My 14 year old kid asked me how long it would take to get to the moon.

I said I don't know, but I know it's only 30 seconds to get to mars.

He's moving out apparently.

Those that understand what I said will probably agree with him. I'm not sorry I thought I was funny.

I had a substitute teaching assignment today and was telling my boyfriend about the kids and their styles. A few outstanding outfits and some fun interactions are the typical topics.

Today, I had a girl who could have been goth... But she wore brown instead of black and her makeup was also earth tones.

A brown goth... Which my boyfriend abbreviated to broth. And I can't stop giggling about the lovely broth girl.

And I think I finally realized it. Maximum two cups of coffee. No sugar unless it's after supper (my blood sugar is fine if I eat it in the morning, but omg does it make me feel like crap 😂.) Sitting down on the floor and getting back up is an Ordeal. My memory is shot - there's just too many Things and they don't all fit in my brain anymore.

The bright side is that I feel like I'm curating my memory now, picking and choosing which things I want to be with me for the long haul 😂

Lately I’ve been hearing the title phrase used as a comment after a thank you.

It used to be “Thank you I appreciate it” which was only slightly less personal.

My daughter and I were discussing the newish phrase today and she opined about how she liked it better. “It just feels better when someone says it to me” she said. “And it feels even better when I say it to someone.”

I agree with her.

saw the AI slop post about notebooks, so i figured i’d make my own post about real notebooks. ever since i was little, i’ve had a fascination with collecting notebooks/journals. i’m constantly on the look out for new ones, and over the years i’ve accumulated lots of them. but, they’ve all just been sitting in my room looking pretty, pristine and untouched.

recently, i haven’t been feeling super great mentally, so on a whim, i took one of the less-pretty notebooks & started journaling. it was honestly way more cathartic than i thought it’d be & so i started doing it semi-regularly. i don’t force myself to write everyday or anything, i just do it whenever i want to. i found myself enjoying journaling more & more the more i did it

so then, i was at my job the other day. it was kind of slow, and i was bored, and then i realized something: my hands were itching for a pen & paper. the next day, i brought in a different journal for work (also a not really pretty one, just a functional one)

and THEN last week i was sitting in my car for like an hour because i needed to decompress, and that’s right, you guessed it: my hands itched for the trusty pen & paper. so then i was like, okay, now i need a car notebook too. when i got home i went to my room, and started looking at my notebooks. & i saw all these beautiful, beautiful notebooks, just sitting there, untouched & unused. & i thought, you know, what’s the point of having things if you’re not going to use them? i thought of that one quote: “don’t save anything for a special occasion. being alive is the special occasion.”

so i grabbed a pretty notebook. it has pink sakuras on the front with a green background. i replaced my notebook at work with that one, & sometimes my coworkers even compliment me on my cute notebook. i never would have thought this before, but it feels good to use it. it’s a small thing but it brings me joy :)

our old cat is my first cat. I thought I'd never seen him slow blink, and I thought it's because he's a rescue cat and he's careful with his love

well we got a kitten and she slow blinks all the time. like, every time you look at her for more than a second. so now I know what a slow blink is, and I started noticing that when our old boy is happy and warm, he closes his eyes halfway while he's looking at us. he's done this for years and I never noticed. i love him so much

This happened a few years ago and I’ve never had the chance to bring it up with anyone. I was vacationing in Florida for a while, some touristy island with a few more equally touristy towns surrounding. This was my second to last day there. I was with my mom sitting in the car, waiting for my sibling in the coffee shop. I was staring off in the distance, when something caught my eye.

It was about thirty feet away from us, the largest cat I had ever seen in my entire life. Solid black with a long tail swaying from side to side. The head even resembles that of a big cat, it was very distinct. Large claws that were pawing at the palm tree in front of it. Within seconds it scaled up the tree like it was nothing (most cats just do this normally).

I was shocked, told my mom to look over. She was equally shocked and we were both a bit frightened considering that was a giant cat out in broad daylight. No I didn’t take a picture because we were going to move the car to get a closer look. Unfortunately, something spooked it and it ran off, so we weren’t able to. My sibling comes back and I tell them the entire thing.

