Monday, March 30, 2026

March has basically been the month of home improvement and home living, lol. 

Onion has gotten into a Japanese housewaifu phase, making bento box meals for us. She randomly started watching random Japanese YouTubers prepare bento boxes for their husbands, and got inspired. So now I benefit by having nice meals prepared by the waifu! Of course, I help out when needed for these meals. Onion was in a bit of a funk the last month or so, and I had to help take charge of cooking, along with the usual duties of garbage and dishwashing. Speaking of which, we've decided to use the dishwasher once a month. Being Asian, we're the dishwashers, lol. But in all honesty, we just couldn't justify using the dishwasher for the two of us when we don't make much of a mess or have enough bowls and plates to wash. Everytime we've used the dishwasher, we have to intentionally rinse it enough but keep it slightly dirty to put in the dishwasher. I also had to buy dishwashing pods. But it's done very well and I'm honestly quite impressed with how it gets rid of all the grime and oil. So we've decided that on a heavy cooking day, we'll use it. Partially to disinfect the things we handwash, partially to give ourselves a break here and there, and lastly, to use the dishwasher so it won't break from lack of use. 

We also changed our plastic containers to glass containers, and while we need to be careful of breaking them, they look much better and clean so much easier. Not to mention the whole microplastics thing. We got them from Ikea, and also got a few things like getting a rack to hold an extension cord, a 10 feet USB-C cord for myself, so I could use the phone in bed without worrying about a short wire getting caught. Rearranging our cabinets and all too. Basically all a bunch of small stuff to make stuff better and easier. Also fixed a small cabinet issue and making things a notch better here and there. All good!

We're also getting used to paying our mortgage now, having gotten into the routine of things and familiarizing ourselves with the best way to pay for our home. And now we're adding property tax into the mix, lol. Pfft.

I've also been on a reading spree. We both hadn't read much the past few months, me more so than her. I'd bought several books but just hadn't bothered reading them. We made an agreement to finish 15 books in a year, just a little over one a month. So I started with Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton, and after having read about Victorian dragons, just finished reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli and Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. I made a long Facebook post about my thoughts on the three books, that I read in succession. Very stimulating read. I also just finished Project Hail Mary. It's been in my Kobo for years, and I finally decided now would be the time to read something lighter and more fun, after the three serious philosophical reads. What a fantastic story. Rocky is awesome and I heard the movie does it justice. I'm now reading my 4th Mary Roach book, Spook. I finished Bonk, Gulp and Stiff several years back.