Time: 05:45
Starting the day at 05:27 in the early morning and suddenly thinking of the TV series Second Spring made me begin watching it again. The beautiful love between Ali Haydar and Hanım, along with the historic charm of Samatya, felt so good this early in the morning. It has a very strong cast. The leading roles are played by Türkan Şoray and Şener Şen. Both of them are already legendary actors. Whenever it comes to my mind, I immediately sit down and watch it.
While choir rehearsals continue at full speed, it seems like with the newcomers we will once again overflow the stage at the concert. It’s nice that new people keep joining, but I think those who don’t attend rehearsals regularly until the concert shouldn’t perform. After all, the people who attend rehearsals are not fools. The instructor supposedly won’t let latecomers perform at the concert. We’ll wait and see.
Today there are also rehearsals for the other choir. The other one meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and this one only on Fridays. Going to choir rehearsals three times a week feels really good. Doing things that make you feel good is truly wonderful.
I don’t know what to cook today. If I didn’t have IBS, I would have wanted to eat lahmacun, but I can’t. Honestly, I don’t know how to stop craving it lately. I’ll boil some chicken for myself. Chicken and chicken broth are good for me. For the rest of the family, I’m thinking, “What should I cook?” This daily question really exhausts women. Maybe I’ll make buttered noodles and serve the stuffed vegetables that have been sitting in the freezer for days. In the evening, my husband and son will go out with his uncle at my son’s request, so they’ll just grab a quick bite and leave.
For the past two days, I’ve been reading Osman Balcıgil’s book Avuçlarımda Hâlâ Sıcaklığın Var. I’m halfway through and it’s very engaging. I really liked it. If not today, I think I’ll finish it tomorrow. I love reading while commuting. Yesterday evening, while waiting at the bus stop, a girl who told me she was in the fourth grade was complaining about her school lessons. The new generation—give them a phone, and even if the world burns, they don’t care. They are so disconnected from reality. They think life is just games, computers, and phones—such a pity.
Since I had my coffee early in the morning, it didn’t feel enough; I want to drink more. I want to do my dance practice early today. When I have breakfast late, dinner also gets delayed. Actually, eating one meal a day feels good, but long-term one-meal diets can cause hormonal imbalances in women. That’s why I sometimes do a 24-hour fast to rest my stomach.
I think my packages will arrive today. I don’t know if all of them will come. Hopefully they do and don’t arrive when I’m not home.
If I finish my tasks early, I’m thinking of going to a café to write. I need to return to writing, which I’ve been postponing for a long time. I have so many drafts in mind, but I haven’t put them on paper yet. I still haven’t started the book I was supposed to begin last year. I can’t decide which story to turn into a book. I have nearly ten stories that could become a book if I develop the characters further. Actually, my niece has a preference—maybe I’ll prioritize that.
After losing a total of 15.1 kilos, I think my weight loss has stopped. Recently, due to intestinal issues, every weigh-in has been disappointing. I decided not to weigh myself until the beginning of May. During this time, I will focus more on walking and dancing, and I’ll cut down on potatoes. I’ve noticed I’ve been consuming a lot of potatoes lately. I’m also planning to eat lettuce three days a week, although it has started to cause bloating. I’ll continue to eat grapefruit and kiwi on different days but limit them to once per day. By the end of the month, we’ll schedule a colonoscopy appointment, but honestly, if it weren’t for the pain, I wouldn’t even consider it. It’s a difficult procedure, especially for someone with anesthesia allergies. Let’s see what the anesthesiologists will say.
For the holiday, depending on my husband’s work schedule, we might move our Ayaş İçmeceleri reservation to before the holiday. It’s said to be good for intestinal health. My late grandmother, uncles, and aunts went there in the past and found healing. I hope it helps me as well. I know IBS won’t completely go away, but if I can at least solve the constipation problem, that would be great.
Last night, there was a José Saramago reading session in our book club. The workshop will continue for two more weeks, and it has been very productive. Getting to know and understand Saramago is wonderful. I had only read one of his books before, but from now on, I’ll prioritize reading his other works. There are so many books to read that I don’t know which to choose first—but I’m not complaining. There were so many times in the past when I couldn’t read, and I need to make up for them. Once you start reading, it naturally continues. You want to make use of even the smallest fragments of time. The same goes for writing. Carrying a notebook and pen is very important. Sometimes I look back at what I wrote before—ideas that don’t come to mind now had come to me back then, and so much time has passed. Carrying a notebook is incredibly valuable. If you don’t write things down the moment they come to mind, they’re gone. It’s impossible to recall those exact thoughts later. I especially experience this with my stories. I read dialogues I once wrote, and it feels like someone else wrote them. But it was me. That’s why I need to think more about my stories and take more notes. And I also need to transfer my notebooks into digital form. I have a lot of work to do—a lot.