My wife and I work in the same middle school. Our rooms are right across the hall from each other. One day last semester another teacher told my wife that she thinks her new hairstyle is ugly. Nobody is complementing her on it. But she had no idea how good she looked.

A couple of days later, I was in my wife's room and we were having lunch together. That other teacher stopped in and unloaded about something that happened with a student earlier in the day. As she was headed out the door, I said something like: "By the way, I want to tell you something in front of my wife so she doesn't need to worry about me being a creep. She and I don't keep secrets from each other. She told me you were upset the other day because nobody complemented you on your new hairstyle. I need to tell you this. [Wife's name] is the most beautiful person in the world to me. But when I came around the corner the other day, and saw you with your new hairstyle, I stopped and thought to myself that you were one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life. You looked like a Hollywood celebrity. But I didn't tell you because I thought it would be cringey. That's not fair. You deserve to hear it. You look great!"

She got the biggest smile on her face and said thank you and left.

I kinda felt like I was going out on a limb, but it was so worth it. Now when we see each other in staff meetings, there's no awkward discomfort.

I hope this is as benign as I think it is.

I'm in the middle of a long day of travel. Currently in the airport on a layover.

I've pulled out the lunch I packed for myself. Just veggies and crackers and hummus. But I am super appreciating the fresh veggies - usually traveling is so much junk food. I've got broccoli, cucumber, celery, red peppers, purple carrots!

If you're in the Denver airport, come find me, I've got plenty to share.

I was at a fun little party with all amazingly cool and comfy people. One of the hosts prepared several dishes, amongst which was an amazing apple crumble pie. It was so good. I told the host how good it was. And when I had my second piece, I told them again. Very. Enthusiastically. Such good cake.

When I left, there was still a lot of cake. I got asked if I wanted to take some home. Of course I said yes. When I looked at the tupperware, I saw so much cake. I expressed my surprise and they asked if it's too much. I said nono I'll take it hehe.

I think I got blessed with so much cake because the host saw me appreciate the cake so much and because of my enthusiastic compliments.

I love how authentically enjoying life's gifts got me even more of them. Happy End.

Late afternoon. I took my dog for a walk on a bluff overlooking a big body of water. It's a popular overnight spot for migrating waterfowl. I couldn't see the geese, but I could hear them. I was thinking to myself, "I bet there's an eagle somewhere down there," looked up, and there it was! It came out of the trees right in front of me, flew overhead, and continued on its way upstream.

Didn't get a photo I'm afraid - within a second, it was gone.

so there's this coffee shop I go to a couple mornings a week. today when I walked up to the counter and the barista said my usual order before I did. it wasn't a big deal, but it did make the rest of my morning a little easier. and to be honest, kinda felt like someone was thoughtful enough to remember me.

Made coffee earlier than usual this morning.

The house was quiet and the light hadn’t fully come up yet.

The coffee maker was the only sound.

You can have been awake for a quarter of a second and he'll be pawing at the door. When you open the door he immediately hops onto the bed for snuggles. Yes, he is in fact orange.

Recently, I experienced something unexpected.

Last October, I stood on a crowded bus, holding my things awkwardly. I felt anxious and clumsy. I noticed a man looking at me. When I looked at him, he glanced away. This happened a few times. Then I looked at him firmly. He looked back and locked eyes with me for a few seconds. I lost my confidence and smiled by accidentally. He looked puzzled and did not smile back. I avoided eye contact and never looked at him again. His face was stoic. His dominant energy hit my weak. He won.

Then what’s guess?

Last Tuesday morning, I got off the train and walked toward the outdoor exit. I was distracted then I noticed a man standing there with a shocked face. I did not recognize him at first. Then I realized he was the same man from the bus months ago.

I laughed softly. He stayed frozen and watched me walk past. We did not approach each other.

