Sleep Lab
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
days_unfoldingWoke up a little after 6:30 AM. Got my groceries. I forgot a couple of things, so I’ll have to submit another order tomorrow. Got an enormous bag of oranges, so I’ll have to work on eating it. And I think that I'll pop some blueberries.
I put my compression socks on after my shower. I put on the ones with pink flamingos because I thought that they'd go best with my "under-the-ocean" hoodie. Style is important :) I'm saving the navy polka dots ones to wear with my navy London hoodie tomorrow. I hope that they work. And I bought an enormous water pitcher to bring upstairs with me. The socks feel kind of good, like they're massaging my legs.
Oliver is growling at Gracie. I don't blame him because earlier, Gracie pinned him down, and Gracie and Bella were play-biting him. I had to break it up. He was Not Amused. I'm asking Gracie how someone as cute as her can be such a little hellion.
I need to get two more pillows for the pillow shams. I'm buying cheap pillows because Gracie chews on them.
I read an article called "How to Make Your Economy-Class Seat a Little Less Miserable," and one of the things that it says is to get an aisle seat for long-haul flights. I haven't booked my flights to Europe later this year yet (I'll do that this weekend), so I'll get an aisle seat.
I have meetings right before and right after lunch, so no nap today.
I need to make some lentil soup to get some B vitamins in me. I'll look for a recipe. Found one. Maybe I should go grocery shopping after I return the sleep equipment tomorrow. I need a blender for the recipe. Do I have one? Yes, I have a fancy one that Mom's friend bought her.
I did get a short nap. My 11:00 meeting ended early.
My boss and I were taking about cats and dogs and such, and I just remembered that I need to put up the bird feeder. I'll add it to my weekend list.
Made an appointment to have my car looked at a week from today. (It's making sounds like something is dragging and thumping noises when you turn the steering wheel hard.)
Off work for the weekend. Fed the critters. (I’m not hungry because I ate lunch late. I’m not sure what to do until I need to go to the sleep clinic. I guess that I’ll work on a grocery list (done).
I’ve had a sore throat and slight cough all day, but that’s it for symptoms.
The book that I’m reading suggested Factor Health for extensive blood tests. Quest Diagnostics has something similar, but I think that Factor pays for two blood tests a year. Yikes, they take around 10 vials of blood.
Got the sleep study equipment. He asked me when I was going to bed and I said, “I don’t know,” so he picked 11 PM. I think that I’ll have to sleep without the dogs. So I’m going to eat (done) and post.
I put my compression socks on after my shower. I put on the ones with pink flamingos because I thought that they'd go best with my "under-the-ocean" hoodie. Style is important :) I'm saving the navy polka dots ones to wear with my navy London hoodie tomorrow. I hope that they work. And I bought an enormous water pitcher to bring upstairs with me. The socks feel kind of good, like they're massaging my legs.
Oliver is growling at Gracie. I don't blame him because earlier, Gracie pinned him down, and Gracie and Bella were play-biting him. I had to break it up. He was Not Amused. I'm asking Gracie how someone as cute as her can be such a little hellion.
I need to get two more pillows for the pillow shams. I'm buying cheap pillows because Gracie chews on them.
I read an article called "How to Make Your Economy-Class Seat a Little Less Miserable," and one of the things that it says is to get an aisle seat for long-haul flights. I haven't booked my flights to Europe later this year yet (I'll do that this weekend), so I'll get an aisle seat.
I have meetings right before and right after lunch, so no nap today.
I need to make some lentil soup to get some B vitamins in me. I'll look for a recipe. Found one. Maybe I should go grocery shopping after I return the sleep equipment tomorrow. I need a blender for the recipe. Do I have one? Yes, I have a fancy one that Mom's friend bought her.
I did get a short nap. My 11:00 meeting ended early.
My boss and I were taking about cats and dogs and such, and I just remembered that I need to put up the bird feeder. I'll add it to my weekend list.
Made an appointment to have my car looked at a week from today. (It's making sounds like something is dragging and thumping noises when you turn the steering wheel hard.)
Off work for the weekend. Fed the critters. (I’m not hungry because I ate lunch late. I’m not sure what to do until I need to go to the sleep clinic. I guess that I’ll work on a grocery list (done).
I’ve had a sore throat and slight cough all day, but that’s it for symptoms.
The book that I’m reading suggested Factor Health for extensive blood tests. Quest Diagnostics has something similar, but I think that Factor pays for two blood tests a year. Yikes, they take around 10 vials of blood.
Got the sleep study equipment. He asked me when I was going to bed and I said, “I don’t know,” so he picked 11 PM. I think that I’ll have to sleep without the dogs. So I’m going to eat (done) and post.
Tags:
- bird feeder,
- car,
- compression socks,
- food,
- gracie,
- oliver,
- orient express,
- sick,
- sleep,
- travel,
- work
(no subject)
Jan. 8th, 2026 07:55 pmlycomingst
Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page
Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
I don't like AI but I do like cats. I visit Youtube a lot, and I've run across some animated cat stories. Japanese cats who dress in human clothes and do human activities, sometimes share the world with big humans and nobody turns a hair at a cat family shopping next to them. The cats are always helping lonely/hungry/hurt/raggedy other cats and animals. Altruistic, the cats are. I just love the drawings.
Here's a sample.
