Sat, 6/3: Chores
Made two pots of black tea and cut S’s hair.
Headed to Dollar General to buy clippers, notebooks, and pens. Back home, pulled weeds in the front flower bed, cleaned the half bathroom, completed the laundry, and ran the dryer. Had a conversation with myself and the universe to clear my mind and feel the spiritual support.
Sun, 6/4: Chores
Watered plants, did yoga, cleaned the kitchen, put away the dishes, and loaded the dishwasher. Then, refilled the jars of salt, changed the kitchen towel, and organized the pantry. Next, ironed clothes, changed the bedsheets and hand/face cloths.
Mon, 6/5: Gardening
We renovated our flower bed in the front yard a year after we moved in, and I had never touched it since then. The majority of flowers and ground cover plants died, while the remaining ones grew slowly and lacked luster.
The bed was full of weeds and the thorny blackberry vines had vigorously crawled all over. There was a period of time when it took a lot of effort just to take care of myself. I felt restless and overwhelmed most of the time, so it’s no surprise the flower bed was completely neglected.
We pulled up weeds, removed stubborn vines, old mulch and dead leaves. The prickling thorns of blackberry vines were so annoying; I had to wear thick gloves and carefully removed them. Then S added more soil, raked it and pressed it firmly to raise the ground of the bed. To prevent future weed growth, we placed a fabric liner over the bed. Since the bed has existing plants already, laying the liner wasn’t easy. It required patience and attention to put down the liner so that it could cover the ground neatly and was still in one piece. With some sewing experience, I felt like I was tailoring a robe for the bed, securing the edges and joints with long nails.
Tue, 6/13:
Read “The World: A Brief History” by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto.
Thur, 6/15: He couldn’t pronounce “Buổi sáng” right
Taught S a new Vietnamese word, “Buổi sáng,” which means “Morning.” However, S hilariously mispronounced the first word, which turned out to be a vulgar word in Vietnamese. I burst into laughter at this unexpected twist.
To avoid that embarrassing situation, I told him to always say two words together, almost as if they were one word. This way the first word would be deemphasized and there was almost no pause between two words. He did much better after following my trick.
Fri, 6/16: Chores
Made lard and cooked chicken gizzards with five herbal spices. Since the aroma and taste were so good, plus I hadn’t had them for a long time, I ended up eating a lot and feeling overly full and uncomfortable afterwards. I took a short break before deep cleaning a fan, washing bathroom mats and curtains.
Tue, 6/20: Chores
Took morning supplements, deep cleaned the fridge including tossing away old food and expired items, cleaned kitchen cabinets and ran the dishwasher.
Begin life at forty 