Once again, it has been a hot, hot minute. Many things have occurred, but I’m going to try to keep this post brief just so that I can teach myself that maybe the journal doesn’t have to be so daunting. It doesn’t have to be massive paragraphs. It can just be a few words about what’s going on with me.
The flight home looms on the horizon. That’s coming up at the end of August, and my feelings remain mixed. If anything, it’s kind of surprising how 50/50 postive/negative the whole thing feels. I supposed that comes with growing up. The negative is all selfish stuff. The positive is all practical, this-is-the-way type of thoughts. I’ve been learning that, at least with me, growing up seems to have really started to occur in my late thirties and not before.
The other thing that I’m handling in a similar fashion is the news that my cat is officially getting old. We’d noticed over the past six months or so that he was getting thirstier – he drains his water bowls daily – and sure enough, at his annual checkup earlier this month he was diagnosed with early stages of chronic kidney disease. It’s ultimately not a surprise – something like 80% of cats over 15 develop it – but it was still a kind of cold shower that he’s not going to be around forever. It’s hard to believe that 2011 was so long ago, but it really was. I was proud of myself for handling the visit itself calmly, for speaking well, remembering to ask all the questions I had, and ultimately coming away from it feeling more informed. I’m glad that I caught it super early. He’s technically still stage one-ish. Some values read as stage two, but not all of them.
If he does have five more years to live, then that’ll at least take him to twenty. And it’s not a guarantee that this’ll be what does him in, anyway. There’s no way to know.
I had a few bumpy days over it, but it feels okay now.
In other news, we have a new dishwasher. A co-worker’s family was getting rid of theirs and it was a lot newer than our rust bucket machine with problems. The only appliance that’s not up to date now is the fridge, and that got a significant repair a few years ago (new motherboard) so I’m hoping it’ll last. If not, it still feels good to know that the rest are new-ish.
I’ve been using my re-designed studio more often and getting into new craft types a bit. I made the very basic in-roads into knitting yesterday. Not the actual process, mind, but I figured out how to make a couple of little yarn balls. Next up I’m going to see about learning the actual dance moves. I’m horrendous at wrapping my mind around three dimensional tasks, so I expect it to be slow going, but at the same time, I’m the determined sort, especially when I have a goal in mind.
I have this dumb daydream of a little knitted Henry bunny plushie. Technically I could also totally crochet that, but in my heart and mind I see it as a knit thing.
Ultimately, who knows. I might learn both. I also have embroidery kits on my craft shelf.
Rest assured, Tim will not be the only one in this household who makes fibre arts.
There are other things. My brother came to visit for a week. I completed a month-long art challenge by AdorkaStock and gained experience points in Artistic Audacity in the process. I finished a piece that looks really cool this weekend. I started flex Fridays at work (my first one was this last Friday) and they are honestly game changers for my productivity. I am trying my best to figure out how to make myself exercise. I am still trying to bully myself to write regularly, but I’m having more success.
I think I figure out that the key to all of these things is going to be to free myself from the torment nexus, as it were. Instead of telling myself I have to spend hours at a time on anything, instead I’m trying to just go where my whims take me and generally that means I do little short sprints instead.
And speaking of short sprints, this post was not that. I should move on for now. I can write more later.
I’m going to see if I can start cross-posting this to Tumblr. We’ll give it a shot.
I’ll update the art galleries here soon. I also don’t have to do that now. But maybe this weekend. Look for it.