Escape Artist
Jan. 8th, 2026 07:13 pmdays_unfoldingDamn. I opened the door to get soda off of the porch—and Oliver ran out. I stood there stunned—and Gracie ran out. Oliver would poke his head out occasionally and Gracie would chase him, so clearly, I had to get Gracie in to be able to get Oliver in. I was chasing Gracie around the yard with a leash, but she is fast. I got the idea to open the garage, and Gracie ran in there. I closed the door, and chased Gracie around the inside of the garage and eventually got her on a leash. I got her in the house. So, Oliver. He came out from under the stairs, and I tried to get near him, but he went under the stairs. Then he came out on one of the stairs—and I was able to grab him. Whew. He scratched me when I brought him in the house, which I probably deserved.
Woke up a little before 7, needing to pee desperately. That’s one problem with getting more sleep. I wound up getting up.
Lily's vet appointment went well. Her ears are much better. (She had an ear infection.) I almost didn't get to take her because she was hiding, and I was walking around calling her. Eventually, she popped up in the living room.
I'm looking at tool (shovels and such) organizers for the garage. I need to check, though, if there's a way to hang my power snow shovel from the wall. I’m also thinking of getting a nail gun. I have all those bookcases to put together, and I’m lousy at hammering nails. It would be cheaper to buy a nail gun than to hire someone to put them together though. And I would have the nail gun. Maybe I could rent it out.
Had a nice nap. Bella was lying near where I was sitting when I got into the bed, and she moved. I said, "You are so nice and cooperative. You're a joy to live with--except when you steal my gloves." (Well, she IS a dog :))
My EKG came out normal. I have to hand it to my doctor; I'm getting called for appointments with the specialists to whom she referred me.
It's been gray and overcast all day, and I want to sleep. Apparently, it's going to rain soon.
My dad says that he can teach me to improve my health. I just bought the books The Mind-Gut Connection and Good Energy (about metabolism). And some nutrition books. What I'm reading has scared me enough that I added some fruits and vegetables to my grocery order tomorrow.
Gracie has decided that she really likes being petted. She'll come over to me and put her front in my lap, and I'll pet her. Then she'll go away because she has the attention span of a gnat. Then she comes back, and repeat.
I submitted a grocery order for tomorrow morning, mostly to get donuts to bribe the dogs to come in. I also ordered cheap pillows to put my feet on to drain the fluid. Oh, and I got the compression socks.
Fed us all. I think that I'll go to sleep early again. I get more sleep if I go to sleep early, which sounds obvious, but if I go to sleep early and tell myself that I'll get up early to do stuff, and don't get up early, at least I've gotten a good night's sleep. Also, having the mindset that I'm going to bed early helps me go to bed early. (I'm still a night person though; I'll get a burst of energy around 10 PM if I'm still up.)
Woke up a little before 7, needing to pee desperately. That’s one problem with getting more sleep. I wound up getting up.
Lily's vet appointment went well. Her ears are much better. (She had an ear infection.) I almost didn't get to take her because she was hiding, and I was walking around calling her. Eventually, she popped up in the living room.
I'm looking at tool (shovels and such) organizers for the garage. I need to check, though, if there's a way to hang my power snow shovel from the wall. I’m also thinking of getting a nail gun. I have all those bookcases to put together, and I’m lousy at hammering nails. It would be cheaper to buy a nail gun than to hire someone to put them together though. And I would have the nail gun. Maybe I could rent it out.
Had a nice nap. Bella was lying near where I was sitting when I got into the bed, and she moved. I said, "You are so nice and cooperative. You're a joy to live with--except when you steal my gloves." (Well, she IS a dog :))
My EKG came out normal. I have to hand it to my doctor; I'm getting called for appointments with the specialists to whom she referred me.
It's been gray and overcast all day, and I want to sleep. Apparently, it's going to rain soon.
My dad says that he can teach me to improve my health. I just bought the books The Mind-Gut Connection and Good Energy (about metabolism). And some nutrition books. What I'm reading has scared me enough that I added some fruits and vegetables to my grocery order tomorrow.
Gracie has decided that she really likes being petted. She'll come over to me and put her front in my lap, and I'll pet her. Then she'll go away because she has the attention span of a gnat. Then she comes back, and repeat.
I submitted a grocery order for tomorrow morning, mostly to get donuts to bribe the dogs to come in. I also ordered cheap pillows to put my feet on to drain the fluid. Oh, and I got the compression socks.
Fed us all. I think that I'll go to sleep early again. I get more sleep if I go to sleep early, which sounds obvious, but if I go to sleep early and tell myself that I'll get up early to do stuff, and don't get up early, at least I've gotten a good night's sleep. Also, having the mindset that I'm going to bed early helps me go to bed early. (I'm still a night person though; I'll get a burst of energy around 10 PM if I'm still up.)
Let There Be Light
Jan. 7th, 2026 08:56 pmdays_unfoldingI overslept 45 minutes. I got my shower done though. No time to put on makeup. Wrestled the recycling bin out and opened the garage.
I just saw that the electricians had a “confirm appointment” link, which I just clicked. I hope that I didn’t mess up the appointment.
Jealousy, thy name is Bella. I was petting Gracie, and Bella came over and said, “Pet ME!”
The electricians are here. I showed them the circuit breaker box. I was ordering food for Bella and Gracie when the “dog alarm” went off. They’re going nuts. I shut the cats in the bathroom and want to leave them there until the electricians are done. Oliver likes to go into the basement.
I ordered some compression socks. I hope that I got the right sizes. I got some funky designs: flamingos, sloths, and polka dots.
I looked into dog training, but it won’t start until February, so I’ll wait to register.
Hmm, the dogs seem to be settling down. Are the guys done? No.
I need to order more pillows to put my feet up while I sleep (if the dogs let me!)
