Today's Log (3-12-25)
Last work day of the week done. Whew~ Unfortunately opted for being rather lazy. I forgot the meditation (though I did try to practice mindfulness driving on the way into work). And skipped the work out because doing butterfly kicks on old wooden floors sounded absolutely dreadful. ^_^;;;; Work went well, more progress on reading and arting. Good day.
🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Held off on
  • TEN - Day 4 held off on
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that work went really smoothly. Especially since there was some stuff that could have gone wrong but didn't.
    • I'm grateful for my tablet. It's been so nice to be able play around on it at work either reading or arting or even doing some Neopets on it during the downtime.
    • I'm grateful for leftovers from work. So tasty. And was even welcomed to bring some home. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • 3 12-hr days in a row completed! Been ages since I attempted that. And handled it pretty well. Even avoided the temptation for extra coffee.
    • Successful blood draw with the first attempt. :D
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-13-25)
Today was nice. Slept in a little. Mostly vegged around the house. :typy: I did help out a little with laundry and the dishes though. I wanted some chicken noodle soup so I made that up. So maybe a bit less vegging than implied, haha. But mostly just relaxed and took it easy. I feel like that's justified after the last few days.

I got to see the lunar eclipse! πŸŒ•πŸŒ–πŸŒ—πŸŒ˜πŸŒ‘πŸŒ’πŸŒ“πŸŒ”πŸŒ• I had forgotten all about it but remembered it just in time for it to start. The mate is working from home tomorrow so he stayed up too. Manage to see the peak of it as well. Very exciting. I wish I could have gotten some nicer pictures though.

On the mental health front, I'm doing pretty well overall. It's been a week on Effexor XR at this point. Today I upped my medication to a full dose (I started out with a half dose each day to adjust to it). I feel like I'm less reactive and more productive. But also that there's a bit of a dampener on my emotions overall. I heard someone describe it as previously walking in street clothes compared to wearing armor. The armor is protective, but it's difficult to move in so you have to adjust to it. Mostly I'll have to learn the difference between "eh" and "bleh" kinds of moods (aka neutral moods versus depressed moods). Which, is a good thing to learn anyways. NO ONE is happy 100% of the time and it's not fair to say you should only have part of the human experience. But will need to adjust and also make sure I don't accidentally slip into a more depressed mood.

On the exercise front, I tried Day 4 of TEN. I thought my arms were the weakest part of my body. Apparently I was mistaken. I got through 10 minutes of attempting the exercise, but it was definitely a struggle. I pretty much couldn't do the cross crunches at all because I couldn't get enough lift to turn. :blackout: Definitely a frustrating experience! I'm gonna add another optional workout to assist with that. The Micro Shred Workout. I ... will probably need to take breaks if I do it, but it should help I think. We'll see. Especially since I have to be motivated to want to do it, haha. (The mate bribed me with a small piece of peppermint chocolate bark from his stash, lol.) But at least an attempt was made! And now I know what needs some work. So I think that's a good thing. Maybe. ^_^;;;

Off to do some gaming, I think. Nighty night bees~

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 4 done to the best of my ability. :flat:
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that I remembered about the lunar eclipse. And that the mate was able to watch it with me. <3
    • I'm grateful that we didn't have anything on the schedule today so I could just relax
    • I'm grateful for the nice wood wick candle we have. It smells nice and I like the sound it makes.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • It was hard, but I did Day 4 of TEN, even though I wasn't wild about it.
    • Along those lines, made up a small game plan to improve on that trouble area
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
I got to see the lunar eclipse! πŸŒ•πŸŒ–πŸŒ—πŸŒ˜πŸŒ‘πŸŒ’πŸŒ“πŸŒ”πŸŒ• I had forgotten all about it but remembered it just in time for it to start.
Oh, shoot! I did forget!:sadness: Glad you and your mate were able to enjoy it!

I'm grateful for the nice wood wick candle we have. It smells nice and I like the sound it makes.
I have one of those and love it!:hheart: It is like having a personal mini fireplace.
 
Oh, shoot! I did forget!:sadness: Glad you and your mate were able to enjoy it!


I have one of those and love it!:hheart: It is like having a personal mini fireplace.

Awwww, I'm sorry you missed it! D:

And yessss. That's why I got my first woodwick candle since we don't have a fireplace. <3
 
Today's Log (3-14-25)
I think my fatigue from the week hit me all today. Also have a bit of DOMS going on in my abs from all those crunches yesterday. :corner: So today ended up being more of my relax and recover day then yesterday was. I held off on TEN today since I figured the leg lifts wouldn't help with the DOMS much. I did go ahead and do my optional workouts (and figured out which yoga positions really use the same muscles as crunches πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ˜“πŸ˜’πŸ˜­ ). Not the best day, not the worst. A little sad that we meant to go shopping and I forgot. Not sure if we'll be able to do that tomorrow or not. We're suppose to get some pretty nasty weather coming through.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Not officially, but zoned out a bit with the balancing and yoga, so counting that as meditation for today.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 5 held off on
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful we live so close to a good gyro place. It's a rare treat for us.
    • I'm grateful that the counseling sessions are going well. I'm trying out an every other week schedule, but she gives some good advice and helpful tips.
    • I'm grateful the mate was willing to take care of dinner. My counseling appointment was late, so he got it so I could eat fairly soon after it was over.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Did at last some exercise today. Had a good counseling session.
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-15-25)
OOF! I was sluggish all day. Ended up waking up a bit during the storms early this morning. I ended up taking a nap, which was really nice and helped some. :trail:

Good day though. There was a small break in the storms so we were able to run out and do a little bit of shopping. I'm getting Bestie S. to paint my black cat picture onto a jacket for me. I'm super excited about it! And managed to find a nice one on clearance. After that, we went to a new (to us) place for lunch. He got chicken and waffles while I got a chicken biscuit. And a side of poutine to share. (I have no idea if they were authentic or not, but they were good!) We did mistime the storms a little and got caught in it as we wer leaving though. :grumpy: Fortunately, we missed most of the damage from the storms (other places got tornadoes and stuff.) So I can't really complain much. After that, mostly relaxing. I made the last touches to my cat picture and then emailed it off. I'll be giving her the jacket tomorrow. We're hoping she can complete it before she takes off for her summer job in Yellow Stone next month. It'll be tight, but I'm hopeful!

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 5 done :standby:
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the storms mostly missed us. Lots of rain and wind, but not as bad as it could have been.
    • I'm grateful when I dropped my to-go container (it got wet heading to the car and slipped), the lid didn't pop open. Food was safe! Whew! :shakez:
    • I'm grateful that I know some creative and talented people. And I get to collaborate with them sometimes too.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Jacket acquired for an art commission.
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:

For the curious, this is the finished design for my jacket. Which may go in my print on demand shop, assuming I ever create one, haha.

