NightWolf714 said:
Though honestly, it doesn't feel like I did anything.
Click to expand...
:pet:My brain does this to me all the time. It does usually help if I list all the things I actually did do that day, and have someone else confirm to me that I did stuff.
Or sometimes the problem is I didn't work on the one thing my brain had subconsciously focused on, so making even 5 minutes of progress there solves it.
Doing art is wonderful! I look forward to checking out your stuff if you ever feel comfortable sharing :excited:
 
NightWolf714 said:
I haven't quite found a perfect solution and I don't want to quite leave Facebook because I know people only through that. Though it's awfully tempting, NGL, with all the hate and anger on there.
Click to expand...
Is it possible to engage with the platform only in the ways you want to engage?

I too am on FB for the personal contacts. (Originally signed up for a very good friend, who for whatever reason decided FB was the only way she was going to communicate. So I caved an got an account for her. She has since died. But now I have other friends who I'm only in contact with via FB.) Now I see so many people leaving, because they don't like what FB has turned into. But I've only ever been on FB for the organizational usefulness of groups (which the other platforms people are fleeing to don't have) and to connect with friends. And nothing has changed in these regards. (Except for some days being unable to find posts from my friends because my feed is full of too many ads! I just leave and accept it's not going to be a day for connecting with FB friends when that happens.)

I hope you will find a way to maintain contact with your friends that works for you while avoiding the BS.

:hug:
 
Maegaranthelas said:
:pet:My brain does this to me all the time. It does usually help if I list all the things I actually did do that day, and have someone else confirm to me that I did stuff.
Or sometimes the problem is I didn't work on the one thing my brain had subconsciously focused on, so making even 5 minutes of progress there solves it.
Doing art is wonderful! I look forward to checking out your stuff if you ever feel comfortable sharing :excited:
Click to expand...

That's a good idea. :)

Here's a sketch in progress for the black cat picture I'm working on. It's going to have "Don't Cross a Black Cat" to the side of her. If I can get it done in time, I'll be commissioning Bestie S. to paint it onto a jacket for me.
Don't Cross a Black Cat - Sketch WIP.jpg
 
Laura Rainbow Dragon said:
Is it possible to engage with the platform only in the ways you want to engage?
Click to expand...

That's part of what I'm figuring out. I've got my bookmark edited to take me directly to "feeds" instead of the homepage. While they are starting to put sponsored ads there, I think that helps. I do end up going to the homepage to make posts or on my way to seeing my own profile, and that's when I need to be more mindful. I've been on since it's early days, so there's a bit of that too. The main thing is that I want to limit my time on FB anyways because it can have diminishing returns after a bit.

So probably a mix of time limiting and encouraging being mindful on it. But I also wanna make sure I have other ways of engaging with people so that that itch is satisfied. And reassess risks versus benefits with FB. Honestly, it's not too bad if I just remember the number one rule of don't read the comments.
 
Today's Log (2-23-25)
Today was a fairly good day. Family day was fun; we played Hero Quest and they are pretty close to the final chapter of the campaign. I actually feel mixed about that. I'll enjoy getting to be a player again but I've really enjoyed being the storyteller for the game this time around. Before this, I had never done it again. It makes me want to try it out with TTRPGs though that would be a bit harder to keep the mechanics in mind. ^_^;;;;

Afterwards was mostly relaxing. Did a bit of reading since it's been a while. Not much to say. I did apparently get a vacation from work I didn't exactly ask for (as is the nature of "as needed" where sometimes you're not really needed). I'm trying to figure out what I'll do with the time. That makes me slightly antsy, so hoping I can balance between relaxing, being productive, and working on fun stuff decently well. We'll have to see.

  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 20 of 10 minutes done.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 18 done. Booo that it was more arm exercises. I'm not exactly worried since there's no pain or anything, but the "click" that my left shoulder gives is disconcerting, haha. Just sounds and feels kinda weird.
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that I've been able to try out leading a campaign. HeroQuest is more of a board game than TTRPG but there's enough in common that it feels like "baby's first DMing" for me, haha. And it's a lot of fun. Especially since I like to amp up the role play aspect. :muahaha:
    • I'm grateful I remembered to bring coffee to restock the BF's place with. It was almost completely out of it. That would have been tragic! 😱
    • I'm grateful while I'm doing art for other people, they are chill about me taking a little bit of time so I don't feel guilty having not worked on it today. ^_^;;;
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Messed up a little with being the Storyteller of HeroQuest but was able to recover pretty well.
    • When one of the metamours told me a plan she had that I disagreed with, I felt okay telling her my thoughts. And when she took note, but kinda disagreed with me, I left it at that without getting defensive or falling into my normal mental trappings. Gold star for me.
 
