Costco, Yom Kippur, Vijayadashami, and Snow White.

Alright, it feels good to be on schedule. Yesterday was Yom Kippur, and during my morning sit spot, I was absolutely inundated by birds. cardinals, red crested wood peckers, large pretty blue and white birds, small brown birds. It felt like a scene out of Snow White. It felt quite magical. They were getting closer than they normaly do, as well. I have no idea practically speaking, why this happened, but it felt like a little communication between God and me, letting me know today was special for me, perhaps for all Jews.

In addition, it was the tenth day of the Navaratri celebrations this year, which felt special as well. Since I consider myself a hinjew, those holidays falling on the same date made them extra special. I spend the day fasting, reflecting, meditating praying. I took care of some practical matters as well, but not too much, and I taught my spiritual class for children in the evening as always.

I used the day to reflect and repent, as is traditional. What are my personal faults that most need remedying? And then making the determination to change them (and praying for the "strength and courage" to do so, and stick with it.

I don't believe that you can magically make up for all your past misdeeds via one day of prayer and fasting. But perhaps it can help seal my personal commitment to remidy my faults.

Incidentally, part of the class I taught was about that. appropriate for the holiday. (though we also talked about strengths and spiritual goals.)

-whoop, gotta go! I'll tell you about it later. Costco trip! First I've got to extract myself though:

(so cozy)

I could tell you about the Costco trip, now that I'm back, but I think that is enough of a blog post. It wasn't particularly interesting to watch, I'd guess, but it was enjoyable to spend time with a dear friend on the ride up and back. Said friend is also teaching me his favorite easy and tasty recipes, and though I don't eat salmon, I'm learning how to cook it, since Suzannah may need the easily digestible protein, and making a fancy salmon dinner is major husband brownie points :-D

The sticky-note board as a low-tech productivity technique I'm test-running. Aesthetically and kinesthetically it's quite pleasing, but the main point is just to limit how many projects I'm working on at once (to, generally, 3 or less) so I don't feel overwhelmed, and stay focused on a those few tasks to completion. Though it is also pretty useful to have the list of stuff to do, what I am working on, and what I have completed, in front of me, as a reminder. In any case, it didn't require any extra money outlay, took about 20 minutes to set up, and seems to be helping a bit, while also making work a little more fun, so I'll call it a win. If you're interested, the idea is called "personal kanban."

Alright, goodbye for now, wishing you sucess in all your endeavours that bring joy peace and goodness to you and the world.

I out