GRATITUDE: Thankful the eucalyptus trees haven’t blown over behind our apartment with all this crazy wind and rain. glad we got to go on a morning walk with Jasper to the donut shop before Juniper returned from her sleepover. Happy Juniper took a much needed 3-1/2 hour nap…but even with she was a bit of an emotional mess this evening. Fingers crossed she hasn’t caught a cold. Overall it was a fairly easy going, nothing out of the ordinary day. Wishes for better weather do I can make it back to the garden this coming week.

FOCUS: Must attempt Japanese quiz again tomorrow. Have been working hard learning the katakana and hiragana characters the last couple days so I’m not wasting time looking at my hand chart.

INSPIRATION: Watched videos about Hakone and the Hakone Free Pass today on YouTube with Eric and Jasper. Lots of good things to add to our itinerary!

GRATITUDE: Happy we spent all those early years (especially during the pandemic) riding bikes! Today we took a leisurely ride to downtown San Mateo where we played tennis and then went to Suruki Market afterwards for a picnic lunch in the alleyway behind Backhaus. Lucky we found a dry spot! So nice that we can just pack up and get on our bikes and go. Juniper is at a sleepover at Alexi’s which gave Eric and I some alone time with Jasper this evening. We got to watch The Bourne Identity and it was nice to see Jasper so engaged with all the exciting action filled parts. Eric helped to put together our bedframe, and though I’m not super happy with the corner detail of how the mattress and frame aren’t quite the same shape, I’m happy the mattress is raised up off the ground and yet still low to the ground.

FOCUS: Tomorrow maybe I’ll see if the shelves above the coffee nook will work out. Need to take advantage of the morning with Jasper…where shall we go?

INSPIRATION: Marveled at the elder people on the tennis courts today doing taichi. Perhaps this is something to consider for the future older years…it’s pretty cool to see them harnessing the invisible powers of the wind and nature energy.

GRATITUDE: For the humbling experience of taking my first Japanese quiz of this quarter. まだまだです。(Mada mada desu – meaning “still long way to go”). Thank you Pimsleur at least I’ve learned one useful phrase!

It was nice Eric and I got a brisk morning walk in between 8-9. That never happens on a weekday!

I got more than 8 hours sleep on a weeknight last night! And nearly that much the evening before. I definitely didn’t have quite the afternoon slump as last week. It could be also I’ve focused on getting a lot more protein this week, less bread, rice, simple carbs…feeling pretty good the last couple days in fact.

FOCUS: Difficult to jump into another book as I had planned today…

INSPIRATION:

GRATITUDE: Finished book 2 of the year, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Thankful for time with Erin and Adrienne this morning at a new to us spot in Redwood City and the sunshine on my walk over to Coffeebar where I spent time doing my Japanese lesson. Will need to do quiz attempt 1 tomorrow…Happy for a relaxed afternoon with Juniper at Cafe Siete where we drew cute animal characters and learned how to write their names in Japanese.

FOCUS: Early to bed again today…have been having some crazy dreams the last couple of days which I can only attribute to having more sleep. Maybe today I’ll get a full 8 hours?

INSPIRATION: Thinking about how I can share the wealth of self taught knowledge I’ve acquired in the last few years…

GRATITUDE: For a brain that can learn new things and be stretched in new forms. For a body that is learning to adapt to its current limitations, hopefully can also stretch and be as flexible as it once was. Grateful for the rain watering my freshly pruned arugula and chard transplants.

FOCUS: Need to better dedicate Mondays and Tuesdays to Japanese so I’m not cramming at the end of the week! I’m still at least 1-1/2 lessons behind. Trying to get to bed on time since last night was so restless with crazy strange dreams (no magnesium last night). Will try again no magnesium today.

INSPIRATION: Learning about the progression steps to get to a pistol squat, trying to determine where to plant these dahlias bulbs (or perhaps I should just start them in small pots and transplant later).

GRATITUDE: Thankful for volunteer seeds sprouting after the rain. Grateful for the oncoming rain to help water my transplants from this past weekend and today. My right wrist is quite sore today but happy I was able to get up this morning and move despite being sore after kettlebell sumo squats yesterday. Glad for the time and talk with my mom while my dad went to Iowa. Asked if she wanted to come visit Paul and I’d drive her back but she declined.

FOCUS: Spent the afternoon trying to remove the extra rolling shelf out of the creation station. It really is so hard to minimize. Despite purging of extra magazines, books, kits and more, everything still appears full. Constantly coming back to what we use, what we need, and what is unnecessary.

INSPIRATION: Have been thinking of the kitchen cabinets and how to make drawers/how I want to divide up the spaces and make them more useful.

GRATITUDE: For spring sunshine and a beautiful day. Scatterbrained today but got a couple plants transplanted, pondered shelving and drawers for the kitchen. Was able to give away our bulky bed frame on the buy nothing group…less things, more space feels good to me. Jasper took it upon himself to clean up the living room and yesterday I forgot to mention he washed the remaining dishes in the kitchen sink.

FOCUS: ?

INSPIRATION: Listening to Peter Attia’s podcast with an expert on lower back pain…trying to glean some knowledge about this chronic pain that has bothered me for nearly 2-1/2 years now. The pain has definitely changed and more manageable, and I’m actually able to exercise again (which for a long while I was physically incapable of). Vitamins/collagen, getting a better handle on my iron deficiency, and the 7 minute workout all were major contributors to starting to heal. I can feel the gluteus medius & piriformis are still so tight but hopeful that consistent yoga and lower/core strength exercises will continue to help alleviate the daily discomfort. There was a point though where I could barely walk up or down the stairs, and bending over to wash my face in the evening or trim my toenails was excruciating. More reason to get up at 5:30am and start the day with yoga and stretching.

GEATITUDE: Removed our bedframe and it feels so much more spacious and I can actually put my feet on the floor while sitting in bed. Can’t wait to wake up in the morning and just stretch while still sitting over the edge in bed. Planted, weeded and more in the garden this afternoon with Juniper and Eric. Jasper came down even to sweep the deck for a short while. Glad I was able to start prepping the soil while it’s still wet from the last rain and before the rain comes again later this week. So many Swiss chard babies to transplant and even got the lettuce and leeks gathered together in their beds. Harvested the dandelion chicory seeds that has been long overdue…not sure they’ll sprout but will try. If they don’t work then I definitely need to head to the nursery and find it as that was definitely a staple of the last two years.

FOCUS: Go to bed early to ensure 8 hours before 5:30 wake up. I will start the week off strong and motivated. Tomorrow’s plan includes catching up all the way for my behind Japanese classes since another week’s worth of materials will be released tomorrow. Not doing so great with distractions like planning for Japan, doing taxes, thinking about what to purge in the kitchen/bookshelves but will try to get back on track tomorrow.

Dad is going to Iowa tomorrow night for a week. Make sure to get mom out during that time. It seemed like she needed some time to vent and express her emotions when I saw her yesterday.

INSPIRATION: Noting a book to read in the future- Never the Wind by Francesco Dimitri. Sounded like if one enjoyed Haruki Murakami then one might also like this.

GRATITUDE: Small Saturday indulgences – an afternoon walk to the library, a gelato/sorbet outing in the sunshine, a quiet evening cocktail, being in bed by midnight with the prospect of maybe getting 8 hours of sleep.

FOCUS: Really wanting to minimize the things I have…getting rid of a mortar and pestle that is bigger than I need.

INSPIRATION: Trying to keep track and understand what a good night versus a bad night looks like.