Today's Log (2-24-25)
Today was a good day. I got to sleep in a bit. The mate managed to get off work earlier enough to see me briefly and even surprised me with a butterbeer latte. 😍 Then off for date night. We ended up having to go out for dinner (just fast food to bring back) since he forgot to plug the crockpot in, but that's okay. I don't eat out as much as I use to so it was a treat. Especially since I got to try out the Wendy's thin mint frosty. (I tried it with vanilla, since I usually prefer that, but I bet the chocolate base would have been amazing!) <3 Then back home afterwards which was pretty relaxing. I didn't end up doing my artwork so I'm definitely gonna have to work on that tomorrow. And a small training video due on the 3rd that I meant to do at work this week sooooo, ahhhh, I'm gonna have to do that tomorrow so I don't forget about it yet again. ^_^;;;

It was a bit later than meant, but did manage to get some workout time in.
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 21 of 10 minutes will be done before bed.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 19 done. Butt kicks are amusing to do, lol.
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that there's lots of food options around both my place and the BF's for when "oops" moments happen, haha.
    • I'm grateful for the surprised coffee the mate gave me! <3 And he put up the laundry I started last night. :D I was getting spoiled by my two partners, haha.
    • I'm grateful that while Neopets was having some bad lag when I first got it, it was better after date night so I could get some dailies in. XD
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Wanted to be lazy, lol, but got exercises done anyways. :)
 
Today's Log (2-25-25)
Today was alright. There was a bit of a misunderstanding between the mate and I, but we were able to resolve it well. Realizing I may be a little more "off" than realized with tomorrow coming up. But was happy that the mate got home earlier than expected. And he even did a pre-wash of my car to get some of the salt from the last winter storm off of it. We also got my tags renewed and then went shopping. We may have slightly over done it, but at least we won't have to worry about meals for the next bit. And planning an outing for Friday (since I need to get my license updated). I didn't get to art like I planned, but I got my training video for work done (and texted my boss about) as well as shopping and the car tags, so it was a pretty good day. Oh, and hydrated. I've been neglecting that a little lately so that was good to do, lol. Not a bad day, all in all. Just alright. :)
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 22 of 10 minutes done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 20 done. At least, I think I did it right. I got a bit confused on the second half, but I'm counting it. XD
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Done since I felt like I could do with a bit more exercise.
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the training video from work was short. It's a little extra padding to the paycheck, but I didn't want to waste a lot of time doing it, haha.
    • I'm grateful that the mate is gonna be able to work from home tomorrow since that may or may not be a rough day for me.
    • I'm grateful I've been able to have such a flexible schedule this week. It's been nice doing what I want, even if it's been goofing off a lot. ^_^;;;
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Renewed my car tag before it expired, haha.
 
Today's Log (2-26-25)
Thank you @Maegaranthelas . I think I need to remind myself more that I'm actually doing well. :)

Bit rough today. Not as bad as I expected but still difficult. Today was the anniversary of my mom's passing. So needless to say, I was a bit emotional on and off. I talked to my sister briefly online and called my dad for a short talk. They're doing okay, or at least as okay as they can be.

It wasn't all bad, though. We were able to go to a diner for a late lunch that we both really like before they closed. (I had to resist getting a dessert since they're pretty big and I had a lot at home. It was super tempting though!) Stopped at the carwash on the way home. I managed to get one of my sketches altered and ready for inking and even started inking it a bit. (Unfortunately, I can't share that one but I'll try to share the other art projects as I get further along on them. :) ) We had a GIANT pot pie we got from Sam's Club (for out of country folks, it's a big warehouse store where you can get basic items either cheaper than normal or in larger quantities than normal.) Nom nom nom!

I am glad that I scheduled an appointment with the counselor for tomorrow, though. I think I have something things I wanna discuss with her about. But that'll be tomorrow evening. (I didn't have this month's work schedule, so I made it a late appointment in case I had work the night before.) Hoping it goes well. Thinking I'm going to bed slightly early for me, so nighty night bees. Know that each of you are amazing and wonderful.
  • Light Therapy - Slightly under 20 minutes done. We planned to go to a diner for a late lunch and realized it was gonna close soon so we had to ski-daddle. But the sun was bright for the car ride, so I'm sure it worked out, haha.
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 23 of 10 minutes done. Well, only about 5 minutes. But counting it because I still meditated. So long as it's at least a minute, it counts for this challenge.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 21 done. Lots of jumping. Turns out counting and hopping isn't the easiest so I had to slow it down a bit, lol!
  • Balance Workout - Skipped. Thought about it for once, but I'm not sure my knees would've liked it after all the hopping. ^_^;;
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that I remembered the BF and his wife gave us cookies recently. I was soooo tempted for a giant cookie I had no business getting, haha. And the ones gifted were a type I didn't know how to make, so that makes it more special. (Key lime cookies, for the curious.)
    • I'm grateful (constantly) for the mate's patience and support. I know that I sometimes make things a bit difficult for him, but he loves and supports me so much. <3 Seriously couldn't ask for a better life partner.
    • I'm grateful that I've got jigsaw puzzles on my phone again. I need to make sure I'm not excessively on it, but they're relaxing and fun. Even if I ALWAYS do the largest number of pieces and wished it was higher, haha.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Getting started on art again. It's always hard to pick it up after a few days of not doing it (even if I love doing art). Especially with an emotionally charged day.
 
Today's Log (2-27-25)
Thanks @Mamatigerj and @FlowersandPetals

Ended up sleeping in a good bit today. One of those days where I just didn't want to escape the bed's clutches. :deepsleep: Sure it's a mix of trying to wake up early (for me) even if going to bed early and all the emotions yesterday. :charmed: Still a bit emotional today, TBH. But going well. I ended up having a little bit of free time before my appointment so I started up Cinders on Steam, which I've been meaning to play for literal years. (It's a visual novel based off Cinderella, basically. Really pretty.)

