Xiaoyan studied hard these nights even though she was very tired and sleepy.

Hamer had a great day yesterday. In the late afternoon, she played in a playground she hadn’t been to in a long time because we thought she had outgrown it. She ate birthday cake, bought chocolate, had dinner in a restaurant, and made a birthday wish for a present. Thanks to Grandma and Auntie.

Checked the family WeChat group. It seems hard for Mom to take Hamer outside and find the booked playground. Meanwhile, the replies were also not timely; Hamer’s auntie always doesn’t know what they are doing and where they are.

Had lunch with a coworker and talked about work and the team. I still feel a bit down today.

I tend to get lost in time when I’m checking Teams notifications during office hours. My mind keeps drifting away from the team.

My visual journal of July 31st, 2024. The last day of July.

I spent a lot of time watching TV this evening because the account was on hold and I didn’t want to do anything else until I watched the episode I wanted. As a result, I slept late.

A quick call with my dad after work.

My visual journal of July 30th, 2024.

It rained all day, so I bought dinner from the grocery store, and we had it again today. After dinner, we watched the gold medal match of mixed ping pong. After a two-day postponement, Xiaoyan had her English class tonight.

After lunch, I saw that the rain had stopped and went for a walk. After a while, it began pouring down harder than usual, and I had no place to hide. After waiting for several minutes under a big tree and seeing the rain get heavier, I decided to run to the office and ended up fully soaked.

Heavy rain this morning. I cooked corn and eggs for breakfast. I was a bit late for work. I enjoyed the tech share very much but felt bad during the following meeting because it lacked any enthusiasm and vitality.

Last night, Hamer called us to tell us she missed us very much. We could see the tears welling up in her eyes. Xiaoyan asked Hamer that if she wanted to cry. After trying to hold back her tears for several minutes, Hamer couldn’t bear it anymore and cried loudly with big tears dropping down.

My visual journal of July 29th, 2024

Xiaoyan watched the semifinal ping pong match late at night. She was anxious during the match but felt happy after China won.

I planned to cook dinner tonight, but when I got to the grocery store, I found some cooked food. I bought some for our dinner without thinking. Both Xiaoyan and I thought it was delicious.

New week, new mood.

I watched the TV series Signal all Sunday.

I didn’t know Apple Keynote could make such beautiful animated slides. I can’t wait to learn more and create more for my journal.

I wanted to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics ceremony last night, but I was too tired, and my phone kept slipping from my hand. I watched it this morning with Xiaoyan instead. I like the idea of involving the river and even the whole city as the stage to express its culture and ideology.

My visual journal of July 26th, 2024.

I had a deep conversation with a colleague on Teams before finishing work, which made me realize that I should reconsider my approach to work.

I spent almost the whole day investigating one specific issue related to querying features. With debugging, guessing, and testing, I finally found the reason after the close of business.

Hamer is excited about her trip. She packed her suitcase herself and brought it along, doing most of the preparations on her own. Have a good journey!

With the help of Dot, I updated my LinkedIn profile and work experience. Thanks, Dot.