I did not get a nap, but I did get some downtime between work and gaming and my supervisor unexpectedly gifted me a caffeinated beverage at 3, which is when I was really feeling the drag, so second wind was acquired!   Yes, it said it could be 3 days before it was fully expanded, but could be slept on before then. So it may not have been completely done last night, but sleep on it I did and oh boy did it feel good to be back in my own room on a comfy mattress. I slept hard and for the first time in a week woke up feeling good.   Thank you very much. You guys make it fun to do.   Friday report! Had my meeting with Lori yesterday. Still some paperwork to do (it's county government, there is always paperwork to do) and she wants to double check with Brandon, who is on vacation until Tuesday, but my start date should be October 21. That means I can take the 11th off like I planned (probably could have taken it even if I had started on the 7th, but I didn't really want to take a day off my first week in a new job) and am taking a half day on the 4th to use up some comp time that won't transfer to the new department. Realized last night that this means I have already worked my last full week in Human Services. A bit sad about that, it is very important work and I was proud to be part of it for a time. But also excited about working in Planning, which is also important work, if not in quite the same way, and which has a much higher ceiling for me career-wise. So I'm letting myself be sad and excited and once more falling back on the wisdom of Winnie the Pooh.     My admin supervisor took the news I was leaving very well, had a discussion with her about bosses and advancement opportunities and it's probably the best conversation I've had with her in the 3 years I've worked in her department. My D&A supervisor is also taking the news well and is very happy for me, but not at all looking forward to replacing me. I like her a lot, not just as a co-worker but as a friend, and I do feel a bit bad that I won't be helping her any more, but glad that I'm just transferring one floor down so we can still hopefully chat from time to time. And then she went out and bought the department caffeinated lemonades which was exactly what I needed because I was not going to make it through the rest of the workday, let alone game night.   Took it pretty easy after work, got my new mattress set up, read for a while. Was a little concerned the weather was going to affect my internet connection, but the wind died down and I had no problems. Had a good time running Forbidden Lands. My players are fantastic. From making an unexpectedly high roll to barter with the moat monster to realizing they were about to press the big red button and doing it anyways, they are fun to play with. And now I have two weeks to map out a castle of undead soldiers.   Slept on my new mattress last night and loved it. Got up a bit later than usual this morning, but no reason I couldn't. I have class in about 30 minutes, then a chill day. Cut my first stair stringer, call my uncle, do a bit of housework, then my sister is coming over later to bake cookies. And the Vampirate missed their last attack, so I got away with not going to the gym this week. It turns out taking a week to be gentle with myself while I was less than 100% has not completely derailed my challenge. Who knew?

Well now I'm really failing the no spend... We went mattress shopping yesterday 🤦‍♀️ I figured maybe $2-3k high-end. We are now getting an adjustable base as well so you can double that and add another $1k. Holy moly. It was really comfortable. But eesh..

Honestly, this is a good thing. Not every, in fact most workout sessions, should not have you feeling completely beat. As someone once told me, 'trust the process'. If you were sweating, you were working plenty hard enough.    I love love love this so much!   It is indeed, a lovely cup of fancy tea I splurged on in Covent Garden the other week. And thank you, Sov, for being here, and for posting and sharing a small piece of you with us. 

Hey Sal! Woo that was a lot to catch up on but AMAZING job with the weightlifting. You look super happy int hat photo, as you should be! 

Hi all.   Been - a hell of a week. My Dad landed back in hospital. He is finally out, with antibiotics, but his kidneys have taken a big hit (again). It's hard, knowing how much he has deteriorated, and that really, he isn't going to get better. I doubt it will be long before he is going to need dialysis. So, that was a bit of a stressful few days, not knowing what was wrong and how severe, etc.    The other thing is that I had my physio/diagnostic scan on Monday morning. Not quite sure what I was expecting, honestly. But I was not expecting to be told it's not my muscles at all, and instead likely an issue with blood supply. He said he wanted to get a second opinion, and on Wednesday he got back to me: I need to see a orthopedic surgeon. Which means. if it IS what they think it is, the treatment is likely be surgery. Which I am not going to lie, did not anticipate ever being a possibility. So that's been rattling round my brain, and trying to get authorisation for treatment through my medical insurance requires seeing my GP and getting them to fill out a form, which could take who knows how long.    Safe to say, not much progress was made this week. Except, I have overall eaten less chocolate and junk, and put a hard stop on drinking coke. Mostly COke Zero and Pepsi Max, so no calories as such, but I was getting through a good 3 cans a day, minimum, and figured that really cannot be healthy. Thankfully, I drank them 90% because of their convenience, so ensuring a steady supply of water is nearby has been enough to mean I am not missing it too much. The increased tiredness and headaches mean I was definitely having too much caffeine though - I am still drinking coffee most days and at least one tea a day, but I will either need to see if my body will adapt to less caffeine, increase the amount I drink through non-fizzy drink means or go cold turkey and cut it out entirely. I dislike option 3 .     Baldur's Gate is still alot of fun, but I am having to put it aside to work on my phd proposal, which has got precisely no where. I just - cannot think what to do, what sources to look at. Much like a traveller who does not know where they want to go next, only that they really, really want to go somewhere, I am spinning the globe and trying to figure out what speaks to me. Because its going to be my life for 3 years. It better be interesting to start with!  