Unfortunately my counselor had a family emergency, so we had to cancel this week's appointment. Which was a shame because I had something I wanted to talk to her about, but I'll have to do it next week as more of a review about it than a should I do sorta thing. I talked with both my partners and sorta made a decision. I use to be on medication for my anxiety and depression a number of years ago and got off it a while back. So I reached out to my PCP to see about maybe starting that back up again. I do suspect that I accidentally got myself on too high of a dose so hoping for just a low, starting dose basically. Honestly, I do have mixed feelings about it. Not all of it is fair or logical. (It is a giant source of frustration that I work in mental health and still struggle with unfair biases and judgements about it. I am working on it, but it's a process to unlearn unhealthy stuff.) I'm hoping this process won't be too bad. I got it through my PCP previously, but that was, like, 3 PCPs ago (because I keep getting residents who shift around too much, lol.)

Anyhow, since I had the free time from the cancelled appointment, with encouragement from the mate, I went on a walk around the neighborhood with some music. :fantastic: The sky was absolutely gorgeous at this point! I loved when the sun is slowly setting and the sky is all of my favorite colors, haha. Music also helps me get in the right mindset, so that's good. Rest of the day went well. So overall, a bit better of a day than expected. :)

I know that my journals end up being more about mental health than about my physical health. I hope that's not annoying or off-putting to anyone. I guess it's a mixture of one, that's my biggest focus area right now. But also that it's intrinsically linked. I wouldn't want to workout or care about my physical health if I don't work on my mental health. And vise versa, the exercising is definitely helping my mental health. Still, I doubt the journals are gonna be as long as this one is consistently. ^_^;;; I have wondered if I should start up a food diary, though. But that would be hard since I sometimes eat things without fully knowing what it is when it's leftovers from work, haha. Sleep and eating habits are gonna be tackled at some point most likely. I'm also considering a stretch routine other than the Better Sleep Yoga. Dealt with a bit of DOMs in my calves (apparently the hopping yesterday did a number on them!) but did what I could. :jacks:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes completed, plus actual outdoors time.
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 24 of 10 minutes done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 22 done. The "dead bug" exercises amused me. Then I actually did them and they were still amusing, but also ow, lol. :glee:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped for sake of the calves
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful the weather was nice so I could go for a nice walk. And grateful the neighbors who caught me singing along to the music in my ear buds didn't look at me weirdly, haha.
    • I'm grateful I had lots of leftovers for today so I didn't have to worry about coming up with food ideas for meals.
    • I'm grateful I could start up a new game I've been wanting to. (Y'all saw nothing, this wasn't editted in much much later. Noooooo, of course not. :glee: )
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Made a new gameplan for tackling my mental health and have made efforts to work towards it.
  • BONUS: Walked a couple laps around the neighborhood. About a mile's worth. Bonus point for singing for most of it, haha.

If you actually read this all, ahhhhh, my apologies on that. :tap: I wrote it throughout the day and it kinda escaped from me. ^_^;;;
 
Today's Log (2-28-25)
Busy day! We had a little adventure today. Went out to this small breakfast and lunch place I've been meaning to try out and got a tasty pot roast. <3 Went to pick up a duplicate of my last eye exam (though it didn't look like we thought it would so not sure if it'll work or not). We ended up going downtown which, didn't end up working out (trying to get my license updated so show I don't need glasses anymore since apparently that's a thing I should do after my lasix [redacted to protect the innocent] time ago (no one mentioned that was a thing and I forgot my license had that restriction. OOPS~), but was still fun. I told the mate that it was like a real adventure, filled with side quests and back tracking, lol. We even saw a dragon!

Dragon at Nashville Children's Theatre.jpg

Even though part of the adventuring was a quest to get a vaccine I've been meaning to (not covid or flu, I got those already for this season), it's been a good day. And I'm definitely in better spirits. I think having a game plan has really helped me, even if I'm not sure how the path to getting back on medication is gonna go. I'm rather optimistic though! Did have a small bleh moment in the middle of the day, but had an upswing so overall, a pretty good day. :)

  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes completed
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 25 of 10 minutes done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 23 done
  • Balance Workout - Skipped again
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that I can be playful and silly sometimes a lot of times. ^_^
    • I'm grateful even though we couldn't get the big errand done of my license (though we have a game plan now), we were still able to go out and make an adventure of it. I think I might start trying to think of my days like that more.
    • I'm grateful the mate remembered that we have a diffuser humidifier thingie. It's super cute, looks like a lil' cartoon owl. <3 It was nice to have it running and scenting the place. (We did orange clove to help wake us up a bit.) He also dug out my sage spray I forgot about! :D Not me spraying the doors and my alter after this week, lol.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Had an adventure!
 
Today's Log (3-1-25)
Happy March! I definitely realized it was the first of the month because I tried to sleep in past my alarm and then the siren testing started. :exhausted:

Today was mostly chill, though time slipped away from me. Pretty dang bad rough patch there at one point, but got through it. Mostly realizing that I'm probably a bit more tired than I realized. >_<;;; Was gonna skip exercises, but I think it's better to do some to make sure I can sleep well tonight. But tomorrow, I'll be needing to refine my game plan a bit. But at least I do have one positive in that I'm planning to hang out with a friend next week, so that'll be nice.