Don't Cross a Black Cat.png
 
Today's Log (3-16-25)
Looks like I'm at least partially shifted my sleep schedule to a more "normal" schedule. Which is always weird when that happens and slightly throws me off. But it's only through Wednesday. Once that 11am training is done, I can sleep in more again. (As though staying up to 1am isn't "staying up" for most folks, lol.)

Today was the first real blah kinda day I've had since starting my medication. The meds helped me handle it and my emotions, but a good reminder that it's not a cure-all. That I still have work to do on using my tools and such.

Physically, TEN is still kicking my ass, haha. I still have to take a couple of pauses of the timer to catch my breath. But I haven't thrown in the towel yet! And that probably means that this is a good level of exercise for me. It also means I didn't feel like the optional exercises though. I think I might want to try and workout earlier in the day. That way I have the option to go back and do more later in the evening. I'll have to give that a try to see how it goes.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 6 done :jacks:
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for days when I can just cuddle with the crew
    • I'm grateful that there's a Sam's club on our way to my BF's and metamour's house. Able to grab groceries on the way to their place for family day and pick up items for lunch. (I got cheese manicotti).
    • I'm grateful that I've got a great chosen family. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Exercises completed for today!
    • Got started on an art-trade for Bestie S's new logo design. Lets see if I can learn how to draw a camper trailer. XD
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-17-25)
Once again, being on a different than normal sleep schedule threw me off. :panic: I mean, I only have myself to blame for this. I honestly got most of the stuff that I wanted to done so I'm not really complaining. I think the main thing I forgot was to do meditation. Oops~ But fun day! The mate worked from home today so we got to spend a bit of time together. This evening I went to a second-hand craft store. I knew I wouldn't find all that I wanted (they always have tons of fabric but never faux fur, but that's okay. I've got backup plans for that) but I did find some nice finds. A couple of doll joints to play with since I've never tried using those. And an exclusive mold from a youtuber I only heard about a few weeks ago called NerdECrafter. Less than $2 for that thing since they were having a 30% off sale. I can't wait for the mate to teach me how to use it and make all sorts of pretty ponies and dragons. :ohyes: Then I had date night after that, which is always a lovely time. <3

Mental health wise, good day. I had a talk with both partners about how I've been super needy and both are reassuring that they are more than fine with that. And appreciate feeling needed. <3

Physical stuff, I tried exercising earlier in the day. I'm glad I did, otherwise I would have mismanaged time and not been able to get to it. I'm use to doing stuff after date night and forgot I wouldn't have as much time as usual. :amused: Did pretty well with TEN. I only paused for one time so not bad at all. My poor arms were tired afterwards though! I'm really happy with how well I did. And was totally flexing my arms in the mirror before the shower. (I understand it now. I really do. :fantastic:) Meant to do more after date night, but lost track of time. But good to know the system has potential!

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 7 done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that there's a second-hand art and craft supply store nearby where I live. Though hard to resist all the potential future projects, haha~
    • I'm grateful that I'm able to do a regular weekly date night with the BF. And for a good amount of time too.
    • I'm grateful for so many internet resources. It makes learning new skills and such easier. Though also grateful that my crew are all pretty smart and can help me out a lot of times too. ^_^
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Tried exercising earlier in the day. Worked out well!
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Just want to take a moment to say thanks for letting me journal quite so much on here. Especially about my mental health stuff. It's been very helpful for me. It's not easy for me to be vulnerable and honest with other people about things like that. It's something I'm working on. And this is, well, kinda a practice in doing that. So thank you all for making this a safe place for me to talk about that along with my physical health journey.

Heart Love GIF by pikaole
 
Today's Log (3-18-25)
Most of today was mostly good. The mate was out of the house most of it so I got to relax and chill. I did have a bit of anxiety a couple of times (a phishing email came that was scary, but saw it was phishing but couldn't figure out for an eternity how to report the darn thing. Then later on, got an email that the sender was legit when I am, like 99.5% certain it's a phishing training email) which wasn't fun but managed to work through it. But managed to get some show time in, some exercise, and even a bit of video game time in. Tomorrow is gonna bit a bit busy with an online live training class and a dentist appointment, so it was good to have today easy. Oh, and gotta work on art a bit for Bestie S's logo, since that's looking to be a bit more difficult than I had initially expected it to be. I am proud of myself, though, for working through the anxiety much better than I had before medication. The mate also confirmed that I'm still having an emotional range then as well, which was reassuring as that was a bit of a concern with going back on medication. So all in all, ending on a good note.

For exercising, I tried working out earlier in the day. Pretty successful, even though I didn't go back for more like I was planning, haha. I did try the Micro Shred workout though. And .... could not manage it. (Though, I think maybe I could have finished it if I had giant breaks during it.) But I'm reminding myself that we all start somewhere. And if I keep with it, I'll get there. And, honestly, I'm probably doing better than previously when I didn't know that information.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 8 done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for a relaxing day before tomorrow's busy-iness
    • I'm grateful for the patience of my partners. The mate wasn't home for the first one, but he was for the second and helped ground me. <3
    • I'm grateful that we have food options. I might not always know what to make with stuff we have, but we have plenty so I don't have to worry about going hungry. And this is a good thing I probably take for granted to a degree.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Micro Shred attempted! Even if I couldn't complete it, I still gave it a try and that's still a victory.
  • Mood Tracker - Doing after I hit post
🐝 Optional Quests:
  • Balance Workout - Skipped
  • Better Sleep - Skipped
  • Micro Shred Workout - An attempt was made! I only got through 2 of the 5 cycles, but that's not too bad, I think. New mini goal to be able to complete this workout then.
  • Bonus Exercise - None
 
Today's Log (3-19-25)
Today was a busy but good day. Had to get up early since I had an online training and wanted to make sure I could access Teams okay. Went pretty well and was even able to do a second training I needed to (which fortunately turned out to be super short). Bit of downtime and then a dental cleaning appointment. Never a fan of going to the dentist, but everyone is nice there and I've mostly gotten use to it. I did have one spot in the back of my mouth I needed them to check out. Turned out okay, just having a wisdom tooth trying to come in. Huh, so that's a thing. (Actually the second time. The first was when the far back tooth on the other side needed to be pulled. A wisdom tooth came in to replace it.)