Got the first check from the trust. I'll deposit it into my main bank account at lunchtime. Then I'll get a cashier's check for Charles Schwab later. (I want the money safely in a bank account first, and Schwab is a little complicated.)
Meeting-o-rama today at work. Well, one got cancelled.
Ran to the bank over lunch. The check is safely away from my chewing dogs :)
Well, I did step 1 and brought water upstairs to drink. But I haven't been drinking it. Must force myself....
There's a decluttering course that isn't too expensive and has good reviews. I might sign up for it (done).
The 3:00 meeting was short. Good. I can go out and see what the electricians have done when they're done. I'm having a hard time concentrating with the guys doing the work. I should look for something mindless. I see lights on in the garage. That's progress. They're done. There are lights on in the garage and the garage door works.
Let the cats out of the bathroom, and Oliver bitched me out. I deserve it :)
Let the dogs out. Bella ate Gracie’s bribe donut, so I had to give her another one. Fed us all.
I'm going to go to sleep soon. Maybe I'll get some cleaning done tomorrow morning before I take Lily to the vet.
I just saw that the electricians had a “confirm appointment” link, which I just clicked. I hope that I didn’t mess up the appointment.
Jealousy, thy name is Bella. I was petting Gracie, and Bella came over and said, “Pet ME!”
The electricians are here. I showed them the circuit breaker box. I was ordering food for Bella and Gracie when the “dog alarm” went off. They’re going nuts. I shut the cats in the bathroom and want to leave them there until the electricians are done. Oliver likes to go into the basement.
I ordered some compression socks. I hope that I got the right sizes. I got some funky designs: flamingos, sloths, and polka dots.
I looked into dog training, but it won’t start until February, so I’ll wait to register.
Hmm, the dogs seem to be settling down. Are the guys done? No.
I need to order more pillows to put my feet up while I sleep (if the dogs let me!)
Got the first check from the trust. I'll deposit it into my main bank account at lunchtime. Then I'll get a cashier's check for Charles Schwab later. (I want the money safely in a bank account first, and Schwab is a little complicated.)
Meeting-o-rama today at work. Well, one got cancelled.
Ran to the bank over lunch. The check is safely away from my chewing dogs :)
Well, I did step 1 and brought water upstairs to drink. But I haven't been drinking it. Must force myself....
There's a decluttering course that isn't too expensive and has good reviews. I might sign up for it (done).
The 3:00 meeting was short. Good. I can go out and see what the electricians have done when they're done. I'm having a hard time concentrating with the guys doing the work. I should look for something mindless. I see lights on in the garage. That's progress. They're done. There are lights on in the garage and the garage door works.
Let the cats out of the bathroom, and Oliver bitched me out. I deserve it :)
Let the dogs out. Bella ate Gracie’s bribe donut, so I had to give her another one. Fed us all.
I'm going to go to sleep soon. Maybe I'll get some cleaning done tomorrow morning before I take Lily to the vet.
Tags:
- bella,
- clothes,
- decluttering,
- electrician,
- errands,
- garage,
- gracie,
- lily,
- money,
- oliver,
- retirement,
- sleep,
- water,
- work
Fannish December
Jan. 7th, 2026 03:58 pmtinnyHeated Rivalry dominated December:
Heated Rivalry! It was so good! It's on HBO Max and Crave. I really liked the first two episodes, there was a ton of sex, and other people much more eloquently explained why that's not a bad thing: the sex is the plot!
I hated ep three, depriving me of the main pairing I love, but I see how it's necessary as context for later episodes. Since I knew that going in, I waited until I was ready for it and just treated it like a different show. That worked for me. I loved the last three episodes again, there was a ton of romance. *A lot* of thought went into the show, and it's all intentional, and that's such a change from the things I usually watch where I rant at the writing all the time. Here, there's almost nothing to rant at. Plus, it's pretty much exactly what I'm most looking for in a tv show: m/m sex and m/m romance. \o/ I will probably read some of the books this year, and likely write up a review for the show if I find the time.
For now, let me direct you to
* my friendmachinistm's heated rivalry tag
* the heated rivalry comm![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
gamechangerhr
* the hockey podcast "What Chaos!" reacting to every single episode with genuine enthusiasm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us7Pok5nDRc
Love on the Turquoise Land (17/32) - a modern fantasy/horror cdrama with Dilraba Dilmurat as a mystical sword fighter. I started watching for her, and by now probably would still be watching even if she wasn't on it. It's ... not good, exactly, but I love it anyway? I got over halfway through it in a few weeks. The horror aspect is not my thing at all, but it was only strong in the first episodes, and after that it started focusing more on vampire rituals and a general good vs evil fight and the horror took a backseat. I'm happy with that! I am very much enjoying Dilraba's actual voice (yay! she doesn't usually get to dub herself! This is cool!) and seeing her fight monsters. I am ranting at how illogical all the vampire lore is (they're called Earth Fiends but everything screams vampire to me), but fwiw once you disengage your science brain, it's fine. Giving the vastly overpowered FL a damsel-in-distress moment made me grit my teeth, but it did lead to the ML taking care of her for three eps straight, and I am not complaining about that at all. The character interactions are really good! I love the fighting, bantering, h/c, and budding romance between the ML and FL. The central mystery sounds interesting, and even though I don't trust the book author (who also wrote Parallel World) to plot herself out of a wet paper bag, the plot seems to hold together so far. Since Heated Rivalry has finished, this is the show I'm most motivated to watch right now. It's on viki.
