ElfQuest and My Life

I moved when I was 8 to a new neighborhood and a new best friend. Visiting her house, I always wondered at the amazing comic books they had there. They were bright and vibrant, and seemed so alive! But elves were silly and comics were for boys, so I never did more than glance at them.

A few years later, I was introduced to Archie comics that my friends and I devoured. I could see now, that comics weren't just for boys. I still thought elves were silly, though.

When I was 15, the artwork of my friend's comics finally drew me to them enough to borrow the first volume. Fire and Flight would burn itself into my mind and soul. It spoke to something in me I didn't know existed. I borrowed the rest of the volumes they had, and that was it. I was hooked on ElfQuest.

It was a time that I was able to buy most of the volumes in hardback color format at bookstores, and eventually in paperback as the newer stories were released. I scrounged and saved my allowance and babysitting money and bought any and all comics I could find at bookstores, because I didn't have access to a comic book store and Amazon didn't exist yet. RIP Walden Books, B. Dalton, and Borders bookstores...I bought the anthology short story books, and the novelized versions of the comics. 

I made a Skywise mask and the World of Two Moons held in Winnowill's hand(sadly lost over the years) in my high school ceramics class. I scanned pictures of the elves to cut out and decorate my locker at school, and after the school year ended, my bedroom walls. 

 

I tried making and using a bow and arrow in the backyard, and that one time my dad and cousins went rifle shooting out in the woods, I did my best to ignore them and tried the bow and arrow again, unsuccessfully.

I found a necklace with a crystal and a figure of a pixie that looks just like Petalwing. I still have it.

ElfQuest was my life.

When I graduated high school and "grew up," my EQ collection moved with me to my first apartment, and has come with me everywhere else I've gone since then. I have actually contemplated who I would leave them to in a will, should I meet an untimely end. They are that much a part of me.

I collected the comics as long as I could before they stopped being published. Luckily, most of them are now available for free online through their website. I did collect the four Final Quest volumes as they were published a few years ago, but I never read them. They sat in my collection, gathering dust. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the people who had been a part of my life for so long. One day. Some day, I would read them.

In the MCU, they used the tagline, "Part of the story, is the end." That stuck with me. When the pandemic hit last year, I decided to do a grand, sweeping reread of the comics and the novels. I decided that when I got to them, I would read the Final Quest story.

I have spent a year and a half reading these at night before bed, escaping the former guy and the pandemic. And true to my word, I read the Final Quest, finally. I finished it this morning, and I cried. I know the quest is over, and some people's stories have ended, but I know the world Wendy and Richard Pini created is in good hands. Like Disneyland, the World of Two Moons will never truly be finished. They and their team will hopefully continue to create new stories for as long as they are able to and wish to, and a world of fanfiction awaits me to read and maybe even write. EQ has influenced my writing over the years, perhaps it's time I gave back to it. And there is the audio movie coming out. Hearing my beloved characters with voices after such a long time is going to be a dream come true.

I will never not love ElfQuest. I will never "outgrow" it. I grow with it, and it with me. I owe a lot of who I am to Wendy and Richard Pini. I thank them for sharing their story with the world. Through their elves, I learned to love hobbits, and superheroes, and a school for witches and wizards, none of which I would care about at all, it if wasn't for the world of two moons.

I thank them for helping me learn to love elves, at long last. 

(My Cutter mask, one of my newest purchases during the pandemic.)
 

05/12/2021

Now that I am fully vaxxed, I feel like it's a good time to wind down my daily pandemic recap posts. I started this as a way to record my experience on a daily basis so I could look back one day and remember what this unique time was like. Now that life is getting a bit more normal again, a new normal, it's getting tedious to write down the same things over and over again. So, I think this will be my last post, unless random stuff comes up and I can do a post for that day. I'm still doing my good things and food blogs and working on my book, so I'm writing every day still.

It's been a weird, strange time, and it will never go back to exactly the way it was before, but a new normal is being found. I think it'll be pretty nice!

To anybody who has read each day or read once in a while, thanks for checking in and keeping tabs on my life! I hope your lives are getting back to a new normal too!!!

05/11/2021

Today was bonkers busy for the first half, including an incredibly stressful situation of my own making because I messed something up and it just kept dragging on to resolve it. I hate making mistakes, it's just the worst thing ever for a leo. I try my best but perfection just isn't always attainable and then part of me is just wrecked when I can't attain it. Sigh, being a leo is so exhausting and stressful sometimes...

And then around 2pm, our connections to our server died and we had to log in through the actual laptop Chrome versions and it was so irritating!

In between working, I had time to rearrange stuff in my room and now I can open my door more fully again, so I'm happy about that. It got the dishes under control again too. I also got more information about adopting a cat and our building's policy and even submitted an application for a cat! We'll see what happens, but hopefully we'll hear back soon.

After logging out for the day, I took out the garbage and compost, and then I worked on a cobbler recipe for my food blog that I decided to wait till tonight to make so I could take servings in to work for my coworkers and they'd be able to eat it fresher than if I had made it on Sunday. Luckily it turned out, and I'll be writing it up tonight for that blog, and will bring portions for them tomorrow!

Tonight was leftovers from last night, and SPN season 4 dvd specials we got from the library. Some fun commentaries to listen to! Office day next two days.

05/10/2021

It was a very busy morning today working from home but then it really tapered off in the early afternoon. It picked up a bit in the later afternoon, though. I did three loads of laundry during the day. I also found a recipe to try for dinner and was able to thaw some chicken from the freezer in time to try it. It used a lot of the items out of my fridge and was really delicious!

Last night was the When Calls the Heart finale was last night and the fandom is basically in the middle of a civil war now. I was happy with it, though. They'll be back next season and I will be tuning in.

I read on the porch for a bit today, it was really nice until I started sneezing and my sinuses clogged up and it was awful so I came back inside.

My dinner was great and I filled and ran the dishwasher and now we're settled in for our shows for the night.

Also, a little bird keeps landing on our veranda and it's super cute. He's a fluffy chunky thing so we named him Truffle, from the Truffle Shuffle, or Little Chunk, interchangeably. He's so cute!

05/09/2021

I did not seem to have any adverse reactions to the shot from yesterday but I had to deal with being extremely dehydrated from yesterday's drinking almost no water and mostly pop all day. I also had some sinus pain from that and probably all of yesterday's pollen too. I was pretty miserable for the first several hours until I had taken in enough water and could take some Tylenol and sudafed, which both really helped. I also had some issues with feeling really hot for an hour or so until I was more hydrated.

I read a lot in my room today and I stuck with my plan to not do pretty much anything today. I did no chores except making an easy dinner. I did not do my blog recipe, but the next one I want to test I think I'm going to make Tuesday because if it's good I can take fresh servings to my coworkers on Wednesday.

We caught up with our Disney Plus shows, watched The Avengers in our MCU watch, several SPN episodes, our Disney movie of the week: James and the Giant Peach, and we're now watching an episode of GBBO whilst eating Jiffy pop. I will finish the weekend with the season finale of When Calls the Heart after this.

It was a very unproductive day but it was really quite nice! This was a good weekend, all around!

05/08/2021

Today was the second, even more expensive trip to Poulsbo for vaccine number two. We made really good time and I got my shot and my card and then we got slushy limeades from Sonic Burger and then drove around, over there, ended up in Silverdale, and got lunch from The Grub Hut on the way back to the ferry.

We missed the first ferry and had to wait for the next one, but it was fine because it wasn't as hot out as last time. We ate our food and then I read for a bit. I had fun taking pictures on the trip back to Edmonds.

Between Edmonds and home, we made a few more stops: Papa Murphy's to pick up food for dinner, Central Market for a few items I can only get there, and an Amazon drop off so my sister could get something returned. I took a nice, well-earned shower after we got home before settling in for the evening.

Pizza and SPN, and at 9pm, we'll be tuning in for the new Hallmark movie. My goal is to sleep in as long as I want tomorrow and veg out for the whole day!!

05/07/2021

It was a pretty busy morning working from home today. It tapered off a bit but I had a lot of busy work to do, so I stayed occupied. I got caught up with Supergirl and Kung Fu and watched some more of my Good Witch rewatch.

During the afternoon, the maintenance guy came and replaced out hot water heater. It was sooner than I anticipated, and it's lovely to have hot water without any rust in it now! I waited till he was gone and gave it the allotted time to fill and run the dishwasher. I also managed to sweep the hardwood floors today but didn't have time to dust or vacuum. Not sure I'll get to it this weekend or not.

After logging out for the day, we went to drop of the Mother's Day presents to our mom and then did the grocery shopping for the week. We want to get everything done today and tomorrow so Sunday we can just completely veg out in case I am achy and feverish from my second covid shot tomorrow. I got stuff to make easy meals that don't require a lot of work.

We got Tubs Subs again for dinner and I ate half tonight and saved the other half for the car ride to Poulsbo. I suspect the weather won't be as glorious as it was the first time, but we shall see. I'm going to take my camera anyway!

05/06/2021

Today was a busier day at the office. I spent nearly two hours on one set of transcripts that were super messed up. I also had to wait for the bus that never showed up and was almost late to work, so I was pretty stressed the first half of the day. I took a walk on my lunch break and went to See's Candy for some treats and came back in a much better mood!

I logged into the front desk again today and talked with my coworker afterward about it. On slow afternoons when I'm in the office, I'm going to log in for a while to keep getting more practice. I'm getting more practice on the phone and it's helping a lot too. I'm definitely getting more confident with stuff, which is nice.

I picked up Panda Express for dinner on the way home because I didn't want to cook tonight. I'm sooo tired today! SPN and JAG tonight. Working from home tomorrow.

