Happy Saturday to all! As always, thank you Natalie for hosting #WeekendCoffeeShare.

Today marks day 2 since my mom left for China. Yesterday, I took a day off from work to install brand new raised beds in the front garden. It’s a project that was supposed to be done earlier this year but with my mom throwing a tantrum at the sight, I opted for grow bags instead (although she still reacted the same way) but after growing in the bags for a season, I concluded that it’s not a good idea.

First of all, the ground is not leveled, it has a slope that no matter how many layers of cardboard I pile beneath the bags, water will forever run out of the bag. Secondly, the grow bags are not aesthetically pleasure. The more I looked at it, the more of an eyesore it was. Thirdly, the bags are at different height.

In total, I installed 6 of the 8 raised beds to replace the grow bags and hope to install the remaining 2 beds today since today is the last warm day. The 6 beds I installed yesterday were all rounds with 17-inches in height and similar diameter to the grow bags. I added a layer of cardboard at the bottom along with a few inches of leaves from my aunt’s yard before piling on the manure compost and the soil from the grow bags. I know by spring, those leaves would be partially decomposed and the soil in the bed would be several inches lower.

What do you think of the new look? Of course, I still need to put up the new trellis, I think I’m one step closer to making my front yard look more like a garden and less like a rock pile.

It’s been an exceptionally warm November. I can’t remember when I could get away with going out in 2 layers – short-sleeves tee and a light jacket. Normally, at this time of the year, I would be wearing a tee, a light jacket, and a down jacket. I remember last November, I even needed a hand warmer just to go to the park for a walk. The weatherman keeps hinting change but when?

The pottery project I did at the September with my co-workers was finally ready to pick up this week. I don’t know what mine is supposed to be but love it all the same. I supposed it can be a “bup”? The combination of a bowl and a cup?

I ended up leaving my precious bup at the office because I knew if I brought it home, my mom would think of words to hurt me. That’s all she seem to do these days. She told me the other day that she felt “indifferent” to me because I cared more about my supervisor than about her. “He’s not your dad,” she said, “why do you care about him?”

My supervisor spent most of the week at the hospital due to health complications. I felt it’s an appropriate thing to do to send well-wishes and be concerned about his well-being, right? One doesn’t have to be family to care for another, does it?

My mom began taking jabs like how I told her family to not visit her at the hospital when she had back surgery last year and how heartless I was to not even bring her meals from home. First of all, she was the one who told her siblings to not visit her and secondly, I offered to bring her meals from home but she said she doesn’t want my cooking.

Right before I wrote this post, I was feeling very angry at all the hurtful things my mom said the last few weeks and my watch beeped, telling me I needed to breathe and that my stress level was off-the-roof. That wasn’t the first time. It’s been happening a lot this week and to be honest, I’ve been feeling mentally absent the last few weeks, like I’m physically present but my mind is nowhere near.

Even when my neighbor invited me to a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, I felt like I was standing behind a one-way mirror looking in. Maybe I just need to take some deep breaths.

I appreciate you stopping by, have a wonderful week ahead!