After that went to check out a local game store and then shop a bit at the Dollar Tree. Pretty nice finds at both places. Then home to chill for the evening. Got exercise in. Ab-so-lutely kicked my ass though. I think a mixture of weak muscles and needing to watch my form better caused my back to ache a bit. But adjusted and finished the set. TEN is really proving to be a challenge for me, but so far I'm hanging in there so long as I take a break or two (or three) during it. Then got a bit of artwork done. Think I've just about got the lines done for this logo, and got a very good response from it. I don't want to share the one in progress until it's done, but I can share the last logo I made for her. ^_^ The current one is for a YouTube series she wants to make. The old one was for her craft stuff. Still deeply in love with how that one turned out.

Sage Noona Designs - V2 - Colored - Small.png

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 9 done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful medibang is pretty easy to figure out and has a lot of features. Had the easiest time drawing a tire with that program. <3
    • I'm grateful that the dentist appointment went well.
    • I'm grateful the email drama from yesterday worked out just fine. Got an email today asking if anyone gets an email like I did yesterday to forward it for review. Whew!
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • 2 trainings done and a dentist appoint.
  • Mood Tracker - Will be done before bed. Promise I'll try to remember. ^_^
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-20-25)
Thank you @Mamatigerj . :D

Mood Tracker - Will be done before bed. Promise I'll try to remember. ^_^

And alas, I forgot. :whaa: Though honestly, I'm debating about keeping it up. One is that I can see it becoming a source of stress trying to keep up with it every day and feeling bad when I miss it. But also, and more importantly, I think I got the information I needed from it. The mood tracker was to make sure 1.) that I didn't end up feeling "numb" like I feared. Which with talks with my partners and my own observation, I'm still able to have a range of emotions. And 2.) to make sure that my resting neutral state was indeed neutral instead of a more depressive bleh state. Still working a bit on that way and telling the difference between the two, but there's been definite improvement on that front. I'll probably have a good talk with my partners about it though. It has been 2 weeks now, but that's still very early as far as this kinda thing goes.

Anyways, happy Ostara or first day of spring! :D I'll be happy for some nicer weather ... eventually, haha. The weather has been very moody around here lately. Been a good day though. Got to sleep in and kinda take it easy. Today is the spring equinox which means that from here on, we'll be in the sunnier part of the year. I was planning to stop the SAD light at this point, but I think I'll finish off the week. It doesn't hurt anything for a bit of extra light anyways. ^_^ 🌞

And yay! First time for a few days now that I've been able to do the TEN workout without pausing. I did have to take it slow, though. And fix my position as apparently all the arm movements meant I was moving slightly, haha. ^_^;;; I also think it would be good to get some cardio in my routine. I use to jog-in-place for 20 minutes most days while watching stuff on the TV/computer so I picked that habit back up today. :rush:

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - 30 minutes done
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 10 done. 1/3 of the way there! πŸŽ‰
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for naps. They do a body good.
    • I'm grateful for the frozen fish balls I had in the freezer I forgot about. They made for a good lil' snack. <3
    • I'm grateful that the mate got to come home a lil' early. I always appreciate that. ^_^
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Dishes done. Washed towels today. And picked up cardio again. ^_^
  • Mood Tracker - Held for reevaluation.
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-21-25)
Thanks @JCU and @Anek ! :D

Not too bad of a day. Woke up and apparently tensed my legs or something while sleeping. They were a bit sore, but worked it's way out through the day. Talked to the mate about the mood charting. He pointed out a 3rd objective to it, which was to train me to think and reflect about my mood. So we agreed to try and do it for at least the rest of the month. (Though also agreed to not worry about the last two days' worth.) Ended up getting into a bit of an art groove this afternoon. Did A LOT of work on the logo design. But then had to stop because I forgot I had a meeting to go to ... which I didn't realize until that point was in person only, not hybrid. :excuseme: Luckily, I texted my boss and she was cool with it. I just missed out on pizza due to it. So we had pizza for lunch here, hehe. Then kinda relaxed during the evening. I bowed out of the VRChat party (though it was karaoke so feel a bit of FOMO from it) to opt for relaxing and taking of a few things. Like exercising that I didn't want to do. Also got some kitty time. We're feeding a friend's cats while she and her hubby are traveling. The mate has been doing most of it, but I got them this evening. <3 Pictures at the bottom of the post.

And decided to make a quick, silly lil' temporary profile picture for the event starting tomorrow. I spent a little bit of time yesterday picking out a workout for it. Gonna try the Combat Light workout, hoping I can still get the TEN one done as well. We'll see. Go Angelfood Cake!



🐝 Regular Quests:
🐝 Optional Quests:

🐈 KITTIES
Clem. He use to be a stray but they adopted him and he enjoys the indoors life now. He's more redish than orange brain cell, but he's slowly turning into one, haha
Image


Sammy. He's a brat. XD But he's calming down now that he's older. Still a brat though.
Image


This is Quadro. He was their neighbor's cat that after was adopted by my friend and her hubby after said neighbor passed away. She's a sweety.
Image


Bonus Quadro picture, which is my new favorite cat photo on my phone. XD Other than my old babies, obviously. Though it's a close call, LOL!
Image


Bonus "Cat" as we feed the outdoor/neighborhood cats for them too.
Image
 
Today's Log (3-22-25)
Busy day today! One of those, hit the ground running. Soon as I got up, we made me up some travel coffee and hit the road to feed kitties and then meet up at my momma-in-law's place. She sold her mother's aunt's old condo so we were helping to sort and take things out. Met up in time for a nice, sit down late lunch. And then lots of work put in! It wasn't super tiring, TBH, but it felt like a lot. And time went by super quick! It was nearly 7pm in the evening before we knew it! Off to feed kitties again, pick up some noms, and then we were able to relax at the house a bit.

I held off on my TEN workout for today. I'll see if I can get it in tomorrow. But I'm prioritizing the easier combat workout for the event. Though, since it is easier (1 bar versus 2 bars difficulty), I'm trying to make sure that's not all I do if I can help it. I also got a bit of jogging in place done, but that was mostly because I wanted to watch my show and trying to do at least a little bit with that.

