Monday

I lost my brand-new prescription glasses when we went to the mall to buy lunch.

I was wearing these shorts that I had only just adequately fit into- the cut aesthetically demanded more muscular upper thighs- which pleased me very much. The caveat was that the pockets were now very tight; the same pockets that I had slipped my glasses into, and my theory is that when I was walking, the glasses got pushed out of them without me not even realising.

Sam and I retraced our steps, asked staff at the shops we’ve been to if anyone had turned in a pair of glasses. But alas…

I’m convinced though I actually jinxed them. They weren’t my first choice. I felt that in an effort to please me, my optometrist and the office manager at OPSM offered a number of suggestions when all I wanted to get was a similar pair to my current ones which are these cheap Armanis in sturdy plastic. But it felt like I was put on the spot and you wanted to reward them for all their trouble and attention by picking their choices- so Ralph Lauren it was. They weren’t bad, but they were someone else’s choice. And they felt it from the day I picked them up. The frame was too light, the size was a tad too small, the transition lenses weren’t dark enough…

Driving back home that day from the mall, Sam wondered why I wasn’t that upset and I said why cry over an object that was ultimately replaceable? (they did cost over $1,200). It’s still money gone to waste, but the moral is (which actually is NOT wearing tight shorts whose fucking pockets you can’t use) you should reassess your life if you do end up being upset over losing a pair of glasses.

Saturday

Sunday's purchases

My domain is inside the house, though if the dishwasher broke, I wouldn’t have a clue on how to fix it. Lately, I’ve been focusing on the kitchen and how I could make it better (without a full renovation which it actually needs). I transferred all the coffee stuff to the other side of the bench away from all the cooking and prep stuff (air fryer, rice cooker, microwave) and what do you know, suddenly I miraculously gave myself more space. Next would be getting a better food processor after the old one started to fall apart (bought a Kitchen Aid one which is on its way); perhaps finding a smaller rice cooker as opposed to using a Russell Hobbs all-in-one cooker and maybe, just maybe, I would plunk down some serious $$$ on that Kitchen Aid mixer I’ve always wanted.

Then there’s a new utensils drawer, proper cutlery, some Le Creuset pans…the list is long.

Today, we saw a good deal on a Dyson vacuum. The price is still pretty steep, but the proof is in the vacuuming and wow- I think the carpets look and feel cleaner fluffier…

Happy Thanksgiving (a table for two)

There’s only just my sister and her husband now that their only child is a full-grown adult and living her best life on the mainland. So not all American tables this thanksgiving are groaning with food.

Sunday (in photos)

Tested negative for Covid and feeling slightly better so went out to spread my germs at the mall!

It's because of yoga

I’ve been doing yoga consistently for the last three weeks, so it must be because of it!

I’m been calmer and more contemplative. When I made these Palmiere cookies this morning- something at work pissed me off so I had to step away to bake something yes- I wasn’t rushing it like I normally do.

I took my time assembling the ingredients and fastidiously cleaning up as I went, that I felt I was in one of those Asian ASMR videos. There’s a part in this recipe where you spread the cinnamon sugar all over the pastry with your fingers and the surface glinted like the rose nebula (use caster instead of granular so it would be less sugary) and I thought, life is to short to be pissed off at shit.

If you want the recipe for these cookies, click here

Saturday morning (in images)

Early this morning, I was woken up by the cat meowing loudly in the spare bedroom we’ve christened the budoir- a walk-in closet of sorts, the racks now groaning with winter coats and jackets, the floor, three rows deep with shoes. She was clearly looking for something, and without my glasses, I couldn't make anything out on the dark, hairy rug. And then I almost stepped on it, my big toe touching something (still) warm; it was a small wax-eye with that distinct while colouring around its eyes and that dusting of pistachio green on its head, wing-tips, and tail.

It was literally the early bird getting caught by a cat.

Lily has a bell around her neck so it’s either she’s clever and the birds are dumb or the birds are clever, but she’s cleverer. Or she could also be cunning- an adjective that is a step above clever. There are so many ways of looking at it, but does it matter which one is more accurate? Or truer?

It’s too early in the day to mull over these things so you just take a breath and to realise that you need to see the fundamentals; this is the nature of cats, and birds are prey in the hierarchy of things.

The sun’s out (in spite of weather predictions to the contrary) with a nice stiff breeze so you can do the laundry. You woke up early so now you have time to replant the blue cypress that hasn’t been liking its pot. You can work on that presentation due Monday. You can do the pork butt, 3 kilos split into two generous portions, one for Korean barbecue and the other for a pulled-meat recipe. So I did all these all before 9:30am.

Life is a combination of circumstance and the choices you make to work with these and sometimes, you don’t need to be as clever as Lily the cat.

You just have to do it.

FriSat

FriSat happens when there’s so much happening on a Friday that it spills over to Saturday. It’s also a test of endurance since I’m still trying to suss out what parts of my body, Covid may have ‘damaged’.

You never know.