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This Monday wasn’t usual for me. While my previous Mondays were workdays, today I had a day off and spent it following my usual weekend routine. The weather was unpredictable, though, and by the evening the rain had already started. Despite that, the temperature felt much more comfortable — around 15 degrees — and the wind wasn’t as chilly as yesterday. By the way, my bike ride happened under the sun, so I had a great opportunity to enjoy what was probably the last sunny day for a while, because the forecast says the rest of the week will be cloudy and a bit rainy.

During the last year, I shared so many posts about my life, trips, and other moments from my life every single day. In my opinion, it’s so crazy and unbelievable that I kept going. But the most important thing is that all of these posts are small and real pieces of my life. Each photo and each word, I tried to make unique and take from my real life. Because that’s what makes sense and makes my blog feel much more alive and unique.

For the last eight days, I’ve been actively participating in this challenge and sharing my reports every day. However, today the responsible person posted the intermediate results, and my name wasn’t on the list. Honestly, it felt like all my efforts during these eight days were in vain, and this unpleasant situation killed some of my motivation for the challenge. Still, I’ll continue participating, and I’ll keep sharing my reports in the coming days. I also want to see what will happen until May 15 and whether my name eventually appears on the list or not.

I took a much easier route for my bike ride today after yesterday’s little adventure. I wasn’t in the mood to walk the bike in my hands or climb over fallen trees again, so I chose comfort over challenge this time. I just wanted a smooth, enjoyable ride instead of ending up completely exhausted. Of course, I still couldn’t fully escape the randomly scattered trees along the way. And there were still those spider webs hanging between branches waiting for me. But overall, today felt noticeably easier and more relaxed compared to yesterday’s real “forest obstacle course.”

The forecast had predicted a cloudy and rainy day, but luckily it turned out completely different. The sun stayed out the entire time, and I couldn’t spot a single cloud in the sky. It was such a deep, clear shade of blue. Still, the day itself felt a bit chaotic, and I barely had any free time to slow down or take a proper break. Because of that, I couldn’t follow through with the plans I mentioned in yesterday’s post. Hopefully, over the next few days I’ll finally have the chance to make it happen and find some answers to the questions on my mind.

Today I talked with my family about the issue I mentioned yesterday, just to hear their thoughts and figure out who might be responsible for that area so I could contact them or ask some questions. Instead, I was told, “Don’t do it, you’ll only get yourself into trouble with the city administration.” That really surprised me. So now I’m not even supposed to ask why a public route is blocked? It’s honestly frustrating, because that path is important for my bike rides. Now it feels like my only options are either to stop cycling altogether or to switch to busy city streets full of cars and exhaust fumes.

The day started sunny and ended with a light rain while I was cycling. Honestly, the rain didn’t bother me at all — it actually made the ride feel even better and gave me a chance to properly finish it. I was a bit sweaty, of course, but that only made it more refreshing afterwards. The air smelled especially fresh, almost “tasty” in a way, which added a really nice layer to the whole experience. What made it even better was that everything went smoothly this time, with no incidents like yesterday, so I could just enjoy the ride. By the end I was a little tired, but in a good way — calm, satisfied, and in a genuinely positive mood.

Today was absolutely amazing — the sky stayed crystal clear all day, and the temperature was around 16°C, which felt perfectly comfortable and refreshing. So I spent my last weekend fully enjoying nature and everything around it. But the main story is about my bike ride, which unfortunately included a small crash and a few abrasions. Luckily, the accident wasn’t serious, and I didn’t get any major injuries.

Finally, after about five months, my crowns were installed — I started this whole process back in December last year. I want to share how it feels to have artificial teeth in my jaw now. Luckily, during normal talking and speaking, I don’t feel any discomfort at all. The crowns even look like my real teeth — maybe even better (okay, that’s just a joke, but still, they really look great). However, at the same time, I do feel a bit of discomfort with the lower crowns when I eat. It feels like I can’t chew completely normally, like something is slightly in the way when I grind food. These sensations mostly appear during meals, and it’s not something terrible, just a bit unpleasant.

Yesterday my work announced a sports challenge, and I decided to give it a try. The main reason is that it already matches my daily activities — walking, bike rides, and swimming — so I thought it would be easy to share mini reports and maybe even win some prizes if I’m lucky. The rules are simple: post a short activity report, collect points, and keep going until May 15. Now my goal is to stay consistent, collect as many points as possible, and hopefully finish the challenge in a good mood.

Yesterday I mentioned our company meeting, and now I want to share some updates from it. Unfortunately, the news turned out to be pretty disappointing. Our financial director told us that the monthly targets were nowhere near complete. The company earned only 70 million rubles instead of the expected 123 million, and April ended up being a very unprofitable month. On top of that, our CEO said salaries will most likely be reduced because the company can’t continue operating under the current conditions, especially with how difficult the economic situation in the country has become.

Overall, the day turned out pretty nice. The sun was out for most of it, although the temperature stayed fairly low, around 7°C. The only unpleasant part was the cold wind, which made the weather feel much harsher than it actually was. Luckily, I didn’t really experience it myself since I spent most of the day at home. Still, some of my family members mentioned how freezing the wind felt, especially on their hands.