Overall, not too bed. Even though I have to go to bed a little early (for me) since I had an errand to run in the morning before people start showing up for family day.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Light Therapy - Missed
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 12 - Held off
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the mate's family lives so close so we can visit and help them. My family lives about 9 or 10 hours away for comparison to the, like, half hour or so his family is. (Though it's also not close enough to pop in all the time, which I'm also grateful for, haha.)
    • I'm grateful we were allowed to keep things that looked pretty or nice while going through stuff, since they were mostly going to be donated at this point. (We all had a chance to go through things, then an estate sale.)
    • I'm grateful that we had a chance to relax in the evening. Gives us a bit of rest before errands early tomorrow morning and family day. (I'm an extrovert mostly, but I still have limited energy, haha.)
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Lots of moving and sorting done today. And still did some exercising.
  • Mood Tracker - Doing now
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-23-25)
Pretty good day overall. Busy start though! Got up and had to get dressed and out the door. The mate went one direction to feed our friend's cats (fortunately this morning was the last day of that) while I went the other direction to pick up my meds I let get too low by mistake and some essential groceries. Luckily both of us made it back before our first person for family day came over. One person, Bestie S, was early because we were wanting to finish a series we were watching before she went on her various adventures for the summer. Successful with that! Then the other two got there. A bit of a heart-to-heart with the BF about his health, which was a bit rough for all of us to be honest. But then afterwards was GAME TIME! We managed to get to the end of the current chapter of our game, which was nice for the above mentioned down a person for the summer reasons.

A little rough once everyone was gone though. I got hit with a bit of bleh melancholy for a little bit. Been a bit since that happened. :/ The mate things it's because so many "end of" things today making it clear that changes are coming. I was thinking more sharp change of energy from everyone being here and being silly to just chilling all of a sudden. Either way, took a little bit to work through that.

Got some exercises in. 20 minutes jogging in place again. Doing pretty well so far with keeping up with that. Warm-ups and the Combat-Light exercises. Was gonna do the TEN workout but my legs are acting up a little. Low key doing that yesterday for a little bit, so I don't want to push it took much. We'll see what tomorrow looks like. I may be able to spread the workouts over the day as well, which should help.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done just barely
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 12 - Held off
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that my chosen family is so patient and supportive of me.
    • I'm grateful for times when we can get together as a family
    • I'm grateful that we were able to get to a good pause point before Bestie S. left
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Ran dishes.
    • Got up early and got my meds
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3/24/25)
Cancelled ;n; :giveup:

So pretty sure that for a late dinner last night, I accidentally gave myself some food poisoning. :emergency: Pretty sure I know what did it and the cause (well, the two options that make sense anyways). Needless to say, I didn't sleep well once I did finally crawled into bed and still not feeling the best. So today is a rest and recover day. I'm well enough to feel a bit bad that I'm not being productive (that's one of those trouble things I'm working on) but the mate is reassuring so that helps.

At least this happened after the battleground event ended. :amused:

Take care of yourselves Bee Friends~
 
Thanks a bunch @Mamatigerj @JCU @Maegaranthelas @Fremen and @Anek ! As well as everyone who reacted to the post.

Rough bit of time there but I'm doing much much better now. :welcome: And lesson learned about being a bit more careful with the frozen chicken handling!
 
Today's Log (3-25-25)
I did a biiiiiiig sleeping in today. I meant to get up at 11am or 12pm. I thought I had two alarms set. Or maybe I just didn't keep track of them. But slept in until 1pm. When I went to bed around 3am. :saywhat: But honestly? I think I needed that after the day and a half I had! I felt a ton better afterwards. And it timed out perfectly as the mate was able to sneak away from home early and got there just after I woke up.

Bit of a weird day. It felt like I was being lazy. But I was also being productive doing the things I didn't get to yesterday. So overall, it kinda evened out? I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, haha. But I think it was a good day all the same and that's what matters. :bigyes:

Still trying to figure out ways fit more mindfulness time into my daily routine. I tried it with exercising. Other than nearly forgetting to be conscious of my counting (and when I'm suppose to stop, lol), I think that worked out really well. I also found my technique was more polished and I wasn't just rushing through it. So I think that might be a win-win situation of multiplied benefits. :expect: Kept it easy on the exercise today though. I didn't want to accidentally overdo it or anything.

Also dedicated more time to crafting as well as making sure I did a bunch of the stuff I wanted too. Maybe a bit too much mobile phone gaming, but it's a work in progress. :scroll:


🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 12 done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the partners and I have pretty good communication. Especially the mate (we've known each other for nearly 2 decades).
    • I'm grateful that we're in a financially stable position. Had a slight scare that turned out okay, but was nice that we didn't have to get too worried about it.
    • I'm grateful there are a ton of tutorials online for all sorts of things! Starting a new project with a cat stuffed animal I found online. Link for the curious
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Got started on the next craft project
    • Balanced out my desire for productivity with my desire to relax and not push myself too hard
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-26-25)
Today was one of those mixed bag days. I made up a really tasty fried rice dice, with leftovers to be able to share with the mate. Fried rice is one dish that I not only feel confident I can make, but confident I can make dang tasty too! I got a bit more artwork on Bestie S's new logo. She very happily approved of it. So the next step will be getting the words on there looking right. She also sent me some work in progress photos of the jacket she's making me. It looks so amazing! With luck, that'll be finished mid-to-late April so pretty happy about it. Also managed to get a nice nap in with the mate. <3

Though there were a could of rough patches too. One was that a show we enjoyed had a second season, so we were excited but it wasn't nearly as good and we ended up dropping it. The mate also did a small deep dive into nutrition and had the idea of experimenting with meal ideas. Unfortunately I miss understood how frequently and got a bit anxious about it. (I've gotten a lot better, but I use to have the worst food phobia over "normal" things. My mom use to explain it by comparing it to the old TV show "Fear Factor." How they acted towards needing to eat something "gross" like bull testicles or bugs was my reaction to a strawberry when I was younger.) Lots of talking and he reassured that 1.) it was an occasional thing so less often than I thought (at least at first) and 2.) he would DEFINITELY make sure there were things I'd like as well if trying out a new ingredient. I'm so thankful that he is understanding and patient about it. That's helped me get braver with it. And honest, that was a future goal anyways so I agreed to this plan. :)

Unfortunately, though, it looks like it may not have been food poisoning I had. The mate is now starting to have GI symptoms too. :whaa: I let the BF know since we have date night scheduled tomorrow. He said he's still okay with it. And the mate will probably enjoy a quiet house tomorrow to rest anyways. I become an utterly needy baby when I'm sick but he usually prefers to be left alone, haha.
But honestly for today overall? Most of the day was chill and not wanting to do anything, lol! Some days just be like that, yo. :softz:

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Missed but did mindfulness with the exercising at least. This seems to be an issue of planning to do it in the evening and then forgetting about it, so may need to experiment with different timings of it.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 13 done. I liked how the alt chest expansions moved smoothly into scissor chops. I am NOT a fan of wide arm circles. Nice stretch to the shoulders, so can't complain too much though, haha.
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that while the mate and I have different eating habits, we're understanding of each others. (I am picky with what I eat. While he can tell how many days the milk has left on it.)
    • I'm grateful
    • I'm grateful
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Did exercises even though I didn't want to, lol
    • Did the dishes
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-27-25)

professor farnsworth futurama GIF


The mate called off work today to rest. And he rested a LOT. And trying to hydrate as best as he could. :C But by this evening, he was doing a lot better. And actually ate some real food for dinner. <3

As for my day, pretty relaxed. I had an errand to run early on. We had a box of unopened purewick supplies from house cleaning last Saturday. We didn't know anyone who could use it, so I was trying to find someone to gift it too. I managed to find someone locally who was very appreciative of it. I know this will make my momma-in-law happy to know that it went to good use. :) We met at a Hardee's parking lot so grabbed a small lunch there (since I don't typically eat there) and a strawberry lemonaid for the mate. I was wanting to do something tangible for him, so I'm glad I was able to do something. We watched a bit of shows and then hung out a bit. I did a bit more work for the logo, though it was slow going (trying to figure out what font to use for the words).