05/05/2021

Today was a slow day at the office but I had enough busy work to keep me occupied. I ended up logging into the front desk again at the end of the day and I think it's good practice. I think I'm going to ask to do that more often on office days since it's easier to do stuff from the actual office computer instead of remoting in and logging in through the internet.

I went for a walk for part of my lunch break and did some editing for the rest of it. I'm making slow progress but any progress is better than none at all. I came back to the building and one of the most popular restaurants has finally reopened after a year and it had huge lines and people eating at all the tables around it and it was just madness. I'm happy for the restaurant though, and wish them the best. I never ate there before the pandemic because they focus on $20 salads and I just can't spend that much money on lettuce.

I read for a while in my room after my shower this evening. I always like doing that, it's so relaxing. Leftover tacos for dinner tonight and SPN and JAG before bed tonight. I did get the sink under control. Woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep so I hope I sleep well tonight!

05/04/2021

Today was a much slower day working from home today. I didn't do a whole lot of non-work things except catch up with some tv shows while I waited for stuff to come in. I had to run down and pick up a package from downstairs and it sort of set off my post-Covid issues I'm still working from so I didn't feel up to a lot of active things today. Plus I was really feeling some sinus pressure today. My hears got a big plugged and had problems unplugging. Gotta love springtime!!

I ended up logging into the front desk for a bit too. I need more practice with that and will get some more on Thursday as I cover for my coworkers who will be out of the office for a bit. I did have time to bake a cake and prep some of our taco dinner things, so that was nice.

I just felt like making one of our yellow cake mixes and since it's pretty much zero effort, and the heat isn't bad yet so I'm ok using the oven, I did it! It was dessert after tonight's taco dinner, and was delish!

Today is May the Fourth so we finally watched the first episode of The Mandalorian while we ate. I was totally lost and it wasn't my sister's cup of tea, so I'll keep watching it on my own time and see if I can start picking up the plot soon.

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, so the taco leftovers tomorrow will be perfect. I go to the office tomorrow and Thursday so having dinner already made on office days will be perfect.

05/03/2021

Today was really busy the first half of the day, like, bonkers busy. Then it really slowed down and a few things came in the afternoon, but I was also able to get all my daily items done, which was good. I was also able to get the by-hand dishes washed and even worked on some of my book editing, which is great. I got through a chapter and hopefully I'll be able to do some more tomorrow.

My sister and I are getting more geared up about getting a new cat. We're going to wait until after I'm fully vaccinated before really looking into it, but we've figured out where to put a litter box and food dishes and a bed, etc. We're going to reach out to management to double check on how the process works so that we're set up when we find the right cat.

Leftovers for dinner tonight. I was going to walk after work but it was raining and I was starving so I did not and I just ate instead and I regret nothing. Got the sink under control again and rearranged some stuff in my bathroom and bedroom to make sure my ideas of where to put stuff for a new cat would work out, and it will. We watched an episode of SPN and contemplated naming a cat Catstiel, if it's a boy. Now we're waiting for the 8pm shows. 

Hopefully getting a good night's sleep tonight. Last night was so cold again I needed socks and a blanket on my bed to warm up enough. Working from home again tomorrow too.

05/02/2021

The day started with me reading in my room and finishing a book I was close to finishing, so that was nice. Once we were both up for the day, we headed out to the store to do our grocery shopping. I ended up having to go to QFC for a couple things as well, but it's not too far from Safeway.

We got a roast chicken from the store and made a proper chicken dinner for lunch and watched the last episode of Big Shot to get all caught up and also watched the making of special for WandaVision. After that, we watched Thor in our MCU watch. During that time I also worked on my blog recipe, but I didn't like how it turned out so I'm not going to write it up. I wasn't even able to find two of the main ingredients for it and had to make substitutions, so I'm not surprised that it didn't work out, but ironically it wasn't that part that didn't work, it was the other part that I had all the ingredients for!

We also watched a few episodes of SPN and did our Disney movie of the week, which was Toy Story. I always forget how good that one is!

I took out the compost, garbage, and recycling before taking my shower and am now watching When Calls the Heart before bed. Not a huge adventure day, but a nice day. Working from home tomorrow and Tuesday.

05/01/2021

My parents came over this morning to help my sister with her room and it looks really good now. We had a good chance to get caught up with each other. They left after a couple hours and then my sister and I went out and bought some stuff for her room at Fred Meyer. We broke a lamp on the way out as we were going to throw it away, so that was fun to clean up.

My sister got some nice stuff and then we got Taco Time for lunch, came back, and watched the second episode of Hot Shot on Disney Plus and switched over to our Falcon and the Winter Soldier rewatch. Didn't do much during that, but I did make breakfast for dinner tonight and then in a search for an extension cord for my sister for the heating pad for her pulled muscle, I knocked over the spring decoration we love with the broom used to clean up the smashed lamp, and broke said decoration. Good times!!

On another note, I have recently begun feeling open to getting another cat and discussed it with my sister. I think we're just going to take it slow, but she did ask, and I confirmed, that there isn't a monthly pet rent here, so...Just a one time $300 deposit, which is pretty standard...Who knows, who knows...

04/30/2021

Today was a bonkers first half of the day working from home. I was busy till around 11:30am, and then it tapered off. I had a chance to try a recipe for lunch that I kept putting off for dinner this week. It was ok, the sort of thing I didn't really need a recipe for. I got rid of some more stuff in the fridge, which was nice.

During the afternoon, I cleaned the apartment. I filled and ran the dishwasher, did the by-hand dishes. Swept all the hardwood floors, dusted, and vacuumed. I cleaned my bathroom. I put the slippers lying around on my bedroom floor into the closet. And I even got my receipts caught up for the month. My sister will doing a lot of work in her room tomorrow and my parents are coming over to help. I hope I can keep the place clean.

After logging out, I went out for a walk. It was so nice out, but I came back with an ocular migraine, I think from the light change. I was going to read after my shower but had to lie down with my eyes covered for a while instead.

My sister brought home sandwiches for us for dinner and we ate and watched the latest Mighty Ducks episode and tried out the Hot Shot show with John Stamos. It's really good. We're just settling in for the Hallmark Christmas movie at 8pm. 

Not many plans for the weekend, outside of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier binge rewatch. Good times!

04/29/2021

Today was another full day at the office. I stayed very busy, which was good. I was all alone at the office, but I turn on the radio and it's fine. I also answer the phones so I get to talk too. There weren't as many transcripts today but I had plenty of other stuff to do. Everybody wanted to pay their bills because it's the end of the month. I had to change the paper in the credit card machine because it ran out. I also shredded some paper and worked on no-changes. And then there was a mix up with some of the transcripts at the end of the day that wasn't our fault, but was up to us to sort it out. We mostly got it figured out but will finish it up tomorrow morning.

On my lunch hour today, I walked back down to the Amazon area and finally found the macaron bakery I had seen last year and wanted to try but never did. It survived the pandemic and I am now making my way through 10 macarons of different flavors and they are so good! I also picked up potstickers for lunch from the Tower Deli on the way back in too. How could I resist? It was hot and I was super sweaty by the time I got back to the office.

After leaving for the day I made good time getting to the bus and getting home. I am really noticing a huge difference in my back and body from switching back to the wheeling backpack. It has so much better for me.

Boring food for dinner. SPN reruns tonight. Just met Castiel again. JAG episode to finish the night. Working from home tomorrow.

04/28/2021

Busy day at the office. I had a lot of transcripts to deal with and had to leave some of the exhibits for tomorrow when I should have more time to work on them. It was a well-paced day and I took my lunch break as one hour and did a really long walk down to the Amazon spheres and back. I looked around for the macaron shop but couldn't find it. I either went in the wrong direction, or it did not survive the pandemic. A lot of places are doing really well there, though, so that's good. One of the restaurants in our building is preparing to reopen, so that's a great sign as well.

I was also able to work on some editing during the rest of my lunch break and my second break of the day. I finished a chapter. I'll try to do some more tomorrow too.

I made good time getting home tonight and cleaned out the sink and hand-washed the new electric skillet and lid. Leftover pork chops for dinner tonight. More SPN commentaries and specials tonight. I'll finish the evening with an episode of JAG. Hopefully my big walk today will help me sleep well tonight.

04/27/2021

Today was a strange work day. It was super slow, in the morning and had a little bit of flurry when I was eating lunch, but I ended up doing quite a bit of transcripts. It felt like nothing, though. I focused on cleaning the apartment after my sister had set up her new loveseat last night. I took three trips downstairs today to drop off garbage, recycling, and compost. I put away all the dvd cases and utilized some empty boxes to put stuff in that was just lying on the floor before. The living room looks amazing now! My sister came home and was shocked at how great it looks now.

I also sat on my verandah for a bit today and read. I finished a book, which is good. I also did the by-hand dishes, filled and ran the dishwasher. I finished The Witcher on Netflix and another episode of Shadow and Bone, and a few more episodes of Good Witch before the day ended. I also burned a Disney music cd from the library to my computer and listened to it. I miss Disneyland...

When I logged out at the end of the day, I prepared to go out for a bit of a walk and stopped when I heard the sound of a bagpipe coming out of the fire station. I stopped and listened for over 10 minutes while the piper practiced. Recorded it on my phone, though I don't know how to replay it, get it off the phone, or if it even recorded with sound. I heard it one other time but their doors were closed so you could only hear it when you walked by it, but this was loud enough for everybody to hear in a one block radius. It was really cool!

