KJ

New Year, new week, new update. I didn't mean to take this long a break from, well, everything, but I did, and I think it was the right choice. A long enough break to miss it? Yes, but I suppose the true test will be whether I start it all up again -- writing, journaling, fandom.

I think a quick year in review is a nice place to start. The best, most exciting thing, of course, is that we adopted some kittens in October -- calico sisters whom we named Katsu and Mochi. They're seven months old now, and they are huge -- at her vet appointment last month, Mochi weighed 8.5 lbs, and Katsu is just under a pound less. They're also the softest kitties in the world, especially Katsu, and adorable trouble-makers, and I love them.

( Pictures! )

Other things that happened include vacations to Hawaii, Maine, and Lake Shasta, reading almost no books but falling down lots of YouTube rabbit holes, sinking lots of hours into Baldur's Gate (and we're only just starting Act 2), and getting the flu for Christmas (I'm pretty sure -- I tested negative for COVID four times, and the symptoms were distinctly flu-like). Fortunately being sick didn't mess with my holiday plans too much, although I took more time off from work than I would have preferred. But overall I would say things are good.

Will I be here more going forward? It's hard to promise anything. But I would like to be. I at least promise to try.

This is the first time I've posted anything in over a month. Which means I skipped my writing goals post for July and have not yet posted one for August (and do not currently plan to do so). I also skipped both GYWO checkins and have barely noted any writing days during that time -- mostly ladybusiness anchor posts and in-progress notes for Monday Media. This is the first time I've straight-up skipped a writing goals posts since I started doing them regularly, over ten years ago now, and I don't have any good thoughts as to why. Work has been busy, but I've been busy with work before; my family is stressing me out, but that's not entirely new; I'm doing genuine talk therapy for the first time in my life, which has dredged up stuff to deal with, so maybe there's something there, but I can't find any sort of direct connection; I started playing Civ again, but that not enough of a distraction all on its own.

Ultimately it feels like a new and worse manifestation of the same problem it's been for years, which is that I feel disconnected from fandom community and don't really know how to get that back. I have connections with individual people, but that's not the same thing.

Thoughts are welcome, but that's not why I'm here. Mostly just wanted to pop in and assure everyone that I'm still around, if not talking much in my own space right now. I do still check in and backread every few days, even when I'm not leaving comments. Hope you all are well. <3

1. I remembered to get some Hugo nominations in yesterday before the deadline, yay! I definitely forgot last year, and I think I might have missed it the year before, too, so I feel relatively proud of myself (even if I left a whole lot of categories blank).

2. Speaking of SFF convention-adjacent topics, I also booked a plane ticket to Wiscon. This is perhaps overly optimistic, but I decided it was worth it. (The flight isn't refundable, but I can change it without penalty.) I entirely understand if folks are unable or unwilling to attend in person, but maybe I will see some of you there? Very curious as to how the hybrid model they're running will work out.

3. In other news of things happening in person, I have jury duty at the end of the month. Originally they wanted me in January, but that was a big fat no. So I pushed it forward two months, on the theory that the Omicron wave would have passed and whatever might come next wouldn't be here yet. So far, so good.

4. More optimistically, I also let my workplace know that I'll be going back in person starting April 11th. After several attempts to pick a reopening date, my employer finally threw up its hands and said "Come back if you want, but if you want to stay remote some or all of the time, that's fine too, just let us know." So I want to give it a try. It's good to know that I can always bail back to being remote, either temporarily or for good, if it becomes necessary. I'll have an enclosed office, and my employer still requires vaccination (we're a government contractor) and masks in common areas, all of which makes me feel better.

5. We're what feels like about halfway through Horizon Forbidden West. My intentions to gameblog it have utterly failed, in part because I'd rather play the game than write about it, and in part because it's so hard to know what to flag in terms of spoilers in an open world game. I will say more though. We are both enjoying it, more or less. It's not quite the revelation HZD was, but that's a high bar. I do enjoy many of the new characters.

Astute readers probably noticed that I said I would write something every day in November, not post something every day. But I do want to try to post at least a few times a week, and it occurs to me that I never did update you all on the floor situation.

The update is: we're done!

( Pics behind the cut, includes bonus cat photo )

The flooring is white oak, stained a medium red brown. Oak because I like it and the color to match the reclaimed redwood timbers in other parts of our unit. In the stairway photo, you might notice that our downstairs floors are maple; originally we had planned to do the same up here, but we got samples more broadly and when we hit on the idea of finding something similar to the redwood, I became quite enamored with it. I think it looks wonderful, although I'm still getting used to the difference between walking on it and carpet. But it's only really a problem at my desk, and I have a mat there for now to make it more ergonomic.

Most of the furniture is back in place -- we just need to reset some file cabinets and bookcases. Eventually we will get some area rugs by the desk and the bed, but we have to wait a bit -- the wood will change color over the next few months, and if we put rugs down now it might get patchy.

I am super excited to have this finished! And I'm so pleased with how it came out.

My employer announced yesterday that our return to office plans have been delayed indefinitely, from "sometime after Labor Day" to "we'll have another announcement in late October." This is fine, except I'd been sort of counting on being able to go into the office in September, when T is planning to redo our upstairs floor (replacing carpet with hardwood). This is a project we were supposed to do last summer and have been talking about for years, so I am reluctant to put it off any further (the carpet is ugly, falling apart, and possibly the source of our long-running moth infestation), but working from home with a construction site overhead is not my idea of a good time. So we'll see what happens.