Then off to date night. Helped him with an errand (picking up his car from the auto shop) and then yummy pork roast. <3 I'm so glad our datenights moved to him cooking instead of us eating out. So much tastier. (And healthier!) Watched some Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Bestie S. also left my jacket over there so I could see how it looks so far. (I needed to decide on something that was hard to judge without seeing IRL.) The pictures did not do it justice! I'm so excited about it! :D

After that, pretty relaxing evening. A bit of exercise done. I'm proud I got through today's 10 without needing to pause, but I had to go slowly with it. Crunches again though! ;n; I kept up the mindfulness while exercising though. I think that really helped with my posture. (Though having bridges also felt like it helped my back too.) Did my meditation afterwards and that seemed to work out pretty well. Weeeeeeell, except for the fact that I started to daydream halfway through instead, haha. Working on improving the meditation/mindfulness with trying to have, how do I word it, "quieter thoughts," I guess. Like just notcing the sensations instead of verbalizing them in my head.

Over all, pretty good day. :) Though now I see that I didn't fill out all my gratitude stuff yesterday. WHOOPS! ^_^;;;;

Oh well. Nighty night bees~ Please remember to be proud of all you've done.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 14 done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the mate is feeling better
    • I'm grateful that we found someone who could use the purewick supplies. That is too expensive and useful to just trash!
    • I'm grateful that crockpots exist. They made it so easy to cook from home. A lot of my datenights with the BF is crockpot for the main dish with sides
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Errands ran
    • Good deed accomplished! ✨
    • (Mostly) made a decision out of a lot of choices for the logo font, haha. (Down to 2. I'll try both on the image later to see which is better.)
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-28-25)
Tired puppers at the moment, so this is gonna be quick and then beddy bye time. :exhausted:

Bit busy of a day today. Got a bit of chores I needed to do, one of which involved trying to get our scanner to behave. Spontaneous errand to drop off more items to give away. (The mother-in-law is gonna be so happy when we tell her tomorrow that we found homes for everything.) Decent bit of relaxation time too. A show we were watching sorta went off the rails, so we ended up bingeing the last bit to figure out where it was going. Been a while since we've done that, so that was nice. Had a counseling appointment that I think went pretty well. Game plan is to continue my mindfulness practice. But I also worked with her a bit about ideas to improve my socialization. Along those lines, ended up going to the Friday VRChat party for a bit. Ended up staying longer than I thought I would and made a new friend at it. :D Good times. Pretty tired afterwards, and realized I didn't do my workout, so kept it to lower intensity stuff since I need to go to bed "early" (for me) tonight. Did struggle with some anxiety speckled throughout the day. I think I handled it better than in the past, though, so that was good.

Overall, not too bad of a day. Now off to go crash. :night:

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 15 - Held off on
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for the progress that I'm making both physical health-wise and mental health-wise
    • I'm grateful that the mate knows a few good groups on VRChat with cool people in them. My understanding is that's the biggest hurdle
    • I'm grateful for the internet and how it allows for so many times. From my counseling, to show watching, to socializing. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • More errands ran
    • Laundry and more laundry done
    • Managed to talk myself into doing VRChat and socializing like my extrovertedness demands.
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
Nighty night Bees~ Be sure to take care of yourselves and let yourself rest from time to time. :)
Animation Treat Yourself GIF by Holler Studios
 
Today's Log (3-29-25)
Another sleepy journal entry~

We spent another Saturday helping my mom-in-law clean out the apartment. Today was the last day we could help, so we had to get as much done as possible! It was less mentally exhausting this time, though, since it was all sorted and just needed moving. But it was definitely a more physically exhausting day. I'm glad I got extra coffee, haha. I ended up helping to move a big rug, a sofa, and an armchair! :strong: It was good visiting, though. And felt pretty powerful and productive too! But also felt pretty drained afterwards. No thoughts, just tired puppers, haha~ :cantcope:

Afterwards when we got home, I kinda just chilled and played games. :type: I wanted to work on art a bit, but I'll see about getting that done tomorrow. Here's hoping!

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Forgot! :shoked:
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 15 - Held off on
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful we made a LOT of progress with cleaning the apartment!
    • I'm grateful that we got to spend a good amount of time visiting with family. My momma-in-law and brother-in-law are pretty great. :)
    • I'm grateful we were treated to good food. And I've got leftovers for later!
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • I moved SOOO much stuff!
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
Good Boy GIF
 
Today's Log (3-30-25)
Today started out well. The mate surprised me this morning with some coffee and toast which was really nice of him. Metamour K and Bestie S were both on (separate) trips, so family day was just us and the BF. It was nice to visit, though. But it kinda ended up as a sorta "Blah" day overall. And I got into a bit of an argument at one point. So overall, no the best of times today. I think the mate and I was just much more tired than either of us realized. (In his case, at least, might be trying to recover just that last bit of whatever we had as well.) I did, however, help kickstart the BF back into crafting though. He's made these really cool book boxes out of cardboard, specifically for us to hold our D&D stuff in. He made the spine into a dice tower, but he's working on a new way of doing that. I'm excited to see where it goes! Unfortunately, didn't feel up to much exercise today. I did get my warmups in at least. The mate suggested a walk around the neighborhood once we got back home, though. That was really nice. Just kinda taking it easy the rest of the day though.

