Microposts on Hey Loura!

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:22:59 -0400

I’m moving Lillihub from classic deno deploy (which is sunsetting) to the new deno deploy. There will be some down time as I complete the migration.

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:07:41 -0400

I got back from a wonderful vacation and immediately got swamped with emails and meetings. Can I go back? - Stonington ME

Wed, 20 May 2026 11:25:13 -0400

When I get bored and have access to claude.ai… I build html quine apps 😄 My newest creation is a personal financial planner app. I love this format, self contained and easy to backup. Too bad cross device usage is still a pain. Though… I also wrote them before as well (just not as quickly).

Tue, 05 May 2026 15:11:38 -0400

One garden bed done. Nine more to go… 🌱

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:02:57 -0400

It’s nice enough to each lunch outside. I’m loving this.

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:26:15 -0400

Sigh, it looks like Deno Deploy Classic is being sunsetted mid-July. Guess I’ll have to move, Lillihub 🐸, my micro.blog client, to the new one or start hosting it myself.

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:05:22 -0400

This weekend I reached for Claude AI to see how it does with an SVG heavy design. It struggled with keeping things in proportion and keeping perspective. I had to nudge it and do hand edits. SVG’s are not my forte but together we brought my concept to life. I think its adorable. Check it out.

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:34:59 -0400

My poor memory strikes again. I was talking with my sister that I would love, love, love to go see Les Misérables some day on stage when my husband speaks up and tells me he took me to see it already 🤔😆 Woops.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:27:04 -0400

Two years later and my other kid needs cookies. At least this time my child checked in the morning well ahead of the lab 😆

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 09:53:30 -0400

Now that I got my pkm tool to where I want it, my next project is going to be a CMS that lets me build a website like a sticker book.

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:42:54 -0400

I feeling the digital mess of my files across devices pretty strongly today. The urge to toss everything in an archive folder and zip it… is strong. But I'll still know there is a mess of files within it. Don't get me started on digital photos. It's my blog too. It feels messy and disordered right now, not theme-wise (though I kinda want to switch back to my rpg one) but the micro posts and the long posts all together. I've outgrown some categories. I struggle because I both want everything in one place but also organized and consistent. Arg… I guess it's just one of those days.

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 13:18:10 -0400

I’m required to use Claude at work so I’ve been testing it out. My favorite so far: A PWA quine PKM system. Took what I liked from Logseq (outline - simplified) and single file architecture (Tiddlywiki). I also added in sync to Micro.blog’s private notes with chunking. Came together in a day.

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:29:31 -0400

I’ve had kid(s) for a decade and a half now, and I’m still surprised how early registration opens up for things… like summer camp. Guess I know what I’m researching this evening.

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 12:18:37 -0400

Read as text

Using AI at Work

Well, the time finally came. My boss wants me to start using AI in my workflow. In anticipation I've been playing around with Claude Code the last couple of weeks. It's improved since the last time I tried it out.

Maybe that's why I'm feeling drawn to this handwriting mood with my blog. Something a bit more me that isn't a quick prompt into existence.

Shrug

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:29:02 -0400

Read as text

I got up this morning around 3am because… my brain sucks sometimes. Anyway, it was cloudy then and its still cloudy now. Oh well…

♥ Loura

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:15:00 -0400

Read as text

My kid fell in love with the local agricultural school during a summer camp session. This year our state switched all technical schools to be lottery based. We filled out the application and today was the day. We waited…

No luck. I have a very sad kid.

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:31:12 -0400

Our town reported 25in of snow for today’s blizzard. Though I feel like we got more. Not the best day for a shear pin to break on the snow blower. So we got to hand shovel the way too long driveway.

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 17:28:44 -0400

I purchased a variety of green teas to try for the new year. As a way to take quiet moments and enjoy some health benefits. Today’s selection: premium dragon well long jing. It has a nice smell and its quite mellow.

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 19:12:26 -0400

I downloaded the hobonichi app to see if I liked it more than day one. It is cuter which may help me stick, but I like the encrypted option of day one and with day one I can use the android share sheet and get thoughts like these into Micro.blog. I’m going to give each a month and then decide.

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 22:36:49 -0400

I had a good time attending a virtual Homebrew Website Club meeting this evening while I worked on my blog redesign. I was inspired by a codepen I came across for a journal with flipping pages done with CSS. The design only shows for desktop and its still a work in progress, but I’m having a blast.

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 21:37:52 -0400

I didn’t realize day one now had a web app and an android app. I’m going to have to check it out.

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 13:35:24 -0400

Planting bamboo along a driveway is fun! Ignore that it’s impassable mess when covered in snow. Every winter storm we need to keep shaking the snow off to keep it from freezing to the ground. Maybe this is why the previous owner left 🤣 (they planted it).

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 13:19:06 -0400

I forgot how loud an indoor water park can get. The kids are having fun though 😄

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 13:40:31 -0400

We’ve been sick with the flu the last two weeks so I’ve done zero prep for the new year. But waking up to a fresh dusting of snow was nice.

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 13:33:04 -0400

I had a lovely holiday and I’m on vacation until the new year. I’m going to spend time catching up on my five year journal and planning out the next five years. There are college plans for one kid, figuring out high school plans for another and finishing up my “homeschooling the kids” journey.

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 08:44:37 -0400

Work has been so demoralizing the last couple of weeks (well, for years but it has really ramped up). Sigh. I think I might use some vacation time and try to reset my mindset.

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 19:43:30 -0400

So my son dropped his phone (again*100) and the screen is totally busted. Good thing its a Fairphone. Replacement is ordered and I’ll teach him how to install it 😎

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:45:58 -0400

My kung fu brother and I had our second tournament! I did four tai chi events, 24 movement, 42 movement, short yang fan and yang broadsword. Taking a very serious photo is a tradition at my school 😁

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 12:42:42 -0400

We have a septic alarm going off at the house (professionals have been called and are coming) so I’m gonna escape the noise. Off to a coffee shop to work on my journal ☕

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 10:40:48 -0400

I’m using an older book to teach my kid some web development this year and it has them create a webpage about various iPod models. They had no clue what they were 😂

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:36:02 -0400

Quick test post

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 14:33:30 -0400

Did arts and crafts this morning and then stood around outside with 280 people, showing it off. No 👑!

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 09:26:13 -0400

I did a thing yesterday 😄

* we can only share 10 second clips

Not bad for my first tournament at 40! I did two tai chi forms, an empty hand kung fu form and a double daggers form. It was very inspiring and I’m looking forward to my next tournament… in three weeks 🤣

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 15:29:03 -0400

One issue with WeirdWebOctober is that the prompt reminds me of a little side project I never completed and then I get sidetracked working on that instead 😆 So far I’ve been sidetracked by a CYOA website attempt, a randomly generated hexcrawl map and quine and my old indieweb generator. Good times!

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 13:06:43 -0400

I’m flying out for my first tai chi and kung fu tournament in less than a week, thus realizing one of my long term goals since before motherhood 😄

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 16:56:51 -0400

Here is my first entry, transparency, for #weirdweboctober.

I’m not sure how many I’ll finish this month but I’m aiming for three or four :)

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 11:32:15 -0400

Since I just changed to a new blog design, here is a picture of my old one :)

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 15:14:39 -0400

Homeschooling today featured a meltdown around math being stupid learning about y = mx + b. At work there is a bug around an object not being deserialized into JSON correctly that I need to solve… sigh 🤪 Can I figure it out before the get the kids to swim practice shuffle begins? We shall see.

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 08:54:22 -0400

I finished another tai chi video youtube link. This was the prettiest spot I did tai chi during my vacation. Two more to go and then I’ll invest in a microphone and try doing some audio ones. I also need to figure out my own video hosting.

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 10:05:41 -0400

Yesterday I learned that I can still do cartwheels around the room. This morning I learned that my shoulder doesn’t like it 😆

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 13:52:29 -0400

So far I’ve avoided buying a new Hobonichi planner/cover with the launch. I don’t need one. I might wander over to a local shop and pick up one of their grid notebooks and folder sets next week. My pocketbook will be much happier with that arrangement.

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:33:51 -0400

I’ve been enjoying the Hobonichi reveal and these are my current favorites. I just love the mix of pink and red with the flowers. I have the a6 POTR cover from last year (love it!) and I was hoping they’d release it again so I could grab a5 for when I’m carrying my onyx boox around.

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 13:15:21 -0400

I’m at a three day work conference and this is what happens when you ask me to un-package and prepare a bunch of binders for stuffing. A nice hollow hive design 😂

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 08:43:18 -0400

Starting the morning with two things I love, tai chi and coffee.

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 15:47:27 -0400

I’m sitting at the local pond, working on my five year journal, while the kids are off swimming 🥰

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 18:05:05 -0400

I’m excited to teach my son web development this year 🤩

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 09:23:42 -0400

My husband took the kids to the last swim meet of the summer session (to save me from another migraine this week). So… today will be filled with catching up in my 5 year journal, finishing part three of my Tai Chi video (part two here), some coding and playing animal crossing 🤩

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 20:08:35 -0400

Movie night with my dad. Tonight is “Invaders from Mars” from 1953

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 18:48:42 -0400

I finished editing the first section of a tai chi form I filmed on vacation. Even though I have no idea what I’m doing, editing-wise, I think it came out pretty good for a first attempt 😂.

YouTube Video

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:33:00 -0400

One of my kids needs a new phone… so they are inheriting my Fairphone 4 and I’m buying myself a Fairphone 6. I’m really excited. This also means I was successful in my mission of converting my whole little family onto fairphones and e/os. I’ve also managed to get everyone switched over to Signal. 😎

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:30:03 -0400

Oof… Going back to work after a three week vacation is rough. I forgot how overwhelming the current project I’m working on is… and thanks to all the federal grants being cut, no help in sight. sigh.

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:40:33 -0400

So far my little homemade tickler file has been holding up with just one repair along the tape seam needed.

The biggest alteration I’ve made is adding a couple of sticky notes to each daily page for the month when I do my monthly setup. This allows me to quickly add a note to a relevant day without digging through the back to find an index card.

