Sovalis

I don't think I could do that because I'm weird about asymmetrical seams in my clothing. But it is the most sensible option. I also wish pants were more durable! Thanks, Snarky! Truth. Yup! A traditional London Fog drink can be served with Lavender simple syrup in addition to/instead of the French Vanilla simple syrup. Cookies can be found here: Delicious Lavender London Fog Cookies . 💜 I appreciate you checking on me. 💙

Hi Friends! I got my first, monthly paycheque from the cafe yesterday. It was ~$80 short of what I made in a month at the shop, so this is doable as long as I keep getting similar hours. Getting paid once a month sketches me out a bit as it made end of month quite lean with Dave needing additional funds for his travel, but I made it work. Today we spent $277 in groceries, including toilet paper, laundry detergent, and garbage bags. Plus the ingredients for lasagna which is never cheap. Thanksgiving is this weekend, plus I'm flying to BC for a wedding. Eek. Some expenses expected. Hope you're all doing okay with your goals!

How's it going, Ever? 💜

How's it going, Jarric?

Are you okay? Crumpling up doesn't sound good!

Happy belated birthday, Sal!!! Congratulations on your opening, it looked amazing in your photos! And double congratulations on staying sober through all the stress and chaos! You're doing so well!! Love you!! Sorry I'm so hit or miss lately! I think of you often! 💜

Capers are berries, I believe. So fruit?

Hi! I'm here and caught up and just so proud of you. 💜

Oh definitely heart and mind! But it would be great if I could get a schedule worked out, too! 😅 Games got worked out. In an unexpected way, but it was good. I don't know. The side effect of the job being very physical is that my hands and feet are low key sore/fatigued all the time anyway from the work, so adding the wheat is barely noticeable at this point? Unfortunately the people who run the scans aren't very versed in the science, they just run the equipment. I know losing some is reasonable. I just don't want to lose more muscle than I have to. I love your hungry caterpillar self. 💜 Yeah, I'm not looking to never lose muscle. Just to minimize those losses. If I luck into something I'll keep you posted. 😉 Hi Sal!! Things are good, just busy. I hope your show went well!! Sending love!!!!! 💜 Thank you, Harriet! Hi Dearheart! I appreciate the check in. I'm doing well, just can't seem to hit my stride with a schedule. 💜 Thanks, Kishi. That's great advice. You made me laugh, Rho. Thank you. 💙 Let me know what you think of the soup if you make it! Yes. This. Hi Friends! Whew, what a blur the last few days have been! Game on Friday went completely sideways and ended up folding in the solo session after all which was unplanned but worked out pretty well. Three huge reveals, only one of which was planned. When Nicole discovered that Zerellion was Athreos' captor she gave me a look of pure shock and then left the table and went upstairs to take a minute. Super grateful that Seb and Bryon were both out of the room when that happened because knowing that will change how they're going to play their characters. Zany fun!! Saturday was full of housework and baking (Lavender London Fog cookies and the dough for chocolate chip hazelnut flour cookies). Sunday was full of more housework and baking. Then I ran D&D for the Sunday crew and that went pretty well. They ended up drinking with a group of Drow who were tapping trees with maple syrup spigots and doing shots of tree sap syrup that resulted in mild, pleasant inebriation. They discovered an Earth Elemental is bound to that location and have agreed to free it. This game is now on hiatus until the next time Dave travels. Then at 10 pm I got to pick Dave up from base. I met the new chaplain in the parking lot while I was waiting. He seems very nice and easy to talk to, and is another gamer. It was the first time I'd ever seen a chaplain meet a late evening returning troop movement and that raised my estimation of him a notch. I can't imagine it's an easy thing to be a spiritual advisor to soldiers. I hope I get to know him and have some interesting conversations. Dave and I caught up for about an hour and then he passed right out, which made sense because it was almost 7 am his time. It's probably going to take a week for him to get turned around again. He has a chesty cold/cough and nasal congestion so his snoring has been off the charts. We did okay the first night, but last night I moved to the spare room at 12:40 am because I just couldn't sleep. Reintegration of sleep is the hardest part of coming back together. I sleep like a baby with he's gone because there is no noise. 😅 But we will get it sorted. Monday I worked 11-5 and it was good. Then I woke Dave up and we had pizza and watched Ted Lasso. I sure adore that show. Then back to bed for both of us. Today, tomorrow, and Thursday I work 12-5. They're giving me that extra hour at home in the morning because that's when he is awake and I appreciate it so much. This morning we went and got groceries and ran errands together and it was really lovely. The seat of my jeans blew out on me in spectacular fashion which I've never had happen before. And those were my good jeans! The inner thigh has blown out on my other pair, so I currently don't have pants with pockets. Boo erns. Going to have to find a way into a city to go pants shopping. I have been told that my supervisor and my boss think that I'm ready to have a key and start locking up on my own soon. That is a little terrifying, but I don't think they're wrong. I can do it, my perfectionism just makes me anxious. It was supposed to be tonight for the first time, but one of the students who comes in after school to help close didn't show up today for some unknown reason, so Karen (my supervisor) and I closed together which was good. I'm selfishly glad it wasn't today for the first time because I've been tired and anxious all day today and that's not the confidence I want to bring with me to my first solo-lead close. I felt like I was finding my schedule last week, but now with Dave home everything shifts again and I feel a bit like a spinning top. It's going to be fine, it's just going to take time. I'm working on eating three meals a day and drinking water after my shift. The movement is taking care of itself for right now with work and I'm okay with that being my baseline. I need to try on the outfit I want to wear to a wedding this weekend. I'm at my current lowest weight in quite a while so hopefully things fit well and look nice. Fingers crossed!! Okay, I've rambled plenty long. Going to go catch up on some threads and then head to bed. I hope you are met where you are by an unanticipated ally who has your back. Thanks for being here. 💜

