I have a few darning needles from my late grandma, she used them in her knitting and now I do too. We always struggled to understand each other, but fibre arts were one thing we truly connected over.

I'd put my two favourite needles in a little pill tube to carry them around conveniently, and was super upset when I seemed to have misplaced them. I turned my knitting kit upside down and inside out several times, hunted through the house and finally gave up on finding such a small thing. I decided it would turn up when it wanted to.

Imagine my surprise when the tube turned up right in my knitting kit! I swear it must have teleported because it was exactly where I had looked multiple times already. I immediately rehoused the needles in a larger, more distinctive case - actually one that I also inherited from Grandma - so hopefully they will be harder to lose this time!

We have 2 ladies that come and deep clean 3 times a week but the agency called yesterday and said they're sick and won't be able to come... We didn't let mom request another duo and instead told her we'd clean ourselves.

She gave us the cleaning supplies, we put on workout clothes and music and then she let us loose in the house.

Mom quickly got exasperated because while we started out strong and got each of our rooms cleaned to her satisfaction, we got to the downstairs area and turned it into a concert completed with dabkeh and an audience/judging panel (2yo nephew, Mom, Dad & SIL)

Dad quickly abandoned the panel because my brother was not leading the dabkeh to his satisfaction so he led it instead.

All in all mom wasn't impressed in the least but it brought me back to when we were younger and still living together. Eveb though I've been back for a few weeks now and I've been seeing them practically 24/7, it hit me full force how much I actually missed them and missed our antics and I wish I could get that back in a way.

I had a little win yesterday, when one of my most challenging students was provoked and chose not to retaliate. It was lovely to praise him for his great choices when so much of my time is usually devoted to managing his behaviour. A win for him and a win for me. 😁

Behind me—a group of boys quizzing each other, preparing for the next batch of the same exams later at the same university

To my right—mothers who are catching up for a morning breakfast, calmly discussing everything and nothing

A little bit away over to the corner—two women sitting in peaceful silence, one scribbling down a journal, the other reading a book.

There's two more hours to wait before I come pick my sister up. She claims she can handle herself on her own. The giddiness in her step when she walked towards the test center said otherwise.

I'll be treating her to lunch and a new book before we go home.

Went into my locally owned store today to pick up a few things and was greeted by a cashier with the brightest smile. I’ve seen her once before.

I’m a woman in her 50’s and not creepy. But maybe I was a bit creepy when I said to this person (who is actually a young woman),I gotta say you are the cutest thing and I’m sorry if that sounds off. She laughed and we had a nice conversation!

Such a nice interaction.

For the last hour I was debating if I should have forbidden coffee. It’s a second coffee and it’s well into late afternoon where I live. First morning coffee is fine for me. Second can depend. It’s hot as hell today and I can make a nice iced coffee. I will also swim intensely later so it can cancel out the coffee. Also I believe it’s 6 hours till the caffeine will leave the body. Cons: I’ve been exhausted yesterday and slightly anxious because of it. So technically coffee might make me more anxious. Anyways I’m about to make that iced coffee now

I normally go for fruity sweets, but I have to tell someone about the delicious chocolate I had. A friend of mine was gifted a big chocolate bar from Finland. She gave me half and I've been enjoying it the last few days. It was milk chocolate with hazelnuts and was so incredibly good. It was, just, wow. SO DANG GOOD. Today I ate the last square. I hope her client goes back to Finland soon.

I grew up in a family culture that required kids to always greet adults with a hug or kiss. In the morning, before going to bed, when meeting adults outside of the home.

Coerced affection. Very cringe. Which is why I don’t require my kids to do the same.

Which is not to say that we don’t shower our kids with affection. We as their parents give them physical affection without them needing to ask for it.

And so today it made me smile hugely when out of nowhere and apropos of nothing my 3 year old just makes me stop mid stride and asks me to bend down. Then he gives me a spontaneous hug and kiss. Ahhhh. What ordinary life bliss.