The sticky notes can be repositioned and ones that turn into little to do trackers can move forward day by day as I need.

This tweak really lets the lay flat design shine since I leave it open in my desk as I work and can use the sticky notes when I need to.

I still keep projects and references on sturdy index cards kept in the daily pouches.

I’ve been using it for over six months now and I’m still really happy with how everything flows. And since it is small I almost always have it on hand, either on my desk or in my purse.

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 04:54:14 -0400

Yesterday we started the journey home by waking up to a flat tire on the rental car 😂. Thankfully we had a late flight so we had time to get everything situated. Today we have one more flight and then I can give my cats the biggest hug.

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 06:57:49 -0400

My mother was born here and one of her wishes was to do tai chi with me while we visited. Maia, Santa Maria, Açores. My grandfather owned a small house on the cliffs right above this pool. He sold it to bring his wife and kids to the USA.

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:43:54 -0400

Day 30: Solitude

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:37:37 -0400

Catching up on #mbjune posts

Day 29: winding

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:23:58 -0400

Catching up on #mbjune posts

Day 28: Ephemeral

So much of my child’s art is dirt, mud, and flowers. They only last a day or two.

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:21:19 -0400

Catching up on #mbjune posts

Day 27: Collective

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:12:21 -0400

Catching up on #mbjune posts

Day 26: Bridge

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:06:58 -0400

Catching up on #mbjune posts

Day 25: Decay

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 14:07:56 -0400

I wasn’t sure if I’d have good internet connection while on vacation so I tossed together a little micro.blog client that didn’t use JavaScript or load any images by default to keep the amount of data transferred low. I’m kinda loving it.

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 13:31:22 -0400

The other day I was scrambling over some volcanic rocks when my shoe got caught. Luckily years of kung fu and tai chi kicked in and I managed to fall in such a way I didn’t break bones. Balance exercises and learning how to fall are so important as we age.

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 10:53:58 -0400

I’m finally taking a rest day. I think I’ve walked around this island too much. I’m a bit sunburnt from it all. Time to pull out my Hobonichi and drink a cappuccino.

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 18:06:12 -0400

Just a few more days of vacation left. I’m going to miss the sunsets here.

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 12:53:24 -0400

On this little island in the middle of the Atlantic, there is a little red dessert. So of course I had to do some tai chi.

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 18:30:38 -0400

Bloom #mbjune

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 12:15:57 -0400

fracture #mbjune

Sun, 22 Jun 2025 18:30:24 -0400

Hometown #mbjune

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 17:09:46 -0400

So far we’ve lost luggage on this vacation (since recovered) and our rental house had busted AC unit. To make up for the fact that they can’t repair it until a part is shipped to the island we’ve been moved to a larger place 😄

The view 😍

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 16:56:35 -0400

I just want to say that I love it here on Micro.blog. And yes this totally has to do with me wandering over to social.lol to see what the fuss was about this time.

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 11:47:22 -0400

Silhouette #mbjune

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:04:53 -0400

We gather to celebrate. My wedding in 2009. #mbjune

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 12:45:52 -0400

I found a pretty spot to practice tai chi.

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 04:56:56 -0400

While I’m vacationing in the beautiful Azores, I wanted to film some Tai Chi videos. Anyone have tips, tricks or software recommendations (linux or windows)? My camera does 4k video but I don’t have a microphone. Thanks! 😄

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 17:11:25 -0400

The blue and green are about equal #mbjune

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:00:48 -0400

texture #mbjune

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 18:14:54 -0400

We made it! Though not all our luggage did 😂. Now we get two weeks to relax a de-stress. So far my son rates the vacation a 10/10

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 17:54:53 -0400

Warmth #mbjune

My favorite spot in the winter. Maui’s too.

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 13:16:22 -0400

Blur #mbjune

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 19:10:46 -0400

Tie #mbjune

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 12:06:06 -0400

And I’m off with the family for a nice vacation. Santa Maria, Azores, here I come 😎✈️

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 21:20:01 -0400

Twilight #mbjune

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 20:21:13 -0400

Path #mbjune

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 19:53:43 -0400

Finally got a proof of concept working. A progress indicator without JavaScript 😎 Thank you iframes and Meta refresh

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 19:25:54 -0400

Hidden #mbjune

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:28:23 -0400

Target. Just testing out my micropub implementation 😊

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 20:55:49 -0400

I sat down to start work at around 7:30am and I’m just finishing up at 9:00pm. I am counting down the days until vacation 😴

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 13:09:07 -0400

This was taken in 2014. Bricks. #mbjune

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 19:48:37 -0400

Rail #mbjune

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 22:06:43 -0400

Wood #mbjune

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:53:20 -0400

Today’s code related annoyance: can’t open an HTML5 dialog on a button click without JavaScript, can’t prevent clicking outside and subsequently closing a HTML5 popover without JavaScript, and you can’t style a same domain iframe element from the parent document. Sigh.

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 15:29:41 -0400

It has been five years since we have gone on a long family vacation. It is time for some much needed travel and relaxation. #mbjune

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 15:24:28 -0400

So I have some vacation time coming up and I wanted to spend a little time improving a few things on Lillihub, my little micro.blog client. Any suggestions for those who use it or checked it out at some point?

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 21:47:50 -0400

I couldn’t really think of anything much to go with the switch prompt for #mbjune. I’m still playing animal crossing a couple of times a week, even 5 years after its release.

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 18:13:32 -0400

The contrast of the blue and green, of nature and manufactured #mbjune

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 12:38:49 -0400

Reflection #mbjune

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:04:36 -0400

An old picture of my son with my old Gameboy Color. Nostalgia. #mbjune

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 12:44:14 -0400

Maui acting as Fuzzyboots shadow. #mbjune

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 09:19:51 -0400

Today I need to write homeschooling progress reports for the school district. Sigh. I’m going to need a bunch of coffee. One would think that after five years I would remember to do it piecemeal during the year and not wait until the last minute. Oh well…

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 13:58:51 -0400

My son, following the curve of the track.

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 17:34:43 -0400

My favorite tree in the yard, a larch tree.

Fri, 30 May 2025 19:22:53 -0400

It’s been such a tough six months. I’m treating myself to an ice cream and playing Animal Crossing for a while.

Wed, 21 May 2025 08:21:31 -0400

I’m replacing my Onyx Boox Note 2 from 2020 with a used Tab Mini C. It looks like Onyx is moving away from the 7.8in size and away from the Wacom screen in general based on the newest offerings. The Note 2 is still working like a charm and will be a family device 😄

Tue, 20 May 2025 13:02:35 -0400

Ugh this newest family drama couldn’t have come at a worst time. I’m already struggling to keep all my plates spinning while everything around me attempts to mimic the “This is fine” meme. It’s already under my skin and I’m having such a hard time regaining focus to get work done. Sigh.

Sat, 17 May 2025 12:57:38 -0400

I just finished mowing the back field behind the house. Mugwort has taken over and my arms are shaking. I’ve never justified the expense of a riding lawnmower but man… It sure seems tempting now. Lol 😂

Tue, 13 May 2025 20:24:02 -0400

It was a lovely afternoon to practice some tai chi

Tue, 06 May 2025 13:36:03 -0400

The poster generated for my last video upload was just a black image, since the first frame is black. Here is the alt text the AI generated for it… 😂

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 18:20:28 -0400

It’s early in the season, but that won’t stop my kids 😄

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 20:30:38 -0400

To relax I’ve been reading up on Overloading the Random Encounter Table and Hex flower’s as a way to create a little solo RPG to play. I’m thinking three little one page foldable zines for character sheets, a bestiary, and the hex-flower generator. Screenshot of my first concept. WIP.

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 07:14:52 -0400

The tree outside my bedroom window has such pretty butter yellow blooms this time of year.

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 19:21:13 -0400

Guess who had to socialize today 😆

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 19:15:13 -0400

It’s finally time to relax. Now I need to pick between building Lego’s, my solo ttrpg adventure, a fun coding project or building a new MTG deck… Choices choices 😄

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 18:31:45 -0400

We finally had a sunny Saturday. So we spent it doing yard work.

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:10:06 -0400

testing testing…

Next up, testing an in page edit off my blog 😀

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 14:22:39 -0400

My Kagi usage for the last six months. Guess I do a lot of searches 😆

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 22:17:48 -0400

I put the CSS back on my website today. I rather enjoyed the simplified look. It got me thinking about low CSS and no JS web apps. HTML5 can do a lot out of the box. So using the tricks I’ve learned I tossed a little demo together.

A plain m.b. timeline with under 500 bytes of CSS and no JS.

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 21:21:32 -0400

New digital garden theme :)

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 07:50:07 -0400

This is the fourth rainy weekend in a row. Mucking out a koi pond is unpleasant enough… I have no desire to do it in the cold rain… Sigh.

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:39:10 -0400

CSS Naked Day, April 9th 2025

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 09:54:50 -0400

My website is not broken… today is CSS Naked Day. I must say, it doesn’t look as bad as I expected 😅

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 17:00:41 -0400

I’m not finished but I did some digital spring cleaning and updated my website theme a bit. I wanted to explore making it more of a digital garden and less chronological. Part of that was implementing backlinks. I wrote up the steps here Backlinks on a Micro.blog hosted website.

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 15:15:01 -0400

I haven’t seen any self-hosted solutions for sharing code samples along the same lines of embedding something from Codepen.io. Any suggestions? I want to start sharing more interactive code samples but I want to have them hosted on my blog (or something I can host elsewhere and then embed) 🤔

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 15:52:08 -0400

I love it when daffodils start blooming in the yard.

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 14:56:55 -0400

So I made a new category for my blog and noticed this new error message coming up under the Micro.blog -> Account Logs area

Error: Error building site: failed to render pages: open _site/categories/micro.blog-tips-and-tricks/page/1/index.html: not a directory

The name of the category was Micro.blog-tips-and-tricks and after it was generated the path was /categories/micro.blog-tips-and-tricks. This caused that strange error. Renaming the path to /categories/micro-blog-tips-and-tricks fixed the issue.