After that, I did my walk, dropped off the book with the little library around the corner, walked in a loop and ended at the real library to drop off the cd. I came home and make a pork chop dinner. We settled in for SPN season 1 commentaries and specials. Finishing the evening with an episode of JAG. Did a twitter catch up tonight and am thinking it's definitely a better balance for me to go in once a day rather than all day long. The next two days are office days so I will only have the evening to catch up anyway.

4/26/2021

Today was a pretty good day. It was bonkers in the morning, working from home. I also had to run downstairs to give my mom her share of the babka, and then later I had to run down to get one of my sister's packages in the office. Then in the afternoon, the maintenance guy came by to work on stuff and fixed the caulking in our tubs and got the ball rolling for us to get a new hot water heater since he said it's about 20 years old, which is well beyond its normal lifespan. It'll probably take a while though because I think one has to be ordered and then delivered. We had a bit of an afternoon rush with work too, but it was slow in between those two times.

I didn't have a lot of time to do much stuff in between all of the stuff from today, but I got a small amount of reading done and I did momentarily catch up the kitchen sink. I wiped down the stove and the hood, too. 

After logging out for the day I ran a couple of errands, including mailing a package to a friend in Philadelphia and picking up my prescription. My sister was setting up a new love seat that arrived today too, and after I got back, neither of us felt like cooking, so we ran out and grabbed take out. We're settled in for new tv tonight.

Today I avoided most social media and did take some time this evening to catch up on twitter. I removed a bunch of people from my lists to make it faster to get through. I can always seek out individual twitter pages if I want to. I think this will be a better balance for me, as I didn't really miss it that much during the day. I see now that it has been mostly filler and something to concentrate on during the pandemic. I think I can find a better balance now that I see I need it.

Another day at home tomorrow. Tired tonight, hopefully a good night's sleep is in store for me!

04/25/2021

The day started with more reading and then a trip to the grocery store. When we got home, we settled in for a SPN marathon, which included a Christmas episode, which was nice because it's the 25th of the month and we try to watch something Christmassy on the 25th of each month to celebrate being one month closer to Christmas.

I also ran two loads of laundry and discovered that sometimes we have brown water when it's running, probably because the hot water tank is being emptied and agitated. I sent out a maintenance request to have it checked out, because that's definitely not ideal. I also took out the recycling and will take out the rest tomorrow after work.

I made my blog meal for dinner tonight, but it was really bland. I decided that instead of taking time time to blog about recipes that don't work, I'm just going to save my time and not. I think that's a better way to do things from now on.

A good friend on twitter reached out to me tonight and bravely pointed out that she has noticed some changes in my behavior and thinks that I might be doing too much online. She suggested I take a social media break or at least cut back my time online, and it didn't take too much soul searching to see that she was right. I am worn thin. Work is hectic, the pandemic has me living online and online is a hellscape. Selfcare is important for all people, myself included, apparently. I am going to try to take an break for a bit and then come back with limited time each day. I want to really work on editing my book and that will require time. Sacrificing most of my social media time might do the trick. I need to realize that I can't solve all the world's problems, as much as I would like to. It's time to go outside more, practice my breathing, and sit and read in the sun. It's time for me.

Working from home tomorrow and Tuesday. My new pillow continues to do better than the other one. Hopefully that will continue!

04/24/2021

Today was a nice day. I did not leave the apartment. My new pillow seemed to do pretty well but it'll take a few more days to tell for sure. It's much firmer than the other pillow so I think it supports my neck better. When I got up I read in my chair in my bedroom and finished the book and picked out the next one to start.

My sister went out shopping with my mom for a bit because they're both vaxxed, so I was home alone and started a batch of babka to use up the syrup in the fridge for it. I wanted to try out different fillings and we only have another month or so until it'll be too hot to use the oven. It was freezing and raining all day so it was perfect baking weather.

While the dough rose, I watched an episode of Shadow and Bone on Netflix and I think I'll keep watching it. My sister came home so I exited out after that episode and we watched The Incredible Hulk in our MCU watch. I worked on the bread during the movie. It turned out really good! I have already frozen most of it to give away to my parents and two of my coworkers.

After the movie ended, we switched to SPN and have been watching that ever since. I made a new recipe for dinner tonight that we both liked. It's pretty easy, so I'll probably make it again. We're going to finish out SPN for the night after this current episode so we can watch the Hallmark movie of the week.

More cooking and chores tomorrow. We might do a Falcon and the Winter Soldier binge watch. Grocery shopping for the week. I made the next two weeks' menus so we're set for that.

04/23/2021

Today was a steady day working from home. I didn't do much besides stay at my desk, though I did get caught up on this week's tv shows that I'd missed. My sister was home for part of the day so I didn't feel like doing chores or anything. I watched some more of Good Witch too.

After logging out for the day, we went to Fred Meyer and I got a new pillow to try out since I'm still having problems with my neck. We got a random hodge podge of other stuff too. Then we got Taco del Mar for dinner because I have been craving it for so long!

We ate dinner and watched the Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale and the next episode of The Mighty Ducks show. Took a quick shower and now we're settled in for the Hallmark Christmas movie of the week. One I never had a chance to see in its entirety last year, so that's fun!

Not much planned for this weekend. I might make another babka to use up the syrup in the fridge before it gets too hot to use the oven. Apricot and walnut this time, I think, but we'll see...If nothing else, I hope I get a full night's sleep tonight with my new pillow!

04/22/2021

It wasn't a busy day at the office, but it was a full and steady day. I had plenty to do, which I love on office days. The phones weren't as bad as yesterday. My coworker was able to cover my lunch break and I took the full hour in one time so I was able to walk to the Pike Place Market to pick up some goodies for my sister and myself, including my dinner tonight. I discovered also on the way back in that one of the small restaurants in our building is open again and has been for a couple months now. They're Asian-owned, so I wanted to support them and bought lunch on my way back to the office.

I did busy work through the afternoon and was able to leave just a few minutes after closing time.

I switched my backpack back to the one on wheels so I no longer have to carry it. It's just too much for my body right now to carry that weight. It's too much strain on my chest and sets off my lung issues. Of course today I was also carrying a large bag of stuff from the Pike Place Market so I don't know that I didn't still have strain issues, but at least I wasn't wearing my backpack as well.

Dinner was a pulled pork bbq sandwich and potato salad and dessert was a raspberry bar. All from the Pike Place Market!

Finished season 6 of The West Wing tonight. News of a gas leak up the block and we're keeping track of it in case there's any evacuation issues to deal with. We're close enough that we'd be affected. Hopefully not, I slept badly last night and want to sleep well in my own bed tonight! Work from home tomorrow.

04/21/2021

Busy day at the office today. I did a little bit of everything. Because we're down a person right now and my coworker went to get her first covid shot this morning, I was stuck in the office all day, even though I did take my breaks and lunches. I got some more editing done.

It was mostly a smooth day but there were a few hectic parts and a lot of phone calls to deal with. I'm pretty exhausted now even though I didn't have a chance to walk outside today. My lungs are feeling lungy today, so maybe it was better I didn't walk anyway. I'm reading this article in the Atlantic about Covid longhaulers and some of the symptoms they have and I think I might have a mild version of it. It's something to research more and maybe discuss with my doctor the next time I go in.

Leftover tacos for dinner tonight. And I ate the rest of my blog dessert tonight. Usual tv shows tonight. Another office day tomorrow and hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight!

04/20/2021

It was a slow work day today. I did chores. A load of laundry, cleaned the bathroom sink and toilet. Did the by-hand dishes. Filled and ran the dishwasher. Swept all the hardwood floors. I tuned in for the Derek Chauvin verdict when they read it, and cried to hear the three guilty verdicts. 

Not an hour after his guilty verdict, another cop killed a young woman in Ohio. Will this ever end? I promised a twitter friend a local treat box so after logging out for the day, and since I didn't to march in protest, I went out and stopped at Grocery Outlet and Bartell's to buy some stuff. Then I hit up the post office on the way back in and got a box to put it all in. I'll mail it out in a few days after I make sure I have all I want to send.

It was tacos for dinner. I was able to prep the tomatoes and olives ahead of time, so that made it faster. They were delish, as usual. I had more of my blog dessert.

Office days for the next two days. I'm glad for tomorrow because it's the annual fire alarm testing in the building and would be too loud to be here. A year ago, I spent the day at my sister's work because I wasn't back to work yet. What a wild thought! My coworker gets her first Covid shot tomorrow. She's the last of us to get started on them, but we're only days apart, so we'll all be vaxxed in 5 weeks!

04/19/2021

Well, my first Monday working from home in quite a while. It wasn't too bad, though it wasn't as busy as a typical Monday. My coworker seemed to do fine going in and handling it while our boss it out of town for a couple weeks. We're going to keep with this schedule for a while, at least until I get my second shot, because I might be out of it a bit that weekend and into Monday, so that would be nice to work from home the first couple days that week.

While I worked, I tuned in for the closing arguments of the Derek Chauvin case. The jury has begun deliberating. I am hoping and praying for justice in this case, but we know how it often goes in this country for cops who kill Black people. I have new shoes and cardboard to write a sign if I have to get out there and march if it doesn't go well. I pray I won't need it.

I did two loads of laundry today too, and got the sink under control. After logging out for the day, I ran out and got my prescription, dropped off a book at the little library around the corner, and took out all the garbage, recycling, and compost.

It got a bit hot this afternoon and early evening but it's definitely cooling down. Clouds are rolling in. It's supposed to keep getting cooler as the week goes by and then be back in the 50's and raining this weekend. I'm really loving my new bedding, but if it cools down too much, I might have to pull out a blanket to put over it. That's not a big deal though.