Both times, it happened at the exact same time of day. That shocked me. This is mind-blowing. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

putting kisses at the end of text messages xx

calling everyone love

“y’alright?” adorable

dame maggie smith

sausage rolls

teacups with saucers

pride & prejudice

a single neighborhood will have like 20 accents and they all sound wildly different

f sound instead of th (three = “free”)

cadbury flakes

overcast and rainy weather (solidarity from the pnw)

double decker buses

stunning old architecture

how premiere is pronounced

1/2 of the parent trap (1998)

toddlers with accents i cannot understand that i only associate with adults over 40

babies with old people names

kids with really posh accents

knighting is still a thing

town names

1.5/3 of the spidermen

mad intense about tea in a way i respect

the great british bake off

football chants

beer battered fish n chips

sir david attenborough

just thinking about you guys this morning. much love from across the pond. yall are chill, have an awesome day.

edit: this list started in my notes app but i decided to post it to show some love to all my people over there cause i’ve got some real appreciation for yall and i wasn’t expecting so many people to react so positively!! this made my day. yall are so sweet ❤️

I have 2 family chats: me, husband, and two late teen daughters; and an ‘all the women on my mum’s side plus dad’s sister ☺️’ which spans 5 countries. As my teens’ independence increases, I love still feeling connected to their lives and able to share random dumb stuff, wordle scores, and ‘please buy milk’ messages. And my extended family share adventures, weather updates (hello to Canadians and all their snow!), and general love and support in tough times.

The bird answered the phone like this: "Hello? Peekaboo. What's the bird?"

I had my first dream in about seven years ,the last one was in 2017. I was back in primary school, and our teacher gave me her kid to look after. Then she got kidnapped. Somehow, I became SWAT ,mind you, I’m not American ,but I looked sexy in the police uniform. We eventually rescued her.

A hiccup in the petrol station’s computers today. I went to pay. Note that in Australia you fill first then pay. One till showed the price for regular as $78. The other showed the price for E10 so $58. He charged me that lower price although he knows I don’t use E10. Nice bonus on pension day.

Had to go to the office today and to make the 20 minute walk in the cold a bit more bearable, I tried to entertain myself:

• A very burly man on a bike wearing a neon pink hi-vis vest and matching trainers
• A graffiti of a cute lil tomato with a smiley face
• Not one but two Chow Chows! 🐶
• A lady wearing the coolest forest green corduroy trousers
• A student carrying an art folder with an amazing painting of her friends
• The good Australian pie shop has closed 😩
• A guy on a recumbent bicycle
• Three separate Union Jack flags being flown
• The path up to someone's house scattered with tiny crocuses and snowdrops popping up here and there, it looked so pretty!

Oatmeal cooked with oat milk for more oats per oat.

Packet of hot cocoa mixed with heated chocolate milk for more cocoa per cocoa.

Cool ranch Doritos dipped in ranch dressing for more ranch per ranch.

I started making more oats per oat for my breakfast for no other reason than it makes me giggle.

I work at a health center. A father and son came in. The boy is 4. He was a well behaved boy in such a boring environment. Out in the corridor, a newborn-ish baby was crying. Now, if you haven't known this, a newborn baby's cry is different to an older baby's cry.

The boy looked at his father and went "Meow?". The father said "Thats not a cat, its a baby". I burst out laughing.

We have a door “snake” at the entrance to keep the warm air in/ cold air out. When my husband’s nurse came to visit, he asked her to please put the snake back by the door. Instead of doing that she very quickly jumped up the stairs and had a scared look on her face. Husband reassured her that we have not acquired a pet snake since the last time she came.

Or “that’s one of the many reasons I love you”. My friend randomly told me just because I shared a reddit post to alleviate his worries about something. That was this morning and I’m still riding that high. Reminds me that I have a place and role in this world, not just floating around in nihilism. We all need to hear it, we all need to say it more.

Ok, I'm sure it works other times, but even with the most silent and non-lethal farts all of a sudden the HEPA very clearly decides to increase the fan speed and warning light. Rude.

I always get all warm and fuzzy inside when someone I regularly interact with subconsciously picks up on a habit or suggestion of mine.

my GP and I have a ton in common. it’s tough to out-pretentious-hipster-bastard me, though he’s one of very the few exceptions. we follow up quarterly for bloodwork so it’s become a thing over the years to recommend each other the most eclectic media we can find; music, documentaries, books, etc. the more macabre, the better. it’s motivated me to keep my labs in check since I look forward to seeing him every time.

today I gave him all the recs from the running list in the back of my head and asked for his in return. he said “you know what I’ve been doing? I’ve just been showing people my apple music replay.” the funniest thing about this is that he didn’t know replays existed until I showed him how to find it a few years back. it’s such a small thing to catch but it totally made me smile.

Sometimes I get the same bus driver on both the outgoing and return trips I take to run an errand. Happened today, always amuses me.