One thing I'm adding to my game plan is to start a mood tracker. I found a template for a 3 month one, so that should be be useful for analyzing and tracking. Especially for whenever I'm able to get back on medication. I may end up doing a 3-month tracker for other things such as exercising, sleep, or diet but that's gonna take longer to figure out what exists, what to track (and therefore compare), and what is reasonable for me to keep up with. Using this site here: 101planners.com (which I found semi-randomly, so not sure if it's the best of it's kind or not. But it gets the job done. At least until I change it and transfer the info to a new sheet so it's clearer. ^_^;;;
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 26 of 10 minutes done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 24 done
  • Balance Workout - Skipped - I basically did it with foundations today. XD
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful we were able to go through the leftovers before they went bad
    • I'm grateful that Frieren is a double length anime. Or at least had two parts. Whatever, it's not just 12 episodes and then done. XD It's sooooo good. It just feels so grounded in realism despite being a fantasy.
    • I'm grateful for one friend of mine who always favorites my pictures when I post them online. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Starting a mood tracker to have information for better analyze and planning
    • Did exercises, even though I didn't want to
    • Worked through rough day.

I now leave y'all a funny by Frogartti
482216844_17896429881161160_724701513202019079_n.jpg
 
Today's Log (3-2-25)
Thanks @Maegaranthelas . Fortunately I was already starting to wake up (and should have gotten up outta bed anyways) and where's painfully loud there. It's specifically first Saturday of the month and I'm not sure when it's the one day most people in the area would try to sleep in. XD (Though, in fairness, it was at 11am so it's not like it was stupidly early. Just stupidly early for me, haha.)

Had to get up at a decent time since we were hosting Family Day. Definitely did not want to. I ended up fighting fatigue all day. :exhausted: Though at one point, I did ask the mate to make me a latte so it was almost worth that, haha. Was in a bit of a bleh mood for a bit of the morning but was trying to "fake it while I make it" while still recognizing that that kinda bleh background. I think that's how you're suppose to do the whole "honor your feelings" thing I've read you're suppose to do?

Was nice when the crew got there. Hung out for a bit and then did some gaming. I did let them know that I was going on medication again. (Other than the mate and BF, who already knew.) Of course love and support given. Then the game! It's a lot of fun since it doesn't really feel like a normal campaign. The BF and the Mate alternate being the DM and it's the Mate currently. He was using a DnD campaign (despite us playing Pathfinder) but added a lot of his own feel to it. Both partners are creative and maybe a bit quirky at times, haha. So it makes for some interesting times. We ended up fighting these annoying monsters and rescuing a dragon. :D

Even was nice. The BF was gonna start spending the night over here. He has to be in the office 5 days a week for this training he's leading (normally it's only 3), so we offer to let him stay at our place for part of that. (Basically he'll go home for the weekend, spend 3 or 4 nights with us, and then the other 1 or 2 may be split with other partners based on their schedules and situations.) For I think 5 or 6 weeks? I forgot it was most weeknights, whoops! But it worked out and is nice to spend extra time with him. <3

Nearly forgot my exercise, so did it fairly late (and trying not to wake people up with it!). And even had some time to work on art stuff. I did end up redoing my mood tracker to have it on my tablet. I am MUCH happier with that. Nice color choice this time and I'm enjoying that I can be a little creative with expressing the moods each day (since I go through different emotions during the day). For example, I struggled with feeling tired pretty much all day, so today's square had a "tired pink" border around it. I'll have to see how it goes when I need to do it after work, but overall I think this is managable and fun. And engaging more of my values like I want to work on.

But that's enough of a wall of text for today, haha. Sorry for the grand reveal that I'm wordy AF, haha.

  • Light Therapy - I think I missed this actually?
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 27 of 10 minutes being done as soon as this is posted before crawling into bed.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 25 done
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that my whole crew enjoys TTRPGs. And we all enjoy the RP aspect of it. :D
    • I'm grateful that there are a lot of interesting youtube videos. I ended up playing a few different ones. A small rabbit hole of interactive toys and finished with a video exploring "why are the pockets on girl's pants stupidly tiny?!" (Really good video, actually.)
    • I'm grateful for such a loving and supportive group I've found. We've been together many years. :)
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • We rescued a dragon, haha.
    • Got the mood tracker figured out. I think
    • Made a lot of progress on the private art trade I'm working on. :D
 
NightWolf714 said:
a video exploring "why are the pockets on girl's pants stupidly tiny?!"
Click to expand...
Now I am very curious which one you found, as I follow a load of Costubers (costume-youtubers) and quite a few have made videos about pockets =D
If this is a side of youtube you'd like to explore, I am more than happy to give you recommendations :morelove:
 
Maegaranthelas said:
Now I am very curious which one you found, as I follow a load of Costubers (costume-youtubers) and quite a few have made videos about pockets =D
If this is a side of youtube you'd like to explore, I am more than happy to give you recommendations :morelove:
Click to expand...