Our Times (03/38), a 90s retro "IT students go professional" cdrama with Wu Lei and Hou Minghao. The costumes are amazing (bell bottom jeans and corduroy jackets galore), and I really am enjoying the retroness of it all, especially the way the cut scenes are interspersed with actual old footage from Chinese cities, e.g. the construction of the tower in Shanghai. I immediately imprinted on Wu Lei's character (who is a bit of an arrogant asshole but gets beaten up twice in the first episode woah, see another cap). I only watched three eps so far, but liked those a lot. The only downside is that the show triggers my embarrassment squick (they are so incompetent as computer salesmen omg!), so I have to go through it slowly with many breaks. We'll see. It's on wetv and youtube.
Still The Long Ballad (43/48), I don't want it to end. omg why do I love this show so much? I haven't loved a historical cdrama this much since Lost You Forever. Whenever Ashile Sun is on screen I go awwwwww. I'll enjoy the rest of the drama at a slow pace, while it continues to give me life. <3
I haven't dropped A Moment But Forever yet, but also haven't watched a whole ep this month.
I got halfway through Love at Night, and once the leads got together, which always makes me happy and is the main reason I watch anything, I immediately lost my motivation to continue, lol. I guess it just wasn't otherwise good enough. I might pick it up again, once I'm done with Turquoise Land? Maybe? I'm not holding my breath, though.
I realized that To My Shore is airing now, a Chinese BL (one of those sneaky international China-Thailand co-productions), and I watched half an ep, but I think it's too dark for me. For whatever reason, they keep picking the non-con ones to produce. *sigh* I prefer my romance consensual.
Extraordinary, a shorty cdrama with 20 15-min episodes about a computer nerd who transmigrates into a playboy in the past and basically transforms his family into the richest family around using his modern knowledge of business and weaponry. There's a cross-dressing FL (who he immediately sees through, lol), but otherwise it's mostly comedy of the type I'm not too fond of, and I dropped it again after a few eps.
The HPI watchalong finished season 5. Unfortunately, there are no subs (yet) except French ones. We tried auto-translated English ones *once* and then decided that French will have to do. We enjoyed it very much but now it's over. *sob*
We started Nothing But You after that. Now on episode 6 already, we're going through it fast because we don't want to spend a year on it. So far looking good in the *show everyone how good this cdrama is* department. \o/
Still watchalong-ing When A Snail Falls in Love with my other friend, and will move on to Nothing But You after that as well.
TV finished
Heated Rivalry! It was so good! It's on HBO Max and Crave. I really liked the first two episodes, there was a ton of sex, and other people much more eloquently explained why that's not a bad thing: the sex is the plot!
I hated ep three, depriving me of the main pairing I love, but I see how it's necessary as context for later episodes. Since I knew that going in, I waited until I was ready for it and just treated it like a different show. That worked for me. I loved the last three episodes again, there was a ton of romance. *A lot* of thought went into the show, and it's all intentional, and that's such a change from the things I usually watch where I rant at the writing all the time. Here, there's almost nothing to rant at. Plus, it's pretty much exactly what I'm most looking for in a tv show: m/m sex and m/m romance. \o/ I will probably read some of the books this year, and likely write up a review for the show if I find the time.
For now, let me direct you to
* my friend
machinistm's heated rivalry tag * the heated rivalry comm
gamechangerhr* the hockey podcast "What Chaos!" reacting to every single episode with genuine enthusiasm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us7Pok5nDRc
TV new (ongoing)
Love on the Turquoise Land (17/32) - a modern fantasy/horror cdrama with Dilraba Dilmurat as a mystical sword fighter. I started watching for her, and by now probably would still be watching even if she wasn't on it. It's ... not good, exactly, but I love it anyway? I got over halfway through it in a few weeks. The horror aspect is not my thing at all, but it was only strong in the first episodes, and after that it started focusing more on vampire rituals and a general good vs evil fight and the horror took a backseat. I'm happy with that! I am very much enjoying Dilraba's actual voice (yay! she doesn't usually get to dub herself! This is cool!) and seeing her fight monsters. I am ranting at how illogical all the vampire lore is (they're called Earth Fiends but everything screams vampire to me), but fwiw once you disengage your science brain, it's fine. Giving the vastly overpowered FL a damsel-in-distress moment made me grit my teeth, but it did lead to the ML taking care of her for three eps straight, and I am not complaining about that at all. The character interactions are really good! I love the fighting, bantering, h/c, and budding romance between the ML and FL. The central mystery sounds interesting, and even though I don't trust the book author (who also wrote Parallel World) to plot herself out of a wet paper bag, the plot seems to hold together so far. Since Heated Rivalry has finished, this is the show I'm most motivated to watch right now. It's on viki.
Our Times (03/38), a 90s retro "IT students go professional" cdrama with Wu Lei and Hou Minghao. The costumes are amazing (bell bottom jeans and corduroy jackets galore), and I really am enjoying the retroness of it all, especially the way the cut scenes are interspersed with actual old footage from Chinese cities, e.g. the construction of the tower in Shanghai. I immediately imprinted on Wu Lei's character (who is a bit of an arrogant asshole but gets beaten up twice in the first episode woah, see another cap). I only watched three eps so far, but liked those a lot. The only downside is that the show triggers my embarrassment squick (they are so incompetent as computer salesmen omg!), so I have to go through it slowly with many breaks. We'll see. It's on wetv and youtube.
