Illustrator

Daily Post 050: Adulting

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Morning already. It rained most of the night. I didn’t have a headache all day until I got home. Four days in a row now. But that’s four days of the weather being pretty icky. I‘m keeping an eye on my self, so to speak.

 

I had two bottles of Gatorade between when I got home and this morning. I actually just finished the second bottle, and so far I’m good. The headache went away sometime after 2:30, which was when I woke up the first time.

 

I seem to be in that habit still. Going to sleep fairly early only to wake up halfway through the night for a few hours, to go back to sleep until morning. I ate while I was awake, and drank more. Scarlet and I also had amazing cuddle time. She was curled up in the crook of my arm with her head under my chin. So much adorable.

 

Yesterday was a really productive, feel good kind of day.

 

I don’t feel bad about the lunges anymore because when I look back at the workout as the whole session I realize that I did 60 of those damn things. Watch out. Badass coming through. I’ll most likely up my weights for the hand weights I was using for some of the exercises. Terri told me to get what I was comfortable with and since I had used the 6 pound weights for all of our other meetings that’s what I went with yesterday.

 

With all of the stuff I do inbetween out sessions though I’m pretty sure I can handle 10 pounds now. We’ll see if she’s comfortable with me making that jump next week. I don’t know. 10 pounds doesn’t sound like a lot until you’re on your 50th rep and thinking that even two pounds would make your arms fall off.

 

I tried calling mom after writing my blog yesterday, but she didn’t answer. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. Instead I got to work on making the changes to the character sheets. That was a lot of fun and a great excuse to play around inside of Illustrator. Since I haven’t had classes for almost two months now I haven’t had a reason to open the program. It was nice to see that I haven’t backtracked any with my skill level.

 

It might be nice to try to find a few tutorials online to watch over the holiday break. I’m worried that I’m going to go insane with so much time off and everyone being home at the apartment. Damn introverts being introverted and stuff.

 

I made a lot of progress on my brother’s xStitch gift. I had a few work emails that needed attention, one of them being an employee verification form… because… you know… it’s not like I would still be qualified for my job after I was hired to do it in the first place…

 

I really feel like it’s going to be a waste of time filling it out, but I do have a lot of freelance and extra stuff to add to it from when I was first hired, including my certification. It would be nice if that got me more than a quarter raise, but it won’t. I’ll get the same as everyone else when my review comes around even though I’ve done so much more.

 

Part of me doesn’t care about it. Honestly. I’m not working on a second degree for more pay. I didn’t take the certification test to improve my job / position with the school. I’m doing / did those things for myself. Because they’re things I want.

 

At the same time it would be nice if it reflected even in some small way on my current position. If the school showed that it cared that I am an outgoing employee dedicated to bettering myself and those around me. Because let’s not forget the WoFS group I’m helping to support, or the Project Break Room that I started earlier this year (we still don’t have a full sized fridge yet), or any of the number of times I’ve stayed late for students, or given them freelance opportunities, or made podcasts for classes that I don’t even teach in… I really could keep going if I wanted to, but I really don’t because I do those things because it feels right. It feels worthwhile and a good investment of my time.

 

It’s hard sometimes, though. To justify the stress and pressure that goes with all of that when the only real thing I get out of it is a sense of accomplishment, sometimes, and if I’m lucky, a small amount of recognition from co-workers or the students. There’s a shallow part of me, childish in its mentality, which looks up with a sad face and wonders where her reward is? Wasn’t that the deal? I was doing my best, I behaved and did more than what was asked of me. Don’t I get a stuff animal or a cookie or something other than a pat on the head?

 

Blah… That was sort of a downer of a tangent… And I guess that’s sort of spurred by Tony asking me to redo some of the podcasts I made for him. The interface for Maya changed drastically between 2015 and 2016 and he wants the podcasts to have the updated interface. That’s great, and I totally understand where he and the students are coming from, but it’s not like I’m given time to do those podcasts. I normally make them while I’m at home, off the clock, not getting paid… I do have hobbies outside of doing stuff for work. When is doing extra stuff going to benefit me? Why can’t you step up and make the podcasts yourself since it’s your class?

 

Even with typing all of that I know that I’ll most likely remake those videos over the break. For the most part they are short. Roughly three minutes. I can salvage a lot of the text overlays too, so all I really need to do is re-record and swap out the video. More stuff to put on the never ending to do list.