New shows tonight. I had more of my blog dessert tonight but crumbled a couple macaroons on it and it was sooo good like that! Making popcorn later.

04/18/2021

I slept really well last night. I was pretty knocked out yesterday. The lightweight bedding definitely helped a lot. My arm was pretty sore by the time I went to bed but it was much better this morning. It's still sore, but not too bad. I didn't have any feverishness or chills, which kind of makes sense since most people say that happens after the second shot.

Today was a pretty lightweight day. We did the grocery store to start with and then came home and finished out GBBO: Master Class. I worked on my blog recipe throughout the day. I filled and ran the dishwasher. And I made dinner. I did splurge at the store and bought chicken breasts that were already diced up to cook with dinner tonight because of my arm. I wouldn't normally spend that much money on something like that, but in this instance, it was really helpful.

Dinner and blog recipe turned out pretty good! We spent the rest of the day watching The West Wing before switching over to Aladdin, our Disney movie of the week. I'll finish the evening with When Calls the Heart.

I work from home tomorrow and Tuesday so I will do my laundry then. I also ordered one of my meds to pick up tomorrow. I'm anticipating a super busy day tomorrow, but we'll see what actually happens. Our boss is gone for the next two weeks, so we're going to be short-staffed. Fun fun fun!

04/17/2021

Well, I have survived shot number one so far. My arm is sore and a bit stiff, but that's it so far. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for a day trip to Poulsbo. We were lucky to be on the outside of the ferry both ways, so I got some nice pictures.

The shot itself was easy, just like any other shot. We had stopped at a store first to use the restroom and we bought a pre-made sandwich, a small one, and split it since we hadn't had breakfast before going to get the injection. I was able to go earlier than my assigned time, so we were done a little sooner. We sat in the car after for a while to make sure I had no immediate reaction.

After we left, we drove to Sonic Burger since we don't have those here. The food itself is fine, nothing to write home about. It really is about the drinks. I got the cranberry limeade and it was amazing!! Instead of driving just to the ferry to leave, we drove through the tourist part of Poulsbo. It's so cute there but it was packed so we just drove through and took in the sights without getting out of the car.

We missed the first ferry when we got to the dock so we had an hour wait. I walked around and took pictures and then sat in the car and read. It was soooo hot! And I was sad to discover the candy shop that's been there pretty much my whole life, has closed since the last time I was there. 

We stopped by Central Market for a few things on our shopping list before heading home. My sister helped me flip my mattress and I stripped my bed down and switched out my bedding to my spring/summer bedding. It's much lighter weight, which is important because it's so hot now. It's so weird because just last weekend it was freezing and I had to have socks on my feet because they were so cold!!

We watched the latest Mighty Ducks episode before ordering Domino's for dinner and running out to get it. We ate, I took a nice cool shower, because I was covered in sweat and sunscreen and had been out and about too much not to shower. We're doing GBBO: Master Class to finish out the last season before it leaves Netflix.

Exhausting day, important day, hopefully will be followed with a restful night's sleep!

04/16/2021

It was a busy day at the office. I was frazzled by the time my first lunch break came around so I took a nice long walk and though the plan was to eat a tv dinner, a sandwich was purchased instead. I have zero regrets. The second half of the day was less frazzled, but focused on pretty much one project. I had to deal with 13 volumes of stuff to upload to the Court of Appeals and it took most of my day, but it got done. I discussed it with my coworker and I will be going into the office Wednesday and Thursday of next week. I'm actually happy about that. In case I'm sore and/or zonked out from the shot tomorrow, I have time before I have to be up and around. Working from home is ideal for that.

I've been pretty nervous about the shot tomorrow. Not the shot, I don't care about getting injections. It's just the what ifs of what could happen after. Will I react badly to it? I hope not, but it's gotta be done. At least it should be a nice day tomorrow and if we're lucky, we won't be stuck on the inside part of the ferry and will be able to enjoy the view. We're gonna get McDonald's for breakfast and then something fun for lunch. We're gonna make it worth our while to go out all that way.

Watched the latest Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode tonight, and now the Hallmark Christmas movie of the week! Tired, and early day tomorrow, so probably not staying up too late.

04/15/2021

 So, I've been thinking for a while about how much longer I want to write these daily diary posts. Not much happens from day-to-day, and it's kind boring, to be honest. I've had it in the back of my mind that I would keep writing them until I'm fully vaccinated, so I think I'm going to do that. I might continue posts on a sporadic basis whenever something interesting happens, like a day trip somewhere or whatever, but just the daily work synopsis and what I had for dinner has probably gotten a bit overdone. 

With that being said, today was a work from home day and I was pretty busy for most of it. My coworker went into the office in the afternoon and got everything caught up so I shouldn't have too bad of a day when I go in tomorrow. It should be nice outside too. I'll try to go on a walk during a lunch break if I can.

I didn't have time to go out today and I was feeling off-kilter anyway for a variety of reasons, so I stayed in, but it's actually warm out. Like, I definitely will have to switch to my spring/summer bedding this weekend.

A new recipe for dinner. Simple roasted chicken breasts with a seasoning blend on lemon slices. It was fine, nothing to write home about. My sister and I both commented that it seemed a better idea for salmon though.

Well, settling in for the usual tv shows tonight. Never fun to have to get up on a Friday an hour earlier than on home days, but it is what it is!

04/14/2021

It was another well-paced work day today. I was able to do a little editing of my book, did the by-hand dishes, and even took a break to walk out in the gorgeous sunshine! I called Charles Schwab again and got most of my issues sorted out and instructions on how to resolve the last issue. I listened to more of the Derek Chauvin trial online. I prepped the second set of ribs for tonight's dinner.

I think the highlight of the day was finally getting a covid appointment set up for Saturday. I have to go all the way to Poulsbo for it, but it'll get getting the ball rolling and that's what matters. And of course I'll  have to go out again in three weeks, but it'll done and over with in a month or so. And then I can continue to exactly what I've been doing, except now I won't panic on the bus anymore. That's a luxury I'm looking forward to again.

Oh, and I also ordered an Alice in Wonderland decoration from the Disney Store online. That was great too!

Dinner was delish, messy, but delish. Settling in for our normal evening shows. Another work from home day tomorrow.

04/13/2021

Today was a busy work day. A lot of jobs and busy work to do in the down time. My coworker went into the office and got stuff caught up. She'll be going back on Thursday and then I will go in on Friday. I didn't do anything really exercise-worthy, but I did make a pie and I prepped the ribs we had for dinner. Luckily, both turned out really tasty!

I read a few pages in my book during slow times and I called Charles Schwab and finally got my account number from them. I actually got the paperwork from them in the mail today too. There are mistakes I'm going to have to have them fix, like the spelling. I'll have to call again tomorrow because I also need help getting logged in on their website. Fun fun fun!

I listened to some of the Derek Chauvin trial while I worked. I hate the thought that he might be acquitted for what we all know he did. 

I'm very full after ribs and pie! I think I will not be eating anymore food tonight. We're starting season six of The West Wing tonight. Very stressful first few episodes! Yikes! Switching to GBBO:Masterclass and JAG after, to finish the night on a calmer note!

04/12/2021

Today was a full day at the office, but it wasn't out of control. I was able to get most of the work done, and it was not to stressful. I talked to my boss on the phone for a bit and he has to leave town for a couple weeks starting next week so I am going to be switching up my office days a bit while he's gone. I'll be going in to the office Friday instead of Thursday this week, and then my coworker wants to test having her take over Mondays at the office and me working the transcripts desk from home. That might become permanent if it works out well.

I went for a walk on my first lunch break and stopped by Potbelly to get lunch to take back to the office. I'm trying to support a business once a week there while I can. I ate half the sandwich at my first lunch break, and the other half at my second half. I also got some more editing done for my book. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, but it's not half bad, if I do say so myself!

I am so tired tonight! I'm glad I had leftovers ready to go for dinner tonight. I do like not having to worry about cooking on an office night. We have new tv tonight, so we're enjoying that but we did have time to watch an episode of GBBO: Masterclass and my sister is making her way through The Big Bang Theory, so we had time for one of those too. Hopefully I'll sleep really well tonight!

04/11/2021

It was another pretty lazy day, though I did a few chores. I got up and read before we went to the grocery store. When we got home we finished out season 5 of The West Wing and it left on a huge cliffhanger so I hope the next season shows up asap from the library! I also did a load of laundry, took out compost and some garbage, and kept the sink under control. We switched over to GBBO Master Class, which is leaving Netflix on the 21st and we hadn't watched it yet so we want to get through it while there's still time.

Dinner tonight was delicious, and I'll write about it in my food blog next. Lots of leftovers for tomorrow's dinner, which will be nice to not have to cook on an office night!

Tonight's Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast. Not enough time for much until I watch When Calls the Heart at 9 to finish out the weekend. Sigh, back to the grindstone tomorrow...It was a nice weekend. I got a lot more reading done than I anticipated, which is always a good thing. Hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight!

04/10/2021

Today was a relaxing day. I got up at a decent time and spent quite a bit of time reading in my room. I'm getting close to finishing a book and have a few lined up for my next reads. There is a new little library around the corner of my building so I'll be able to drop books off more often and easily from now on.

Once my sister got up, we caught up with Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and The Mighty Ducks before heading out for the actual library. We picked up lunch from Panda Express on the way back. We settled in for a day of West Wing because we found out the next season is in transit from the library.

I tried to make a new recipe tonight and got almost all of it ready to go, prepped, cooked, and then it turns out my cheese was moldy, with no back up option, so I had to scrap it and we ended up with spaghetti for dinner. It got the job done, but I'm disappointed that I was unable to make my recipe.