Here's the video in question:


I discovered this person because she did a video on why and how we came to have such a HUGE boon of blind boxes (and semi-expensive ones at that). I like her approach of discussion the topic, showing research and history, and then experimenting and playing with it. :)
 
Today's Log (3-3-25)
Feeling less tired today. Not sure why, especially since I didn't sleep the best (I forgot to hit the fan and got a bit overheated). But rolling with it.

The mate made up a tasty lunch/breakfast. And even made up a nice dessert from a mystery power mix we had, lol. (My family down south had a bag of misc. mixes and stuff. Said we could have it since they'd never get around to using it. Looks like a kit that lost it's box or something. There's a brownie mix bag, a graham cracker crust bag, etc. One bag wasn't labelled though). Turned out to be chocolate cake mix, which the mate used part of as decadent pancakes with powdered sugar and chocolate syrup. That with some coffee was divine~

Getting exercises in earlier since it's not the middle of the night like last night. Whoops! :whaa:Actually feeling up to doing a full set even. To justify eating more of that chocolate pancake! Date night was also pretty fun. Got to get way too much Chinese take-out and watch some show. Pretty chill evening, just the way I like it. Managed to get some art time in like I wanted. Even got started on the coloring a little. :D I'll be happy to get one of my to-do's off the list of projects as soon I'll be adding a bunch more. :plot::cantcope:Maybe a bit more time on Cinders too. <3
  • Light Therapy - Skipped since I sorta hit the ground running. ^_^;;; (Though I may have actually done it yesterday? The mate thinks I did, but not 100% sure.)
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 28 of 10 minutes missed. Oops.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 26 done
  • Balance Workout - Done
  • Better Sleep - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that chocolate exists (though I'm more a fan of salty than sweet. And actually like vanilla better, haha. But still, chocolate is good).
    • I'm grateful that there is another season of the show I'm watching with the BF. I forgot it got a 3rd season so that's gonna be fun! (Even if I'm excited about the next show, lol.)
    • I'm grateful for these more relaxing days. A nice restful time for the soul. And so needed these days (both for me personally as well as in general these days for oh so many.)
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Got near ear pads for my headphones and mostly figured out how to replace them myself. And didn't get overly upset when I thought I messed up, but simply waited for the mate to finish what he was doing to ask for help. My headphones look much nicer now. :)
 
Today's Log (3-4-25)
Woke up a bit earlier than I was planning, but not terribly so. (Still over 8 hours, so that's cool with me.) Laying in bed, I thought there were some terrible storms going on. Naw, turned out it's just really windy and our poor half-broken fences made it sound a lot worse, haha.

Dog Drying GIF


Found an adorable lil' anime to watch. A bunch of 4 minute skits featuring Egyptian Gods. It's so cute!!! And I still have a spot in my heart for Egyptian mythology from when I was a kid. I wish I could get all the characters as mini figs or something, haha. Though the first episode mentioned koshary and now I want some. I haven't made that up in forever. (And my way of making it isn't remotely authentic. I've tried the real deal before back when I did volunteering at a very multi-cultural clinic, haha.) (Koshary or koshari is a dish of lentils, chickpeas or garbanzo beans, pasta, rice, onions and tomatoes sauce, traditionally in layers. I tend to mix it all together in a giant pot and use marinara sauce. We have a lot of our meals planned out this week, but may need to see if we can do that sometime.

Oh%2C_Suddenly_Egyptian_God.jpg


This evening was just delightful. A very good friend of mine came over. It was kinda to look at my old car to see if he wanted to buy it off of me. But it was mostly just to hang out since we hadn't done so in months. (We're both terrible about doing that.) We mostly just chilled and just talked until late in the evening. The mate hung out with us as well for a bit but left to do his own thing after a bit. After that, mostly relaxing since I was working on some art stuff while watching YouTube videos. I think I really needed this. Though it was a little sad as he's considering a pretty major move, which I do support for a few different reasons, but would miss him if he did. Still, all in all, a very nice day.

  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 28 of 10 missed again. Was gonna do before bed, but got distracted then tired. ^_^;;; But at least now Foundations and this will line up, so that'll be nice. ^_^;;;
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 27 done - Despite it being a cardio workout (and it was!), my arms definitely felt it too
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for the chance to hang out with a dear friend of mine I hadn't seen in a while
    • I'm grateful that pizza was clear enough to easily get. (He lives just outside of delivery zone of the nearest pizza place so he doesn't get pizza often. We normally just pick it up anyways, so it was no biggie for us and a nice treat for him.)
    • I'm grateful to both of my partners. One has pretty much no jealousy at this point (that was something he use to have, but worked through and is in a better place). The other has some that comes up every now and then, but he recognizes it as a him-issue to work through (though I still give reassurances and support of him because I know that's difficult it is.) Not everyone has partners with such a good relationship to jealousy (what it means and how to respond to it) and in tune with their own feelings. I'm seriously lucky with these two. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Did a load of laundry, ran the dishwasher then put them away, and got a load of towels through the wash. Rockin' it!
  • Mood Tracker - Done
 
Laura Rainbow Dragon said:
That dish sounds delicious! I may need to try making it myself!
Click to expand...

I'd definitely recommend it! It's not too hard. And it's very easy to scale up for a large gathering. Just realize it'll take most of the pots and pans you own, haha.
 
