Day 181: sources of happiness

We had a beautiful Sunday, almost perfectT to the T. 🙂 Not perfect because Sofia had a play date for 2.5 hrs in the afternoon which she had fun but it was supposed to be our family day, so I asked her please spend time with the family on Sundays. She understood it quickly and agreed that she’ll try to have playdates on Saturdays instead.  Family traditions are important for me, and if anything the most important relationship I want her to treasure (which she already does) is her family.

My day started with this beautiful view that lasted only few minutes, I’m grateful that I caught it before I closed my eyes for my morning meditation. It was gone 5 min later.

then i did 8 miles solo and then 3 miles with Sofia biking. She learned a new word (or discovered) and she kept telling me that I have perseverance, to run so many miles and then run more with her. Good interpretation Sofia 🙂

Then after a quick shower and breakfast, the girls went to swimming pool with daddy and i was left alone at home. I’ve been thinking about what makes me love my current life, its different facets and how without any of them wouldn’t make it “perfect”. Then I had the idea of making a flower with pedals for sources of happiness of my life NOW (which I’m sure will change in the future). It came out during one of my morning run and I wrote it down as soon as I stopped.

I have zero artistic skills but managed to draw and paint a decent flower. Then I wrote down three words for each of the aspects:

KIDS: they are healthy, happy most of the time, and responsible.

BODY: I will turn 40 in December and I feel strong, resilient (for all the miles I run), and surprising that I sleep better now than in my 20s.

MOM: my mom is healthy, a wise woman, and very independently enjoying her life alone in Shanghai

CAREER: I love my job because it is fulfilling (as I see a big goal in what I do), challenging (always new tasks that take me to the next level, either intellectually, process wise, or people skills), and rewarding (financially and recognition from my superiors and peers).

FRIENDS: I have deep friendships, most of them decades long. My friends are reliable, always there for me, and when I think about them, they bring me back to a period of my life that was long gone but formed part of my history and who I am today.

HUSBAND: handsome (especially after his hair cut), handy (he can fix most of things at home), and unexpectedly to be very entrepreneurial.

My other fav activity on weekends is to cook something new and yummy for the family. I made a traditional chinese sweet with glutinous rice that they absolutely loved.

Rice cake with dates:

Ingredients:

• Glutinous rice 300g
• sugar 30g
• oil 30g
• Milk 300g
• Chopped dates 200g
• Mixed nuts: 100g

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients
2. Put in a container with parchment paper
3. Steam for 20 min
4. Cool before cutting

For lunch I made again Hainan chicken. The girls preferred that over take out, so it must be good 🙂

paired with some vegetables

I also did some meal prep for the week: made lentil Shepard pies

a potato salad

and we watched the Copenhagen episode of Someone Feeds Phil, I was especially interested on it after reading about the Hygee this week. Always fun activity to end the week.