~ Signed up for an embroidery class at the community school, and the first class was tonight. I do embroidery already, but I thought it couldn't hurt to get some practice with stitches that I don't often use. There's only 6 of us in the class, and it only cost $15 (plus whatever supplies we need) for the whole 10 week deal, so it's definitely small-scale and comfortable and affordable.

This being the first class and nobody really knowing what supplies we would need, we were all just given some fabric scraps and whatnot and did some freeform stuff to practice different stitches. Mine turned from freeform into A Thing pretty quickly.



Got to practice stem stitch, back stitch, satin stitch, French knots, and lazy daisies, which are evil and I don't like them.

(Also, sorry for the lousy picture, but it's nighttime and fabric is hard to photograph under the lousy electric lighting I have here...)

~ Outside the Gold Saucer in the FFVII replay. Spend most of last night wandering around the world map to get more money, since I'm one of those people who would rather save up and buy a lifetime pass to the Gold Saucer now, rather than a 1-time pass now and a lifetime pass later. Plus it's a great excuse to level-grind, and I got everyone from level 18 to level 23 in the process.

~ Currently reading Ferrett Steinmetz's The Flux, the 2nd book in the Mancer series. It's not due out until early next month, but yay for review copies. So far I'm enjoying it as much as I enjoyed the first book, Flex. I think next I'll be reading Kameron Hurley's The Empire Ascendant, since I adored The Mirror Empire.

No reviews of recent books, of course, because my review blog is still on hiatus until the end of the month.

~ Garbage and recycling has to go to the curb in the morning, and because most of the recycling is stored in the basement and I'd have to go down there to get it, I'm using that as an excuse to break out the ShopVac and take care of some of the water that's flooded in. Which should be much easier than my previous solution, which was to bail out the water with a cut-up plastic milk jug and dump as much of it in the sump pump drain as I could before my body stiffened up from the chilly damp basement and too much bending.

~ Also, I shaved my head the other day!



Ignore all the nicks and scratches. This was my first time shaving my head actually down to the scalp, and I wasn't very good at it.

And that's my current life in a nutshell. I want to try and keep more on track with this journal, even if it involves posting silly little things every day or couple of days about what I did and why I did it, even if nobody gives a crap but me. reading through old entries, I've already rediscovered stuff I'd forgotten, so maybe there'll be some good that comes of tracking what games I'm playing, what tasty food I cook, etc.

Updates.

Jun. 15th, 2014 11:33 am
lighterthanair: (for your entertainment)
Last week went by too quickly and yet too slowly. I didn't have any other minor breakdowns or apathetic no-energy days, which is good, but I also feel like I didn't get anything done. Applied for a few jobs. Filled out my EI form. Ran a few errands. Then BAM, the week's over.

And I'm one step closer to my money running out.

I'm trying not to look at it that way. EI will come through, and I will find a new job eventually (the question is when). I have enough money put aside right now to pay July's rent, which is the main thing, as well as buy myself a bus pass so I can get to job interviews. My fridge, freezer, and cupboards are as stocked as they can get, though I suspect I'm going to need more rice and sugar soon. Luckily, both of those things are cheap. I have a little money to get some new clothes, though I'm probably going to have to make my sneakers make do for a little while longer, even though they're leaky and falling apart. My dad gave me money for the Winnipeg trip this coming weekend, and if I'm careful and don't spend all of it, I can put some aside and maybe get a new cheap pair of sneakers when I come back. Or shoes. If I can find something that fits for $30 or less, great!

I can survive. I'm just worried, because EI payments only last for so long, and they're only 60% of what I would have been making had I not been let go, which means my belt has to be tightened and a corner or two must be cut. Hopefully I can find a new job soon, preferably one that pays me $12 an hour or more. Without a roommate, the grocery budget is drastically reduced. Not by half, since I still have cats to feed, but if we spent $200 a month on groceries before, I can get that down to under $150 easily. And $50 saved is my cell phone bill paid for almost 2 months, or the power bill paid for 5-6 weeks.

I have a turkey that I need to carve up todqay and harvest the leftover meat from. Good stuff will probably get turned into meat for stew, and dark meat will probably get turned into sausage meat. Bones get boiled to make stock for the stew. I might be able to eat for another half a week on that thing, and it only cost me $15 because it was on sale for 1/2 price.

been watching reruns of Supernatural lately while I work on new bookmark designs. I did a lot of embroidery when I first watched the show, so that seems fitting. And damn if that show isn't entertaining on so many levels. Especially once Castiel shows up. I confess, I'm a bit Dean/Castiel shipper. Not that this sets me apart from the vast majority of the fandom, really. But the show's a lot of fun to watch, if occasionally a little too intense to watch late at night by myself.

And I'm working on a new bookmark design, too, while watching. The test pattern worked well, so now I just need to make a few others in different colour schemes so that I can get a good picture. They should get listed on the Riality Studios Etsy store some time this coming week.

(Not that it matters, really, since nobody freaking buys the things I make. :/ But I feel like I have to list them for sale, just in case, and any little bit of money is helpful at this point.)