We're getting ready to watch the new Hallmark movie tonight. I'll be making Jiffy Pop. Fun times!

04/09/2021

Sort of a mixed bag for work today. Busy morning and afternoon, but the middle section was sloooow. Since I found out that I could stream the Derek Chauvin trial online I finally had a chance to tune in for it and will continue to do so next week. I also had time to dust and vacuum, and take out the garbage and recycling. I also did an episode of The Witcher and Good Witch, two completely unrelated shows.

After logging out we went to get DQ for dinner and Blizzards for dessert and took them to eat at my parent's house while they stood back so we could eat safely without our masks on. It was nice and we got all caught up.

Now we're home and settled in for the Hallmark Christmas movie of the week. And listening to the wind howling outside. It's bonkers wind today! And sooo cold...Lazy weekend ahead...

04/08/2021

 It was a busy slow day at the office, if that makes any sense. Not much work coming in, but a lot of stuff there to work on. Of course, the last hour of the day when I try to get all the daily stuff done is when all the big stuff got turned in and had tons of exhibit drama. I ended up staying ten minutes late to give my coworker a head start tomorrow when she comes in and has to finish it all up. Always something wacky going on!

I walked on my first lunch break and saw some more restaurants open downtown, which is good. I'll try to support them in time too. My feet are tired because I'm still adjusting to my new shoes. Hopefully soon my feet will get used to them. I'm trying to get back into walking and getting more exercise, but however it works best for me. It seems to be two steps forward, one step back with my lungs. But I need to try again.

I need to start looking into signing up for a vaccine. Ten days out till I'll be eligible for one...Good times.

04/07/2021

It was a suuuuper slow day today. We all did busy work for the most part. I did a lot of puttering around the apartment, picking up stuff. I swept all the floors, filled and ran the dishwasher, and did all the by-hand dishes. I did some reading. I got caught up on the last two weeks of Supergirl that just started its final season, sadly. I found out that the Home and Family show I watch on Hallmark is being cancelled, so I'm trying to enjoy it as long as I can. I've come to see them as coworkers on home work days so I don't know what I'll do when it's over. Kind of pathetic, really!

 I called Charles Schwab again today because I still haven't gotten anything from them and it turned out there was still more information they needed that they didn't ask for last week when I called. I tried to give the lady my ssn for confirmation and she kept saying it wasn't right, that ssn's are 9 digits and I told her, that is 9 digits. I'm not a very confident person on the phone, but I had to be a bit aggressive in telling her my ssn was correct. She apologized when she realized she was entering it wrong. I'm getting a bit nervous about putting my money in an account with these people! Hopefully it will actually happen this time...!

After logging out for the day, I walked down to Bartell's to pick up a prescription I called in last night. I looked at the Easter candy and almost bought some but am proud of myself for putting it all back in the end. I walked around for a while to get some exercise before coming home again. 

Leftovers from last night for dinner tonight. I thinned out the sauce and it worked much better. I had enough to cook more noodles for a lunch at the office tomorrow. Should be tasty. I think I'll be busy enough at the office tomorrow, so it should be nice there. Maybe I'll turn on my Hamilton soundtrack...

04/06/2021

Today was a much slower day than yesterday. My coworker was able to fix everything that was going wrong yesterday when she got to the office, so it'll make it easier to deal with going in on Thursday. I was able to do some reading today and got my dinner prepped during the day. Hallmark channel has changed up its schedule, so it made it interesting. I don't know why I was craving fish and chips today but that's what I made for my lunch. I was able to use up some of my homemade tartar sauce. Very tasty.

Dinner was a new recipe for chicken stroganoff. It was pretty tasty, but I needed to thin it down with more chicken broth. I will do that for the leftovers tomorrow. I have managed to keep the dishes under control through the day, but I will do the by-hand dishes tomorrow once all the stuff in the dish drainer has dried and I can put that stuff away.

Watching Iron Man 2 tonight. I was so tired when I woke up this morning, I'm hoping I sleep well tonight. Not a terribly exciting day, but a nice day.

04/05/2021

Well, it ended up being an absolutely bonkers day at the office today. Non-stop work from start to finish, and equipment conking out on me so I couldn't get all the mail out and my coworker is gonna have to work on it tomorrow when she goes in. Another of my coworkers came in since she hadn't been able to come in on Friday, so I got to see her for the second time since I got covid. We were all running around all day long. And of course I chose today to break in my new shoes, so that was an extra layer of fun. My feet were super sore until I took my first lunch break and rested them for a half hour. It helped a lot.

I worked on editing my book during my lunch breaks. I have so much work to do on them, but all I can do is one step at a time, I suppose. I need to work on doing editing on home days too. A little every day adds up.

Dinner was a repeat of last night with the exception of a baked potato instead of au gratin potatoes. I cleaned out the sink and ran the dishwasher. Tonight, we're watching Dogma, typically my Easter Eve movie, but we didn't watch any of our Easter movies/shows yet. Hopefully a good night's sleep tonight because I am exhausted! Work from home the next two days.

04/04/2021

Today was a nice day. I did some more reading in my room in the morning. I did some work in my room too, putting away all my winter clothing and the stuff I had sitting around for my wrapping container under my bed. I also cleared out all the extra drawers and container under my bed with books and put them in the pile behind the door and then put the extra winter clothes in the container under my bed. My room is nice and clean now.

When it was late enough in the morning, I did my last baking blog recipe, which needed the food processor. I also did a load of laundry so I can wear my jacket tomorrow. Luckily all the applesauce came out!

We did two MCU movies in our rewatch: Captain Marvel and Iron Man, which felt appropriate since today is RDJ's birthday! In between movies, I took out garbage, compost, and recycling.

I made a ham and au gratin potato dinner for Easter and I made two deviled eggs and they were delish! I have to have deviled eggs on Easter! We ate and watched our Disney movie of the week which turned out to be The Rescuers Down Under. We're now doing an episode of SPN before ending the night with When Calls the Heart.

Office day tomorrow. It's either going to be super slow or bonkers busy, no in between, that's my guess...!

04/03/2021

So, today was a big grocery shopping day and I think we may be overdoing it a bit because it's pretty much the only thing we get to do outside the house right now. I need to cut back on the amount of groceries I'm buying, and yes, I realize how everything I am writing right now is incredibly steeped in all sorts of privileges, and that is not lost on me. I guess it's retail therapy in its own way, just not exciting things, really. We got all the shopping done, which also included a stop at Joann Fabrics for some cloth to make a cover for one of our shelves. We also picked up and dropped off stuff at my parents' house. We picked up lunch on the way back home and ate while watching SPN. After that ended, we brought up the rest of the groceries and did our Saturday trip to the library. I had a cookbook waiting for me.

We've been watching SPN since we got home and I put away the groceries and started a load of laundry. I also took out a portion of ham to thaw for Easter dinner tomorrow and leftovers Monday. I made a batch of rice krispie treats for Easter dessert, and boiled two eggs to make a couple deviled eggs. Nothing super fancy, just the basics for Easter. We will probably watch more SPN and at least one more Marvel movie tomorrow, as well as our weekly Disney movie, which I believe should be Beauty and the Beast. I have one last baking recipe for my Baker's Dozen project. I bought the ingredients for it today. Oh, I also paid two bills online today.

 I started my day with an hour of reading in my room, which was nice. We should be home for tomorrow, though we might walk to Bartell's tomorrow, unless they're closed for Easter. Exciting weekend!

04/02/2021

What a day working from home. Our internet at work went down. Not down. Somebody literally cut the cable and Comcast had to come out and fix it. We had to scramble and log into stuff the "back door" way, using our laptops and the non-remote websites. I couldn't do half of what I needed to do, so I did the best I could and then had to do it all over again once we were back up and running. And then of course people turned stuff in all day so that built up too. I was busy all day except for when we were dead in the water trying to figure out what to do. Fun fun fun!!

I didn't get much done around the house, though I did catch up the dishes in the sink. I had the second half of my sandwich for lunch, and it was still just as tasty. I love their bread. I also got the sauce going for our "clean out the freezer/fridge" spaghetti sauce. We had spaghetti for dinner and watched Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the latest episode of The Mighty Ducks. I read for a bit after my shower until the Christmas movie on Hallmark.

I am glad it is the weekend! Today was a bonkers and I'm pretty sure Monday will be too!

04/01/2021

Today was a full office day. We had two court reporters there the whole time, so it was a "packed" office, as far as I was concerned! I stayed busy all day, but it wasn't bonkers, so that was good. I managed to do a good amount of editing done on my lunch break. That is something I miss about normal office work weeks, the built in lunch hour to work on my book. It's harder to do it on home days because there are too many distractions.

I felt a bit better today, which is good. My sister texted me in the late afternoon asking if I wanted something from Tubs Subs cuz she was pulling up. I hadn't been able to think of a good dinner so that was perfect. I had her get me a simple sandwich and I have the other half for lunch tomorrow. It was perfect.

I had a ridiculous accident waiting for the bus home. I was hungry so I found one of my applesauce pouches and while trying to get it under my masks to eat, it squirted out all over my hands and on my lunch bag. I had to scrounge around my backpack for kleenex to clean it up but it just got applesauce everywhere. I had to dig out my reusable bags to bag up the applesauce pouch and the lunch bag and it was just an absolute mess. I ended up basically having to wipe my hands off on my jacket and then planning on washing the jacket this weekend. And I was till so hungry!!

Normal evening tonight. Working from home tomorrow. Hopefully I won't spill anything on myself tomorrow!!