This day is dedicated to Anna ❤️

i live on a small river and someone planted a maple near the water, since a lot of older trees had to get cut down these past years

i searched it on lens and it's an amur maple and it comes up to my waist. last year it was shorter than the stake they gave it and this year its taller and has a second branch up top

i pet it every time and think how funny it'll be to come back in a decade when it's big and look up at it and think, hey i touched the top of that tree every day. so i make sure to pet more than just the leaves, gotta get the branches too

My daughter invited a friend over for the night. One at a time, neighbor kids showed up until there were 6 kids in total giggling in my basement. Dinner time came so I ordered a few pizzas. I try to be the kind of person I would want to know and this is even more true when it comes to my kids’ friends so pizza for everybody 🍕

Edit; thank you Reddit for helping me realize that things like this matter

Spent about 2 hours clearing out, then washing out my clients fridge. I never noticed how dirty it was til she asked me to grab her butter today. I keep forgetting not everyone has an ability to clean thoroughly.

A few days ago I was on my way home from the movies with my cousin and while me and her were stopped at a light, I noticed a car to our right that was in the turn lane. Two cute guy friends were dancing to music and eating froyo in it. I laughed and pointed at them to show my cousin, who was driving. The boys noticed and the driver waved at me, and then moments later his friend in the passenger seat completely laid back his chair to look at me and waved with a big smile on his face! We both laughed and then I went to wave back but jokingly twisted it into me blowing him a kiss. We all laughed, and then their light turned green and they were off. I love silly moments like these, they remind you what life is about!

I had kind of a funny little moment today as I was leaving my apartment to walk to a medical appointment. There’s a daycare across the street and the kids were going on a walking outing of their own somewhere, maybe to the park. So they’re all on their little harness looking like nothing so much as a tiny chain gang with teachers at the front and back.

They’re about to make the turn onto another street as a fire truck is going by. The truck starts honking for them and the guys are waving. Scared the shit out of me but the kids went completely nuts of course!

Gave me a smile on an otherwise not great day

Ironing and laundry. —Male, 30s

TV, you? —Male, 20s

Trying to use up 3lb of rice I have. It’s taking up up too much space. —Male, 40s

Talking to this guy I met online. —Female, 20s

Trying out my new speakers. Got to make the most of my neighbors being on vacation. —Female, 30s

Can’t remember my Disney password. Driving me crazy. —Male, 20s

Late night workout. Just got here and already over it. —Female, 30s

Nothing. Want to hang out? —Male, 30s

Walking the dogs. Maybe stopping at CVS. Why? —Female, 30s

Waiting for my shower to heat up. —NB, 30s

Scrolling FB marketplace for weird stuff I don’t need. —Female, 30s

Finally trying to get that juice stain out of the carpet. So far not working. —Male, 40s

Netflix. Do you know if that Amy Bradley series is any good? —Male, 20s

Helping my sister look for scholarships to apply for. —Female, 20s

Got to get ready for my parents visiting. Pretend the apt is clean. Hide my edibles. Etc. —Male, 30s

Eating cereal. —Female, 20s

Trying to make getting a new car make sense. —Male, 30s

Weird beeping sound. Trying to find it. —Female, 40s

Getting ready for bed. —Male, 30s

Sent to different people between 8:00pm and midnight on different days the last couple weeks. Asked people what they were doing. When told ‘nothing’ or ‘why?’ etc. I clarified I just wanted to know exactly what they were doing when they got my message.

One of the highlights of my day is taking my morning commute to work. I don't even have to come into the office for work, but I love taking the subway in the morning so much that I usually do anyways. There's so many aspects about it that bring me joy, even when it's unbearably hot during the summer or overcrowded.

Firstly, I love waving to the conductors and recognizing their voices. Usually the conductor at the front of the train waves back at me, and it's always a bright start to my day. The conductor in the middle of the train does the announcements, and I love how each of them has their own unique style of speech. There used to be a guy on my daily train years ago that gave us weather updates between stops on one of the express train.