NightWolf714 said:
I'd definitely recommend it! It's not too hard. And it's very easy to scale up for a large gathering. Just realize it'll take most of the pots and pans you own, haha.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be making it for a gathering as one of my friends is allergic to lentils and chick peas. But as a tasty dish for myself that would portion up nicely for leftovers, I would definitely try it.
 
Today's Log (3-5-35)
Today was a day. Accidentally went to bed later than intended because I lost track of time and forgot I had to be up at a decent hour for an appointment. Luckily it was a telehealth appointment, so I didn't have to go anywhere. But that was enough to kick the insomnia off. ;n; Appointment went sideways multiple ways. But it ended with a quick. "What can we help you with today?" "Drugs, man." LOL! (Not quite that blunt, but close to it.) So cheers on being able to get back on my old Effexor XR. Picked up the prescription without any issues and grabed grocies while out. Was kinda nice on the car ride as the mate is listening to an audio book about stocism and we were able to discuss some of the points in it. Back home and mostly chilled since then. Mood was a bit all over the place (I definitely have some ... feels that I can't quite pinpoint about the meds) but was still able to enjoy time with the BF and the Mate. Convinced myself to do a bit of exercise and meditation. Not the worst of days, honestly. Just .... ehhhhhh, a day to confirm that my decisions are probably valid.

Which, I should note that there's nothing wrong with my decision to go on meds. Likewise, it's fair for those who don't. I'm going for a multi-prong approach myself with counseling and all. Once I'm in a better place mentally, I'll be tackling my sleep and diet which will also help out things. (I've heard it said that the stomach/GI is a second brain, so it'll definitely help physically and mentally.) But it's gonna be a process in figuring out what works and what doesn't. And a bit of work so I'm gonna have to pace myself until I'm at the point of tackling that. Bigger hurdles to deal with first. Speaking of which, I've got a counseling appointment tomorrow evening and I'm curious as to what her reaction will be when I tell her how the past couple of weeks have gone, haha.

Now off to treat myself with a bit of game time since I haven't done that in a while.
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 28 of 10 done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 28 done
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that telehealth appointments are a thing. It was so nice to wake up and take it a bit easy before going to my appointment.
    • I'm grateful that despite the obstacles at first, nothing majorly bad happened today. Like, nothing prevented me from doing the things I wanted to do.
    • I'm grateful the person I'm doing an art trade with is 100% okay with me taking my time. I don't want to procrastinate or anything, but it's nice that I can pause for a day without feeling guilt or anything. (I've traded with them a number of times now, so they know I'm gonna get it done in a good amount of time. :) )
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Appointment done ✅ Prescription and groceries done ✅ Exercises done ✅
  • Mood Tracker - Done

Remember that all of y'all are:
Queen Bee Love GIF
 
Maegaranthelas said:
Yaaaay, I am glad you could get your meds!
They allow you more energy to work on stuff instead of trying to fight your brain!
Meds didn't work for me, but I am so happy when they can give relief to others :morelove:
Click to expand...

That's the game plan! Well, more that I'm hoping it'll help with the hair-trigger emotional responses that I'm having. I'm still working on things like mindful pauses, meditation, adjustments to communication. But I'm hoping this will give me the handicap to actually be able to use those tools instead of just watching the trainwreck in real time. >_<;;

Thank you. I'm optimistic overall that this is gonna be a good thing for me.
 
Today's Log (3-6-25)
Hi bees~ 🐝

Took two melatonin pills instead of one last night to make damn sure I didn't have insomnia again. And yep, that definitely did the trick, lol. Woke up naturally and after a little bit forced myself out of bed. (Largely because I heard that the mate came back home early and wanted to say hi.) Started the "new" medication. We'll see how this round of it goes. Been mostly a chill kinda day, TBH. Already got a follow-up appointment with my PCP's team about the medication. Counseling appointment went okay. Kinda an "eh" sorta day. I did take a nice long 1.5 hr nap and that was nice. But mostly just one of those days, ya know?

Also realized that I'm doing Day 29 of Foundations. Huh, that went by quick, it feels like. I'm now debating about moving to a level 3 difficulty exercise (eye balling you, RPG fitness programs). Or do another level 2 difficult program but on the highest level of it. Possibly even redoing one, such as Zero to Hero (because that one amused me). I'm finding it a little difficult to tell what level program is best for me. Especially when it's not even. Or maybe a couple simple ones. This is the hard part for me, TBH, figuring this kinda thing out. I struggle with trying to pick the "correct" choice and I know that doesn't exist. ^_^;;;

  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 29 of 10 done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 29 done
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that youtube has such a range of videos. I use youtube videos as background noise sometimes and it's pretty cool how varied of videos you can find. (I saw one video about the Bob's Burgers movie, another about gimmick accounts on social medial going off the rails, and another reviewing these weird plushie making kits.)
    • I'm grateful that the mate got to come home pretty much when I woke up and that he'll be working from home tomorrow. It'll be nice to have the company. :)
    • I'm grateful for the magical power of forehead kisses
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Counseling appoint done with goals and homework to work on.
  • Mood Tracker - Done
 
Today's Log (3-7-25)
Fairly quiet day overall. Honestly it was mostly just relaxing and chilling. Good about of art time in though, which I'm pleased about. And either as a placebo or just in general optimism, but I'm feeling a bit better overall today. Less "bleh" and more "meh" if that makes sense. Though a bit of my playfulness shone through today, which is always a good sign. There's a part of me that knows it's too early for the med to start working (it's only Day 2), so slightly worried of a mood crash. But I'm just gonna keep an eye on myself and enjoy the improvement that I have, no matter it's cause.