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 16:01:22 -0400

I just got so frustrated at a piece of code for work I took 20 minutes and rage cleaned my windows. Then I made a cup of tea, sat back down, and immediately saw the issue. So now I have working code and clean windows 😎

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:32:44 -0400

I made some progress on my little solo rpg quine idea this weekend. I’m using the hex generation rules from the welshpiper.com. I also picked up the icons from the HPS Cartography Kit. I’ve gotten as far as marking the major and minor encounters.

Sat, 15 Mar 2025 14:46:32 -0400

This weekend I’m thinking about building a html quine (like Tiddlywiki) for a hexcrawl inspired from the dungeons and dragons expert rulebook. I envision something to play solo and explore 🤔

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 07:40:20 -0400

I did set the alarm for 2am, hoping to see the lunar eclipse… but clouds had other plans. The kids were disappointed.

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 08:45:12 -0400

Today is a sneak off to the office day. I love my kids and homeschooling them but man… their pre-teen attitude(s) is making everything 10x harder than it needs to be.

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 20:02:15 -0400

So while I’m at this swim meet my mind is wandering to webgardens, the Spring'83 Protocol and small social networks. I feel like I have an idea brewing but I’m not sure what connection my mind is trying to make. 🤔

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:12:14 -0400

Last big swim meet of the season for my daughter! 🏊‍♀️

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 11:46:56 -0400

Small work rant.

The non-profit I work for has six people working for them (including me)

Why on earth do we have 92^* projects in Asana?

🤯 Why… just why!?! No wonder I can never find things…

^*That’s just the number I have permission to see… there are even more I’m sure….

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:32:46 -0400

Made some progress yesterday on my blog/game hybrid. I’m thinking that the blog post will be represented by the broken tablet and you’ll need to find the key to unlock and read it, thus gaining gold and XP. The game change-log has been updated. Onward! 🐉⚔️👩‍💻

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 15:12:48 -0400

🐸 Lillihub (an unofficial web/PWA client for Micro.blog)

Here’s what’s new:

Rename/delete notebooks
Move notes to different notebooks
Copy notes and export to Markdown/HTML
Optional note auto-save
Auto-save on new posts and editing existing blog posts

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 12:32:15 -0400

This morning I’m practicing some tai chi forms, teaching my son to use an encyclopedia for his research paper, and waiting for fresh homemade donuts to finish rising.

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 10:45:43 -0400

Today’s exercise is a three ton pick up. Three tons of pellets for the pellet stove need to be moved into storage.

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 10:55:53 -0400

Yesterday I was out clothes shopping and two hours in I noticed my wedding ring was gone… vanished… poof…

So my “cheer myself up” outing from a rotten morning turned into tears, backtracking, and feeling dejected.

Sigh.

But a turn of luck saved me. It had fallen off in my car.

Relief.

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 12:27:47 -0400

🎊🥳🐸 Lillihub Update 🐸🥳🎊

Besides bug fixes, here’s what’s new:

Private notes can have titles and tags (Lillihub only)
Access private note versioning
The timeline now mimics Micro.blog by default (this can be changed under settings)
Links to notes and bookshelves in the slide out menu

Enjoy!

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:13:32 -0400

Android Studio and gradle. Please, I beg you. Give me something useful in the console when you fail to build.

-heyloura, day three of trying to get an old Cordova app for work working on a new system.

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 18:04:48 -0400

Phew, finally finished backing up all my photos. One backup on my Linux machine, and one on my Immich server I’m self hosting with Pika Pods. Next step, delete everything off of google, onedrive, and Amazon photos and finally start cancelling accounts.

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 11:25:34 -0400

I’m having way too much fun with 7.css

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 08:40:38 -0400

Yesterday’s rabbit trails (things that caught my interest that I went off to explore)

Non-cryptographic hash functions and more specifically implementing Fowler–Noll–Vo hash function in JavaScript
Quasicrystals
And now I want some Aperiodic Tiling/Penrose Tiling for my website background 🤣

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 17:33:57 -0400

First time in a while that I have friends coming over to play Dungeon Crawl Classics. I hope they enjoy and survive “Perils of the Sunken City” ⚔️🐉

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 17:35:07 -0400

So… 1:00 am one of the kids burst into our bedroom with stomach bug symptoms… and that’s how my new year is going 🤣

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 02:21:38 -0400

Happy New Year!

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:14:13 -0400

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. For those that don’t, I hope you have a wonderful day. For those who celebrate, and it’s complicated… I’m right there with you and I’m wishing you the best. 🎄

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 12:31:12 -0400

Everyone is out of the house… It’s time to wrap presents 🎄

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 14:43:42 -0400

Two days in the office this week, I’m not used to that anymore 😆. Plus I feel like the cold my husband and the kids have passed around this last month is finally catching up with me. I can’t wait until Fridays is over and I have a whole week to relax.

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:55:49 -0400

Awwww, he tolerated his festive scarf for a whole minute 🐈

Sat, 14 Dec 2024 11:38:02 -0400

Finally feeling like decorating for the Holidays 🎄

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 17:43:11 -0400

Just testing things out. Will delete 🐸😄

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 14:10:37 -0400

Hello CORS my old friend
I've come to find errors again
Because browsers and servers trusting
Left its colors red while logging
And the answer to set valid headers with request
Still remains
Within the chains of preflight 🎶

Sat, 23 Nov 2024 17:11:00 -0400

I love watching my kids at swim meets… but the heat, humidity, and noise of the pool room tends to trigger a migraine.

Also, my phone’s camera struggled with the motion but the blurred effect is rather neat. My son is the one in the middle.

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 20:12:34 -0400

Check out my Veggie ID! You can create yours at sophie006liu.github.io/vegetal/

It’s true… I’m good at driving. But very not true that I’m good at texting.

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 17:36:54 -0400

I’m eating m&m’s, watching an animal crossing playthrough on youtube, and messing around with code. Next up is dinner, a Just Dance battle with my daughter, and then working in my journal 🥰

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 13:14:12 -0400

Summer vacation booked! I’ll be joining my parents and some of my extended family in the Azores. I’ll get to go see the little house my mother was born in. I can’t wait ✈️🏝️

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 18:23:26 -0400

Small actions steps I’ve taken this week: I got a family Kagi plan and set the kids up, I found my town’s board meeting schedule so I can start attending (and voting 😏) and started moving my audiobooks over to audiobookshelf (open source).

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 10:02:38 -0400

I woke up, voted for Kamala Harris, got a pumpkin spice latte, and uploaded a cute picture of my cats.

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 19:51:28 -0400

One drawback with homeschooling and working full time. If you don’t get done teaching and helping the kids until 1pm and you have to drive them to sports in the afternoon, then you’re stuck at your computer until 10pm to make up the work hours. 😴 ☕ 👩🏻‍💻

Sun, 03 Nov 2024 17:32:03 -0400

I finally have a moment to myself and Im going to enjoy the Halloween festivities on my island.

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:46:09 -0400

I finished my Halloween costume just in time for tap class last night. 🎃 👻

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 07:45:43 -0400

I picked up these cute metal statutes to go by our koi pond. They’ll be inside during the winter, making me chuckle every time I walk by.

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 08:32:35 -0400

Enjoying the getaway

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 11:10:06 -0400

We dropped the kids off with my parents this weekend and my husband and I are off to New Hampshire 😄🍁🍂

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 17:07:27 -0400

Got a little more coding time in today and played around with Micro.blog’s private notes. I implemented some basic tag functionality using YAML frontmatter in the notes. It’s only been a couple of hours and I’m already really liking it. (Note: this is not in production yet)

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:59:12 -0400

I had some time to play with code today (which I find relaxing). I’m thinking that I like conversations indented a bit on Lillihub. I have quite a few changes/updates that may go out in a month or two.

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 21:13:25 -0400

Went to see the Jack-O-Lantern spectacular in Providence RI. It was stunning! 🎃

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 18:08:29 -0400

I had a wisdom tooth removed today. So it’s a play animal crossing new horizons and eat applesauce kind of day.

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 12:56:56 -0400

I have a scale judging the severity of information from my father. If he…

offers to meet at my house: probably a tech support question or to say hello.
wants me to go to his place: tech support or to catch up.
calls me: the wildcard; nothing or a death in the family.
a text to call him: no good could come of this.
his place… sans kids + spouse: concerning.
at Starbucks, alone: uh oh…. this is serious.

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 19:26:38 -0400

Halloween costume making time!

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 19:23:14 -0400

I challenged my son to a “Just Dance 2022” battle. I can still win, but man, he’s getting better 💃

Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:13:56 -0400

I’ve been having fun with some Lillihub updates. No promises if/when these will go out, there is a lot of testing and tweaking to be done 👩‍💻

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 15:10:38 -0400

Here’s my submission for “Day Two: CSS” for Weird Website October

This a twist of the prompt. A website styled without CSS using obsolete methods.

#weirdweboctober

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:14:47 -0400

Here’s my submission for “Day One: Nature” for Weird Website October

Looks best on a tablet/desktop, tested on chrome and edge #weirdweboctober

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 16:21:48 -0400

Weird Web October

Weird Web October is a challenge to try and make a website every day of October, based on the theme for each day, inspired by Inktober. It’s open to you and everyone!

I might not have time to do this everyday but I’m going to see what I can do 🤩

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 10:09:30 -0400

I’ve seen a few other give their blogs a Halloween/October vibe and I’m joining in too. Nothing like floating¹ emojis to make a website look good² 😎

Disabled if browser has prefers-reduced-motion ↩︎
In my opinion 😆 ↩︎

Sat, 28 Sep 2024 11:56:32 -0400

Ninth grade homeschool schedule: 8 credits

Honors Geometry
Honors Biology
Writing, with tutor, and Literature
World History: Africa and Asia
European Portuguese
Falcons: Integrated Humanities
Elective: Contributing to Scientific Understanding (semester)
Elective: Astronomy (semester)

Sat, 28 Sep 2024 10:18:04 -0400

Caturday 😺 and Maui is helping me with Halloween decorations 🎃

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 15:57:33 -0400

Seventh grade homeschool schedule:

Prealgebra
Spelling, Melancholy Grammar, Creative Writing, and selected literature
Co-op: Geography and Poetry
Microbiology and Genetics
Online Falcons
Ancient and Medieval History
Art Projects
Swim and Gymnastics
Health: The Chat: Stanford Medicine

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:59:48 -0400

My newest trick to help with the bulky photos in my five year journal; peel off the backing of the photo paper and use double sided tape.