03/31/2021

It was a weird work day from home today. A little busy in the morning, busy in the afternoon, and then snoozeville in between. And sadly, the clam chowder dinner last night turned out to be a bad idea and I was feeling under the weather all day. It didn't impact working from home, so that was good. I'm glad I didn't have to go to the office, though. I did manage to fill and run the dishwasher, and take out the garbage and compost. 

After logging out, I read in my room for a while but I kept almost falling asleep since I was so tired. A nice, hot shower didn't help make me any less sleepy, but did feel really good.

Today, the governor announced that all adults will be eligible for vaccination starting April 15th, two weeks earlier than planned. I will have to look into how it all works. I really would like to get the J&J 1 shot, if I can, but you sort of get what you get. I still want to see how it works to do it through the fire department. We live literally behind one. Talk about an easy commute!

Tomorrow is an office day. There are a few transcripts and things for me to work on from today. Hopefully it'll be a well-paced day. There is nothing worse than a slow office day...

03/30/2021

It was a sloooow work day at home today. I had time to do some reading, catch up the dishes in the sink, and did some baking to use up almost all of the leftover candied fruit from Christmas. I tried the first episode of The Witcher. It was meh. Not sure I'll continue with it. I watched Outside the Wire. It was ok. I did a couple episodes of Good Witch. I was thrown off because the Hallmark tv schedule was off by an hour so I had extra time to watch other things once the Golden Girls was over. I did a lot of busy work for work today. It was good to get it done, but a bit uninteresting.

After logging off for the day, I went out for a walk, and dropped off the recycling first. It was a really lovely walk. Still pretty cool out, I needed my jacket the whole time. I heard and saw a woodpecker for the first time in my life, and then its made joined in and it turns out that they poke holes into trees to make nests. I watched one of them stick its head in the hole and I'm pretty sure it was feeding babies. I also tried to direct a crow to eat a beetle that was walking near it, but it ignored me. But the import thing is, I tried.

Dinner tonight was clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Sometimes you have to do fun fancy things for no good reason. It makes the day more enjoyable.

Typical evening tonight. Another work from home day tomorrow.

03/29/2021

It was a full day at the office today. I was busy from start to finish, which is nice. I went out on my first lunch break and walked around for a while. I ended up at the See's on 4th Avenue and bought some of my favorite white chocolates. Not many restaurants open right now, but there are a few and I need to start supporting them more. I think once a week I'll try to buy out. Today count even though it was candy. It's nice to get out of the office, I just had to go for a walk today. It was cold but really nice.

I got a lot of stuff done at work today. I redid our dry erase board with my information I need to make sure I don't forget stuff there. I think it's going to help. There have just been too many changes and I'm doing more than I used to do, for me to keep it all straight. I have to write things down or I'll forget it.

Typical evening tonight. The usual shows, my new ones are on a bit of a hiatus so we're doing dvds and now GBBO and I'll finish out with an episode of JAG before bed. Working from home till Thursday.

03/28/2021

Today was a big food day. I baked my muffin recipe for my food blog project. I made tacos for lunch. I made a new recipe to try for dinner. And I tested out four simple marinades for chicken for my sister to try out on a chicken breast. She's trying to do better with her work meals, so I'm helping her when I can. I also filled and ran the dishwasher and did the by-hand dishes. I also rearranged the pot and pan shelf so I can put away our new electric skillet which is bigger than the old one and wouldn't fit where it used to go. 

In non-food chores, I did two loads of laundry and switched out my fall/winter work shirts with my spring/summer work shirts. It's still too cold to switch out my bedding, but probably some time next month. We've had an unusually cold early spring. We're usually well into the 50's this time of year but we've been in the 40's for the most part still.

We finished out the second and final season of Agent Carter today in our MCU watch. Our Disney movie of the week was the Ducktales movie, something neither of us had seen before. We're watching GBBO now and I'll finish the evening out with When Calls the Heart.

A lot of my afternoon was spent on twitter, having a conversation with a complete stranger and some twitter friends, about racism v. prejudice. It was lively but never hostile and it took a long time, but he finally came around to see what we were talking about. It was exhausting, but well worth it. It was great practice for me to get better at this sort of thing.

Tired tonight. Full office day tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight!

03/27/2021

Today was a big grocery shopping day. We got up early and went to Safeway, then headed out to Fred Meyer. We had a bunch of FM coupons that expire soon so we wanted to use them up. We both also needed some household items to look for too. I bought a new electric skillet. They have changed a lot since I moved out of my parents' house way back in the day!

When we were done at the stores, we drove up the street to try out the other nearby teriyaki place, finally. Sadly, it wasn't that good and I don't think we'll go again. We need to keep looking because the one that was closest to us burned down in the fire late last year. It was such good food. It's really important to have a good teriyaki place close to home.

We ate and watched a library movie that was due today. It was cute. Anime. Once we were done, we walked it down and dropped it off at the library before heading back and now we're home for the rest of the weekend. We settled in for SPN reruns on Netflix.

Dinner was pizza rolls that I made to try out a recipe. They were very filling! And delicious, but a lot of work too. I am exhausted! It's funny how before the pandemic, I wouldn't barely be tired from any of this, but now I'm exhausted by it. Hopefully when life gets back to more normal, my energy levels will too.

03/26/2021

Today was a pretty good day working from home. A little busy in the morning, a little busy in the afternoon, and mostly busy work for the rest of the day. I also filled and ran the dishwasher, swept the hardwood floors, and dusted the apartment. Didn't have the opportunity to vacuum but hopefully this weekend I'll be able to do that. I came up with the next two weeks' menu. I watched the White House seder meal video from last night, and did a few episodes of Good Witch.

After logging out, we went out to buy a few things from Walgreens and picked up Heaven Sent fried chicken for dinner. We watched the latest episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier and are now trying out the new Might Ducks show until the Hallmark Christmas movie at 9pm.

Sad day in the literary world. We lost Beverly Cleary yesterday and Larry McMurtry today. Two greats...

03/25/2021

It was a long day at the office. A late day. I actually stayed about 20 minutes late to get everything done. It was bonkers, and my coworker covered my job the whole day too. I think once I'm fully vaccinated I'm going to add at least one more day back at the office because it's just not enough time there to get everything done in the two days that I come in. I think I'll be less stressed out and better off if I eventually go to three days a week. I don't like leaving as late as I did because the bus always stops for a layover at Northgate and I hate sitting there that close to home.

Tonight's dinner was breakfast for dinner. I always say, if you have sausages and pancake mix, you can always have a fast dinner. This proved true again. I added some scrambled eggs to the plate, and a couple small plums and a glass of orange juice. Nothing fancy, but tasty!

It is the 25th of the month, so my sister and I watched a Disney Christmas special, because we want to do something Christmasy on the 25th of each month to celebrate being a month closer to the holiday!! After that, we took out the garbage and recycling and picked up a couple packages from the package locker. Two of my necklaces from Etsy arrived and they are so cute! I love them.

Watching GBBO, and then an episode of JAG to end the night. Working from home tomorrow. Sleepy tonight, hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight!

03/24/2021

Today was another slowish day working from home. I ended up doing several transcripts and have 8 I'll have to finish in the office tomorrow. I worked a little more on the little freezer in the kitchen and did the by-hand dishes. I read a little bit and watched Amistad while I worked. It was slow but steady and I had some busy work to keep my occupied. I also worked on catching up my receipts and cleaning the desk behind me, which was out of control.

After logging out, I walked down to the library and dropped off Amistad back with them before walking back home. I just needed a little out of the house/outside exercise, even if it was only a few blocks.

Dinner was leftovers from last night. Delish, except I accidentally set my crescent rolls to reheat for 12 minutes instead of 12 seconds and at least a minute passed before I realized it so they were rock hard and inedible. Boo...

Finishing out season four of The West Wing tonight. Quite an exciting story arc. I hope it's not a cliffhanger!

Back to the office tomorrow. Should be a busy day...

03/23/2021

It was a sloooooow day today. Thankfully I was working from home. I focused on the freezers today, getting all of my stuff out of my sister's freezer, and into mine. I had to look up how the temperature dial worked to get it to the right temperature. Once it was cold enough, I moved everything over. I also rearranged my sister's freezer and created a space for our shared items. I still need to work on the little freezer, but things are finally getting to where I want for the freezers. I also ran the babka for my parents out to my mom when she dropped by in the early afternoon to get it. It was a nice day so it was good to sit out on the stairs for a couple minutes. I also listened to some stuff on youtube while I worked today.

After logging out, I walked down to the library and picked up a movie I had on hold. When I got back, I make the best pork chop dinner of my entire life. I make it like how my mom did growing up, but my electric skillet is rusty for some reason and I need to buy a new one so I had to use a combination of my Dutch oven and a sheet pan. I browned the pork chops in the Dutch oven, then put them in a roasting bag on a sheet pan to finish cooking in the oven. I then did the potatoes and carrots in the Dutch oven on the stove. I had to remove most of the onions I had fried because they burned. I lost most of the flavoring from browning the meat, but it was worth it not to have the whole thing taste burned. I added water and chicken bouillon, and all the seasonings that I use on the pork chops: salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to the potatoes. Once the potatoes were cooked, I added the pork chops back to it, as well as all the liquid from the roasting bag. When it was all cooked, I took it all out and added a can of cream of mushroom soup to the Dutch oven, and made the gravy. Fresh green beans, crescent rolls, and pickles rounded out the meal. I was worried about the texture of the pork chops in the oven, and it turns out that they were the most tender I've ever had! Bone-in is totally the way to go.

I took the time to clean up the kitchen and did a load of by-hand dishes since they are building up out of control. Tomorrow will be leftovers. 