Tomorrow is a new day, though! I have date night with the BF, but I'm gonna try to hammer out the last bit of Bestie S's logo. My next project will be bouncing between my new logo and this sewing project. I think specifically, I might try to test dye a bit of faux fur. I've had luck dying it in the past, but I wanna see how well the dye holds up if it gets accidentally wet.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Doing now
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 15 - Held off on
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the BF is getting back into crafting and making things (besides on minecraft). He's always happier that way. And he gets me inspired too!
    • I'm grateful that both my partners are patient and forgiving. That when things go haywire, they both want to resolve it and help us all move to a better place. :)
    • I'm grateful that the storms we're having was later in the evening. We got to enjoy the nice weather outside. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Did my warmups at least when I didn't want to
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (3-31-25)
Seems that today has made up for yesterday. Was in a pretty good, playful mood for a large bit of the day. And fairly productive too, even if not as much as I wanted. I at least felt productive and motivated, haha. The mate had a meeting with work that went better than initially expected, so that's good. And I got to talk with him before I had to head out for date night with the BF so that was nice. Date night went really well. And not just because he bought me Chinese take-out, haha. It was a good time. Had some good creative conversations that's getting me tempted to revive old cancelled projects of mine. After date night, kinda just chilled at the house.

I managed to get the logo done today! She was very happy about it. :D She did ask that I hold off sharing it until she's got her page set up fully. That's fair, I suppose. Soon as she gives the okay, I'll have to share with y'all. I meant to do the water test with the faux fur, but I at least got a scrap of material laid out to hopefully do tomorrow. (Dying the faux fur takes a day or few, depending on how soaked the material is, so I have to allow myself time for not only testing but doing the actual material or getting a replacement if needed.)

Just barely managed to get my exercise in. No idea if I did the prone reverse fly part right of today's TEN workout, but an effort was made. Harder than I thought it would be though. Gonna see about doing more of a workout tomorrow.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 15 - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that the BF lives close enough to do a weekly date night like we do.
    • I'm grateful that crab rangoon exists. (No one said these had to be super seriously.)
    • I'm grateful that we are in a position where the mate's hours getting cut can be seen as a positive instead of stressful thing. And if it gets bad, we have family that can help.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Logo finished and approved! :D
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (4-1-25)
Groggy but good day today. Lazed around for an hour and then off on a grocery run and lunch with the mate. We got a few good meals planned out for the rest of this week. (Hopefully I can stay on top of leftovers!) Though I am mostly letting him handle the planning since I was already getting mixed up a little, haha. Took a nice lil nap once we got home. Dinner ended up being homemade broccoli cheese soup with homemade bread made just ahead of time. He out did himself this time! I was also really happy because I was able to give a good suggestion for the soup, which is kinda a sign that I'm getting more familiar and better with cooking. (It's not a strong skill of mine, I feel like.)

Projects-wise, I had trouble focusing and staying on task a bit today. I did manage to get my paper pattern for the plush cat transferred onto cardboard and cut out. That's not a required step at all, but I find having cardboard templates pretty useful personally. I also managed to find the original tutorial for dying the faux fur and found out there's a comment section on it. Turns out I don't need to test the water-proofness of it, as that was addressed in the comments. Apparently it's about as good as airbrushing, so it holds up well but can fade over time with heavy washing so just spot-cleaning. That saves me a GOOD chunk of time for me! If anyone is curious, here's the tutorial: Link I went ahead and got my black and white faux fur pulled out as well to hopefully start tracing onto them tomorrow.

For exercising, I ended up deciding to do the April Challenge after all. Looking at it, the difficulty shouldn't be too much different (or possibly easier) than the Micro Shred challenge I was gonna do. And it's kinda fun to do the same challenge as other people. So gave it a go. I'm worried about the crunch hold days, but I'll figure that out when I get there. Thinking mostly standard crunches, but may alternate it with reverse crunches or kicks. I'll probably decide tomorrow.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 16 - Done
  • Daily Crunch - Day 1 - Done. Ended up being 30 standard crunches. (Well, 29, but I did an extra for a nice round number, haha.)
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful the grocery stores around here have a really good variety of things. I tried a new bag of chips; Takoyaki Ball which are apparently takoyaki flavored corn puffs. (Not bad, actually. Definitely different, haha. But pretty accurate to the one time I tried takoyaki if I remember right.)
    • I'm grateful for naps. Especially when the mate is working from home and also sneaks away for a nap. <3
    • I'm grateful for these more positive days, to help encourage that my life is going the way I want it too and that I'm growing the way I hoped.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • More crafty work done
    • Groceries acquired!
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (4-2-25)
Pretty good for the most part. Felt very productive and channeled it well into exercising. Even took a walk outside while the weather was nice. Had trouble staying focused on crafting and meditation, but made progress all the same. The white faux fur pieces were cut and dyed, just waiting for it to dry (which is gonna take a while). Hoping tomorrow to cut the rest of the pieces I'll need. Unfortunately, weather is going through the area and that's got my nerves shot. But it's going much better than feared so that's good.

Short entry, due to above fatigue, lol.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done. Though struggling with restlessness during it lately. :/
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 17 - Done. My poor knees though. ;n;
  • Daily Crunch - Day 2 - Done. 25 kicks done for it.
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that Nashville has an AWESOME weather reporting system ran by volunteers
    • I'm grateful that the weather was nice earlier so I could get a nice walk in
    • I'm grateful that I've been in such a positive mood lately. <3
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Faux Fur dyed!
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (4-3-25)
Today started out a bit blah. Went on Facebook and realized that I was probably cranky. Between the stress of tornado warnings (we're okay and safe, just had wind and rain here) and overheating, my sleep wasn't the best. And I'm absolutely a toddler in an adult body so I realized I was definitely cranky, haha. I tried some meditation first thing this morning once I realized my mood and it seemed to help. Though I was hoping to use the angry energy and turn it into productive energy, but oh well. I'm still pushing to do the things I wanna do while letting myself relax. Finding that balance is still a struggle, especially as I work on my time management skills which ... is also a struggle, haha.

No walking around outside, as it's too rainy for it. Doing well with breaking up the exercise into small time sections throughout the day. :)

Crafting is going but slowly. The dyed pieces aren't dry yet and probably won't be until tomorrow at the earliest. I did take a hairdryer to it to try and speed it up, fingers crossed that works out. I realized a problem I've been making with it (I've only tried this technique twice before); I would brush/comb the pieces but always with the grain. I did a bit of work against the grain as well, though making sure it ended with the grain. I also dug up an old slicker pet brush and that did wonders! It's helping to keep the faux fur nice and fluffy, which I've struggled with! Working on cutting out black pieces while the fabric is drying. All ... 20 of them. ;n;

I also forgot to mention, but I signed up for a book club yesterday. It's specifically for graphic novels of all sorts. I can read those much faster, and really really enjoy those, so I'm a little excited about it. I found out what the last few months were too, so I'm probably gonna read those as well. ^_^

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done. Think I did better this time.
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 18 - Done. My poor shoulders and arms though. ;n;
  • Daily Crunch - Day 3 - Done. Seemed both easier and harder than I thought it would be to do a minute hold.
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that we didn't have a tornado touch down where I live last night (as far as I know).
    • I'm grateful that the sewing project is going well so far. It's my most complicated plush I've done, I think.
    • I'm grateful that we still had some dessert in the fridge. When that sweet tooth hits, it hits hard, haha.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • More pieces cut for my current craft project
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Went on Facebook and realized that I was probably cranky. Between the stress of tornado warnings (we're okay and safe, just had wind and rain here) and overheating, my sleep wasn't the best. And I'm absolutely a toddler in an adult body so I realized I was definitely cranky, haha.
Well done recognizing your mood and it's causes!
 
