Brain currently booting in Safe Mode

This morning, I had my first job interview in over twelve years. Thanks to cinnamaldehyde, who sent me the want ad, I fired off an email and, welp, here we are. The job is part time contract, between 8-15 hours a week. That's it.

On the one hand, it's not a lot, and money is still a thing for us right now. BUT, I'm not even sure if I can handle it because my brain is a dick, so on the other, it's not a lot, which could be really good for me. To be completely upfront, I don't want to treat this as a 'starter' job, to launch my reentering the work force, because that's a very shitty thing to do to someone who seemed very genuine.

Still. A job. That I am very close to having. W E I R D.

Edit: I got the job and start next week. *hee*

Pilling the cat has been...an adventure. Yesterday, I wrapped him in a towel and it was easier for both of us. It didn't take nearly as long (good for him) and his body was more confined (good for me because Sunny is pointy at five ends, as my hand will attest to), so I call that a win.

Did I mention that Sunny is a treat fiend? He is a TOTAL fiend when the treat jar comes out, so I had Paul pick up some pill pockets yesterday as he went out on an errand of his own. And, I will say it was the most successful yet. Getting the pill pocket around the capsule is a bit of a trick and it makes for a rather awkward treat, but the cat didn't seem to care. Once it was down his gullet, he started shnurfling the counter for more treats that he might have missed.

Now here's hoping he doesn't pick up Franklin's trick of eating the pill pocket around the medication, because it will be back to pilling him after that.

In other news, I am making peanut butter cookies for game tomorrow, because we are gaming. In person. For the first time in a year and a half. HOLY FUCK. The cookies aren't necessary or even expected, but they're kind of a gaming tradition and it's been too fucking long. The only downside is the lack of chocolate chips, because I am completely out. I did put roasted peanuts in them, though, and they smell AMAZING.

- Second shot tomorrow. It is both a relief and anxiety inducing. Most of the anxiety is on account of other people, and I fucking hate it.

- My mouth is healing up, as is Declan's. He had dental surgery to remove his shork teeth on Tuesday. He is not a fan of the salt rinses, but then again, neither am I. I can only hope that having a parent going through the same thing is a help.

- And, because I'm me, the glass I had been using for that purpose exploded last night. I had just finished up my rinse, then put the spoon in the glass. THE GLASS EXPLODED IN MY HAND. Not cracked, not broke, shattered. So that was fun. I think I got all of it (one never knows with the force of exploding glass), and I did get one very tiny scratch on my pinky finger. I would say it was exciting, but it was more terrifying than anything.

- We also went out for ice cream last night. Four All was donating all of their proceeds to Land Back Camp. Tasty ice cream? Good cause? Yes, please. The line was long (and got longer once we were waiting for a while), and there were a fair number of orange shirts, too.

- The city is still cleaning up after Tuesday's storm. Right now, they're mulching the massive branches that came down from the maple in front of our building. It's loud and a bit sad, because it was a lovely old maple, but it could not withstand the strength of that wind. Possibly more rain today, too. There was even a thunderstorm in the wee smalls this morning where we lost power quite a few times; I slept through it.

Well. That took too bloody long.

For the longest time, the only windows without coverings were the ones in the bathroom (already privacy glass) and the kitchen. Also, for the longest time, we had the privacy of a house next door with their own greenery doing the 'curtaining' for us.

Now, we have an open pit with a concrete pad that is going to become two low rises (6 floors, I believe) and the summer sun blaring into the windows on that side of the apartment in the mornings. To help with that, I repurposed an old, white gauzy curtain that had some cat damage near the bottom into a sun reflector for Declan's room (white curtain faces out, dark blue curtain faces in, all on the same rod). And it's been working.

It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it also didn't cost me anything besides a load of laundry (I washed the curtains in his room before I hung them up again). Because they are both IKEA curtains and have the same tabbing system, I didn't even have to sew them together, which was pretty fucking sweet.

The kitchen window? I can see all the way to the Aud from it. Which means that people out there can see me in here. Now, to be fair, I don't do anything interesting in the kitchen BUT I don't want to have such a clear view into the construction site that's about a driveway's width away.

Aha! thinks I. I have an old bamboo roller blind that was in the small bedroom when that was our television room tucked away in a corner. Paul didn't even know that we had it and didn't remember it at all. I was happy to have a possible solution to my problem that, again, didn't cost me a dime. It will filter the light and give us some privacy. Perfect.

What I didn't count on was how fucking long it was going to take to install one fucking blind.

It...snowballed.

Before I could install the blind, I needed to wash the window (I've been putting it off for YEARS). Before I could wash the window, I needed to pot the purple basic I sprouted from sprigs that Paul got in some pho. But, while I was in that area and working, I should also scrub the dish tray. Before I can scrub the dish tray, I need to put the clean and dry dishes away. Oh, look, the plastic bag bag is overflowing, so I should really bag that up. While I'm here, I'm going to clean the faucet and tap with vinegar. Oh, and the backsplash and counter need wiping down. It's pretty hot. Let's see if Declan's sandals still fit. Now that they're out, I need to tidy the shoe rack. Before I put the step ladder back, I need to sweep that area out.

It's been like that for HOURS.

