28th March 2025

20:11pm | Mood: Stressed

Work has been busy and stressful as expected. I did make that list I mentioned, but it has since grown in size. it feels like I have giant ice blocks infront of me, and every so often someone brings me another giant block of ice, in front of the block of ice I was previously chipping away at. And I have a small chisel and hammer, and I can only chip away in small chunks. Don't get me wrong, I am asking people with bigger chisel and hammers for help, or specialist chisel and hammers, or even just another small size chisel and hammers to help, but damn. It feels like this ice will never be chipped away to reveal the beautiful ice sculptures beneath. Can the ice melt away? Maybe. Some problems could maybe resolve themselves, but it feels a lot of them have been delegated *to* me. I am taking on all administrative duties for my role now. I'm supporting my place of work, providing technical help and maintaining machines, and helping organise and inventory of things for sale. Starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

It's my performance development review soon, I'll mention all the ice blocks I chip away at and the hats I have to wear. It'll hopefully be a bit more quiet tomorrow, so I'll work on that. Hopefully my next entry will be after stock take & audit and be more positive.

24th March 2025

17:38pm | Mood: Content

I've had a pretty okay day so far today, I finally redid my nails after spilling wood stain on them on Saturday, had to soak them in some acetone based nail polish remover as the stain would not budge. I've painted them a fresh spring green colour, and I applied a subtle gold sparkley top coat - however in typing this I have just smudged my my little finger's nail on my left hand...

I made 3 blocks for the quilt I'm currently making today. I love spending time infront of my sewing machine, especially now my arm is feeling much better. I still haven't figured out how big I want this quilt to be; it's for a friend, so I'd maybe like it to be able to spread over her sofa to snuggle up in when it's cold, or over her bed as a top quilt. I love making quilts (stuff in general) for other people, would you believe I haven't made myself a quilt yet? I have a couple ideas, I want to make a 'pixel art' style quilt as a nod to Habbo Hotel, one of the wall art things you can buy in the catalog looks like a quilt and I think I could make it and hang it up, just like in the game. And a scrap quilt - using scraps from all the quilts I made up to that point to make myself a quilt. Little souveniers and memories of the effort I put into previous quilts, all sewn and quilted into a blanket just for me (and my cat and partner, I guess ).
But as I said in a previous blog, I want to finish all my work-in-progress projects first before beginning something new.

Work tomorrow. It's gonna be a busy one. I might write a list of things to prioritise tomorrow before I go to bed this evening so I'm not thinking about it too much.

23rd March 2025

19:49pm | Mood: Okay

Happy Spring, I hope that this new season brings us all some much needed positivity.
Work is busy, and it looks like it's going to be busy for the next few weeks. I've been organising a huge inventory of 'stuff', properly logging it, recording who made it, and whether or not we need to return it to the owner. About 50% of the stuff needs to be returned to its owners, which is going to be a big ol' task. We are slowly making progress though, and are finally starting to see the scale of our inventory. I have a long weekend away in a couple weeks, so I'm looking forward to having a break. I'm gonna pack a book and some knitting and just spend some time in a new city, in a new country, with a new language, relaxing and taking in the history of the place.

My parents visited me this weekend; I love it when they visit, but I always feel homesick when they leave. I need to start making more effort to take work off to visit them for long weekends every so often. I want to visit them at least every 2 months, but I don't think I can take much more time off work. It was hard to get this long weekend off, it's difficult to find cover as we are currently short staffed and it's hard to convince someone to work a Saturday... I feel jealous of my colleagues whose family live down the road, or a quick bus journey to the next city over. Blahhh

16th March 2025

19:01pm | Mood: Accomplished

Ah, I'm feeling so positive this evening. Today, despite sleeping in a little, I had breakfast, brushed my teeth, did my full skincare routine and got the bus to recycle a bag of electronics. I bought a new electric toothbrush whilst I was there, and some extra strong command strips. Oh and a delicious chocolate and pistashio cookie, yum.
After I got home, I tidied the flat, did the dishes, and jumped straight in to hanging several framed prints we have been collecting over the previous two years. It feels so good to have everything on the walls after having them stacked on the floor of my art studio for so long.

Now, I'm relaxing in bed with some hot water to drink and listening to YouTube. I'm blogging away, and hoping that I can get some quilting done before it gets too late (I'm quite paranoid of how loud my sewing machine is, and if my downstairs/upstairs neighbours can hear it...). But my cat has just curled up on my legs, maybe I'll just reach over to grab my kniting off my bedside table and do a few rows.

Have a wonderful night

10th March 2025

22:08pm | Mood: Happy

hmmm. what to blog abouttt. well I had my first (and hopefully only!) physio appointment today! the doctor/nurse seeing me was incredibly lovely and has sent me away with some exercises to do on both of my wrists. I have very weak extensor (?) muscles in my left wrist, compared to my right wrist which is 'normal'. I have slightly limited mobility but hopefully this will improve with the exercise regime. They seem easy to incorporate into my daily routine, and hey, maybe they'll help me get my butt back into the gym.

I began another quilt today, I feel so relieved. I love making things, I'm glad I'm getting out of that horrible slump. I also started another painting and have been itching to do more. But I must finish the paintings I have already started before starting new ones. eeeep. but anyways, i need to finish doing my skincare routine and make some chamomile tea. good nightttt

8th March 2025

17:09pm | Mood: Tired

I had an early night last night (is 11:30pm early?) yet I'm still feeling so tired. I've been staring at an excel sheet for at least 3 hours today sorting out inventory so my brain is fully fried. Hoping that I can get some stuff done tonight, maybe I'll treat myself to an iced coffee on the way home (but maybe half decaf, I don't want to be up too late).

My birthday went really well! Had a nice relaxing day, went out to eat pancakes with my boyfriend in the morning, did some window shopping, and then went to get my Nexplanon implant replaced again. It's been healing really well! I even changed the dressing all by myself last night. I did soak it in the bath for 20 minutes, which helped with getting the adhesive soft, but I didn't feel too squeemish! Feeling very proud of myself. That iced coffee feels extra deserved now.

Not too sure what else I want to write about. Having a paper journal has been helping my mental health a lot. I think having to miss the gym whilst my arm heals hasn't been helping either. Really hoping I can get back in the gym next week with no pain! Saying that, I have my first physio appointment for my bum wrist on Monday. Maybe the gym will help with that though?

Anyways, here's my list for this evening. Have a great evening!

2nd March 2025

20:58pm | Mood: Pleased

It's my birthday tomorrow! I'm having my contraceptive implant replaced tomorrow too - following from my previous blog, I went in for a check up and it seems it has migrated down my arm and is touching a nerve. That explains the pain going down my arm when I lean on it, or if I move my arm back in a specific way. Hoping that this replacement will work! I'm not sure what other options I have for contraception. I have considered the IUD, but I'm quite squeemish and the idea of having something inside my uterus gives me the heebie jeebies. If anyone has experience with an IUD please let me know, maybe I've just been reading too many horror stories.

I'm slowly feeling better in myself. I still feel immense guilt for not being as active as I could have been with Salvaged.nu and @00sbloglayouts, but I'm hoping to change that. Another thing I want to change is that I want to start journalling. I love this blog, and I think having a physical notebook on my desk at work or in my bag might allow me to express how I've been feeling more frequently. Like if I'm feeling down, I'll find a quiet room at work and just scribble down a few sentences.

I'm hoping that my 32nd time around the sun will bring good things. I want to treat myself kindly, not beat myself up for having bad days, and hoping that in treating myself kindly and with respect that I'll have the confidence and energy to do the things I want to do. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point.
Have a great night all.