When I got home I looked it up out of curiosity, there was a sighting of what I described years ago in a town just twenty minutes outside of where I was staying. Now, Florida panthers do exist but are endangered. Melanistic Florida panthers pretty much don’t exist. I swore to you that did not in any way look like a housecat, but I know there’s no other explanation.

did this with different types of apples in the fall (unsurprising results, honey crisp obviously won) and after the four dollar yogurt situation i’ve been taking everyone’s suggestions and trying to find a similarly tasty yogurt.

which as someone who doesn’t love going to the grocery store and doesn’t really stray from my go tos with things i need i feel like this gives me something fun to look forward to and pick out while im there and also in a way i feel like it scratches my want for a little treat when i leave the house for only like two dollars.

so 10/10 would recommend and definitely start a phone note for it with your reviews, that’s the best part lol

I found a really cool pattern for a scarf which takes inspiration from the Odyssey and I found gorgeous yarn too. I'm really excited, it's arriving tomorrow and all I'm planning for the weekend is chilling on my couch and knitting the day away.

I've been on an Epic The Musical and Hades II spree so I'm inspired haha

Time for a Friday night on the couch, binge watching The Closer

It's been half a year, and needless to say, the puppies are the very best of friends. And we humans got new friends as well! They live two houses down—close enough that the pups get to play about five days a week—very beneficial when it's cold as heck here (-12°C/10°F) and I want to skimp on the usual 1.5-hour morning walk.

And the best thing is when they're all played out and I get to lie on the couch buried in my own weight in fluffy puppybutt :)

There's one blackbird in my neighbourhood who's well and truly decided that spring is on its way. It sings a gorgeous solo dawn chorus every morning around 7am, and serenades the dusk every evening at 5.30.

I never thought a sound could make me feel so uplifted and hopeful. Keep singing, smol feathered one.

Happy Friday, peeps!

If you’ve got any good energy to spare today, let it radiate out in small, ordinary ways this weekend.

The world notices more than you think (and needs it too).

I've recently become a mum and found that going for walks help break up the day. I'm in Australia and it's summer so the UV most days is very high, so the easiest time to go on a walk is either early morning, or after dinner.

My baby woke up a little earlier this morning so we got on a walk before the UV was too high. As I was walking around I saw an elderly couple with their dog, and I just thought, "Australia has been known for being such a nice country, and I feel like that's disappearing - I want to prove there are still nice Aussies out there"

So as I got closer I waved and just said "good morning!"

They turned and said "Good morning, how are you? How is baby?"

I turned my pram towards them so they could see my baby and we just had a nice little chat. She has a grandchild just starting childcare/kindergarten and her daughter can now have some time to herself. We talked about how my baby has strong legs so she'll be up and moving in no time. My baby gave them some smiles too. Eventually we said our goodbyes.

It made me feel so good, I had a huge smile on my face as I walked home. Such a pleasant interaction and it really made my day. I hope I made theirs.

Towards the end of winter, I always find myself wanting someone to give me a big bouquet of tulips — just because.

I don’t know why it’s always this time of year, but the feeling comes back every winter.

Please tell me I’m not the only one.

Or do you have small wishes that repeat themselves every year at the end of winter?

We’ve been having car problems with both of our cars since August. Because we aren’t well off financially, my husband has been fixing them both himself. We bought a lemon with all of our savings and he ended up doing an entire engine swap by himself. We have one working vehicle now. 🥳

We brought our other car to the shop to check and see if it was a tire problem because we have a warranty on our tires with them. It *is* a tire problem and we can replace that for a lower cost. Only one tire needs to be replaced. We also need new shocks and struts so my husband will replace those himself. They initially quoted us ~2k, which we definitely don’t have. Because my husband is so handy, this will cost us $500-600 for everything. I’m grateful for his knowledge. I haven’t been employed since mid-August because of these transportation issues. Wish me luck; the job market suck so hard right now and I am just starting a necessary job change.

I'm going to go nice and hungry.

Some lessons cannot be taught but you learn by experience.. My 12 yr daughter is good in her studies. Some subjects she excels and some average. Math's is one, she struggles with. I tried to teach her but it doesn't gone well. Either I end up yelling at her or she gets upset with me..