And, to be fair, I have a couple of reasons to be happy. One is that it's double badge day. Completed Foundations and the 1-minute meditation challenge. Thinking I'll keep the meditation and looking at possibly doing the 10 minute program. At least giving that a try, though there's a chance of just crashing on the first day because 10 minutes is a really long time. (How is that only a 2-bar difficulty at 10 minutes‽) We'll see how that goes tomorrow.

The other thing is that I'll be getting a hair care day tomorrow. Cut, bleach, redye. I'm very excited about it. I like getting pampered. ^_^ The mate does my hair so I can just relax and be taken care of by him without worrying about the bill, haha.



  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 1-Minute Meditation Challenge - Day 30 of 10 done :fireworks:
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • Foundation Program - Day 30 done (though I started wondering if I could there for a bit. For a cardio day, my arms were struggling!):fireworks:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that my crew is understanding about schedule changes. (My BF and his wife is suppose to host Sunday since we alternate, but it's easier this week if we host. Everyone was cool about it.)
    • I'm grateful for google calendar. Seriously, that and other calendar sharing apps are amazing life-savers for polycules, haha.
    • I'm grateful that while it's nearly over, my accidental 2-week vacation from work has timed out as well as it has. Gave me time to work through some things. And I have an excuse for not keeping up with work emails, haha.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • More artwork done. Laundry put away. Dishes put away. Small victories kinda day. But those are still victories.
  • Mood Tracker - Done

    Nighty night Bees~ 🐝 May your dreams be sweet but your days sweeter
 
Thanks so much @Laura Rainbow Dragon @JCU @Fremen and @WSMC1 ! I appreciate it. :D

Today's Log (3-8-25)
Today has been a good day. Apparently most of it was "let's pamper the Puppers" kinda day. Woke up, got ready for the day, and had some coffee with my SAD light time. After that, we went for a nice walk around the neighborhood. Came home and fairly shortly go to work on my hair. The mate does my hair (has for a number of years now). My hair is fairly simple (fine and straight) so it's been easy enough for him. However, he offered to give a hand at doing the half-shave look I've been wanting to try for years. :angryz: Then a trim to the other side, bleach for a large section in the front/non-shaved side (which took a bit because he had accidentally gotten the mixture wrong initially, which meant multiple attempts), and then dye. We found a nice metallic teal color on sale we wanted to try. It looks so pretty~ After that, the mate made up an experimental dinner I suggested (basically sausage and cheese balls). NOM!

Then I was enjoyed the rest of the evening. Holding off on the TEN exercise until tomorrow. I think I finished with the art trade I'm working on. (Sent off for approval.) And just relaxed the rest of the evening. Other than being made that it's Daylight Savings time, which America (well, most of America. Some parts are refusing and GOOD FOR THEM) insists on clinging to despite evidence that it's dangerous and there's no real benefit to it anymore. (I have strong opinions on this.)

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - Done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Not formalized, but practiced mindfulness techniques on and off the hair doing stuff. Counting that since that's in the same ballpark as meditation.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Will start tomorrow (probably)
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the mate is so willing to do my hair. <3 One, it makes me feel pampered by him. Plus, doesn't hurt that it saves us a little money.
    • I'm grateful that it was a nice day for a good walk. <3 I saw a good number of pups too!
    • I'm grateful for nice days like this where I just feel pampered. The mate definitely shows love through acts of service and such. So felt much loved today. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Art trade is mostly done! Yay! Plus a load of dishes into the washer for tonight. :D
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Done
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Bonus Exercise - Walked the longer route around the neighborhood (around 1 to 1 1/3 miles)
 
NightWolf714 said:
Other than being made that it's Daylight Savings time, which America (well, most of America. Some parts are refusing and GOOD FOR THEM) insists on clinging to despite evidence that it's dangerous and there's no real benefit to it anymore. (I have strong opinions on this.)
Click to expand...
Believe me: there are just as many of us who have strong opinions that standard time is what we want to get rid of, NOT daylight time! I am so, so happy we are finally back on daylight time where I live!

(Yes. I have heard the arguments against permanent daylight time, including ones given by sleep researchers. But quite frankly: it is bunk to suggest any one option is the best option for everyone. I have even seen people argue that eliminating standard time would give us too much daylight at the end of the day during the winter. From the perspective of a Canadian--even one who lives almost as far south as one can be and still be in Canada--this is patently absurd. Nobody in Canada is getting too much sunlight during the winter at either end of the day, no matter how you slice it! And quite frankly, if people's health is what we are concerned about, we should be legislating that everyone, no matter where they live and in what time zone, must be allowed to go outside for at least 15 minutes during the first hour of sunlight in their community, no matter what time on the clock that happens to fall.)

I'm curious though why you have such a strong opinion on the matter, given that the negative effects on your circadian rhythm of your work schedule massively trump a puny little one-hour time change?
 
Oh, I don't care which way it goes. I just want it to quite shifting each year. Honestly, "strong opinions" is half joke, but half serious.