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 21:20:31 -0400

You’re never too old for a Just Dance 2022 battle 💃

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 08:08:25 -0400

My Hobonichi haul from launch day. I got an A6 notebook to use as a bullet journal and the potr cover/purse to hold it. The purse fits my Fairphone 4, my essentials, notebook and pen. It’s the perfect size for me. I’m also really thrilled with my 4&1 uniball jetstream pen.

Sun, 08 Sep 2024 18:17:07 -0400

It was a pretty good day today. I taught tai chi in the morning, got to have some fun playing with code, went apple picking with old friends and the kids, managed to fit in yard work with much needed weeding and now I’m enjoying some time getting things set up for the upcoming week.

Sun, 08 Sep 2024 08:56:13 -0400

Testing

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 12:31:39 -0400

End of summer fun with the kids

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 13:06:44 -0400

I have a pumpkin spice latte and I’m listening to animal crossing new horizons music. Time to be extra productive at work ☕🎃🏝️👩🏻‍💻

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 17:50:08 -0400

My parents are off vacationing in the Azores and I’m at home trying to offer tech support from 2500 miles away 😆

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 12:28:14 -0400

Today is a build lots of Ikea furniture day 🛠️

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 16:27:35 -0400

It was another tough week. My uncle passed away while we were on a family vacation. I loved teaching him Tai Chi over the last six years. I’ll miss those weekly moments out in nature, chatting and enjoying something so simple. He was a fantastic and brilliant man who will be missed.

Sun, 28 Jul 2024 10:45:58 -0400

For the first time this year we managed to sneak away for a family vacation.

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 18:16:04 -0400

I enjoy the stat emails Audible occasionally sends me. I should probably start to cycle in some harder non-fiction reads now that life is calming down. I tend to escape into easy sci-fi when I’m stressed out.

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:37:06 -0400

I’m a few days in using my new Fairphone4 running the deGoogled e/os. I had no problem getting it to run on USMobile’s 5G. There are three pre-installed apps I’m not using, Mail, Tasks, and Calendar. It was also easy to install a couple of apps I needed. So far I find it charming 😄

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 20:13:50 -0400

I got my new phone today. Now I need to resist filling it up with apps. I want to keep it under 24 (one screen) 😂

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 18:11:23 -0400

How I spend my time in waiting rooms ☺️

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 10:16:31 -0400

Website change-log

Sidebar now collapses on mobile
Categories now show last updated
Font tweak
Category pages: pulls in images and bookshelf, bookmarks (by tag), and single page if they have the same name.
Blogger stats tweaked (label and order)
Addded surprise-me plugin

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 19:11:18 -0400

Finished Reading 2024: Kitty Cat Kill Sat by Argus 📚

This book was an enjoyable read. It was pretty slow in the middle which suited my frame of mind just fine.

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 16:36:55 -0400

Homeschool prep for this coming school year has begun! 😄 I love getting new books and curriculum in the mail.

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 14:53:38 -0400

I’m really not a fan of going to the dentist 😔

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 10:32:22 -0400

I pulled out my old e-ink tablet and I’ve been having a lot of fun using it. I’ve even used it somewhat successfully as a monitor while coding on visual studio. Also, Lillihub isn’t half bad black and white. P. S. Applying screen protectors isn’t my strong suit 😂

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 13:57:00 -0400

Currently reading: Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson 📚

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 07:55:45 -0400

Looks like this year I’ll be back to homeschooling two kids. 9th and 7th grade here I come ☺️

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 07:20:32 -0400

Currently reading: Do I Know You? by Sadie Dingfelder 📚

This stuff fascinates me. I’m about a third of the way through the book nodding along in agreement. Some of what she writes matches my experience of being deficient at recognizing people, stereoblind, and no visual mind (aphantasia).

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 07:17:22 -0400

Four weeks at Boston Children’s are done. Two more weeks to go.

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 19:44:51 -0400

It’s just me and my son tonight. So pizza, ice cream, and some MTG battles it is. He already beat my bird and cat deck. Let’s see if this commander battle goes any differently 😂

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 14:47:41 -0400

Things I spotted in my yard today:

Pink foxglove with wild strawberries
white peonies
A cute garden snake

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 20:22:11 -0400

Sometimes I can’t help myself. I overhauled an old desktop blog theme I had. I’m not quite finished and it is possible I went overboard this time around 😆

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 15:01:14 -0400

I restarted my animal crossing new horizons island a few days ago. This time I’m not going to unlock the terraforming tools. I feel like I have the best intentions with them, then it all becomes a mess until I’m so irritated that I delete my save file. 🏝️

Sat, 01 Jun 2024 21:31:22 -0400

I needed some Tai Chi pictures so my sister helped me out with a little photo shoot. This is one of my favorites.

Wed, 29 May 2024 22:17:58 -0400

I treated my daughter to a showing of her favorite podcast. It was a really nice to spend a little time relaxing and laughing 😊

Mon, 20 May 2024 11:47:55 -0400

It’s been just over two weeks since I updated 🐸 Lillihub. The analytics so far:

Which is good, since a few more people are using it. I’m keeping an eye on the free tier limits. Based on the logs, the CPU time per request limit was hit a few times. Probably large image uploads.

Sat, 18 May 2024 12:11:51 -0400

Finally, tomorrow is the magical day that all schedules align and we can actually continue playing our dungeon crawl classics game. I know what I’m prepping for the rest of the evening ⚔️🐉

Sat, 11 May 2024 16:21:50 -0400

Caturday 🐈

Fuzzyboots steals my chair any chance he gets.

Sat, 04 May 2024 16:46:26 -0400

Finally a nice weekend to get some yard work done.

Fri, 03 May 2024 08:44:04 -0400

Just testing something out :)

- heyloura, https://heyloura.com/2024/05/03/just-testing-something.html

Yep!

Thu, 02 May 2024 08:42:57 -0400

Big update to 🐸 Lillihub! 🥳 You will need to re-login before using it. I’ll do a longer post with the changes. Speak up if you see any issues. If you like the split of convos and posts you can re-enable it under settings. UI redesign, backend rewrite and more! Whew! 😆

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 20:20:43 -0400

My father came over for a visit. Our new tradition is watching an old black and white science fiction film together. Tonight was “Them!” from 1954. He gets such joy from sharing the make and model of every car, airplane, or helicopter he can in the films. Or any other trivia he can think of. ❤️

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 20:05:36 -0400

A big pile of books arrived today that I was going to tuck away for next year’s homeschooling and my son has already snuck one away for reading 😂

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 11:21:23 -0400

It’s just over a month since I shared that my daughter has pediatric CRPS. Hopefully we’ll get her into Boston Children’s Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center this summer/early fall. We’re on a waiting list, for a case review, to get on the official waiting list 🙄. It’s tough to see things worsen and not be able to speed up this process. But I’ve set it up so she has things to look forward to every couple of weeks. Fingers crossed that the wait time passes quickly.

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 12:03:34 -0400

I’ve been slowly working on a major 🐸 Lillihub, a micro.blog client, update and wanted to check-in and see if there were any suggestions/ideas out there while I get the release ready. No guarantee I’ll be able to implement any of them 😄

Here is a sneak peak of the UI changes:

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 10:30:59 -0400

So for my hobonichi journal this year I picked up some dip pens and inks that matched the color of months. Turns out this was a bad idea. I’m far more less likely to sit down and add to my journal if I need to fiddle around with pens and ink. So back to my old pens I go.

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 21:37:38 -0400

I’m curious if the micro.blog timeline respects the details element

example

Hello World

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 21:31:45 -0400

Looks like it is round two of strep throat in the house. Hopefully I can avoid it this time…

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 18:03:31 -0400

Tonight’s entertainment:

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 18:12:43 -0400

Two things I enjoy: ☕ and ☯️

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 11:04:01 -0400

When I started this whole homeschooling journey I really only anticipated it lasting until High School and then off to school my kids would go. But my son really wants to homeschool high school and… I kind of want him to, too 🙀

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 11:37:30 -0400

I’ve been using some shoelace web components in my Lillihub project. However, I am not using npm, or using a build step, and I don’t want external links. I just want a source file without a bunch of imports. Luckily I found this command line tool for compiling a node.js module. 😎

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 10:35:00 -0400

Such a rainy commute this morning to the office. It took almost twice as long as usual. ⛈️

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 15:07:04 -0400

My son cracks me up 😆. Of course he sends this 20 minutes before his science class when I'm stuck in a long meeting.

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 09:17:04 -0400

Ah, nothing like a strep throat test first thing in the morning. And yep… it’s positive.

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 11:13:38 -0400

These chickens are so happy when they get treats 🐣

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 10:00:38 -0400

Finally finished back-filling some pages for our previous years of homeschooling. I also added links to them on the homeschooling category page of my blog.

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 16:28:07 -0400

More signs of spring in the yard: hellebore and crocuses🌷

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 14:49:17 -0400

Gender Bias in Tech: 73% of Women Report Experiencing Discrimination | HackerNoon hackernoon.com

Yep, started with my first computer science class at college and all through my early career. Didn’t stop until I started working at a nonprofit, majority female both as employees and leadership, as a solo developer.

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 14:14:49 -0400

My son has worked so hard this swim season and here we are at the New England Championships 🏊

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 09:16:26 -0400

Testing, testing 🤓

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:32:56 -0400

My husband, daughter and I went up to Boston this weekend to attend a workshop on pediatric chronic pain. It’s called Comfort Ability and it was fantastic. I learned so much ❤️

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 16:21:09 -0400

I took some time to update my homeschooling page “Eighth Grade for 2023-2024” with what we’ve done so far this year. So far he’s 50/50 on continuing homeschooling for high school next year or trying out the local public school.