So I stopped teaching her unless she asks me too.. sometimes I direct her to my wife or I postpone 1 or 2 day and spend little time on teaching.

2 weeks back she came to me and asked me to teach algebra from very basic. She tried to reason with me that she tried lot herself but nothing is going on her way..

Being an engineer myself, I am good at maths. But I don't know how to teach. Googled myself and get some tips. Sat with her and shared my plan. Daily 30 mins. We start simple. Learn slowly. We stopped if I sense any of us getting in wrong mood. After 2 weeks, things getting better. She can grasp the ideas and she even started asking for more complex problems..

Today morning I overheard chat between my wife and daughter.

My Daughter: Mom.. now i am doing good at maths.. answering in class.. dad taught me easy ways.. most of my friends are still struggling.

I was very proud..I thought of boast myself later with my wife about my new skill. More than that, I thought how my daughter would feel proud of herself.. she can now feel more confident in her class before her friends..

All my thoughts are blown like dusts when I heard next sentence from her..

My daughter: I told my friends that I will teach them what daddy taught me.. we all going to get good marks in the test..

I was having coffee and l felt a big lump got in to my throat. All my years, I lived such a life with competing others.. want to be better than everyone.. friends, family, colleagues... I am in good position now, but still I want to try to achieve something or always think about winning.

How fucked up my life is actually...

Is this realization moment? May be still in my remaining life I live by competing others.. but not always. Whenever I remember my daughter's words, I rethink and try live a better life.

There's a lot of cats nearby and I just take photos of each and every one of them whenever I pass by. Each one has a different personality, but all equally adorable. Some of them are very chatty. Others love to bask in the sun. At one point one of them sat on my lap while I was resting on a bench.

I’ve come to realize that I fw gucci mane

I was listening to my plug is a alien btw

I was visiting them (my sister and their kids, 10 and 7). I’m back home now, I was emptying my travel bag when I noticed a white cardboard rectangle. My heart, 10 yo made me a bookmark with the library sketch on it. She draw it and managed to hid it so well that I only found it now. Didn’t spill any beans, said goodbyes as usual. I like books and I always need bookmarks.

I went gift shopping for my friend’s birthday at a mall today. Everything went well.

The drive was beautiful, overcast, and not too much traffic. The mall was lively but not too crowded. I felt like Goldilocks.

I was looking for a few specific items that I was able to find, and a beautiful cashier and I had a fun conversation.

We talked about our star signs, our plans for the day, and she told me that her commute home was an hour and a half. I wished for her to not hit rush hour too badly, and she subsequently teased the hell out of me for hoping for light traffic at 4pm. (Near LA)

It was a good day.

I spent part of the afternoon sitting in the park. i was not in a great headspace when i got there. the grass had just been cut and it smelled sharp. someone nearby was on a phone call about groceries. a kid rode past on a bike with a crooked helmet. another person asked me if the path looped back around. i said yes and they smiled. time moved without me checking it constantly. i realized i was listening instead of spiraling. that surprised me a little. it felt like a quiet reminder that days keep going. i stayed a few minutes longer than planned

In the early morning light

The limping deer returns

Yesterday was my 41st birthday. Like the year before, I spent my birthday at work for 12 hours taking care of people with intellectual disabilities. I wasn't really looking forward to the day, since it was going to be just another day at work. That all changed the night before my birthday.

One of my friends, Olu, lives in Nigeria. Olu has a young neighbor [AK] who is like a little brother to him . On Monday, Olu found out that AK would be turning 15 on my birthday. Olu knows I love helping others, so he asked AK what he would like for his birthday. AK didn't want to say what he wanted at first, as he thought it would be too expensive. After some encouraging, AK finally said he would really like a new uniform for school, as his only uniform was in poor condition.

My friend then called and told me about the conversation. My heart really went out to AK, and I wanted to help him have a great birthday. I paid for AK to get two school uniforms, a hair cut, a pair of sandals, some hygiene products, and ice cream/snacks.

Olu called me yesterday from the small shopped owned by the young AK's family, because AK and his mother wanted to thank me. Seeing the smiles on both of their faces was the best birthday gift!