Our usual shows tonight. Hopefully a good night's sleep tonight too!

03/22/2021

Today was a full day at the office. It wasn't as busy as I anticipated it to be, but I stayed busy the entire day anyway. On my first lunch break, I walked down the Tower Deli to see if they were still open and was so happy to see that they are. I got my usual potstickers and will definitely go more often to support them. Not many places are open, and pretty much nothing in my building is open, so it makes for boring tv dinners for lunch mostly. There's a taco place I mean to try soon too. Places where I can get the food quickly to go will be important. But I also want to support these places too.

I was able to wrap things up and leave just about at 5, which was nice! The weather was back and forth today, but my lunch walk, and the walk to the bus on the way home were both really nice sunny weather. Our weather has been so back and forth lately. I had to put my socks on last night to warm up in bed.

Yesterday's taco lunch became tonight's taco salad dinner. Our usual shows tonight. Working from home the next two days, which will be nice because my right knee is feeling iffy after today's walk. I haven't walked downtown like that in a long time, and I probably did too long, too fast...Hopefully I'll sleep it off!

03/21/2021

Today was a mixed bag. My parents came by and dropped of a couple things they've been holding for us that we decided we had room for in the apartment, so my plan to start my baking around ten got pushed off by about an hour. I did some reading and made breakfast before they arrived. I worked on the bread off and on all afternoon, made a late taco lunch, did two loads of laundry, and filled and ran the dish washer. But I also watched some SPN, Agent Carter, and got our Disney movie of the week, The Little Mermaid, watched and relaxed too.

One of the items my parents brought back was my little freezer which I've had since I moved out of their house but had no room for in the downstairs unit. It's been tough sharing a freezer, so it'll be nice to have more space again.

My baking turned out great, which is really nice after two weeks of fails. I'm currently stuffing my face with a piece of babka now. It's so friggin good...!

I will be watching the new episode of When Calls the Heart tonight before going to bed. Long office day tomorrow. Should be pretty busy, fast-paced, so that'll be nice. All in all, a nice weekend. Nothing super exciting, but enjoyable!

03/20/2021

Today was the "get all the errands done" day. Started off with a trip to my parents' house so we could get our Canadian citizenship paperwork squared away and paid for. Then Safeway for groceries and MOD Pizza for lunch. We ate at home and did an episode of The West Wing. After that, we did our Saturday walk to the library. Then we settled in for an afternoon of Supernatural. We made a last minute change of plans to go out and do our trip to the Asian market on Aurora we were gonna do tomorrow, tonight, and picked up Subway on the way back home. Now we're watching Agent Carter for the night.

I wrote out tomorrow's bread recipe. I'm hoping for a success after two fails! I also ordered two more necklaces from the woman I bought one from at the Pike Place Market a couple weeks ago. She has an Etsy shop, so I got a couple more. I love them!

Very tired today, so I'm hoping for a good night's sleep tonight!

03/19/2021

It was a busy morning working from home today, but it dropped off real fast by the early afternoon. I was able to get all the busy work caught up. I didn't do a whole lot of stuff. I did make some homemade tartar sauce to go with our dinner. And I read a bit. I finished the second half of the second Anne of Green Gables movie I started the other day. It was pretty windy today, but the lights never flickered. I even had time to email chat with my coworker about our weekend plans, something I remember was a big part of our Fridays in the office. The ritual of telling everybody what we planned to do over the weekend. It was fun to do that again, even in email form.

Dinner tonight was oven fries and frozen fish fillets. The first time I did oven fries here, they were too big and didn't crisp up. This time they were a little overdone. I think the next time I'll get it right! They're not hard to make and so delish when done right. The fish wasn't bad either. The tartar sauce turned out great. It's also really easy to make from scratch.

Did an episode of West Wing, and then started Falcon and the Winter Soldier. So good, so far! Waiting for the Hallmark Christmas movie now. Will be making Jiffy Pop...Not an exciting day, but a nice one!

03/18/2021

Long day on my feet today. I was going from start to end today. We're definitely getting busy at work and I am starting to wonder if we won't have to replace our other coworker who left last year. We've been able to manage, but it's a lot now. I think once we're all vaccinated, we will probably discuss how we handle things going forward. I was able to get all but my second 15 minute break today. I did some editing on my lunch breaks. Work was just all over the place today, but I discovered something I'm going to keep doing. I tried out the cart we have when I took out the mail and it really helped with the strain on my body taking out mail usually is. It was so much easier this way. Glad I tried it.

After getting off the bus back home, I walked to Bartells and bought some red ink pens for editing my book. I also bought two boxes of Aplets and Cotlets because they're going out of business and those might be the last ones I ever get. I am devastated to hear that they're closing. It's a huge part of our state! I keep hoping they'll find a way to save it.

Breakfast for dinner tonight. Filled and ran the dishwasher while cooking. Our regular shows tonight before bed. Working from home tomorrow. Hopefully I'll sleep thoroughly tonight!

03/17/2021

It was a suuuper slow work day today. I had a bit of stuff to do in the morning, but then it slowed way down and stuff trickled in a little bit throughout the day, but not much. I was able to finish a book I've been reading, washed the by-hand dishes, and watched the first half of the second Anne of Green Gables movie that I've had out for a long time but just haven't watched yet. 

After logging out, I quickly finished my book and then went out for a walk since it was really nice out and I wanted some exercise. I took it slow, but I made it to the little library up the road and dropped off my books for people to enjoy. I could have gone further, but I tend to do too much too soon, so I resisted temptation and came back after that. It was really nice out. I need to do that more often on good weather days like this, especially before it gets too hot to walk outside anymore.

Dinner was leftovers. Pretty tasty, actually. I also typed up and saved all the editing changes to my first chapter, so tomorrow I'll move on to chapter two in the office on my lunch breaks. Our usual shows tonight. Office day tomorrow shouldn't be too bad. I have six new transcripts to work on and another one I have to swap out some paperwork on before I mail it out. And then whatever comes in tomorrow. It should be a well-paced day, I hope!

03/16/2021

Today was a busy morning working from home, but it tapered off and was basically done by noon. I had busy work to do, but I was able to get the dishwasher filled and ran it. I prepped some stuff for dinner, and swept the floor. My mom stopped by for a minute after her work to pick up the pie and dropped off a few things. I did take a nice break today, and watched a few episodes of Good Witch. I sat on the porch for a bit and finished editing my first chapter. Lots of little things.

I was really tired today because of how badly I slept on Sunday, but thankfully I slept well last night. Hopefully tonight will be another good night's sleep, and will be back on track.

Somebody on twitter gave me a good idea that as today is the one day anniversary of getting the keys to my apartment downstairs, and beginning the journey of moving over here on the eve of lockdown, and surviving the year, that I should get a reward. So, I explored Etsy and found a few wood and cloth-covered bracelets, and bought some. They should be fun and pretty. I miss having bracelets to wear, so I'm pretty excited!

Dinner tonight was chicken enchiladas, made with the rest of our roast chicken, and a packet of McCormick's enchilada mix, which I have never tried before. It's a bit of a messy process, but it turned out pretty good. I know it's probably awful to use a mix, but I have never come across an enchilada sauce I liked. This was almost more like taco seasoning, so I liked it. Leftover tomorrow.

Our usual shows tonight. Hopefully a reasonable time to bed. Fingers crossed.

03/15/2021

Today was the first true full day(planned) since I started back last June and I think it worked out really well. I took all my breaks and don't feel absolutely exhausted like I normally do. I read on my breaks, at all my food, and worked on editing my book on my longer lunch breaks, which I split into two half hours instead of one hour. It really spread out the resting through the day. I think this is going to be a good thing, even if I get home later in the evening now. It's actually less time to get home that time of day than it is leaving an hour earlier.

Unfortunately, my body decided to wake up at 3:30 this morning and not to back to sleep, so I'm pretty tired tonight. I hate that this happens, but it's pretty consistent. I don't really know how to stop it. I just put up with it.

I did take the time when I got home, to clean out the sink before showering. It was worth it, but sadly, the sink is full again! I'll work on it tomorrow...Working from home for the next two days, so hopefully I can keep up with the chores better. I'm thinking of changing out my bedding from my fall/winter to my spring/summer bedding because it's starting to get warmer in the early mornings. Maybe that's contributing to the sleep issue. Trying a new recipe for dinner tomorrow. Hopefully it'll work out!

03/14/2021

Spring forward day is never fun. It doesn't seem to matter if I actually get enough sleep, I'm still a zombie on this day. We went to Safeway this morning for the last of our grocery shopping. I did a load of laundry and did my Pi Day and bread project baking. We watched Captain America and got about halfway through season one of Agent Carter. I also made a roast chicken dinner, and now we're settled in watching Oliver & Company for our Disney movie of the week. I'll finish the evening with the new episode of When Calls the Heart tonight at 9pm.

Tomorrow is a full day at the office, till 5pm. I'll be trying out full breaks and lunch again, the first in basically a year. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight and won't be too exhausted. I try to be in peak form for office days.

03/13/2021

Today started off with a French toast and sausage breakfast. We used up the rest of some drying out bread that was only good for toast, so it was perfect. We settled in to finish out the season of the new Punky Brewster and it's just so perfect. Punky Brewster was a big part of my childhood, a really important part of it, so it's been such a joy to see what she's been up to since the show originally ended. I really hope we get a second season!

After the show ended, we went for a short walk down to the library where we picked up some books and movies. This time I picked up stuff that was on-hand, not things I had on hold. They post pictures of books they have available for immediate check out and there's been one by Chef Marcus Samuelsson that I have looked at whenever I pass by and I finally decided to check it out. We then stopped by Panda Express where I picked up some lunch before we walked home again. It was a good, short outing and we went slowly enough that I didn't have any breathing problems during or after.