Amazing! So proud of you for adventuring so boldly and with such excellent self awareness!!

I'm wishing you luck and inspiration! ❤️❤️❤️ Enjoy your trip. I'm so happy you made it and feel in your element. 🥰

How's it shaking, Ever?

Me too, it's been great! Right? Lol - fair enough! Thank you! I am excited to try them. I like thick soups in general as they feel more substantial when scooping with a spoon. I am not sure what that says about me. *lol* I haven't used my slowcooker in ages, but it was so nice to have the whole house smell like soup the other day that I probably will make more of an effort! Thanks, RES. ❤️ Hi Friends, Oh my goodness, I just can't get this scheduling sorted out for the forums and my game prep. I am really hopeful that I am going to be easing back into real life mode the longer I work at Jack's; things are already improving, but I am still not full of energy and concentration after work, preferring to sit in silence and rest my feet. But only two baths this week instead of five, so I am making progress even if it doesn't feel that way. I did my inBody scan on Wednesday and it showed I was 7.4 lbs down since the last scan, which was August 3rd. I am quite confident that the majority of that loss took place in the last four weeks which is when my movement started increasing with the change of jobs. ~Four pounds of it was fat, two were muscle, and the rest was water. I am concerned about the muscle loss, as I had honestly expected muscle gain with the lifting and carrying I am doing. But as I said in my Battle Log, I think part of it is due to not eating lunch so not getting adequate protein. I need to get that figured out. I also have been kinda sorta feeling like doing arm workouts this week. I have talked myself out of it twice, but the desire is there, so hopefully I will stop sabotaging myself and just do the thing. I think it is very interesting that this loss must be due to movement as I am not restricting my food at all right now. I am making responsible choices, but I am not actively avoiding carbs (even wheat), not eating an abundance of plants (although I wish I were), just being very average about my intake. That leads me to conclude that the active minutes is where I am experiencing the difference that is leading to the weight loss. That and a calorie deficit that is probably too big due to the no lunch situation... But I haven't lost even with significant calorie deficits before, so that circles me back to the movement part of this picture. Dave is home ~9pm on Sunday and I want to get the house straightened up before he gets here. It's not terrible, but there are a few things that need doing in order for me to feel like I am where I want to be. I should be getting paid today (by cheque, how quaint) so that means I can buy groceries this weekend and do some meal planning for next week. I need to work out the lunch situation. I can buy a sandwich at Jack's with my employee discount for ~$3.00. I usually make ~$5.00 in tips in a day, so I could easily convert the tips into lunch and not have to bring something from home. Or I can bring stuff from home and find the time to meal prep, etc. I think buying the sandwich is honestly worth it to me to not have to do the work of preparing the lunches, but I am not quite decided on that yet. Convenience is a great argument, though... I have game tonight and a solo tomorrow and I am not ready for either. I feel more confident about game tonight and my ability to improvise something, but the solo I wish I were more prepared for. I have a little bit of time this morning after this (~40 minutes) that I can use to continue growing the little seed ideas I planted last week, and I have ~2-3 hours tomorrow morning that I can use to prep the solo as we start playing at 10 am. Gerren might be bringing his oldest son as well to observe so I am trying to figure out what I can do that gives something to look at on the table instead of just theatre of the mind and also avoiding anything that isn't really PG-13 and higher. I have the setting worked out for the solo, but not the actual storyline so there's some stress there. But I'll figure it out or I will cancel. It's going to be fine. *crosses fingers* Alright, I am going to run and see about some prep. I love you all and I am so grateful for your care and support. Thanks for being here and bearing with me as I struggle to get this schedule sorted out. ❤️

Oof, sounds like a rough patch! I am proud of you for making the good self care decisions you are making, even when faced with so much stress and pain.

Oh my goodness a lot has happened since I have been away. I am so sorry that you are feeling poorly and so glad that it's not so bad that you have to cancel the New York trip. I am also glad that your time with Philosopher James was useful and rejuvenating. I am grateful that you have someone in a mentorship position, that is such a good thing. Crossing my fingers that the imaging turns up an immanently solvable problem with a minimum of invasion and setbacks. Sending love. ❤️