TV continued
Still The Long Ballad (43/48), I don't want it to end. omg why do I love this show so much? I haven't loved a historical cdrama this much since Lost You Forever. Whenever Ashile Sun is on screen I go awwwwww. I'll enjoy the rest of the drama at a slow pace, while it continues to give me life. <3
I haven't dropped A Moment But Forever yet, but also haven't watched a whole ep this month.
TV (dropped)
I got halfway through Love at Night, and once the leads got together, which always makes me happy and is the main reason I watch anything, I immediately lost my motivation to continue, lol. I guess it just wasn't otherwise good enough. I might pick it up again, once I'm done with Turquoise Land? Maybe? I'm not holding my breath, though.
I realized that To My Shore is airing now, a Chinese BL (one of those sneaky international China-Thailand co-productions), and I watched half an ep, but I think it's too dark for me. For whatever reason, they keep picking the non-con ones to produce. *sigh* I prefer my romance consensual.
Extraordinary, a shorty cdrama with 20 15-min episodes about a computer nerd who transmigrates into a playboy in the past and basically transforms his family into the richest family around using his modern knowledge of business and weaponry. There's a cross-dressing FL (who he immediately sees through, lol), but otherwise it's mostly comedy of the type I'm not too fond of, and I dropped it again after a few eps.
Rewatches/Watchalongs
The HPI watchalong finished season 5. Unfortunately, there are no subs (yet) except French ones. We tried auto-translated English ones *once* and then decided that French will have to do. We enjoyed it very much but now it's over. *sob*
We started Nothing But You after that. Now on episode 6 already, we're going through it fast because we don't want to spend a year on it. So far looking good in the *show everyone how good this cdrama is* department. \o/
Still watchalong-ing When A Snail Falls in Love with my other friend, and will move on to Nothing But You after that as well.
Things learned in December
Jan. 7th, 2026 11:46 amtinnyI was unfortunately not very consistent about writing down things in December. Once I realized on December 6 that I'd already forgotten three things again that I'd failed to note down, my motivation dropped considerably for the next two weeks. Which is why there are now only
( 8 (+2 related) things I learned in December )
( 8 (+2 related) things I learned in December )
(no subject)
Jan. 6th, 2026 07:26 pmlycomingst Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.
I owe fandom for my creativity, such as it is. I wouldn't have written the stories I have without the inspiration of the characters on the screen. Most of my stuff are moments that could have happened offscreen when characters interacted.
And icons! I have absolutely no artistic ability so making icons was a joy to me. I made art, not just had appreciation of talent.
Doctor's Appointment
Jan. 6th, 2026 08:52 pmdays_unfoldingWoke up at 6:30 AM. I’m running late, so l’ll need to run to the cats’ boarding place at lunchtime.
Gracie is having diarrhea. I think that the boarding place got confused and fed her wet food. I bribed Gracie to come in with a stale donut, and Bella took it. I told Bella that she was a little snot. I’m telling Oliver that he’s a dorky cat. (He knocked my soda on me.)
Showered, dressed, makeupped. I'm ready to run my errand at lunchtime and go to the doctor this afternoon.
I have to get my groceries from the front porch (mostly done).
The dogs have been crashed out. Apparently they got a lot of exercise at the kennel! The cats have been crashed out too. I guess that they feel safe at home.
Got the meds from the cats' boarding place. My car is making thumping noises, so I need to bring it in. It never rains but what it pours. And person crossing the street at a crosswalk: I'm happy to stop for you, but do you have to stop in the middle of the street and look at your phone? Couldn't it wait until you get to the other side of the street? Sheesh.
I'm getting a stiff neck and a headache.
My note to work:
Yikes.
Had my doctor's appointment. At first, she was kind of brusque with me (I think that she was under time pressure), but she warmed up. She's going to give me a referral to a Physical Therapist for my knee, but she thinks that I should see an orthopedist. (I said that I had seen one, and they can't do anything for my torn ACL because I'm too old). She's giving me a referral to a hand doc for the tingling sensation. She thinks that I should wear compression socks for the fluid in my ankles. She showed me hers, which look like a candy cane, and said that she had some with pink flamingos on them, and I said "Oooh!" I said that my mom had such bad swelling in her legs that she couldn't lift them, and I said that I didn't want it to happen to me. She ordered an EKG and blood tests for me though. And she thought that the dizzy spells were due to dehydration, so she wants me to chug water to see if it helps. I had an EKG and blood tests right after my appointment, which was convenient.
Oh, I forgot to mention that she said that it was important to get my sleep apnea managed because that can cause cardiac problems.
My CBC came out normal.
Hmm. American Airlines is having a sale on flights to Europe right now, plus I have a voucher on them, so I emailed the organizer of the "Orient Express" trip this fall and asked for dates. She sent me the dates, so I’ll look into it.
I also found some compression socks that I want to order.
But I need to get to bed soon because the electrician will be here around 7 AM. I want to be presentable by then.
Gracie is having diarrhea. I think that the boarding place got confused and fed her wet food. I bribed Gracie to come in with a stale donut, and Bella took it. I told Bella that she was a little snot. I’m telling Oliver that he’s a dorky cat. (He knocked my soda on me.)
Showered, dressed, makeupped. I'm ready to run my errand at lunchtime and go to the doctor this afternoon.
I have to get my groceries from the front porch (mostly done).
The dogs have been crashed out. Apparently they got a lot of exercise at the kennel! The cats have been crashed out too. I guess that they feel safe at home.
Got the meds from the cats' boarding place. My car is making thumping noises, so I need to bring it in. It never rains but what it pours. And person crossing the street at a crosswalk: I'm happy to stop for you, but do you have to stop in the middle of the street and look at your phone? Couldn't it wait until you get to the other side of the street? Sheesh.