Oh no!  So sorry to hear you scalded yourself.  Burns are no fun.  Minimizing scarring is mostly about moisturizing, preventing infection, and keeping it out of the sun.  You can cover both the first ones with an antibiotic ointment such as bacitracin. 

My brother has apparently gone full dad mode which is just funny when you have their whole history to compare this moment to.   They had gifted one of his step-daughters concert tickets, but since she is a young teen that meant he got to be chaperone.  First key and obvious point, he isn't a fan of that performer.  Second is he has always had a more conservative dress style for himself.  He was telling me about being back with the wall of dads who were silently bonding in misery, raising strengthening cups of beer at each other and watching their girls.  Apparently the style for the girls is very 1994 right now and basically 'it was bad then and its bad now" but the boys.  Oh the boys.  "These young men, I'd say late teens/ early 20s, were wearing lace shirts.  Just lace shirts.  Nothing under the lace shirt.  Oh and the 90s!  you remember those stretch chokers that were so popular for the girls, well the boys wear them now.."   I just nodded and chuckled with him while thinking "and? what's your point?"   I was that person in the clothing that prompted the "kids these days" thoughts.  Did he forget that?  🤣  Also, it was a concert, not work, not school, not church.  They were dressed for the environment and all the important parts were covered.  But then I extended that thought one more level.  My brother lives in a New England city.  He and his wife are country music fans and go to concerts.  They also dress for that environment, western boots and such.  How is that different?   What is different is that he understands and likes his version.  Its just amusing from the outside   Anyway, I was personally cheering on teens and young adults expressing themselves because why not?  Have fun and explore your world while you have the time and energy!  He was just miserable because he disliked the music and was tired

I did all the fitness things I meant to do this week.  Yay!  And just realized, right now, in this very moment, that the 5k is next weekend.  I guess I need to corner my run buddy and get her to the route tomorrow or Monday.  She's a planner and wants to do it once prior.  Do understand, dear nerd reader, that she knows this area, she as been there many times over the years, she has just never run it.    Quick check in with the rest of my tasks   meal planning;  i actually plan to sit down and work through it today and tomorrow costume:  I did draft and make a successful test muslin skirt.  On to fitting two for the top.  Crochet has been put on the back burner for a week or so, I managed to be a dope and stress the upper back muscles by looking down to much and sitting to still for too long.  Massive noggin strained by back. 😆  should be back to it today or tomorrow. sidequests:  the idea is living in the back of my head and tracking all the things I hear about.  Did not get to that meetup, but there will be more

Hard to answer for me. I already know those first two by heart... 😅 Well, mostly at least.   Have you considered actual a capella songs? Like The Flying Pickets' "Only You" or The Housemartins' "Caravan of Love" or anything by Pentatonix?

Totally thought I'd updated here more recently! I've finished at my current workplace... crazy. Had good fun leaving drinks with a few people then had some fwb time - wish me courage as the next time we're both free is on like three weeks 😅 though interestingly the married fb has now got back in touch. Much shock.   So I think last update was for Tuesday, Weds was wfh and free evening so I did some house admin/crafts - did physio and no scrolling. Thurs in the office, infiltrating another team, went to the pub with them as one of my quartet had close covid contact so we couldn't rehearse, and then bcuz fwb was in the pub I was weak and binned off my mate's show to get some (she understood!) I'm pretty sure I still physio-d while teeth brushing and didn't scroll as late. Oh, I will give myself a bonus though as not only did I get accepted as an honorary member of that team, someone I just met that day said to me 'you're so strange and I love it' 🥲 which I think deserves a point. Then yesterday was LAST DAY, and drinks after which were fun but didn't do crazy late bcuz yeah, fwb time though they left pretty late last night so I did not physio, but at least didn't scroll!   Wednesday: 2pts Thursday: 3pts Yesterday: 1pt Total: 37pts   I'm off to learn some spicy macrame in a bit, and then the ex's bro's wedding. What a curious and fun life I am enjoying!