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Windows on my world
The past few days completed the installation of the window that arrived last week. OMG. What a house this is going to be. They unlock yet another flurry of realisations as I walk through the house. I am starting to see the furniture placements and how we will circulate through the space. I decided on…
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City Getaway
Tod works one week a month in the Tokyo office, but this month he is doing a two-week trip so that he can cat-sit Honey while his colleague, Will, is on a business trip. I decided to go see him on the in-between weekend and hang out in the city. It was a pleasant change…
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80% great
I was talking with my friend and neighbor, Hitomi, at 555. I’d given her and Kengo a tour of the house thus far and we were talking about how amazing it is. I also mentioned how I sometimes feel fraught with anxiety over decisions. 555 should outlast me and I don’t plan to move (though…
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DIY Custom Daybook
Do you use an appointment book, journal or diary for your daily planning? From the time I started working in an office (last century!) to my current life as a freelance designer, I have used an assortment of calendar books, diaries, and executive planners to keep track of tasks and appointments. Though I have updated…
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Distal Focus
This morning, I watched an Instagram Reel about shoulder pain that got me thinking. A Tokyo-based physical therapist, Sam Gilbert, demonstrated how the body increases or reduces pain depending on how you focus attention. If you lift your arm to test the injured shoulder, your mind is focussed on the painful part and it hurts.…
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Beginning 2023
Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you. Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon While I’m not at all convinced about the Lord bit of this quote, I do love the start of it. “Begin as you mean to go on” runs…
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Happy 2023
Due to a death in the family in 2022, we did not send nengajou this year. However in the interest of keeping the 12 year series complete, I drew one for posting today. Let’s make 2023, Year of the Rabbit, memorable in the best way.
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25 words
Wondrous days at 555 – jichinsai to jotoshiki. 1000 days of yoga. Covid, menopause, heart diagnoses. Traded Tilly for Cow. Fritter hops, Beryl roombas, Maura guards. This is my 22nd annual 25 word summary of the year. It’s a tradition that helps me put an underline on the events of the past twelve months. Here…
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Compose 2023
My word for 2023 is Compose. Some years I struggle to find the right word. I spend time with the dictionary and thesaurus. I get close, but it takes some effort to narrow down to the right word. But this year, it just appeared in my head and here we are. Compose will guide me…
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Christmas 2022
Although I did a lot of baking with a new cookie press over the course of the month, the rest of Christmas season was pretty indifferent. On the day itself, after opening gifts from family in the morning, we took Christmas lunch over to our friends’ minka and had a feast of steak with sauteed…
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