I'm getting a stiff neck and a headache.
My note to work:
Hi everyone,
I have a doctor's appointment today at 3:30. It's the next entry on a busy week (Sunday: Arrive home, Monday: Pick up pets, Tuesday: Doctor, Wednesday: Electrician, Thursday: Lily to vet, Friday: Sleep clinic, Saturday: Collapse, singing lesson, and return sleep study equipment). I'll be back afterwards.
Thanks,
Adrienne
Yikes.
Had my doctor's appointment. At first, she was kind of brusque with me (I think that she was under time pressure), but she warmed up. She's going to give me a referral to a Physical Therapist for my knee, but she thinks that I should see an orthopedist. (I said that I had seen one, and they can't do anything for my torn ACL because I'm too old). She's giving me a referral to a hand doc for the tingling sensation. She thinks that I should wear compression socks for the fluid in my ankles. She showed me hers, which look like a candy cane, and said that she had some with pink flamingos on them, and I said "Oooh!" I said that my mom had such bad swelling in her legs that she couldn't lift them, and I said that I didn't want it to happen to me. She ordered an EKG and blood tests for me though. And she thought that the dizzy spells were due to dehydration, so she wants me to chug water to see if it helps. I had an EKG and blood tests right after my appointment, which was convenient.
Oh, I forgot to mention that she said that it was important to get my sleep apnea managed because that can cause cardiac problems.
My CBC came out normal.
Hmm. American Airlines is having a sale on flights to Europe right now, plus I have a voucher on them, so I emailed the organizer of the "Orient Express" trip this fall and asked for dates. She sent me the dates, so I’ll look into it.
I also found some compression socks that I want to order.
But I need to get to bed soon because the electrician will be here around 7 AM. I want to be presentable by then.
Snowflake Challenge #1 + Cultivativity
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:59 pmtinny
I had expected the first Snowflake Challenge to be "update your intro", so I did that. :D It wasn't quite that, though. The first part of the challenge was "introduce yourself", so I guess close enough. :D Snapshot of my current dw profile page:
I only updated the icon comms and changed a few icons in the color bars. Nothing much new, really.
The second part was "why do you do the challenge and what you you hope to gain from it"? Idk? I'll just see which challenges speak to me and then I do them. I did this in previous years as well, and it suits me fine. I usually just pick a few challenges that I like, no more than five, usually, and then I do those.
Here's my post from 2025: challenges 2-6 challenges 14+ and my own
Here's my post from 2024: only challenge 5, the icon scavenger hunt
Here's my post from 2023: challenges 5-10, 12 and 13
Lets see what this year brings, shall we? :D
What I'll also do this year is try and think about my creative process, and there's a new comm for that:
cultivativityI'm looking forward to this, too!
Discovered in the Wassail Bowl - 6th December - Twelfth Night - the Final Day...
Jan. 6th, 2026 08:00 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
byslantedlight.livejournal.com posting in discoveredinaljIt is the 6th of January, and the end of our Winter-Solstice-Christmas-Celbrate-the-Light calendar for 2025 - sigh, as ever. It's always sad when I make the closing post like this - and especially because this year I have to say something very important, so please keep reading.
This might be the last Discovered in a Winter-Solstice-Christmas-Celebrate-the-Light calendar...
At first I thought it might be the last because I've been doing this for twenty years now and it's taking up more and more time the fewer of us there are, when I really need to do other Christmas-life things more efficiently (and I must admit I was a bit disappointed no one seemed to notice it was our twentieth Discovered in a Winter-Solstice-Christmas-Celbrate-the-Light calendar except me, even though I did announce it - and put it on the banner!) But then a few people messaged to say how much they look forward to the calendar each year, and being me I was relenting and thinking 21 sounded good too...
...and then the Dire Warnings of the End of Lj began popping up, which most of you have probably seen. There've been Dire Warnings before, but I think the world is possibly at a place where this time they're more likely to have some foundation. There is a rumour that Lj is splitting the (probably now very small) English-speaking side from it's much larger Cyrillic-speaking side prior to implementing other changes. There is a post here in the Russian Lj News comm about what seem to be pretty serious restrictions to users of the Cyrillic language site (Google translate seems to work pretty well on it). I must admit I can't see Lj continuing as a viable blog for them if those changes are actually effected - and some commenters seem to indicate that they have been. Could it all be a mis-translated ruse of some kind? Yup, not impossible - but it's hard to tell either way, and ironically enough Lj had a wee glitch as I came on to post this, which usually means something has been changed on the server. But who knows - it could have been a minor fix-an-issue thing.
That said - I have been/am updating the back-ups for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ci5hq, my own Lj, and various other comms that I mod or co-mod to DreamWidth, and I will be running a final discoveredinalj back-up to Dreamwidth tomorrow. So all the Pros comms that we use and love will be available over there if Lj does go down, or vanish for us (some Dreamwidth links: CI5hq, Discoveredinalj, The Safehouse, CI5hq_dnoticed, ProsFicIndex, ProsFinder, Pros Records Room (Palelyloitering), and here's me too - bet you'd forgotten most of those existed! *g*) The Russian post linked above seems to suggest that content from before the changes will remain available even if everything else is different, and I'm crossing fingers because our comms (and my own Lj) are image-heavy, all hosted on Lj.
Basically: I don't know if we'll be here on Lj next year, and if we're on DreamWidth I'm not convinced it will be possible to run the calendar in the same format. Where ever we are, though, I hope we can all gather in a single agreed Pros-y place again, at least for next Christmas.
