rose: last night, brendan played a show at the embassy. usually when he plays a show, we have a big fight later because i end up struggling to put the fellas to bed on my own, and then feel resentful that i don't get to go out. but the thing is that i don't usually want to go out, it's more that i just want some time to myself at home. so thankfully, things went all right last night, but b wanted to give me some time today, so i got to have the evening to myself, instead of parenting until 10 pm, then getting ready for bed. it was nice.

yesterday, i got a small trampoline off kijiji, and went to get it on my own with the fellas. i felt so good about getting it all nicely fastened to the roof of our car. it feels really awesome to be competent.

thorn: brendan's a simple living guy, and most people say he's difficult to buy for. but for the 7 birthdays that we've been together, i have come up with creative gifts for him. but this year it seems that i've run out of ideas. it's annoying, because i even googled "gifts for minimalist men", but the kind of stuff they came up with was definitely not something brendan would use. he is far more minimalistic than their suggestions. i had an idea that didn't pan out, so i've come up with something else, but i'll have to make it myself. and it's the kind of thing i would usually require his help for.