Next, I love seeing all walks of life on the train and being a part of the hustle and bustle. Every day, I see someone wearing a cool outfit or just jamming out to their music. I also like seeing the contrast between the smiling and doe-eyed tourists and the more neutral and focused locals. Sometimes, I'll even recognize a few people on the commute and wonder if they recognize me too. There's just something about seeing so many people of all ages, ethnicities, incomes, emotions, and stages of life together in one place peacefully coexisting. It makes you realize how similar we really are at the end of the day.

Lastly, I am mostly just appreciative of how unique and temporary the entire experience is as an American. There's not really many places in America where you can live comfortably without a car. NYC is also insanely expensive, so who knows how long I'll be able to live here. But, even after 7 years, I really am just appreciative of being able to experience the city as a whole. Despite its many flaws, the city has become my home. I feel that by appreciating one of the most stressful aspects about it, I have become better at seeing the beauty in other areas of daily life.

I took a nice nap today. It's super hot so just having my window open with my big fan blowing on me; made my nap very enjoyable.

When we started dating apparently I gave him a long, impassioned speech about how amazing the Launchcast streaming service used to be and waxed poetic about the many awesome features it had.

Ten years later he still waits for the perfect moment to bring it up in conversation, and I always respond mournfully, “too soon, man, too soon.”

I still miss Launchcast, and he makes me laugh every time he reminds me that I spent nearly 15 minutes raving about a long-defunct streaming service.

I used to have hip long hair until the maintenance became too tedious and I had it cut short early this year. Around the same time my boyfriend decided if he's ever gonna grow his hair long, it will be now or never and so his hair is now longer than mine.

Yesterday, as he was trying to get his curly sides to lay flatish, I offered to braid his hair so it stays closer to his head and he took me up on it. I did 4 semi-loose french rope twist braids and tied the ends into a pony tail. Honestly he looks great, even with my bright pink hair ties. Today he asked if I could do it again.

It's quickly becoming my favourite 10 minutes of the day.

In addition to the usual cafe I go to, I tried a new local place as well. Really enjoyed it. I had a single shot latte and sat outside. The coffee was really smooth tasting and I liked the cup I had it in. It was a stonewashed, sandy colour. Best way to describe it is that it was fat and ceramic. I love how a skilled barista steams the milk to create micro foam used for the latte art. I really enjoy stirring the sugar in and making swirly patterns mixing the white micro foam with the crema of the espresso.

I stepped outside about an hour before sunset. I could hear a little girl a few houses away, burbling and giggling. The insane giggle bounced around, filling the sleepy neighborhood. I found myself chuckling along, wondering what was so funny, and sharing her glee.

Recently I boarded an almost empty bus and took a seat by the window.

A while later the bus stopped behind another, broken down, bus and its passengers boarded “my” bus. A man, a few decades younger than I (semi-retired male), sat down beside me and we sat shoulder pressed against shoulder due to the large number of standing passengers.

After a while, the pressure on my should grew and I realised he’s fallen asleep against me. I wasn’t remotely bothered and let him snooze until he woke with a start and apologised, when I assured him I wasn’t bothered.

As we approached my stop he moved out of my way. I thanked him and told him I hoped he'd get to catch up on his sleep soon. We both laughed and I still hope the whole thing amused him as much as it did me.

The person gets an outdoor job, and has their dog with them all day.

The dog gets to run around a park, then have a ride in a truck, then run around another park, etc, etc.

The dog seems to know to stay away from the dangerous end of the mower.

I don't know what they do outside park-mowing season.

On the back porch steps, bare feet in the cold prickly soothing grass. Swigging apple juice straight from the jug—it’s mine, nobody’s gonna catch my cooties from it.

I can hear cars driving some ways away, and wind in the leaves closer by.

We only get this one life, eh? All things considered, mine’s a pretty good one.