All of which is very heart-heavy, so - I'm going to open the rest of your day, in whatever time zone you are in, to posting any more little cheers-es that people might have from the Wassail Bowl, and as always remind people to archive their stories/images/creations elsewhere, although the calendar will remain as an archive for as long as it can be. (Did you know that if you click on a date on the calendar itself, it will bring up the posts for that day? This is true of all the archived calendars that you can find via the User Info page too! Go read the old stuff! Fill your boots! *g*) And...
...Wassail!
This might be the last Discovered in a Winter-Solstice-Christmas-Celebrate-the-Light calendar...
At first I thought it might be the last because I've been doing this for twenty years now and it's taking up more and more time the fewer of us there are, when I really need to do other Christmas-life things more efficiently (and I must admit I was a bit disappointed no one seemed to notice it was our twentieth Discovered in a Winter-Solstice-Christmas-Celbrate-the-Light calendar except me, even though I did announce it - and put it on the banner!) But then a few people messaged to say how much they look forward to the calendar each year, and being me I was relenting and thinking 21 sounded good too...
...and then the Dire Warnings of the End of Lj began popping up, which most of you have probably seen. There've been Dire Warnings before, but I think the world is possibly at a place where this time they're more likely to have some foundation. There is a rumour that Lj is splitting the (probably now very small) English-speaking side from it's much larger Cyrillic-speaking side prior to implementing other changes. There is a post here in the Russian Lj News comm about what seem to be pretty serious restrictions to users of the Cyrillic language site (Google translate seems to work pretty well on it). I must admit I can't see Lj continuing as a viable blog for them if those changes are actually effected - and some commenters seem to indicate that they have been. Could it all be a mis-translated ruse of some kind? Yup, not impossible - but it's hard to tell either way, and ironically enough Lj had a wee glitch as I came on to post this, which usually means something has been changed on the server. But who knows - it could have been a minor fix-an-issue thing.
That said - I have been/am updating the back-ups for
ci5hq, my own Lj, and various other comms that I mod or co-mod to DreamWidth, and I will be running a final discoveredinalj back-up to Dreamwidth tomorrow. So all the Pros comms that we use and love will be available over there if Lj does go down, or vanish for us (some Dreamwidth links: CI5hq, Discoveredinalj, The Safehouse, CI5hq_dnoticed, ProsFicIndex, ProsFinder, Pros Records Room (Palelyloitering), and here's me too - bet you'd forgotten most of those existed! *g*) The Russian post linked above seems to suggest that content from before the changes will remain available even if everything else is different, and I'm crossing fingers because our comms (and my own Lj) are image-heavy, all hosted on Lj. Basically: I don't know if we'll be here on Lj next year, and if we're on DreamWidth I'm not convinced it will be possible to run the calendar in the same format. Where ever we are, though, I hope we can all gather in a single agreed Pros-y place again, at least for next Christmas.
All of which is very heart-heavy, so - I'm going to open the rest of your day, in whatever time zone you are in, to posting any more little cheers-es that people might have from the Wassail Bowl, and as always remind people to archive their stories/images/creations elsewhere, although the calendar will remain as an archive for as long as it can be. (Did you know that if you click on a date on the calendar itself, it will bring up the posts for that day? This is true of all the archived calendars that you can find via the User Info page too! Go read the old stuff! Fill your boots! *g*) And...
Creature Feature
Jan. 5th, 2026 08:52 pmdays_unfoldingGot up at 5 AM. I think that I woke up once at 2 and went back to sleep.
The fur faces are back home. Zara, surprisingly, walked right into the carrier. Lily has been chewing me out loudly. Oliver ran into Zara's room because he's a little shit :) Gracie and Bella both licked my face when I picked them up.
The place where I boarded the cats has a punch card for boarding, and this trip earned a free day for the three of them. I told them that I'd be a recurring customer in that case. Plus, they liked the cats. The dogs' boarding was quite reasonable, and they liked the dogs.
Manic cats are manic. Apparently they missed chasing each other. And Oliver sent my colleagues two IMs! Now he and Lily are squabbling. Bella and Gracie are squabbling about who missed me more, or at least, who gets access to me. That's funny because I think of Bella as my dog and Gracie as Bella's dog. (They did stick close together at the kennel.)
Oliver is trying to train Gracie to leave him alone. I'm monitoring their squabble but am trying to stay out of it. Gracie does need to learn manners.
So, mass chaos over here :) I finally got through my work email but am busy this month.
I forgot to mention that the flannel duvet set was just a duvet cover and pillow shams. I thought that sheets were included in the set. So I ordered some flannel sheets to get here tomorrow. (I've given up on the fancy sheets that I bought because Gracie chews holes in them. Maybe when she gets older....)
The fur faces seem to be settling down now, although Bella gives me kisses whenever I go downstairs. Awww. Gracie is asleep upstairs, and she provides a lot of the doggy energy.
I let Bella and Gracie out, and Gracie was barking up a storm at one of the neighbor’s cats. I had to bring a leash out for her. She twists when you grab her by the collar—she’s pretty smart—so I had a hell of the time getting the leash on. And she kept on trying to go back and bark.
Feeding these guys was a zoo but I got it done. We’re almost out of dry puppy food, but Gracie’s probably a year old, so I’ll try to transition her to adult food.
I’m out of caffeinated soda. Bad planning. I need to submit a grocery order (done). I think that and scrubbing litter boxes are my tasks for tonight (done). Oh, and starting a load of laundry. (Will do when I go to sleep. I need to get up at 7 so that they'll dry. I need to run back to the cats' boarding place to pick up Lily's ear meds. They forgot to give it to me.)