Got some decent reading done last week, too. Jill Murphy's Worst Witch, Lisa Ann O'Kane's Essense, and Julia Mary Gibson's Copper Magic. And I'm over 1/3 of the way through Mercedes Lackey's and James Mallory's The House of Four Winds, the review for which can't be posted until later in July, but I couldn't wait to read it. Princesses and cross-dressing and pirates and adventure just seemed like the perfect book for a rainy weekend!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a turkey to rip apart!
lighterthanair: Dracula, from Hotel Transylvania (grumpy)
So I called my doctor's office today, to see if the results of the ultrasound were in. Apparently, they weren't. Sigh. I was hoping that they would be, so I can start fixing this stupid disruptive problem. No such luck. They ought to be there soon, though. It's supposed to take about 2 weeks to get result, and it'll be 2 weeks as of tomorrow since I had the ultrasound done. Fingers crossed.

The receptionist said she'd call me back if the result came in and there was anything on them, but to be honest, I don't trust that. This is the same woman who had blood test results of mine sitting on her desk for a whole month before I finally gave up and called her to see if they were back yet. Forms to allow me to return to work sat on her desk for a week before she got them filled out. I understand that doctors and their receptionists have a lot to do, but seriously, she's very lax when it comes to getting things done in a timely manner. She once scheduled me for an appointment so that my doctor could discuss a letter he'd received from my psychiatrist. A letter which I had already discussed with my doctor weeks prior to that. Even my doctor was embarassed there.

But for the moment, there's nothing I can do. If I haven't had a call back by next week, I'll call again. Even if nothing odd showed up on the ultrasound (and I doubt that, because even the technician said she saw odd things), then that still means other options need to be discussed so that I can fix this problem and stop bleeding so heavily and for so long and so irregularly.

On a lighter note, I went to see Hotel Transylvania with a friend yesterday. Great movie! The animation was nice and smooth, the humour was great, and with few exceptions, the characters were fun to watch.

Finished watching Community, too. Or rather, the 3 seasons that are on Netflix. I still have my problems with the show. Pierce's character rarely being given any consequences of his idiotic racism and sexism is the main problem I have, and I could write a huge diatribe about how this kind of character seems to be a disturbingly popular one in media now, but not right now. The third season's constant attempts to break up the friendship between Troy and Abed (seriously, I think more episodes were devoted to that than any other one theme). But for the most part, it's an enjoyable show, and I'd like to watch the 4th season when I can.

So now that Community is done, I started on Bones. I've got to say, I hope it picks up. Granted, I've only watched 2 episodes so far, but on their own, they don't really inspire me to keep watching. The show seems okay, but more like the kind of thing I'd put on in the background while crafting, watching it with only half an eye, rather than something I feel warrants my full attention. But I hear it's a good show, so I'll give it a season to get going and hope that it's just taking the production team and the actors a little time to settle into their roles. But really, when after 2 episodes you're already contemplating a drinking game for certain lines of dialogue that constantly keep popping up, you know it's a bit of an awkward show.

And go figure, it looks like Netflix also took off all the episodes they had of The Tudors. I was really looking forward to watching that. :/

Well, it's almost lunch time so I ought to go make myself something to eat and then maybe do some embroidery before I go to tonight's group therapy session. I've started on a new set of bookmarks using Belarusan wicker stitch (also called nizanka) on 28-count evenweave, and the stitches are so freaking tiny that it feels like I'm stitching forever before I actually make any real progress. But I'm getting the hang of it, and the pattern does look nice when it's finished. Plus it's been a while since I've actually worked on some embroidery, and I miss how soothing it can be.
I spent all of last week off work. This was due to a terrible stomach bug that kept me running for the bathroom for the better part of 5 days. I ended up taking a trip to the hospital (not to worry, I only went because work required a doctor's note if I took time off, and the after hours clinic here won't see people who are vomiting, making the hospital my only choice), and lay there for a good hour while they hooked me up to an IV and pumped fluids and medication into me. Apparently I was more dehydrated than I thought, since they decided to make sure I got 2 bags of saline instead of just 1. I think that works out to about a litre of fluid going straight into my veins.

I still have a bruise on the back of my hand from the needle, and I bled more than I ever have from a needle stick or IV. Not happy about that, but I think it might just be because I'm normally a bit dehydrated to start with (I have a hard time drinking as much as I ought to) and my blood was thinner at the time because of the fluids. Might have made bleeding a little easier. That's my theory, anyway.

I'm feeling much better now, happily, and I was able to get quite a bit done today to catch up on the various things I'd missed through the week. I did a large load of laundry and hung it to dry on the back porch, to take advantage of the breeze coming off the river. I caught up on the blog posts I'd missed. I wrote 2 book reviews out of the 9 that I have backlogged and scheduled them to appear later this week. I ate a good breakfast and lunch, and experimented with making iced milk tea. And I also spent a few happy hours watching episodes of Charmed on Netflix (sad to say that this show is still better than Angel, and considering I'm a fan of Whedon's work, that hurts me a lot to admit) while working on a cross-stitch project.

All in all, I'd consider that a good day.

Tomorrow I'm back to work, and I'm actually looking forward to it. Fingers crossed that I feel the same way in the morning!

And now I think it's time to feed the cats and head to bed. A good ending to a good day.

September 2015

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