daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
My health insurance provided a TENS machine that arrived in the mail today. It uses electrical impulses to help relieve muscle pain, so I tested it out on my wrist, which usually hurts when I try to move it too far. I’m not sure if it will do much for my wrist, but I’ll definitely be reaching for it the next time my lower back gets sore. ⚡💪
I’ve been using the Hobonichi Cousin Avec for a couple of weeks now, and I’m really enjoying the bigger size. My little A6 techo is compact and cute, but the A5 is just a better writing experience overall. The pages lie flatter, so I can use my Clampy, and I get to write at my normal size instead of concentrating on keeping my letters tiny. There are still spots where small writing is a must, like the daily timeline in the photo, but even there I’ve got twice the space to work with. And on the free-writing pages, I can just write without worrying about size at all. As a bonus, I’ve got more room to print bigger photos too. Overall, I’m happy with the mid-year switch to the Avec ✏️
I finished another Morning Pages notebook, and honestly, it feels like a small victory!
One of my long-term goals is to actually use the notebooks I’ve collected over the years. If you’re a stationery lover, you know the struggle. Beautiful notebooks everywhere, and somehow they just accumulate. My daily morning journaling practice has been the perfect way to work through them, one page at a time. It’s actually fun to see how many blank pages are left (and see the amount getting smaller).
This particular Rollbahn notebook was a good one. It served me well through a lot of mornings, and I’m saving the cover as a keepsake. Do you do that? Save little artifacts from journals you’ve finished? I love looking back at them. This notebook is special because Mariko bought it for me when she was in Japan.
Now I’m moving right into the next one, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s another Rollbahn that Mariko gifted to me!
Let’s keep the streak alive. 🤙
What notebook are you currently writing in? I’d love to know.
January finally started so I have officially begun my first Hobonichi Techo. As you may know, I went with the original A6 size because it is so compact. But maybe I should have gone with the A5 cousin since I naturally write kind of large. Oh well. I’ll give the smaller format a go!
I also bought a Canon SEPLHY CP1500 printer, which is really fun to use. I’m looking forward to see how my journal turns out.
The lunchtime run is so much nicer when there are pretty clouds drifting by. They make the sky look beautiful and give a little break from the harsh sun too!
I finally filled up my little A6-sized Muji notebook that I bought years ago! I’d just finished another one I’d been using for my morning pages, so I grabbed the Muji next – turns out it only had a few pages left. A couple of days later, done! That makes two notebooks finished (and out of my life) in one week. I still have a few more blank ones waiting for their turn, but I’m definitely making progress on my notebook decluttering mission!
One of the little routines Mariko and I really enjoyed in Mexico City was taking a walk after dinner. We’d stroll back to our Airbnb after eating out, which felt like the perfect way to end the evening. It gave us a bit of exercise and helped with digestion, too. I even listened to a LifeKit episode that listed all the benefits of after-meal walks, so it has to be good for us, right? 😁