Well, I finally ate dinner. It’s a start. Bed time soon.
The fur faces are back home. Zara, surprisingly, walked right into the carrier. Lily has been chewing me out loudly. Oliver ran into Zara's room because he's a little shit :) Gracie and Bella both licked my face when I picked them up.
The place where I boarded the cats has a punch card for boarding, and this trip earned a free day for the three of them. I told them that I'd be a recurring customer in that case. Plus, they liked the cats. The dogs' boarding was quite reasonable, and they liked the dogs.
Manic cats are manic. Apparently they missed chasing each other. And Oliver sent my colleagues two IMs! Now he and Lily are squabbling. Bella and Gracie are squabbling about who missed me more, or at least, who gets access to me. That's funny because I think of Bella as my dog and Gracie as Bella's dog. (They did stick close together at the kennel.)
Oliver is trying to train Gracie to leave him alone. I'm monitoring their squabble but am trying to stay out of it. Gracie does need to learn manners.
So, mass chaos over here :) I finally got through my work email but am busy this month.
I forgot to mention that the flannel duvet set was just a duvet cover and pillow shams. I thought that sheets were included in the set. So I ordered some flannel sheets to get here tomorrow. (I've given up on the fancy sheets that I bought because Gracie chews holes in them. Maybe when she gets older....)
The fur faces seem to be settling down now, although Bella gives me kisses whenever I go downstairs. Awww. Gracie is asleep upstairs, and she provides a lot of the doggy energy.
I let Bella and Gracie out, and Gracie was barking up a storm at one of the neighbor’s cats. I had to bring a leash out for her. She twists when you grab her by the collar—she’s pretty smart—so I had a hell of the time getting the leash on. And she kept on trying to go back and bark.
Feeding these guys was a zoo but I got it done. We’re almost out of dry puppy food, but Gracie’s probably a year old, so I’ll try to transition her to adult food.
I’m out of caffeinated soda. Bad planning. I need to submit a grocery order (done). I think that and scrubbing litter boxes are my tasks for tonight (done). Oh, and starting a load of laundry. (Will do when I go to sleep. I need to get up at 7 so that they'll dry. I need to run back to the cats' boarding place to pick up Lily's ear meds. They forgot to give it to me.)
Well, I finally ate dinner. It’s a start. Bed time soon.
Discovered in the Wassail Bowl - 6th January 2026 - Gone Fishing
Jan. 5th, 2026 08:27 pmmacklingirl.livejournal.com posting in discoveredinaljGone Fishing
A Rainlads-Picture-Story
by macklingirl
A Rainlads-Picture-Story
by macklingirl
Ray Doyle woke up and stretched. He discovered that the bed next to him was empty. Bodie had left him after a night of tender lovemaking.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Pros Newsletter #904 – December 29 to January 05
Jan. 5th, 2026 08:23 pmbordo posting in prosnewsletterPros Newsletter #904 – December 29 to January 05
♠ Mainstream Media
No news this week
( read more )
Have any Pros fandom news you'd like to include? Leave me a comment here. Please, tell me if I made any mistakes or left something off!
♠ Mainstream MediaNo news this week
( read more )
Have any Pros fandom news you'd like to include? Leave me a comment here. Please, tell me if I made any mistakes or left something off!
(no subject)
Jan. 4th, 2026 05:58 pmlycomingstThe ceiling fire alarm went off again at another inconvenient time. I got out the ladder and then got my glasses so I could read on how to shut it off. I tried and tried. I got 'flop sweat' and the thing wouldn't shut off. Finally I got a couple of screwdrivers out and just had at it. The other alarm units had batteries to replace, easily done. This one is electrically attached by wires. I even tried shutting the main off and still, horrible beeping. There was some sort of secondary battery. I ripped the plastic off with the screwdriver and got the thing loose from the ceiling.
Was the story over? Youtube said to push the button to bleed the extra battery into silence. I thought I had and put the unit in a storage box. Yet, the next day, beeping! Beeping! Like it was being held prisoner and yelling for release. Or like Frankenstein's monster suddenly come alive.
I pried the casing apart into pieces. No more button attached to push. Pieces. And put it in the trash. Where it has remained silent.
Was the story over? Youtube said to push the button to bleed the extra battery into silence. I thought I had and put the unit in a storage box. Yet, the next day, beeping! Beeping! Like it was being held prisoner and yelling for release. Or like Frankenstein's monster suddenly come alive.
I pried the casing apart into pieces. No more button attached to push. Pieces. And put it in the trash. Where it has remained silent.
Chicago --> Champaign-Urbana
Jan. 4th, 2026 06:42 pmdays_unfoldingWoke up at 8 AM. Had breakfast. Packed up my stuff. Now I wait until checkout time. At the bus terminal. Shutting my phone down to conserve the battery. On the bus. I’m planning to nap. Slept all the way there. I’m home now.
Had dinner. I’m trying to figure out what to do now. I need to make sure that I have clothes for tomorrow (done). I want to get to bed early because I need to go pick up the fur faces. I'm feeling too tired to start anything, so I guess that I'll go to bed after I put fresh sheets on the bed (without having to wrestle the dogs!)
Had dinner. I’m trying to figure out what to do now. I need to make sure that I have clothes for tomorrow (done). I want to get to bed early because I need to go pick up the fur faces. I'm feeling too tired to start anything, so I guess that I'll go to bed after I put fresh sheets on the bed (without having to wrestle the dogs!)