People are going through terrible things on the opposite side of the world, and I find myself grasping at the ordinary and silently counting all the blessings. Having a cup of hot tea. A bowl of loaded oatmeal. A hike in fall woods. Remi from Ratatouille. My book. A hug held, tighter. Bed time with kids, longer.
On Friday the kids and I went to “Hayrides and Campfires” event at the Watchung Reservation. We rode around the reservation in a tractor, toasted marshmallows and hot chocolate, and listened to a guitar player. It was after dark- 6:30- and we our tractor was escorted by NJ Police. R was excited to see the lights. When we arrived and parked, the sun was setting and the sky was spectacular!
On Saturday I took the kids to their weekly gymnastics lesson. While they jumped and rolled around, I sat in the car and just…caught up on life. I am trying to take better care of my aging skin so, after doing some research and going by what Rebecca from LagLiv is doing, I decided to try skin cycling routine for my face. I purchased four products at Sephora since I ran out of my serum and my day cream this past week. I feel uncomfortable paying so much ($187) for four products but I feel like, at 42, I want to invest a bit more into my face.
The rest of our Saturday was very low key since it was raining cats and dogs. A few movies (Bug’s Life and Ratatouille). Reading. Cleaning. Also priced out some travel for summer 2024 for kids and I for about 12 days. On a generous side, Japan will cost about $7,000: flights=4,500, Tokyo stay=1,000 for one week, Kyoto stay= $600 for five days, shinkansen rail pass- not sure how much, spending money = 1,000. Total= $7,000+ Keep dreaming, Daria.
On Sunday the kids went to Home Depot with T while I stayed back and organized for the upcoming week. After they came back, we went hiking at the reservation. The day was crisp and sunny (what a change from yesterday) and the kids spent most of the hike throwing rocks into the stream.
Awesome Stuff
Signing off and sharing a list of awesome stuff.
- Voice Memo app (comes with my iPhone). Started using it to record a reminder one day while driving and end up recording quite a few audio files with last one being affirmations and goals. Gotta say, affirmations are powerful when you are listening to your own voice.
- LoFi playlist on Spotify
- Asian Food Market in our neighborhood. Went on Friday afternoon and got snacks such as rice crackers, panda cookies, pastry rolls, hot foods (duck and bbq chicken). They have an awesome frozen foods section where we like to get beef/fish/chicken balls, frozen gyoza and edamame as well as a variety of dumplings. They have so many types of noodles, and a huge tea section. Each time we go, we discover new foods.
Have a great week!
Mom of Children 