1.) I always forget about it. And it's a hassle to change the clocks. (The phones change, but wall clocks, the bedroom clock, my watch because it's dumb, etc).

2.) It was ages ago, but I heard of a study that car wrecks increase the day of time change.

3.) Personal opinion, but I think it's mostly outdated with modern technology.

4.) Interacting with places without it can be interesting.

5.) Specifically for my job, if I work it I may either end up with an 11 hour shift or a 13 hour shift. At least typically companies are good at keeping that recorded correctly. But while it's not common, anything that needs to be charted as having happened around that time frame takes extra thought.

6.) It doesn't mess with my sleep routine, but it does mess with my patient's sleep. And it's hard enough to get them up a lot of times, haha.
 
Today's Log (3-9-25)
So today was fun! I got to surprise the crew with my hair. :plot: I told the BF I was gonna do it, but not when. The other two was a complete surprise though. (And I managed to not post on FB beforehand. Please praise the self-restraint, haha.) I even wore an outfit with a hood so I could do a dramatic reveal. :wand:

Today is a bit odd. I slept in as late as I could, which was around 12-12:30pm. Basically just before people got there. Luckily we planned just a hangout sorta family day so that was nice. I also called my dad to wish him a Happy Birthday. Apparently family and friends are being good and not leaving him alone today, haha. (The more public celebration of life for my mom was on his birthday, so we knew this year would probably be rough for him.) He's apparently being showered with love by the whole town and that makes me so happy. <3 After family day, I had an abbreviated date night with the BF since this was really the best opportunity for both of our schedules. Always a good time. Never got my light time in, though, since it was around 10pm-ish by the time I got to my own devices. XD

Most of the evening was chill. Got approval for the art trade so I was able to make that off my to-do list and move onto the next project. Even got a bit of reading in. Also started the TEN workout. Went better than I thought it would! All the jacks made my poor arms tired though. :jacks:But realized that I already had my timer on my watch set for 10 minutes for meditation, so that works out well. (I wish I had realized that before I got started, but oh well, haha.)

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - Missed
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 1 done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for naps. I don't do them as much as I should. And felt a little groggy afterwards. But definitely helpful!
    • I'm grateful that I got to wish the BF a good morning on his way to work. It's been a long time since I could do that in person. <3 (I rarely spend the night at his place since he gets up early, I stay up super late, and the guest bed is in his home office.)
    • I'm grateful for good stories. It nice to just relax and read sometimes.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Got the black cat sketch done! (I shared the work in progress rough sketch a bit ago.) The scanner is misbehaving, so asking the mate to take a look at it and see if he can scan it for me so I might be able to work on it a little during any downtime at work.
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-10-25)
Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go~

First of 3 days in a row. WOOF! But the deal was I do these three, and then I don't have to worry about this month otherwise so it's been worth it. Especially since work was pretty smooth last night. (Only 4 patients last night, which is half what we've been having.) So managed to workout (though I tried to be as quiet as possible), meditate, and even do some artwork. :D And the BF sent a text about how he got crab rangoon for me and the mate as a surprise. <3 (I love that both my partners are such good friends.) And apparently there was an employee appreciation day or week or something while I was off. My boss made a hand written and actually personalized note for everyone. I about wanted to cry. ;n;

I can't think of anything else to say here. Pretty tired. Good day was good though. :)

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 2 done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that work went well last night. Was worried about how much trouble one person would be (medical issues) but it turned out to be a smooth night which was good for all of us.
    • I said it above, but I'm grateful that my partners get along so well. <3
    • I'm grateful I work someplace that is encouraging of individuality for their employees. Got compliments on the new hair. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • 1st of 3 work shifts in a row done! Woot woot!
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-11-25)
2 out of 3 night shifts down! Just gotta survive one more.

Started out well. I had the crab rangoons the BF got me and the mate for breakfast. Very nice. Then had a pretty easy going night again. Got a LOT of artwork done. I think I'm done with the black cat image itself. I still need to add words to it, though. I'll play around with that after the work week since that'll take a bit of brain power to figure out how I want to arrange it. And I need to confer with Bestie S. to see if it'll work for her painting it onto a jack. (And also buy said jacket.) So still lots to go.

Don't Cross a Black Cat - Image Only.png

And a good bit of reading too. Also did an EKG on someone for the first time in forever, so that was nice. And it was apparently appreciated too. (Normally day shift handles that sorta thing.) So overall a pretty good day. Now to crash and hope that we get 3 outta 3 good shifts. :)


🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done, broken into 2 segments.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 3 done. Had to take a few mini breaks since my arms were dying trying to do these. ;n; But I guess that means it was a good workout. ^_^
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for the air fryer. I usually reheat my crab rangoons in the microwave. But being able to crisp them back up in the air fryer is truly a treat.
    • I'm grateful that traffic to and from work has been behaving pretty well lately. This is not always the case for "Crashville." XD
    • I'm grateful that the internet exists. The ability to connect with people, to gather information, etc. Like, it has it's downsides. People abusing it or getting trapped in echo chambers, etc. But it also does a lot of great things.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • 2nd shift down outta 3.
    • Did an EKG (10 lead at that) for the first time in a while. And this machine looks pretty ancient too, haha.
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
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