My skin has gotten so dried out that it truly had a layer of white on top… the dead skin cells, I suppose, that did not get their needed hydration (or, rather, were stripped of that hydration by soap and dry winter air).
Guess I really ought to be better about putting the oils on after showering now, when my skin is still all wet from the shower. I’ve just been so focused on my hands not getting all bloody, everything else with my skin has kind of taken a back burner… 
Post-a-day 2022
My friend came with me to the gym Saturday morning. She was a total trooper and did an awesome job. She is probably close to the most out-of-shape she has ever been in life right now, having not been able to get things sorted out with exercise time and all after having her baby almost a year and a half ago.
Yet, a few hours after the workout, she’s talking to me suddenly about the punch card she’s getting for the gym and what times and days she’s planning to go this week… And she says that, if she likes it and can make the timing all work okay, she will end up signing up for a subscription when the punch card runs out.
I was blown away and overjoyed. I hadn’t even brought up the idea of her ever coming with me again or signing up – I had merely invited her to come work out with me for one day. So, that made it extra-cool that she was interested in potentially joining the gym.
And, due to an atypical schedule for her tomorrow, instead of going in the morning with me, I’m going to babysit later in the day, so she can go then. AND there’s a chance her husband might be able to make his work schedule line up to go with her tomorrow to try it out himself. And that was her idea completely.
No matter how it all goes, I am grateful to have been able to make even the slightest difference in the health and well-being of my friend.
Thank you, God, for such love and opportunity. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
I wish I could just go to Japan for a month to teach English again. I wish it were an option only for the alums of our program, so they know that we know what we’re doing and that we won’t need much support. It could be a way for schools to test out having an assistant language teacher with the program. Then, if they like it, they hire a full position. If they don’t, they only had to pay someone for a month.
And we get to revisit the country and culture and the work and students we so love and miss, but without having to commit forever or move fully.
Win-Win-Win situation right there.
Post-a-day 2022
Goodness, I love these kids. My heart grows like the Grinch’s almost every time I see them outside of classes. Tonight, we attended their hockey game. A couple parents knew I was there, and we were waiting after the game to see the boys. I congratulated each of my students as they came out, and each was the same. Initially, he gave an automatic, ‘Thanks!’ glancing my way. And then, after already starting to turn away, he double-takes, looking at me, wide-eyed. Then his face breaks into a smile and he asks some version of, ‘What are you doing here?!’ with immense glee. One even ran over to hug me – it was adorable, to say the least.
As my friend mentioned during the game was her experience, I do not have many memories of my own teachers attending my various events. So, I suppose it really is a rather big deal that I show up to all these games and performances for the kids. As my mom put it, it’s spectacular free entertainment, but it still would be great, even if it did cost to attend. However, there certainly is the added bit of being invested in the players and performers themselves, knowing them as people, and wanting the best for them in their lives. I want them to feel encouraged in these endeavors, valued and appreciated for all their work and dedication, and even in their failures. I want them to know that they are valued as people, exactly as they are, no matter how well they perform (or behave) in the classroom.
And the love they express in response is spectacularly filling and delightful. I am extremely grateful that I get to work with, support, educate, and cheer on these wonderful kids. Thank you, God. And Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
Some days, you just want a pint of Bluebell’s cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream to devour slowly but surely… or maybe that’s just a thing for me… ;P
Coincidentally, my friend (with whom I currently live) decided to pick up ice cream on her way home tonight, though she’d had no notion of my current ice cream desires. 😛
Post-a-day 2022
I very distinctly had a desire today – a pull, more like – to read religious books, books that somehow use religion as a foundation for whatever they want to communicate… could be about building a relationship with God, about being a woman today of God, about Church itself, about prayer… whatever. But “Church books” is what came to mind specifically.
Guess I’ll start reading the book Church gave out the other week, then. It was meant to have a book study with it, and I even signed up online to be in a remote group (since I don’t live near that church), but I haven’t heard anything from that since signing up. Perhaps it is time for me just to start myself. If a group pops up later, I can still participate, even if I have already read the thing in its entirety.
Let’s do this.
Thank you, Life, for being a beautiful opportunity for me, and thank you, God, for joining us. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
My mom mentioned to me today something that she read just this past week about reaching for our dreams. The question she gave me was “If you woke up tomorrow, and your dream were fulfilled, what would be the first thing you would notice that told you that your dream had been fulfilled?“
I thought about this question. It somewhat baffled me, because I could not easily come up with an answer. Why is that? Well, if my current dream were fulfilled when I woke up tomorrow morning, I still would start my day the exact same way I do right now. I would get up early and go to the gym. I would exercise with delight and rigor. And then I would head to school. Only at this point would I have the noticeable sign, as the bag I had packed for school would be a bit different and where I showered would be different (at school versus at the gym).
While the exercise was interesting simply for the idea of what one thing would give it away, should my big dream come true, what was more fascinating and valuable to me was that my day would begin the exact same way. Put differently, I am already, in part, living my dream.
And that is quite cool.
Sure, I don’t have the specific work and finances and all the follow-up details and activities that come with those, but the person I am being, the habits I am pursuing… those are already exactly part of my dream life being fulfilled.
So, how do we level up now to the next step in fulfilling this dream? That is the question.
Post-a-day 2022
(Just a touch of hesitation now…)
I learned this morning that I need to go ahead and scale things down on Mondays at the gym. I needn’t feel like I am lame or cheating out or anything like that – I just simply cannot do the prescribed work. In the past, we had three levels of capability listed for each aspect of a workout. I was always the lowest originally, and eventually moved up to some of the middle level for parts of workouts. Now, we have only one, the hardest one. I am not on that level on any day. And, now, on Mondays, we are doing movements that are hard for my body period. I absolutely need to scale those down, and a lot. Otherwise, I will not improve and things will not go well for me. We can push when we are being lazy, but it is not a good idea to push when the body is crying with pains and high discomfort in movements. I needn’t cry doing any movements at the gym. But, today, I did, I was just so frustrated with not being able to do the stuff, no matter my effort.
Yeah, it was emotionally rough this morning. And my muscles were, of course, still quite sore going into it all, which didn’t help. At least I’m getting to bed a little earlier tonight…
Post-a-day 2022
hannah ananas 