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

Yesterday – Friday, November 21 – marked one week since my mom has been in China and one week since I’ve been by myself and I must say, it’s been good, a breath of fresh air at last. I only wish the sky wasn’t so gloomy, but then, it’s the time of the year where the days are short and low pressure systems are abundant in the atmosphere.

Without my mom here, my aunt and I have been enjoying our freedom because a lot of the times, my mom not only berates me but she treats her sister the same way. Without my mom here, we can go do something fun without interrogation. So we are spending today getting supplies for our upcoming road trip, dining out, and then going to see the largest Christmas light display in Utah.

I’ve been there before – two years ago when my mom was in China – this photo is from the previous time. I’m a sucker for a good light show, so I’m looking forward to seeing it this year. Let’s hope it’s not too cold tonight.

Since my mom left, I have finished putting in the 8 raised beds I’ve been wanting since early this year. I’ve put in one trellis (sorry, no picture yet) and have one more to put up. I bought a 40-pound bag of very expensive soil with worm eggs and spread it across the beds, hoping the eggs will hatch and the worms will get to work. I do need to just plant the last of the flower bulbs that were dug up when I excavated the sweet potatoes before mulching the new beds for good.

I also put in 2 50-gallon rain barrels in the backyard. The only thing left to do with those would be to connect to a rain collection diverter. I bought 2 diverters but the bottoms don’t fit. It’s so hard to buy these things, especially since I have to buy them on Amazon because the big box stores don’t sell them and I don’t know whether they work until it’s all assembled.

Meanwhile, my mom has mostly been in conversation with my aunt. She seemed to only come to me with problems and when she needs me to do something for her like buying a plane ticket. The day after she arrived in China, she complained about mosquitoes. The next day, it was about the mattress in the Airbnb being too firm. Then, it was ticks or some insects. Non-stop complaining and never once did she asked about my well-being.

This is a chart showing my stress levels in the last month. I honestly didn’t know how stressed my mom was making me until I checked my smart watch this week. It turned out, before this week, my stress level has always been moderately high but this week, the stress level was relatively low. Looking at the last 12 months, having low stress is not a frequent occurring event. Even on weekends, I’m not relaxed when my mom’s around, so that’s really saying something.

The garbage level in the house has also gone way down since my mom has left. Before, I would have a full garbage bag on a daily basis, now, there’s barely any trash. I think it’s because my aunt is willing to compost her fruit peels, so every night, I go out to the new raised beds, where there’s an in-ground compost bin, and I dump the day’s food waste. I bought more of these composters and will be putting them in the smaller round beds as well.

Lastly, I’m very looking forward to next week when my aunt and I are heading on a road trip to Grand Canyon and Kanab, Utah. Until then, I appreciate you stopping by, have a wonderful week ahead!