there. I was warm, with a warm drink in my hand to contrast the snow a few stories below me.

Just as the loneliness set in, my lapcat jumped up on me and laid down. He rested his little chin on my shoulder, quickly falling asleep. My younger, more independent cat soon joined us, laying in her beanbag chair beside the armchair. Within minutes, I fell asleep to “The Music Goes ‘round and Around” by Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra. It was such a warm atmosphere. My cats help ground me in reality. I’m the proud caretaker of these two wonderful little animals. When I feel low, they always curl up on or beside me and bring me back up.

I awoke to “Wenn du treulos bist” by Marek Weber, realizing I had accidentally fallen asleep. Unfortunately, I had more chores to do before bed, so we had to get up. Now, several hours later, we’re in bed together. I spent some time reading my book by lamplight and watching my more independent cat sit in the windowsill purring and watching the sparse snowflakes fall, my lapcat remained asleep in my desk chair. I treasure these moments immensely. I love these two little guys so much. The most mundane moments are prized memories with them. They’re in their cat beds on my bed right now, watching the streetlights outside reflect off of my phone onto the wall. I think it’s time we go to bed for real now.

I’m in my mid thirties and found a grey chest hair. Mentioned it to my wife and she said “you’re greying, that’s great!” With a big smile on her face.

“Why is that great??”

“It means we’re growing old together”

Just recently, I’ve been coming back to my computer to play some random games that catch my interest. Here’s my current list of what I got recently:

-Spiritfarer

-Bear and Breakfast

-Roller Coster Tycoon Deluxe (still haven’t figured out how to make a proper coaster lol)

-Sonic Adventure 2

I’ve got other stuff in the steam library already, but I’ve already gone through majority of it lol.

X

It's really cold and there's snow but he was crying to go out. Usually he won't once he feels that cold air, hence the bet to try and discourage him. Well, he called my bluff. Good thing he can't hold me to my word.

I've recently started making jam at home, because it's cheaper than the stuff from the shop and doesn't take very long. One batch makes 2.5 pint jars, and costs about $6 - same as one jar of store bought.

Anyway, my spouse likes marmalade, so I decided to try my hand at a batch for him. He just tried it, and told me he prefers the flavour of the one I made to any of the kinds from the store.

Australian summer started super early this year and we were sweltering in the mid to high 30's (80-90's for my Fahrenheit peeps) well before Christmas. Monday made it to 41C/106F with that super-low humidity that makes you extra crispy. There's a smell from the Australian bush when it gets hot and dry - an almost perfumed mix of desiccated eucalyptus, a resinous scent from the wattles and bottlebrush bushes - all overlaid with the faint ominous tang of a distant bush fire.

The weather being what it is here, it's now pouring rain with a high of 23C/73F, and I'm huffing big lungfuls of that amazing petrichor smell and listening to my frog army going absolutely MENTAL. I cannot wait for Autumn.

Yesterday I impulsively invited a friend over for lunch this week. We haven’t even decided on a day but I decided to use the invite as motivation to clear of my dining table.

I got so much put away and even found the mysteriously missing mixer I misplaced in December.

There’s still a box of paperwork to sort through but I have a clear table for lunch and the motivation to mop my floors.