Today's Log (4-4-25)
Today was a bit of a lazy day. Started with fighting sleep inertia and not wanting to get up. I got some stuff done, but it was kinda more relaxing and chill than anything. Not too bad occasionally, though. For crafting, the only real progress I made was checking the dyed pieces. They appeared dried enough so I was able to collect them. I gave them another good brushing while trying not to loose too much color. The mate also gave me one of his plastic razor ... thingies that helped one particularly stubborn piece (the paint had clumped slightly). All in all, about ready to start the sewing. There's a little bit more to cut out, but I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how. Luckily, the BF said he'd help so I'll probably get his assistance on Sunday. I did get some reading in today, which is nice since it's been a while. I also did a bit of VRChat time, split between one party and then doing a bit of world hoping.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 19 - Held off on. It's all crunches and didn't want to overload my poor abs. ;n;
  • Daily Crunch - Day 4 - Done. 30 crunches performed for it.
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that we got a nice walk in before the weather turned sour tomorrow (I think).
    • I'm grateful that I'll be getting my jacket soon! Possibly by Tuesday. I've been getting WIP pictures, but I won't get anymore of them until it's finished at this point. -happy tail wags-
    • I'm grateful that today was a nice, chill day. I wouldn't want them too unproductive, I think, but it's nice. :)
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Got the towels washed
    • Had one point where I got a little anxious, and a little embarrassed. But worked through it well. <3
    • Managed to set up and log into VRChat all by myself this time, haha.
  • Mood Tracker - Done. I think I forgot to mention, but I've kept this up (other than a couple of days I forgot) for over a month now. ^_^ Aiming for 3 months before reevaluating it.
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (4-5-25)
Had a bit of a weird start. I apparently had some strange but vivid dreams or something. I woke up early all anxious and stuff. See, the mate and I was getting our days mixed up yesterday and a little the day before. So I was certain it was actually Sunday. And I was certain that the mate had texted the other day (for some reason I didn't question) that I needed to remind Metamour K. to bring one of Bestie S's cats with her. (She has two cats. I do not know why just one.) And I was suppose to do this around 7pm the day before. (Which was the only part that actually made sense.) So I get up out of bed and ask the mate if anyone said they were on their way because it's our turn to host. He just looks at me and then deadpan says "It's Saturday hun." "Oh." .... "Were we suppose to watch S's cats over here or anything?" "...Not that I know of." ... "I'm going back to bed."

And then proceeded to get another hour of rest in. XD

After that, I actually had a pretty good start to the morning. Got a lot of my exercise stuff in early. And good bits of hangout time with the mate. A bit lazier than I meant, though. I didn't end up doing any crafting time, but I suppose a break occasionally is okay. I still have ... 5 weeks, I think, before I see my friend the cat plushie is gonna be a surprise for. I did get some other stuff done though. Including coming up with an idea for dinner and offering to cook it myself. That included making up some sauteed squash which ... I have almost no experience with, haha. But I looked it up, it seemed simple enough. And it turns out I really liked it! That was a bit surprise. I'm super proud of myself. ^_^

Then mostly chilling on my mobile game (Twisted Wonderland has a time limited event I needed to finish). I did get into it a bit with a transphobe online who, ironically, ended up .... not appearing mentally stable at all. (Like, 9 messages in 8 minutes level after I stopped responding or even reacting to his comments.) (Yes, I probably should have blocked him. I don't typically do that, though, so I don't think to.) But realized I needed to bail and then did so, so not to bad overall. I've been doing better with FB these days, so that's good. But chilling and chatting a little bit with some online friends.

So good day. :) Despite the terrible weather, haha. (I think it's been ... 3 days(?) of flood warnings and on-and-off tornado watches with one day of tornado warnings at the beginning. We're good and safe, though. Just lots of rain.)

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 19 - Done. I realized that, since I'm doing a month long crunch challenge, I can't really delay because I'm already doing crunches. πŸ˜… So getting it over with and hoping I don't give myself DOMS later. πŸ˜… Had to take a good break in the middle, though
  • Daily Crunch - Day 5 - 31 kicks done today. More than I expected!
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful dinner turned out well! Especially the squash. And grateful I have another veggie that I enjoy. ^_^
    • I'm grateful that my endeavors to be more social are going well.
    • I'm grateful that we didn't have to go anywhere today while the weather was super gross.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Got laundry going
    • Organized the recycling like I've been meaning to
    • Took charge on cooking dinner
    • Tried squash, a food I was previously not okay with. It was tasty!
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (4-6-25)
Lazy day was lazy. Slept in as late as I figured I could get away with. Then had family day. It was nice hanging out, relaxing, etc. I did ask the BF (and Bestie S) about my craft project for a part that was giving me trouble. We talked it out and figured out a good game plan. Unfortunately, I never felt quite motivated enough to actually work on it tonight, haha. Probably not the best of ideas, since I probably won't work on it tomorrow night since I've got work. Speaking of which, tried to stay up all night so I could sleep a good bit of the day. I volunteered to pick up the tech shift Monday night since we were short handed. (I'm so glad they hired a new part timer for that position). They do only 8 hours, but it's a 10pom-6:30am so sleeping as much during the day as possible will be helpful. Though I forgot I have to be up at a decent time on Tuesday, so we'll see how that goes. But that's another day's problem. :amused:

I did feel a little rough at the end of family day, though. Bestie S was a little sad as they all were leaving. Next Sunday is when she heads out for her summer job across the country, so we really won't see her (except possibly online) for a good long time. Between that and the drastic change of energy, I got in a little funk. But the mate took me out for a short walk to help clear the head. Definitely helped a bit. Also found out that my jacket will be done sometime this week, though it's a debate on if I can get it on date night (which is moved to Wednesday) or if I have to wait on Sunday. I'm so excited to see how it turned out! All the WIP pictures looked amazing!