No wonder I'm fucking tired.

At least my blind is up even if the cleat needs to be moved up a bit to accommodate a cactus pot. Should have measured that first. If I move the plant and spin it around...

I have a gum boil. It's as gross as it sounds.

They usually come about for two reasons: 1) poor oral hygiene, or 2) dying tooth. As I have a dying tooth that I'm already planning to get pulled (a cracked tooth that can't be saved), I'm not too worried about it. It doesn't hurt, at least, so that's something. It is, though, leaving a weird taste in my mouth that I could live without, so I'm going to start salt water rinses to deal with it.

Also, the weather has been pretty fucking glorious lately. Paul and I got out for a walk on Thursday because we are both in desperate need of more exercise. We went to a local trail and there were butterflies (possibly mourning cloaks) and a woodpecker (looked to be a female downy) and very few people. It was lovely, actually.

My knitting continues apace. It's slow. I'm still on the same sock, but I'm working on the tube part and continental knitting feels really natural to me. The pattern I'm using is supposed to yield two socks from 100g of wool. I'm not halfway through the tube section and I've already knitted ~25g. ON ONE SOCK. Yes, I did have to scale up the pattern into something that would fit my foot/ankle, but it should not have made that huge of a difference. At least I was mistakenly sent another skein of the same colourway, so I'm not completely fucking screwed.

Not much else of note has been happening. Pandemic is still pandemicking on. I've had my first dose of the vaccine, with the second already booked for late July. My only real 'side effect' was my anxiety being a complete butt, which is a total 'me' problem. Ugh.

First off, Imma just gonna put this here:



I technically finished my word count on Sunday, but I finished my actual novel yesterday. It's 52k words, needs a lot of polish, but it's done. If I do edit it (and I think I should), I need to set it aside for a while and read/do other things. I've been putting off quite a bit over the month, focused on getting my daily word counts in while moving the story along.

Enemies-to-lovers, mistaken identity, hero/villain, m/m romance set in 2025 Toronto written. I already have another pairing in mind, this time f/f, still hero/villain, but no idea what the conflict will be. It needs a think, but I also need a break, so this is a good one to put on the back burner and let it simmer for a bit.

So that's the goods.

The very very bads? I slept for shit last night. I went to bed about midnight, which is earlier than usual, then woke up at 3am. Between indigestion, hot flashes, and spikes of anxiety, I tossed and turned until about 5:30. Because indigestion that does not resolve itself can also be a symptom of a heart attack in women, and my hot flashes often make themselves known as radiating warmth that starts in the middle of my chest followed by a spike of anxiety, another heart attack symptom, I was fucking miserable.

I monitored my heart beat, which was the best I could do, made sure I was laying down in such a way to deal with the gas/indigestion, it was still too damn long to be dealing with anxiety and exhaustion.

I'm okay, if a little grumpy and a lot tired. It's also a snow day. No, wait, it's a Weather Impacted Distance Learning day. *barf* At least Declan seems super excited by it and isn't fighting me tooth and nail right now. OMFG, you guys, he just said, and I quote, "I've never been so happy to do school." If only it was this easy in April.

Just after midnight, I smashed the keyboard for about ninety minutes and already have 1673 words in my NaNo2020 novel. I've never done that before, but with the clocks falling back, I had some time and was wide awake.

I'm starting at the end, because it's been percolating in my brain pan and NaNo is about writing 50 000 words, not 50 000 words IN ORDER. I have some notes that are more suited for the beginning, but knowing where it will end (and having it written) should make it easier to hit all the other beats.

I'm also hoping to get another 500 words or so done later today; I only stopped writing because I was having trouble focusing on the screen and needed to go the fuck to sleep.

I have reduced the news to, "What fresh hell is this?" I am finding that it is necessary for what little sanity I have left given what is going on in the world right now.

Yesterday, Sheldon ate some half-dead cat grass. Then, without warning, he yarked it up (with some used dry food) on my side of the bed. I got to do three loads of laundry yesterday. UGH.

I recently finished reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. The next, Harrow the Ninth, is not even out yet and I am already making grabby hands. If lesbian necromancers in space doesn't interest you, then I don't know what to say. It is a seriously good bit of swords-and-spacecraft speculative fiction and I would be remiss if I didn't get others to read it, too.

And my computer did something weird when I was trying to wake it from sleep a few minutes ago, so, wisely (or paranoid-ly? Both apply) I am making a backup of my files. I would rather be overly cautious than not nearly cautious enough here.

Giving my brain a bit of a break from lesbian necromancers (and having already read a fluffy modern romance between a female teacher and male stripper), I was pointed at some military analysis of the Siege of Gondor. From there, I ventured into a bit about War Elephants. Both are insightful and incredibly interesting. I understand that historic military discussion can be a bit of a bore, but it took me a while to finish the treatise on War Elephants because I had to stop and squee at regular intervals. It's an odd thing to enjoy, but I do recommend them. And there's a page of links for world building.

Because we all need a laugh: https://www.sadanduseless.com/crap-wildlife-photography/

The chameleon is my favourite.

I had my hair cut last week because I was tired of the dye and missed my gray.

I went from this:


To this:


That's a pixie undercut. Even a week later, it's still friggen awesome.