In theory, I was able to take my wrist brace off on Monday. In practice, I've been wearing it about a quarter of the time, and I also wore it to sleep last night. I'm going to see how weaning myself off it goes over the next few days, and then if I'm still having trouble on Friday or so, I'll follow up with my doctor. It's hard to tell how much of the weakness and twinging (especially if I apply any amount of force to my left thumb) is atrophy from not using my arm for several weeks, and how much of it is the injury still not healed. Fortunately, my right arm (mainly my elbow) and side are back to normal (which for my arm doesn't mean 100%, thanks to my old shoulder injury and RSI issues, but it's way, way better than it was).

I also wrapped up my wipbigbang draft, which reminds me that I need to check in over there. I have an action scene that's mostly undrafted, but I reached what feels like a good endpoint. I wish I had been able to convince myself not to turn the sequel into part 2 of a trilogy, but it is what it is.

I felt like there was something more to talk about, but I'm blanking on it, so I'll leave the post here. I hope everyone is having an excellent Tuesday (or Wednesday, if that's what it is in your timezone).

I somehow went over two weeks without posting anything here. Probably a combination of being busy at work, the injuries to my arms (which are slowly getting better, although I still have to wear the left wrist splint), and all the time I've spent revisiting the Ace Attorney series, about which more another time. I finish up work around 4pm most days, and then I want to take a break from my computer for awhile, and by the time I feel ready to come back, it's time for dinner, socializing online or otherwise, or my brain is just not feeling inspired. None of this is helping me finish my wipbigbang draft either. A few other things to catch up on...

My parents had their 50th wedding anniversary the weekend before last. A few years ago, they requested a potluck event at their church, but by the time we would have needed to confirm everything, we couldn't say with certainty whether an in-person event would be feasible. So we did it over Zoom, with the hopes of doing something in person next year. We had a nice time, with a good turnout but not so many people that Zoom got unwieldy; I made a slideshow which was well received, and people said nice things. And my parents were very happy with it, which is the most important thing. My family is also planning its first in-person get-together since my aunt's memorial service in December 2019 for July 4th weekend (we are all vaccinated and no one has small children), so I'm looking forward to that.

One event that I fear I will not be going to is my college reunion. Typically our reunions are the last weekend in May, two weeks after graduation (which is on Mother's Day). But the whole college schedule got pushed forward by two weeks this year, which necessitated moving reunion to the first weekend in August. We got less than two months notice that an in-person event was even happening for sure (not enough time to buy flights that aren't ridiculously expensive under normal circumstances, and plane tickets are sky-high right now), and then right before registration opened, they informed us that we won't be able to stay in the dorms because they won't have time to then get them ready for the arrival of students. I could probably roll with a pricey plane ticket or losing out on the dorm experience, but I'm not sure I'm up for dealing with both of those things. In-person registration closes on Friday, so I need to make a decision soon. We're having a class officers meeting on Thursday; maybe that will help clarify things for me. It's a tough decision, voluntarily skipping out on reunion -- I've never missed one before. But it doesn't even feel like it really counts, especially since I know a lot of other people won't be there. Maybe I can convince at least some of my friends to gather at another time, sometime more affordable to travel.

I was officially two weeks past my last vaccine last Wednesday.

Yesterday, I got my first haircut in a year and four months. It is such a relief to have the ragged ends off and a refresh on the color. My usual stylist moved to Hawaii during the pandemic; she's started coming back about once a month, but I just missed her most recent visit and didn't want to wait until late May. She must have left detailed notes, because the new person already knew many of my hair quirks -- no hairspray, a cut that can air dry, the exact color mix (but we agreed it was time to punch it up a notch).

Today I had lunch outside with T at the new taqueria that just opened next door. How exciting is it to have a taqueria next door? It's also nice, because they're sharing space with another restaurant -- a local institution that had to close in November. Burritos in my backyard and a reprieve for a nice brunch place? Hard to ask for better.

It's not time to throw the doors open wide and run back into the world yet. But the day is feeling closer, and that's a good thing.

(Written on Wednesday, forgot to hit post)

Is not terribly satisfying, I have to admit. But I've already skipped two days this month and don't want to make a habit of it.

Oh, here's a thing: we made chocolate crackle cookies today. I love this kind of cookie and have never made them before. I think they're a tad under baked, but better that than the other way around. It was a fair bit of work and a little messy, and I think I'll use less espresso powder next time, but definitely a good addition to the rotation.

I continue to think about how to make time and space for writing while being a work-from-home employee. I've done a fair number of things improve my space for dayjob work -- two full-size monitors, a laptop dock, an adjustable keyboard tray that I talked my employer into buying (and that took some doing) -- but ways to alter the area to make it more conducive to writing when appropriate have been slower in coming. I have made one discovery, though, which pleases me: the application of coffee.

Ever since I got my first laptop, I've had a mental association between writing and coffee. Taking my computer to a cafe is one of my greatest pleasures, and one of the things I most miss from the before times. Sometimes these trips were productive, and sometimes I ended up spending most of my time socializing online, but it was always a mental recharge. And while I haven't quite figured out a way to replicate the entire experience, I can at least make coffee for myself. I need to avoid caffeine after lunch now (stupid aging), so I've taken to keeping homemade decaf cold brew on hand. It's an excellent afternoon treat, and I make a point of saving it until after I'm done with paid work for the day. As with going to the cafe, I don't always manage to write while I'm drinking it, but it still gives me a signal that it's time to switch gears, whether to fiction writing or journal writing (I have a glass right now!) or ladybusiness work or just chatting with folks. A little thing, but it makes me happy. And hey, I have yet to find a cafe that even sells decaf cold brew, so there's even an advantage to making my own.

So that's my new trick for carving out my own space. Any other ideas? What have you tried?