Sat, 09 Mar 2024 18:19:21 -0400

My husband brought me some lovely flowers today 😍💐

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 21:04:28 -0400

Now it is time to relax and play some games 😄

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 16:23:14 -0400

I have reached the point in my day where all I want to do is drink a cup of tea and play animal crossing. Unfortunately I still have a whole lot of adulting hours left to go 😅

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 16:43:30 -0400

Signs of spring in our yard

Sat, 02 Mar 2024 15:23:34 -0400

Just in time for caturday. Maui, on the left, gave us a health scare this week, resulting in two emergency vet visits. He’s back to his normal self after eating a piece my son’s foam sword from Halloween. 🐈🐈‍⬛

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:53:20 -0400

I’m thinking about making some design changes for Lillihub 🐸. I was playing around with this option (on the left) this weekend. It still has some color, but the UI is minimal. Nothing set in stone yet…

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 11:20:29 -0400

I have some free time this weekend for the first time in a while. Getting in some much needed Lillihub development time.

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 21:50:29 -0400

Some lessons, like keeping footware dry, I fear my kids will never learn…

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 14:32:36 -0400

I’m having some fun with the new Micro.blog premium feature, private notes. I’m trying to figure out what parts of my workflow I can move over 😄

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 20:13:39 -0400

Currently reading: When Your Child Hurts by Rachael Coakley 📚

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 09:25:23 -0400

Back to Boston Children’s with my daughter. Since the winter storm is upon us and the other patients canceled, I’m hoping the appointment will go a bit quicker than the scheduled five hours. Hopefully the snow isn’t too bad when we head out. ❄️

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 09:56:32 -0400

This morning I accidentally used mint extract instead of vanilla extract in my berry crisp 🤦

Sat, 03 Feb 2024 16:43:49 -0400

I want to thank seventeen year old me for trying out Tai Chi. I want to thank all the versions of me that kept with it. There are few things that make me feel so at peace. I let the world pass me by and I simply move with the forms.

Sat, 27 Jan 2024 19:05:12 -0400

It’s been a hard and long week. My daughter’s knee injury had an unexpected prognosis and its been tough to wrap my head around it. She’ll be all right, it’s just that the path to get there is longer and the way forward is murky.

Sat, 20 Jan 2024 22:42:45 -0400

Family game night ❤️

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 21:55:52 -0400

My son and I have had friction homeschooling this year. So yesterday morning we spent two hours brainstorming what to do and when he was last really happy with school. Turns out he was happiest when he read all the time. So we’re adjusting and adding in his wonderful choices ❤️📚

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 11:37:31 -0400

Fingers crossed that the CT scan shows enough signs of healing so my daughter can start physical therapy. This girl just wants to get up, run around, climb trees and dance.

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 21:07:04 -0400

An fun 🐸 Lillihub update I put in yesterday. The editor now previews an image while you write. I find it helpful to see the image while writing alt descriptions 😊

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 21:01:09 -0400

I decided to turn my Hobonichi Avec into a four year journal. I also figured out that nail polish makes a good sticker substitute if you need to cover up dates 😊

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 17:44:25 -0400

My favorite thing about my side project, Lillihub , is you don’t need JavaScript.

Besides the reply box not auto-clearing, the fancy markdown editor for posts (both which work with textareas), and photo swiping it’s not that noticable without it.

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 17:41:47 -0400

I finally have a chance to sit down and work on something. Choices, choices… Tai Chi, journaling, or coding. Or maybe, all three 😄

Sat, 13 Jan 2024 08:51:50 -0400

🐸 Lillihub update:

You will need to reset your settings.

Improvements:

Editor previews images inline
Editor supports browser spell check
Login on homepage
Added logout

Bugs:

Editor drag/drop/copy images has been fixed
Editor full screen dark mode fixed.

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 12:09:27 -0400

At work I had to port our code base to .NET 8 and deal with all the issues that introduced. Took me the better part of three days. Getting this last error resolved in our Azure Pipeline… still haven’t got it. 😤. So demoralizing. I miss the days when it was a simple FTP the files over…

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:46:38 -0400

Some minor blog tweaks today. I updated my little pixel avatar and I changed how I was grouping posts (thanks to @jsonbecker for the inspiration 😊).

Sun, 07 Jan 2024 18:18:49 -0400

First snowfall of the season ❄️

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 22:33:59 -0400

Currently reading: Practical Tai Chi Training by Jesse Tsao 📚

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 17:16:06 -0400

I just spent an hour teaching my mother, 70, how to play Animal Crossing New Horizons 💕. She says it’s much better thank Mario Kart 😂

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 18:33:56 -0400

Last year and this year. Time to get journaling ✍️

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:49:02 -0400

Rewatched Hammock Driven Development - Rich Hickey. I already do a few things

✅ Write problems down
✅ Think deeply (I do often wake up with solutions)
✅ Draw pictures 🎨

but l want to add

Read “How to Solve It” by G. Polya
Find two solutions to problems and better understand trade-offs. (I usually stop at one solution)

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 10:09:15 -0400

I’m reviewing my solo development methodology and figuring out if anything needs any tweaks. Last year I tried adapting Shape Up and I think I need to shorten the cycles. Six weeks is just a bit too long for me to maintain forward momentum.

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 19:27:03 -0400

I am both too tired to code and all I want to do is code. Conundrums…

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 12:36:10 -0400

And this lovely test post should not crosspost from Lillihub

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 09:58:13 -0400

Time for some digital clean up. Moving from Lastpass to 1Password, switching to ProtonVPN, moving files off of Dropbox and Onedrive and exploring Fastmail for the family.

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 21:29:31 -0400

It’s been an overwhelming holiday season this year. But I did manage to get the tree up 🎄😊

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 17:39:03 -0400

I’m working on some Lillihub tweaks 👩‍💻. I wanted to add a marker at the end of all the new posts since that last time Lillihub was viewed, but I’m having trouble with the wording. Any suggestions? “Already seen posts” seems a bit wordy and off…

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 17:45:45 -0400

A 🐸 Lillihub update to celebrate 1 month 🥳. Check it out, it’s a fun way to view your Micro.blog timeline.

Conversations don’t repeat as you page
Comments from people you follow are highlighted
Photo page for a user now has a grid view
Comment threads now have a collapse at the bottom

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 21:44:37 -0400

My mother embroidered this stocking for me when I was young. It’s one of my favorite things to hang up this time of year ❤️

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 20:41:46 -0400

Currently reading: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers 📚

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 18:06:29 -0400

Finished reading: System Collapse by Martha Wells 📚

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 21:29:08 -0400

This year my company got everyone Lego sets for the annual holiday party. We ate yummy food, listened to music, chatted and built Legos 💖

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 10:28:45 -0400

🚗 Off to Boston Children’s this morning to get a knee brace fitted for my daughter. Fingers crossed that the injury can heal on its own. We’ll reassess in four weeks.

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 16:47:15 -0400

Oh hey.. double update day for 🐸 Lillihub. Is that a checkmark I see on PWA? I believe it is 🤩

Super minimal right now, but you should be able to “install” Lillihub if your device supports it. Hopefully it works for IPhone users. Let me know if it doesn’t

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 11:08:35 -0400

Quick 🐸 Lillihub, a Micro.blog web client, update:

Dark Theme can be enabled. Turn it on under “Settings”
Bug fix: videos not showing.
Limit the # of comments streamed to 25 for performance. Configure the default under “Settings”. The “View Post” action still displays all.

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:12:02 -0400

My home office has lovely windows that are south facing. Which means I usually need to keep my blinds down so I can see my screen. But today it’s lightly snowing and overcast so I get to enjoy the view ☺️❄️

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 12:45:17 -0400

Did you know you can filter content out of the Micro.blog timeline and comments using the 🐸 Lillihub client? Go to “Settings” and save a list of terms. Note: the list is saved on the browser so if you are using Lillihub on multiple devices you will need to configure it on each device.

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:42:52 -0400

It’s that time of year when all my homeschooling plans start to unravel and I need to pivot our materials 🙄. One day I will learn to only plan out a semester at a time.

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 10:56:21 -0400

My son is doing wonderful this swim season. He’s always pushing himself and getting new personal bests 🥰

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 10:49:13 -0400

My daughter made such a cute gift wish list this year 🥰

Sat, 02 Dec 2023 11:11:20 -0400

Off to Boston Children’s Hospital this morning to get an MRI for my daughters knee and hopefully start getting some answers.

Sat, 02 Dec 2023 09:18:57 -0400

I love websites that do little advent calendars. I found these two, HTMHell and omg.lol, and it’s such a treat checking them every morning.

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 14:00:05 -0400

It’s been just over a year since my first custom Micro.blog theme (and joining M.B 🥳). To celebrate I revamped the design a bit and added in a cool tracker based off the wonderful Posts Stats plugin by amit.

Now I set forth as a Lvl 2 Blogger 😂🗡️🐉

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 08:46:02 -0400

New journal day! My Hobonichi cousin got too big to be carrying around everywhere so this little journal is the small one to take places and be functional. The Cousin will remain my place for memories and musings

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 11:47:01 -0400

Tai Chi is getting chilly in the mornings (we practice outside). It was 19°F and frost everywhere.

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 20:41:54 -0400

I’ve been feeling the itch to learn something new and it’s a long weekend… time to dive into Rust and start with a “Hello World” 😆

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 11:09:46 -0400

His favorite spot 🐈

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 09:50:48 -0400

Maui is not so sure about our dinner choice 🦞🐈

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:59:23 -0400

Lillihub Update 🐸:

Photos now swipe on both large and small screens.
Post titles now show, when they exist, on the “My Blog” -> “Posts” area.
Better date display (when JavaScript enabled)
Tagmoji list is now on the “New Post” page.

Sat, 18 Nov 2023 15:37:46 -0400

I’m thinking of adding the users blog/website url (if any) above the post timestamp on Lillihub. On one hand, I think highlighting a users domain is nice, on the other I worry it is too busy looking. 🤔. Thoughts?