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 20 - Done. Took until the end to get the hang of prone reverse flyers though. :amused:
  • Daily Crunch - Day 6 - Done
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful that we had a good family day today
    • I'm grateful that we were able to get a short walk outside, even if it was cloudy and windy.
    • I'm grateful that I was able to figure out the next part of my craft project.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Dishes ran
    • Asked for help and asked questions without trying to act like I know everything or acting like I nothing. (The BF has more sewing experience than I do, so asked his opinion on part of my cat plush. We worked together to figure out a game plan for myself.)
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Yesterday's Log (4-7-25)
So the fact that I'm posting yesterday's log at ... 7pm local time probaby says something, haha. Yesterday was a really good day though! I had picked up a tech overnight position. It was only 8 hours, so about 10pm until 6:30(ish)am. Usually I'm nervous about doing things before something like that, because I'm afraid I'll loose track of time. ^_^;;; Managed to sleep in until about 3:30pm and hung out for a bit. For dinner, the mate suggested going out to eat; partly to get out of the house as a small treat but also so I didn't have to worry about packing a lunch since I could just bring leftovers. (Spoiler alert, I did not eat the leftovers. They had leftover quiche that I had instead, hehe.) Great food and AMAZING service. We were worried that Mexican place was going down hill, so we stopped going, but we were definitely wrong.

Did a little bit of crafting as well. Not as much as I would have liked, but much more than I was originally planning (which was none, lol). Slowly getting the last few pieces cut out for this plush toy. I counted and it's totaling 44 pieces since I'm adding some flair to it. It's not a "good" art project unless you let the ideas and creativity run away from you LOL! Also managed to get my exercises done before heading out. And got their early enough to do my meditation before entering the building.

I had an orientee with me. But she technically had more experience with that role than I did at this point, haha. So she ran the show largely. I was still helpful both with some chores around the place but also helping her set up her computer stuff (and giving her access to things because she didn't have access granted yet for some of the charting). I think she'll be a great addition to the team. ^_^ Worked a little on artwork during the slower periods, but had trouble focusing so mostly relaxed when I could. Then got home and immediately crashed. I had to get up early for a telehealth appointment I forgot about. ^_^;;;

But overall, good day. Went better than I thought, considering I'd been away from the place for a while due to scheduling stuff.

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 21 - Done. Apparently that month of mostly knees-to-elbows helped my ability to do those a ton, haha.
  • Daily Crunch - Day 7 - 37 standard crunches done. O.O
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful for the great service we had when going out to eat today. The server actually heated up my milk for my coffee so it wouldn't make my coffee cold. :cutter: I've never had a restaurant do that for me before.
    • I'm grateful that I was able to get a little bit more craft time in before work. I wasn't planning on it initially.
    • I'm grateful that work went well. After being away for a bit, I always worry a little because I have to try and remember how to do the job. :hehehe:
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Work shift completed
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
Today's Log (4-8-25)
Today was a looooong day. Went to bed as soon as I could, so right at 7am. And then had to get up for a 1pm telehealth appointment. It doesn't help that the weather is trying to jump between pretty cool and pretty warm. D: Appointment went well, we agreed that the Effexor seems to be working well at the current dosage. My annual is in 2 months anyways, so we'll double check it then. After that, went back to sleep for a bit longer. Then had to go to the store to refill said medication. Went ahead and picked up some groceries while I was at it.

After all that, I didn't really feel motivated to do much, so kinda lazed around. It didn't help that the mate had a meet-up he was going to so I didn't see him until late. It's also currently my werewolf phase (I honestly might like calling it that more than shark week, hehe). ;n; But it was a good relaxing day overall, even if I was fighting fatigue on and off. I did convince myself to do some exercise though. I always forget that playing music really helps motivate me. This time it was just music on YouTube, but NightRide FM is great for background music (especially since they've got a few different stations on there).

Got a little bit of crafting done. Not as much as I would have liked. Considering I wanted to be lazy and not work on things, though, I did alright. I got the felt pieces cut out and possibly half the stripes. I say possibly because the fabric did not want to behave so I may or may not have usable pieces. It works out that sewing that section first is gonna be a good idea, since it's a decent chunk of the sides, to see if that works out or not. If not, well, I skip the stripes and just cut out two large fur pieces instead. I have time to experiment, thankfully. So long as I remember to actually work on things.

I watched a few youtube videos during it. One which might be of interest to you all was this one:


Tomorrow is gonna be a bit busy too. Counselor's appointment and then date night. But it should be a pretty good day overall. I think I'll also be able to pick up my jacket tomorrow, too, so that's super exciting! :D

🐝 Regular Quests:
  • Daily Hug Challenge - Done
  • 10 Minutes Daily Meditation - Done, though mostly daydreaming since it's close to bedtime. XD
  • Universal Warmup - Done
  • TEN - Day 22 - Done
  • Daily Crunch - Day 8 - Done. 35 kicks. This is the second time I've done the crunch challenge after the TEN exercise. I guess it helps loosen me up or something?
  • Daily Gratitude Challenge - Done
    • I'm grateful the appointment went well and I didn't have any trouble getting my medications.
    • I'm grateful I'm glad I was able to sneak a bit more rest in after the appointment.
    • I'm grateful they had lil' snack packs at the grocery store. It's a nice occasional treat.
  • Counting Victories Challenge - Done
    • Did work out even though I didn't wanna.
    • Got up for my appointment in time despite hitting the snooze button a few times.
  • Mood Tracker - Done
🐝 Optional Quests:
 
I believe the Blue Zone thing is kinda contested right now, it might have been rather cherrypicked data, but that's apparently also new info.
All the rest sounds like pretty darn good advice.
I especially like how his response to 'girl dinner' was just to give healthy substitutions instead of frowning on the whole thing
yay for a relatable expert with reasonable advice :clapclap:
 
Today's Log (4-9-25)
Busy morning. After sleeping in a little bit (which may have been a mistake since I woke up in dream state), hung out just a little bit. Apparently the mate had just gotten home at that point, so that was nice. Had a telehealth counseling appointment, which went pretty well. Then after that, I was off for date night with the BF. Got home later than expected, but was alright. Still got to see the mate before he went off to bed. Then kinda took the rest of the evening off. Felt kinda tired and achy, so didn't feel like doing anything. I'm glad I asked the mate to do laundry earlier so I didn't have to worry about it. Especially since we had towels to do to. I didn't want to exercise, but compromised into doing the warmups and daily crunch challenge at least. Spending the rest of the evening relaxing. I'll make up productivity around the house tomorrow (maybe, lol).

🐝 Regular Quests:
🐝 Optional Quests: