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What’s your favorite time of day?
I have been really, really enjoying the late evening. Right after everyone has showered, put on pajamas, & climbed into bed; that’s my sweet spot for ultimate relaxation, most days. No more grandmas asking me to fix their phones or check their emails. No more chasing after stubborn children or partners engrossed in their latest video game obsession. It’s this time when the entire house has settled down for the night that gets me excited.
Our little bean still co-sleeps with us, & I am enjoying it, for the time being. Although, Jian likes to complain about it nearly every night. The three of us cram into a queen size bed, & like most kids, she likes to toss & turn in bed. This, as you can tell, leaves very little room for me, & makes Jian feel hot & uncomfortable.
Our bedtime routine with her goes as follows: we each shower before bed, she drinks a small glass of milk, I read 2 books with her, then she cuddles up with Jian & watches a few Instagram reels with him before sleeping. It is during this time when I bask in the glow of my personal time. I put on my AirPods, so anything I listen to won’t interfere with whatever Jian is watching on his phone, or distract the little bean from sleeping. Then I proceed to unwind by catching up on my saved YouTube videos, or scroll through Instagram. Sometimes I will window shop for kids clothes for the little bean.
I am not an early sleeper at all, but I do enjoy lounging in bed before bedtime. Our little bean will play with her stuffed animals that she likes to sleep with. She sometimes will cuddle up to me, but mostl of the time she cuddles up with Jian, which is funny because they are both 2 human furnaces. I on the other hand, am mostly cold & like to layer up.
I am feeling sleepy as I write this post. I think I am going to join the little bean & take a nap. Cheers.
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
First off, I by no means maintain healthy eating habits. I know for a fact that I don’t eat nearly as many vegetables as I should, & I definitely am not drinking enough plain water. However, I try to maintain a balance in my overall health & well-being in other ways.
I spend at least 30 minutes every day going for walks in our neighborhood, or run around & physically play in the backyard with my little bean. This is my main source of daily exercise. Plus, I get a healthy dose of Vitamin-D & fresh air. My little bean loves exploring in our backyard, & I love spending this time teaching her about all the different things in our garden.
If I am idle, listening to music or checking Instagram/YouTube, I try to stay in a standing position, not sitting down. It is very easy for me to get comfortable in one spot & not move for long periods of time. So I would rather stand instead of sit, thus eventually ruining my posture. Besides that, I’d like to believe that standing burns any small amount of calories, which is a win in my book.
On the flip side, I take a daily supplement for my hair, skin & mail health. Yes, this is a vanity supplement more than for body health, but I believe it also improves my mental attitude toward my body-image issues. I haven’t yet seen much improvement in my skin, but my hair definitely sheds a lot less, & my thin finger nails are less prone to cracking & splitting.
I used to take a ton of other daily vitamins & supplements (i.e. all the letter vitamins, Omega-3, women’s multivitamin, etc.), but I stopped taking all those vitamins after learning that they aren’t really boosting my immune system or overall health. As long as I am eating foods with the appropriate nutrients & nutrition, I don’t need to choke down 10 different vitamin/supplement pills the size of a McDonald’s happy meal toy.
There are other ways I maintain my well-being, like taking time for myself. That usually happens during the time my little bean is taking her daily nap. I make myself a second (sometimes third) cup of coffee, grab a sweet snack, then sit down to read a little tabloid celebrity gossip, or I will read a catch up on a few chapters in the current volume of the Japanese manga I am reading.
During this precious time, I will completely zone out & focus on the one thing I had planned & allotted for that time in my schedule. That helps me unwind & relax a little bit before I have to jump right back into mom & housekeeper mode.
These things seem pretty simple, but they fit my life & work for me. I do lots of little things throughout the day, everyday, rather than saving up all of my time & energy to workout at a fitness club or gym once or twice a week. This is more beneficial for my overall health & well-being rather than a few bursts of workouts/exercises. If it is not fully improving my health, at least it is improving my mood. Cheers.
Today’s song of the day:
What is your favorite genre of music?
This quote I found on Pinterest completely describes my musical interests. Also, yes. People still use Pinterest.
I am willing to listen to just about any type of music, even music in languages I don’t understand. I like songs in almost every genre or category, except Gregorian Chanting. That’s where I permanently draw the line. (I do not consider that music in the least.) My dad once bought a Gregorian Chanting CD from a CD subscription catalog (yes, that’s how looong ago it was), & he played it the entire time our family drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was torture, but he wouldn’t allow us to change it. My mom was so irritated after that 7 hour car ride that she forbade my dad from listening to it on the drive home.
I don’t listen to a lot of songs from all genres, but there are a few songs I like from each category. For example, I don’t frequently listen to Country Western music; I listen to it very rarely, but there are a few Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, & Patsy Cline songs I like. I also don’t frequently listen to Reggae music, but I have been known to bop along to Bob Marley’s greatest hits.
Another genre that I do not listen to is Chinese pop, like C-pop or Canto-pop. It’s not that I think the music is bad. The one thing that turns me off from listening to this genre is the fact that all of the songs & their topics/themes sound the same. Every song is a love song, either about unrequited love, lost love, heartache, cute love, or sad love. There is no variety in the song subjects, & most of the songs are ballads. It just feels repetitive to listen to C-pop or Canto-pop music a lot of the time, so I avoid that genre most of the time.
Three of the biggest music genres I listen to the most these days are J-pop, Alternative Rock, & Jazz. I also love listening to other genres relating to these main categories, like: J-rap, Brit-Rock, & Bossa Nova. I used to be a super huge fan of Japanese male idol groups from the talent agency Johnny’s Entertainment, but since most of my favorite groups have either retired, broke up due to public controversy, or have disbanded, I haven’t really payed much attention to the new idol bands.
If you were to ask me which bands are on my repeat playlist, it would be:
I would definitely say that my preferences in music lean towards catchier songs, you know, songs with a catchy melody or chorus to sing along to. I also enjoy songs I can sing & bop along to. I wouldn’t say I have a great singing voice, but it’s at least adequate enough to carry a tune when I sing karaoke with my friends. Also, I have sung karaoke in public more than once & have not yet been booed off stage, so I’d say that counts as me being an okay singer.
I also like electronic music with no lyrics, LoFi ones that I can put on all day while I’m writing or doing house chores. Sometimes I will find a low key LoFi music stream on YouTube & run it in the background on the TV while I am playing with my little bean. She enjoys it as well. At least I think she does. It keeps her focused on playing in one spot & not running around the house like a child strung out on a sugar rush.
That pretty much sums up my taste in music. I could go in depth about every single specific type of music I listen to & which bands from each category I like, but that would take FOREVER! I’d like to end this post with my usual song of the day, but I will insert a playlist instead. Cheers!
Today’s PLAYLIST of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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