Once we were home for good for the day, we did the binge-watch of WandaVision. It's so good! During that, I picked out my spring and summer cooking project recipes. I figure with the Christmas and bread project going so well, I might as well keep it going through the year.

Dinner was leftovers from Azteca. When WandaVision was over, we switched over to Supernatural for the night. We discussed doing an MCU rewatch, and this time I was ok doing a chronological watch, so I found a list online that has all the movies and all the shows in chronological order. Tomorrow we'll watch Captain America, and maybe even start in with some Agent Carter. Next Friday we'll be starting Falcon and the Winter Soldier as it airs, so it'll be nice to watch something with Bucky in it at least, before then.

Lots of cooking and baking tomorrow. And a trip up the hill to the grocery store. I need ingredients before I can make anything, so hopefully we'll go earlier in the morning, rather than later. And hopefully a good night's sleep tonight, if possible. We spring forward, which is no fun...!

03/12/2021

Today was a well-paced day working from home. Busy morning and off and on things coming in the the afternoon, and a lot of busy work to keep myself occupied. My lungs weren't happy with me last night or this morning so I woke up early and had problems getting back to sleep, so I was pretty tired today. I have learned how to crack my upper back with a tennis ball and leaning against the wall and that seems to pop the upper ribs back into place and help my lungs feel better. It's pretty much back to normal though, but there's a bit of a cycle and a process to resolving the issue. I'm getting better at it, though.

I discussed with with my boss and coworker and it's agreed that I'll go to full 8-5 on my office days, but with my two fifteen minute breaks and an hour lunch. It might be broken into two half hours or I might combine them with the breaks into two 45 minutes breaks, I'll play with that and see what works best for me. This will allow me to rest through the day, which I need. It'll encourage me to eat properly. And it'll give me a chance to edit or read. For work, it'll give them coverage on the phones and the transcript desk till the end of the day so nobody has to cover for me after I leave.

After logging out, we ran out to Joann Fabrics to get a few more tree decorations, and found some really great stuff. The tree is just awesome now! We stopped by Central Market for a few things I only get from there. This Sunday is Pi Day, so I have to make a pie, in addition to the bread I'll be making, and the roast chicken dinner. Big food day! I picked a fall throwback for the pie to go with the chicken dinner, so it should be fun.

Dinner was Azteca, always delicious! The other half of it will be tomorrow's dinner. We tried to watch some of the new Punky Brewster tonight, but Peacock network wasn't cooperating so we couldn't finish the episode. Maybe tomorrow. WandaVision ended last week so we're doing an episode of GBBO before the Friday night Hallmark Christmas movie.

Hopefully I'll sleep better than I did last night.

3/11/2021

Today was a weird day at the office. It wasn't very busy, but what there was to do, kept me busy the whole day. I only did a few things, but they took forever! We finally got our water bottle empties picked up and new ones dropped off. We've had empty bottles all over the kitchen floor for pretty much a year now because we had a huge water delivery just before we went into lockdown and it's taken us all this time to use them up. There is so much more space in the kitchen now!!

I'm thinking of going back to a true full day on office days, if I can get my coworkers to take the phones back during my lunch break so I can leave the office if I want to, and actually have a break. I've just come to see that I can't go full days without breaks just to get to leave a little earlier. My body isn't as recovered from covid as I thought. Taking proper breaks will help my body rest more on office days. It'll also give me time again to work on editing/writing. Set periods of time are what I need to do that in the most timely manner. I think this will be good for me, ultimately.

Chicken burger for dinner tonight. SPN on Netflix, will be followed up with GBBO and JAG. Working from home tomorrow.

03/10/2021

Today was a very slow work day. Like suuuuuper slow. Slowest day since January, really. I spent most of the day decorating the apartment for spring and the tree is now a spring tree and I'm super proud of it! I also read a bit too, and watched an episode of Finding Your Roots, and some episodes of The Good Witch on Netflix. I actually sat out on the porch for a break and read in the sun for a while, till the sun shifted and it was freezing in the shade, so I came back inside. It's fun to see winter beginning to segue into spring. I'm not usually a spring person, I usually don't like it because of allergies, but I think the pandemic is making me see it differently this year. It's a change, and that's important right now!

My sister came home today too. After logging out, we ran to Fred Meyer to get some more spring decorations and the place looks so cute now! My stomach isn't happy with me today, so I bought some chicken strips from the deli to eat with my soup for dinner and called it all good.

Instead of The West Wing, to keep with the feeling of my sister being on vacation, we're watching Supernatural, our weekend show, but we'll be starting over with GBBO tonight too. I'll probably still watch an episode of JAG before bed.

Tired, cuz I'm tweaking my schedule to try and adjust to the time change Saturday night when we "spring forward." I read that it's easier on your body to slowly adjust over the week than all at once. Office day tomorrow so I'll be getting up earlier anyway. Hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight. I found a new position for my pillow that seems to be helping my neck so far. A lot less pain. I'll keep trying it out and hopefully it'll just be the new way I position my pillow.

03/09/2021

Today was a much slower day than yesterday. I had my breakfast casserole today and it was delish, as usual and kept me filled and running all morning long. Mission accomplished! I was able to do some reading, took down all the winter decorations and put them away, and got the dishes caught up. I also watched the Meghan Markle-Prince Harry interview from the other day. It was incredible. I definitely wish all the best for their future. 

I didn't walk on the treadmill today because my body has been feeling run down since walking up the stairs and hill to get to the bus stop on Saturday. And yesterday was a long, full day at work, and one of my breaks I went out for a walk, so my lungs have been strained a lot and I decided a couple days of resting them would be for the best. So, today and tomorrow I will not be doing the treadmill.

Dinner tonight was roast potatoes, roast asparagus, from the Pike Place Market, and roast salmon. All of it with Greek seasoning. Very tasty! I watched a couple episodes of Finding Your Roots and will be switching to JAG shortly. My sister comes home tomorrow so tv will be more back to normal tomorrow.

03/08/2021

It was a very long, very busy day at the office today. I ended up needing to stay the full day, till 5, so I split my lunch hour in half and took two half hour breaks. It wasn't so bad, in the end. I made it to the bus just as the bus came so I had no wait, which was great! I worked the production side of the job the entire day. I'm pretty exhausted!

When I got home, I baked my breakfast casserole for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to having it for breakfast. I'll freeze portions and try to have it once a week or so. It'll help make breakfast more interesting.

I had a lot of things I wanted to do when I got home from work but I lost that hour and am tired so I'm pretty much just relaxing. I work from home the next two days. Hopefully I can get some stuff done then.

I'm still having problems with my neck when I sleep. I'm going to try a different pillow combo tonight and see if I notice any difference. I've had this problem for years, but I just want it to stop!

03/07/2021

Today was a really nice day. I did a little bit of everything. I read a lot in my room. I did laundry. Took out garbage and recycling. Did my blog recipe, which failed, sadly. I edited my story a bit. I prepped the breakfast casserole that I will be baking tomorrow night after work. I made a fantastic chicken stew for dinner and I cannot wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow! I did all the by-hand dishes. I swept the kitchen and bathroom floors, and I cleaned my toilet. It sounds like a lot, and it was, but it was also a really relaxing day. I kept the tv off, for the most part, and I read off and on a lot today. It was great.

The weather was quite a lot to watch today! Several hailstorms. Thunder. Torrential rain. Wind. And sun! It was bonkers! When I was reading in my room, the hail and rain kept hitting against the window right behind me. It was very loud. It's supposed to be less dramatic during the week. I had considered switching out the winter decorations for the spring ones, but decided not to because I just couldn't envision spring flowers in this weather. Maybe tomorrow when I get home from work.

Watching a movie on Netflix now that dinner is done. I will be watching When Calls the Heart at 9 tonight, before heading to bed.

03/6/2021

Today was a big day for me! My sister and I ran out to get McDonald's breakfast to start the day, and then she packed the car with all the stuff for her vacation, and we drove down to the Pike Place Market to spend the morning. I bought a bunch of stuff, including a necklace without any metal in it so I don't have to worry about having an allergic reaction to it. It wasn't too bad crowd-wise till we got ready to leave, around noon. It was getting busier, so I was glad to get away from all the people. My sister dropped me off at Union, and I had to walk to University, just one block down, to find a better way up the street. I did not know that the block between Western and 1st Avenue is a block of stairs, which with my knees and lungs, is a miracle I survived. The walk from 1st to 3rd Avenue was two blocks of extremely steep hills, so again, it was a miracle I made it in one piece to the bus stop. Luckily I only had to wait a few minutes till the bus arrived.

When I got home, I showered and watched an episode of JAG before finally settling in to work on editing my book that I have been putting off for a long time. I had some issues to deal with that my friend helped me with by explaining that editing is done in steps, and the issue I had was something to deal with way down the line, and to focus on the other stuff instead. Once I knew how it works, I could jump right into it. After that, I finally tried out The Crown on Netflix. I watched the first three episodes. I don't know. It's ok so far. I like Victoria better, I think.

I had Pike Place Market food for lunch and dinner today. I'm now getting ready for the new Hallmark movie at 9 tonight. Forgot to mention I had time to read a bit this morning and finished The Turn of the Screw, which is an old ghost story. It's ok, not much actual story to it. And I started a new one from my pile of books behind my bedroom door. The jury's still out on that one, but I want to give it a few chapters before deciding to keep reading or stop.

Super tired today. Lots of food stuff to do tomorrow, so I hope I sleep really well tonight!