Sat, 18 Nov 2023 08:20:33 -0400

My daughters desk is a giant mess of crafts, so at some point I asked her to neaten it up and wipe down the surface. A quick glance later and everything looked good. Yesterday I took a closer look… She had taken her white craft paint and repainted on top of the messes instead of cleaning it 😂

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 14:54:19 -0400

Want to try out a new Micro.blog web client? You’re in luck! I’d like to introduce Lillihub 🐸. It’s a delightful web app to view your timeline, make posts and keep up with conversations. You can even manage your books and bookmarks. Enjoy! 😁

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 09:56:05 -0400

Schedules aligned and we managed to fit in a DCC game last night. The players finished Sailors of the Starless Sea and each had at least one surviving character. impressive! Now I’m tossing them to Hot Springs Island to see what happens 🎲🐉⚔️

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 09:30:12 -0400

I managed to borrow an old MacBook Pro. Now I’ll be able to test my website themes and Lillihub properly 🤩

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 08:14:14 -0400

I’ve been enjoying playing a level of Rogule once a day. Today I died ⚔️ but tomorrow is a new dungeon 🐉

Sun, 05 Nov 2023 19:56:34 -0400

I actually updated my website theme two weeks ago but forget to make a change log post about it 😊 This one was inspired by Super Mario Kart and rainbow road.

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 07:15:32 -0400

Trying out Zoho Notebook since Obsidian, Logseq, and Notion still don’t feel like the right fit.

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 18:36:37 -0400

What did I spend my weekend doing? Why, making a jellyfish hat of course! It took about 12 hours to put together.

Sat, 21 Oct 2023 12:24:58 -0400

I’ve got the best helper today. Time to get my Halloween costume ready 🐈 🎃

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:37:13 -0400

My sister spotted this cute guy as she was heading up my driveway. Snack time!

Sun, 15 Oct 2023 13:18:49 -0400

I taught Tai Chi, did yard work for two hours and decorated for Halloween! Now it’s time to make apple crisp and prep some meals for the week 🍂🎃

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 20:37:21 -0400

Must resist the siren call of Nanowrimo. I really don’t have time for one more project 😁

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 19:48:40 -0400

🐸

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 19:33:46 -0400

Just make yourself comfortable Maui…

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 14:37:50 -0400

Testing out cross-posting 🤪

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 17:51:13 -0400

Here was take two on my blog design. I had midjourney make the logo with the prompt of “pixel art Tai Chi girl who codes”.

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 17:48:02 -0400

I figured it would be fun to keep a record of my past blog designs. This was my first custom design. Complete with falling emojis across the screen. I also really like how M.B. let’s you keep old custom designs so switching back and forth is super easy.

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 20:59:35 -0400

I dragged myself to Kung Fu tonight even though the last class gave me a three day migraine 😂 We did nine ring long handle and spear. Photo is of me a couple years ago.

Sat, 30 Sep 2023 12:09:05 -0400

Fuzzyboots decided to help me decorate for Halloween 🎃🐱

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 11:23:21 -0400

Test post 😄

Hello World

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 20:20:09 -0400

I’m ready for some beta testers. If you’re interested in trying out and giving feedback on my micro.blog client send me an email at loura@hey.com ☺️. The video was taken on my surface duo2 which is a bit wider than a normal cellphone.

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 14:55:25 -0400

Finished reading: Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar 📚

I listened to the audio book which was narrated by Jill. Listening to her voice choke up at parts really drove home the emotional impact of her upbringing.

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 20:25:16 -0400

Look at these neat creatures I found on the sidewalk, next to the road

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 21:30:26 -0400

Finally made it to a Kung Fu class. Pretty sure I’ll have a migraine from it in a few hours but it was a great class. Started learning Army Sword and got to practice my favorite fatal flute form ⚔️

Sun, 17 Sep 2023 12:01:39 -0400

Turns out you can use Hey’s workflow feature as a lightweight Kanban board for a hobby project.

Sun, 17 Sep 2023 08:06:45 -0400

Finished reading: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler has 📚

My daughter picked this book out for me based on the cover art and it turned out to be pretty fantastic. It was interesting and thought provoking. The ending left enough openings for a sequel but it was a little weak in my opinion.

Sat, 16 Sep 2023 18:58:15 -0400

My sister made a fabulous cake for my son 😍

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:29:30 -0400

Made some progress enhancing the posting UI today. The web client is also responsive to device size and has and dark/light mode.

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 13:54:37 -0400

Just testing something out. Making sure I didn’t break anything.

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 08:49:50 -0400

My hey.com email subscription is set to renew this month and I’m going to keep with it. I find the UI relaxing and the workflow feature is a nice touch. I do find certain tasks to take too many clicks but I can put up with it. Especially after I wander over to Outlook or Gmail ::shudder::

Sun, 10 Sep 2023 16:55:19 -0400

Phase one of my not so super secret project, a Micro.blog web client, is complete! No frameworks; just hand-rolled HTML5/CSS on the front and deno in the back. Now it’s time to add a tiny bit of JS to smooth a couple things out. Then, maybe… beta testing?

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 11:28:56 -0400

At 2:30am my brain decided to ruminate about all my perceived problems for four hours. I now require coffee to be a functional adult. It’s gonna be a looooong day.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 14:21:23 -0400

Day 5 of September Photoblogging Challenge. The prompt is forest.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 12:49:58 -0400

And the busy season begins: homeschool, work, kid chauffeur, keeping active, keeping the house in order, and finding time for my hobbies.

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 08:47:49 -0400

Probably not its intended use case, but the Micro.blog bookshelf feature made it a cinch to put together my son’s free reading list this year.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 20:39:16 -0400

Day 4 of September Photoblogging Challenge. The prompt is orange.

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 10:31:03 -0400

It’s full on homeschool prep today. My poor printer has its work cut out for it. Tomorrow starts 8th grade for my son and my daughter starts 6th grade at the local public school.

Sun, 03 Sep 2023 21:11:26 -0400

Day 3 of September Photoblogging Challenge. The prompt is precious.

Sat, 02 Sep 2023 18:05:07 -0400

Day 2 of September Photoblogging Challenge. The prompt is buildup.

One of my favorite knick knacks on my shelf.

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 17:30:54 -0400

Day 1 of September Photoblogging Challenge. The prompt is abstract, suggested by Greg, aka @greghiggins.

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 10:09:24 -0400

I took the kids to the beach yesterday for one last summer vacation outing before school starts up next week.

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 16:01:09 -0400

Huh, I guess you can’t have a user confirm a form submission without JavaScript. At least not that I could find. Darn. 🤔

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 10:36:55 -0400

Currently reading: Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould 📚

Time to start my next non-fiction book 😊

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 22:15:44 -0400

Tuesday night is game night🐉🗡️🎲

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 16:08:59 -0400

Three little frogs enjoying the koi pond with me at lunch.

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 12:11:10 -0400

This is a test post.

Hello World

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 10:49:07 -0400

A photo from August 2020, when Fuzzyboots was just a little kitten, and we had yet to decide where all our furniture was going.

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 09:06:17 -0400

Finished reading: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann 📚.

This book had me contemplating the difference between what I was taught about Native Americans growing up and what this book and current research suggests. I had a lot of moments where it felt like what the book was saying, in terms of agriculture and land management, that just seemed so obvious but never occurred to me to wonder about. I was startled to find out about how far back some of these civilizations went and how a perfect storm of events swept through and erased almost all of it. Fascinating.

Sun, 20 Aug 2023 22:34:06 -0400

I missed posting this photo on Caturday but this cute guy doesn’t care 🐈

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 09:50:33 -0400

Work today will be interesting…

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 16:38:08 -0400

It’s amazing how time flies. Fourteen years of marriage with my best friend. Two wonderful children, a home, two cats, some fish, and a few chickens. I couldn’t ask for more. Happy Anniversary @TheRealChadwick ❤

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 13:23:04 -0400

My garden is working! I’m actually growing things 😁

Sun, 13 Aug 2023 20:56:11 -0400

I saw five rainbows when I was out and about today 😊🌈

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 11:13:18 -0400

August 11th 2023 - Website Change Log

Added in changelog link to navigation
Added in video page link to navigation
Adjusted home page to include micro-posts content, not just summary
Script to remove height and width attributes so css can adjust size
Fixed category feed link on category pages

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 11:00:22 -0400

Currently reading: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann 📚. I’m really enjoying this so far but I did need to grab an audio book of it to help with the pronunciations. Just a couple more hours to go 😀

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 10:56:22 -0400

Finished reading: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 📚

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 18:32:11 -0400

6 month journal flip through 2023 📝

“Dear Moon” by EnjoyMusic from enjoymusic.ai

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 07:49:24 -0400

It took forever but I finally finished painting the windows this weekend! I started back in February

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 17:55:18 -0400

Thanks to @manton for updating the bookmarks JSON api this afternoon to include tags so now you can use @sod’s wonderful bookmark plugin to display them (assuming you have the premium Micro.blog plan). You will need to use a custom template like he details in his documentation. The trick is to use the {{ .tags }} inside the {{ range .items }}. Here’s how I’m doing it on my site: Pastebin.

You might have noticed I further customized it with longer preview text and some extra replace statements. That’s because the .content_html includes some extra links to the micro.blog reader text which looked a bit strange after you stripped out the html with plainify. That’s where the {{replace (replace ( .content_html | plainify | truncate 300 ) "Reader: " "") $url.Host ""}} line comes in.

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 20:04:35 -0400

Trying out some different feed readers. I’ve never really used one before and I see how this could be a useful tool to have.

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 08:36:25 -0400

Made a couple tweaks to my website, fixed some microformats, added in a now “page”, and replies now have conversation links thanks to this post by jarrod.

Sat, 29 Jul 2023 08:22:56 -0400

I dislike working with dates in JavaScript. That is all 😒

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 21:36:00 -0400

Testing out IndiePass

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:15:03 -0400

I’ve made good progress on my little, local only, app that uses a disappearing iframe trick. I still have bugs to squash and a longer post to write, but here’s the sneak peak: A framed* productivity app with code on Github. Keep in mind, this is very alpha, so no using it for anything important.

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 20:14:37 -0400

New personal best 😊 42 minutes to complete the Tai Chi Form - 108 Long Yang . Moving slow + low stances = calm mind and good workout.

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:24:41 -0400

I wandered over to my company’s shared office space today. They are really making the outdoor space nice. If I didn’t have homeschooling/kid responsibilities I could see myself coming here more often.

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 16:10:51 -0400

Okay, I know I’m strange. But every once in a while I get a strong urge to code my own web browser. Just for the fun of it. Just to see how it works 😂

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 19:36:43 -0400

This is my first year journaling and on a whim I grabbed a Hobonichi Cousin from Amazon. I love it, but now I’m wondering what to do next year.. Same? 5-year? Multiple different ones? Choices, choices…

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 10:37:46 -0400

Enjoying walks and sunshine

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 18:50:21 -0400

Nothing like a lake side vacation. My daughter has been enjoying sneaking up on ducks. 🦆

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 19:23:27 -0400

Things are growing! I can’t wait until some veggies are ready to pick

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 19:06:28 -0400

That was a sweaty Tai Chi class. I feel like a swamp monster.

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 18:06:50 -0400

Fuzzyboots watches from above 🐱

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 06:59:40 -0400

The chicks are getting bigger and I love the cheek feathers 🥰

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 15:39:14 -0400

Whew! Homeschooling this year is officially done! Since I had to go through all the trouble of writing up progress reports I decided to toss them up on my blog. Except not bullet lists but prettier and with pictures. Check it out if you’d like: Seventh Grade and Fifth Grade 🥳

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 08:53:44 -0400

At the end of the homeschooling year I’m often panicking because I worry that I haven’t done enough, covered enough, to give my kids a well-rounded and rigorous secular education… but then I have to sit down and write a progress report for the school system and I’m in awe at all we covered 😮‍💨

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 07:51:18 -0400

Another dance recital done 💃 I’m so glad I decided to give it a shot. It’s even more fun with your sister! We danced to “Stray Cat Strut” and “Eye of the Tiger”. I’m so glad my dance studio has the adult classes get on stage too. Two years down, many more to go 😍

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 14:40:41 -0400

A happy little frog in our koi pond this morning 🐸

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 10:21:37 -0400

Currently reading: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 📚

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 07:51:06 -0400

Ever since we bought the house I’ve wanted some bookcases with glass doors. We finally got around to making that happen. I love them 😍

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 12:08:23 -0400

Finished reading: The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson 📚

I like this one so much more than his last book. We listened to it as a family on a road trip and everyone was laughing.

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 12:06:52 -0400

Finished reading: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan 📚

A very thought provoking read. I enjoyed it and I definitely going to try to get my kids to read it when they’re a bit older.

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 19:51:05 -0400

My daughter drew a fantastic little comic and gave me permission to share 😍 But I wasn’t able to snag a picture before the inevitable water spill 😂

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 11:31:03 -0400

The chicks are getting bigger! Pretty sure the two with black feathers are roosters.

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 18:09:44 -0400

First raised bed filled and planted. Let’s see if I do any better this year 😂

Sun, 04 Jun 2023 13:29:40 -0400

Boston outing with the family today 🩰

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 15:52:42 -0400

I’m watching Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets on Prime. As a homeschooling mother, I recommend it. I have to be extremely careful selecting materials, because these IBLP/fundamentalist teachings are pervasive in the homeschooling community and materials. There is real harm being perpetrated with these ideologies and it is tragic. It’s a hard show to watch. For my homeschooling friends, please look closely at the materials you use and the companies that put them out. Please think critically about the youtubers and bloggers who tell you it’s “easy” and that “kids don’t need much” in the way of schooling. Being a homeschooling parent means that the education of your children is your responsibility. The buck stops with you. Homeschooling can be amazing and wonderful. But not if it’s rooted in deceit, denial, and fear.

Mon, 29 May 2023 20:54:57 -0400

TheRealChadwick and I took the kids to a local carnival this weekend. The weather was lovely, the music fabulous, and the rides wicked expensive 😂. A fantastic end to the weekend!

Sat, 27 May 2023 07:38:38 -0400

The project supervisor is checking in 🐱

Thu, 25 May 2023 13:25:06 -0400

I’ve been puzzling over Logseq’s “Scheduled and Deadline” section on today’s journal page and what it displays or doesn’t. Turns out it will show what’s due in the next seven days. Also what’s overdue as long as it is repeating. A straight up overdue task won’t show which I find odd.

Mon, 22 May 2023 17:09:36 -0400

I might have procrastinated making some phone calls by redesigning my website 🤣. I needed something new, fun, and bright. Okay, I promise I’ll go get the calls done right now 📱. Here’s the site link if you want to check it out Hey Loura!.

Thu, 18 May 2023 22:00:35 -0400

Interesting article: Rejecting the Mommy Wars. It hits close to home. I’ve definitely felt the strain on some of my friendships because our parenting methods have diverged over the years.

Tue, 16 May 2023 11:28:21 -0400

Newest members of the flock 🐣

Fri, 12 May 2023 15:56:17 -0400

Spring time under our maple tree 🍁

Fri, 05 May 2023 19:39:41 -0400

It’s not too often I have time to stretch my artistic side. A watercolor of my mother-in-law’s favorite bird, with a bird for each family member, inspired by artwork I saw on Etsy.

Sun, 30 Apr 2023 10:08:51 -0400

Even though it was raining, my small Tai Chi group still showed up and practiced for an hour with me ❤️

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 12:12:02 -0400

Whew. For the last month I’ve been prepping for next year’s homeschooling. I can’t believe it’s time for eighth grade already. Tentative plans are set, deposits are in, and I’ve even posted them on my blog 😁-> Eighth Grade For 2023-2024

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 20:43:31 -0400

Someone made himself comfortable in my spot 🐱

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 18:48:31 -0400

More daffodils, these bloom later than the others but are worth the wait 💐

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:34:22 -0400

I made the mistake of running a college cost estimator for our two kids 🤯 that’s… a big number.

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 07:24:25 -0400

Morning sunrise out my window ☀️

Sun, 09 Apr 2023 18:59:09 -0400

Kids had a blast trying to find golden eggs in the tall grass. 🐣🐇

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 10:05:16 -0400

As part of being more cognizant of the online subscriptions I have, I’m doing a digital life cleanup. Where I can I want build out my own apps to replace what I use. First up, budgeting. The app I use renews in a month. I’m challenging myself to cancel it and build out my own in that time. 👩‍💻

Sun, 02 Apr 2023 11:28:20 -0400

Currently reading: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan 📚

Sun, 02 Apr 2023 10:13:51 -0400

More signs of spring in the yard 🌷

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:17:22 -0400

I went to see Hade’s town with my sister last night. It was fantastic!

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 19:02:43 -0400

I started homeschooling my kids with the pandemic and now my daughter wants to go back to public school next year. So I was psyching myself up for this change and how to support her. But all these horrific school shootings… They have me broken hearted and second guessing everything.

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 11:07:53 -0400

Arg. I love trying new software and apps and sometimes I’m convinced that I’ll keep using it and pay for a yearly subscription. Then I lose interest after a few months and cancel the renewal. One must have slipped by. I was not expecting that charge 😒

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 14:40:12 -0400

It’s that time of year! I think we might try and get some Salmon Faverolles this time around. My daughter is beyond excited 🐣

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 11:17:43 -0400

Much needed signs of spring in the yard.

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 13:14:29 -0400

My favorite use of ChatGPT so far: meal planning. It made me a balanced whole food meal plan with a shopping list. Now it didn’t do any calculations (like get 2 bananas) but this has saved me a ton of time! It even respected my food allergies! 🥗🥪😋

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:20:17 -0400

These two text messages and two phone calls I need to make are all that’s between me and a hot chocolate.

Sat, 11 Mar 2023 09:22:08 -0400

I absolutely love my new journal cover. Animal Crossing is my jam and I thought I’d missed my chance since this design was released before I had a Hobonichi journal. But my husband surprised me with it this week 😊❤️

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 18:30:49 -0400

This Windows girl is going to try Linux for my home system. I’m excited to get my Meerkat by System76 in a couple of weeks 😁

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:09:35 -0400

📷 March Micro.blog photo challenge day 2: Weather

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 18:31:13 -0400

📷 March Photo Challenge #1: Secure.

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:34:29 -0400

“Hey, how’d you get up there?” 🐱

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:38:12 -0400

One of these days when I take a day off I won’t be painting… But that’s not today 😂

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 17:20:51 -0400

Finished reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 📚. I really liked it. It was perfect for my mood and it was nice to be swept away in a fantasy novel for a while.

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 09:03:02 -0400

Happy Valentines Day!

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 11:32:45 -0400

I’ve been using this layout for the last six weeks and it’s a keeper. I’m not splitting aspects of my life across different apps, excel sheets, or notebooks and that’s helping me stay on top of it all. Plus, stickers! Most apps don’t have them and I love them.

Sun, 12 Feb 2023 19:24:17 -0400

I’m looking forward to family game night tonight 😁

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:59:21 -0400

The weather was too nice not to sneak out for a lunch time walk.

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:59:14 -0400

One thing I’ve learned about homeschooling classes and summer camps. Enrollment happens way sooner than you’d expect. I’ve snagged a few classes for my son and I’m glad that’s off my to-do list. Next step… find bargins on all the required textbooks and materials.

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 14:52:33 -0400

My son is getting ready to run his first d&d campaign with some friends so I’m spending the afternoon helping him scale and print out maps. He’s responsible for all the cutting and taping together. 😁

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 23:06:11 -0400

One of my resolutions for 2023 was to use journal daily. And so far I’m doing it! I’m using it to practice my doodles, jot down interesting quotes and thoughts, and include some memories. Most are too personal to share but I hope to highlight a few on my blog from time to time.

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 13:35:18 -0400

Stopped reading: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson 📚. It pains me to say… but this is my least favorite book by Brandon. The first third of the book was fine, my opinion fell by the second third, and I couldn’t bring myself to finish the last few chapters. The strong narrator, yes I know who it is, pulled me out of the story rather than immersing me in it. I felt like the narrator was the focus and not Tress.

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 12:15:15 -0400

At work I’m tackling a huge software project and my normal approach isn’t cutting it. So over the holiday’s I read Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters. It really resonated with me in a way other books on the subject haven’t. I’m still stuck using Asana, since that’s what my compay uses, but I was able to recreate a portion of the shaping workflow in it. I’ve been using it almost a month now and I’m really digging it.

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 10:25:09 -0400

I signed up for an omg.lol account a couple of months back and I’m finally getting into the groove of using status updates. I don’t think I’ll sync them on micro.blog, I want them to stay ephemeral. But I did embed them at the top of my website.

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 08:21:41 -0400

Off to the orthopedic surgeon this morning. My daughter broke her hand in her gymnastics dance class. Hopefully just a cast and time is required for healing.

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 08:13:03 -0400

I got a Hobonichi Cousin journal for the new year and I’ve been been trying out different layouts to keep track of homeschooling, work, and my personal tasks. This is my favorite so far. Homeschooling log in the center and color coded.

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 20:32:21 -0400

My son had his first swim meet of the season! He’s improved so much this year 🏊

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 10:19:54 -0400

Someone is helping my son with math today 🐱. One overlooked benefit of homeschooling, lots of cat breaks 😂

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 08:46:31 -0400

I finally found the time and energy to make it to a Kung Fu practice last night. Lots of good stretching and sword forms in class, plus some new faces 😀.

Sun, 08 Jan 2023 14:07:14 -0400

I made myself take my time and not rush in finishing my orchid in one sitting. It’s finally done, and I love how it looks on my window sill 🌸

Sat, 07 Jan 2023 21:11:18 -0400

One thing I’ve really enjoyed this week was writing down a daily quote in my journal. To start the year out I’m reading “The Practicing Stoic” by Ward Farnsworth and jotting down what strikes me as meaningful as I work my way through it.

Sat, 07 Jan 2023 11:45:40 -0400

It’s been so grey and rainy here this week. Plus going back to work and ramping up homeschooling has left me extra drained. I needed something lovely to look at. My favorite vase and bright flowers are just the ticket.

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 13:28:06 -0400

For Christmas I got my son a telsa coil and a set of noble gasses. Today we finally had the time to set it up and enjoy. It’s so cool looking!

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 20:26:47 -0400

I’m really enjoying this Lego set I got from my sister for Christmas. I can’t wait to finish it and have it on my desk to enjoy 🪷

Sat, 31 Dec 2022 22:00:30 -0400

Spending New Year’s Eve playing monopoly with the kids 🥰

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 20:23:15 -0400

Figures I take a day off of work only to spend it on a migraine 😒

Wed, 28 Dec 2022 22:23:53 -0400

My secret for hiccups: Hold a butter knife covered in a thin layer of peanut butter between your teeth while drinking a cup of water. Try not to eat the peanut butter! Just drink the water. It’s messy, hilarious, and I have no idea why it works.

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 09:50:20 -0400

When I get stressed I want to add more things to my plate. I kept track this year because my stress interests seem to be rather cyclical and I wanted to spot some trends. I wanted to crochet a giant octopus, write a choose your own path story, make an rpg budget app, plant a native wildflower field in my yard, and build a 2d fantasy exploration game. All very crafty/buildly things and looking back on this year I didn’t get much time to do that. Which is something I want to change for the new year.

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 21:43:06 -0400

I just finished reading The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey 📚. It’s not my usual cup of tea, zombies, but I ended up really enjoying it.

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 18:04:15 -0400

Snowflakes are up! They’re one of my favorite decorations ❄️

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 10:50:06 -0400

I found a new ornament! 🐱

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 10:09:16 -0400

Maui snuck into our room and found his Christmas present. Now he’s defending it fiercely and will growl at any who dare come near. 🐱

Sat, 17 Dec 2022 12:42:47 -0400

Fire rises
Water falls
Wood expands
Metal contracts
Earth
Mankind
☯️

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 15:04:44 -0400

But… but I 💖 dark chocolate. 😢 Food Safety: Lead and Cadmium in Dark Chocolate and As You Sow - Toxic Chocolate.

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 19:59:22 -0400

Since there are two rambunctious cats in the house, I decided to hang the fragile ornaments up high 🎄

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 09:16:39 -0400

This weekend I bought mp3’s for an album in the first time since forever. I’ve been using Amazon Prime’s music service to stream songs for ages but now you can’t download music for offline use unless you pay a monthly subscription. No thank you.

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 09:47:29 -0400

One of the benefits of homeschooling: I get to decide when there is a snowday! It might be just an inch but the kids are outside having fun and I’ll make hot chocolate when they wander back.

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 20:54:59 -0400

First snowfall ❄️

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 15:50:34 -0400

So far I’m really enjoying this book. I’m about 1/3 of the way through and I can wait to see where it goes.

The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey 📚

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 11:35:30 -0400

I am so over painting and household projects. These just need one last coat. Then my husband and I need to figure out what we’re doing with the other twelve 😬

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 13:14:07 -0400

Yes! Happy Dance Time! 🥳 We sold our condo! After 10 years of constant stress, becoming very reluctant landlords, dealing with court systems and having to lawyer up we are done! Yay! 🎊

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 10:48:14 -0400

One of my biggest homeschooling wins this year was finding Falcons for my kids to join two days a week. My daughter needed more peer interaction, my son needed his creative muscles stretched, and I needed to not burn out.

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 21:04:26 -0400

Mantle over the pellet stove is decorated 🎄

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 19:12:34 -0400

I wonder how long it will be until one of the cats knocks over the Christmas tree? I did think ahead and only decorated with durable ornaments 🎄

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 17:00:07 -0400

It’s time to play find the cats 🐈🐈‍⬛

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 11:11:45 -0400

I finally took the time to write down the version of eight silk brocades I use as part of my tai chi practice. You can check the page out on my website Qi Gong - Eight Silk Brocades ☯️

Sat, 03 Dec 2022 19:29:34 -0400

This year’s advent calendar.

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 09:45:08 -0400

Why is it that when I super stressed out and my to-do list is overflowing my brain just wants to add one more new craft/book/task/app to try and make it all better? 😒

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 17:20:02 -0400

I’ve cleaned up my notion set up to be more in line with the Johnny Decimal System and I’m liking it so far.

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 16:53:43 -0400

It’s so hard to get the motivation to drive anywhere when it’s dark by 4pm. Toss in some rain and heavy winds and I really just want to spend the rest of today at home. ☔

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 20:14:33 -0400

Finished the Slytherin collage in my daughter’s room. I love how it’s coming along!

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 16:29:39 -0400

I might have messed up the stuffing… but the chickens didn’t mind 😊

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 22:55:50 -0400

RSVPing maybe to IndieWebCamp Popup: How to Make the IndieWeb More Approachable

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 19:34:03 -0400

I never see my name out in the wild but today I spotted it at Starbucks!

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 19:45:27 -0400

Brushed off the old Notion app and digging into the Johnny Decimal system. Also on the list tonight is freezing some Cheese Gougères for Thanksgiving and roasting some beets. Maybe I’ll even have some time to mess with my blog styling as well 😀

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 09:36:32 -0400

I finally have a Wednesday evening free. I’m looking forward to attending my second Homebrew Website Club - Pacific.

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 21:54:49 -0400

I just finished my first ballet class! 🩰 I got to meet some pretty neat people and I can’t wait until next week. Another item off the bucket list 😊

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 19:18:19 -0400

And the first dish for Thanksgiving is prepped and in the fridge 🍳

Sun, 20 Nov 2022 22:50:15 -0400

Today’s highlight was a chilly walk in the woods with some homeschooling friends!

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 17:29:47 -0400

The first pass at my new blog design is done! There are still some rough spots (I’m 👀 at you archive page) but it was an enjoyable way to spend the weekend being silly with code 👩‍💻 and getting familiar with Hugo and Micro.blog. Hey Loura! if you wanna take a look.

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 18:10:50 -0400

Caturday 🐱. Someone can’t wait for Thanksgiving…

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 14:24:27 -0400

More fall colors in the yard 🍁

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 11:39:54 -0400

For personal projects I try to write clean and minimal code 👩‍💻. Then I go to my 9-5 and it’s an absolute mess. It’s so hard not to take a figurative scrub brush and start cleaning the entire code base 😆

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 20:16:09 -0400

Nothing like a Tai Chi class to help let go of a stressful week. ☯️

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 11:57:49 -0400

My sister crocheted me a grumpy matcha tea latte and it’s fantastic! It’s been making me smile all morning. 🧶

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 17:59:05 -0400

Awww, the cats figured out how to share their favorite chair. 🐱

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 21:25:39 -0400

Today had such lovely colors.

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 21:43:31 -0400

For mbnov I need to come up with something using the word license. With my migraine 🤕 I don’t see inspiration striking.

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 22:25:04 -0400

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

💬 by Melody Beattie

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 10:20:46 -0400

I need to figure out why there are pipettes all over the house… Oh wait… 😂

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 15:39:04 -0400

Pumpkin decoration time 🎃

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 13:36:14 -0400

Trunk or teat with kids yesterday. It was fun!

Sat, 29 Oct 2022 13:06:17 -0400

Caturday - Attempted camouflage by Maui 🐱

Sat, 29 Oct 2022 11:45:21 -0400

“In Tai Chi, just like in life, if you have a way in then you need a way out.” - 💬Sifu Jamie

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 21:25:32 -0400

It’s been way too long since I’ve managed to gather up the energy to attend a Kung Fu class. But going back tonight helped remind me why I love it. ⚔️ Two Person Stick, Twin Tsun Sword, and Tai Chi Broadsword.

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 21:13:23 -0400

Tai Chi was just the thing after a long and stressful day ☯️ Old Yang, Broadsword, and 108 Yang Forms today

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 16:16:25 -0400

My favorite Halloween decoration. Combines my favorite holiday with my favorite sea creature!

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 10:15:28 -0400

This morning, aimed at my daughter. "Please stop decapitating the cat toy and get back your math."