 

I worked on Marcus’ commission finally. That was a lot of fun. I scanned the picture and sent it to him. He likes the Smaug I drew, but wants Bilbo in more of a ¾ view rather than the side view that I currently have. I’m going to try to get that finished today. Once he appoves the design I can create the pattern and start the actual stitching. I hope to be able to start the project by the weekend since my goal is to finish my brother’s gift by Sunday. I doubt I’ll be able to get it finished today. Not with all of the backstitching that still needs to be done.

 

That was pretty much work yesterday. Zane and I chatted a bit through text messages. He wants to try to have Hannah come over for a movie night, or possibly going out to dinner, this weekend. I’m ok with that, though I said dinner would be a better social situation than a movie. For some reason people get annoyed when you try to talk at them while they’re watching something… Lame…

 

Zane and I also talked about the changes I made to the character sheet once he got home. He was still tried. I could tell. But he wasn’t a grouch and he apologized for snapping at me in person. I apologized for waking him up, and that I truly was sorry he had a rough morning. I also expressed that while I was sorry for my role in the situation I really didn’t want to be sorry for getting ready for work because I felt like that would be unfair.

 

He understood where I was coming from, and said in all honesty he should have gotten up and gone to work like normal rather than trying to sleep at home. Since he leaves so early in the morning to avoid traffic he’s able to take a nap in the car before work. He said if he had done that like normal he would have been able to sleep uninterrupted. It’s something for both of us to keep in mind for the next time this happens. If he starts hitting snooze I can remind him of why it would be better to get up, even if it sucks in the beginning. Overall it would have the better payoff. For both of us.

 

So yeah. I have some additional changes I need to make after our brainstorming session, but he really likes the new design. I’m going to finish that off before going to the gym I think. That way I can print out a copy and leave it on the desk for him to go over once he gets home.

 

I tried calling my mom again, which is where things got a little dicey. She didn’t answer the phone again. It’s not like her to have a missed call so early in the morning and to not respond to it by some point in the evening. And then to not answer later… I started to worry that maybe something bad had happened. And with her recent stroke it’s not like that worry is unfounded anymore, or me being overly protective / clingy.

 

I tried not to let it bother me. And she did end up calling me back about 10 minutes later. So all is fine and right in the world. We had a good conversation that lasted for about 40 minutes, but it’s another fact that I am having to process. There will always be this small nagging worry inside of me from now on. A part of me who will jump into protector mode instantly whenever there is even the slightest chance that something may have happened to her.

 

It’s interesting how quickly life can make you change mentalities.

 

As far as today goes… I’m going to re-work Marcus’ commission in lab. And cross stitch I think. That will be my workday.

 

Aside from that it’s just doing some minor things before hitting the gym. Today is going to be a run day. Two minute intervals again. I might try to increase my pace slightly. Depending on the time I might also do yoga afterwards. My calves and quads have been tighter than normal.

 

I also think I’m going to stop at the gas station on my way to work and pick up some more Gatorade. I do think those are helping and at this point I’m ok with spending $4 if it means keeping the headaches away.

 

Today is payday, so that means bills are getting paid once this blog is done.

 

My Vimeo account renews this month. I have to get new car tags as well since my birthday is coming up. Thanks Florida for the shittiest birthday gift ever…

 

I also am going to be purchasing my first round of training sessions with Terri. So far all of the ones I have had have been free with my membership to the YMCA. They are running a deal at the moment. Buy 4 and the 5th one is free. So $100 for 5. I’m going to see if I have enough to purchase 8 sessions, which would give me a total of 10. That will take me through my race so I won’t have to worry about remembering to buy more. It would save me $50, too. Just a thought. I won’t know until I start playing with numbers.

 

I suppose it’s worth noting that I have roughly 60 days until the race. That’s a scary thought. It makes me worry about not being ready. That I won’t be able to run a 5k. That I’ll embarrass myself by trying. There’s a frail, anti-social part of me who whispers that I’m going to give up on the day of the race and not go.

 

And while I acknowledge that I still have that voice in my head, it’s amazing how soft the whisper is now compared to the scream it would have been just a few short years ago. I’m able to sit here and realize, without a doubt, that I have grown and changed and become stronger, more confident and sure of myself. There is still Doubt, Anxiety, Fear. I don’t think they will every truly go away. But their voices don’t overpower me any longer, at least in some regards. I’m not going to feel bad or regret the post about my fear and anger for my mom’s situation. Those emotions are very real and very present still. But we’re in the process of negotiations and in time they too will cease to have the power they currently do.

 

I’m doing good. I’m doing better. I’m passing all of these adulting lessons and stuff. So I guess I should go so I can stay on top of that. Yay adult stuff… Sometimes I really wish this was a thing… Like training wheels for life or something.

 

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Weekly Saga 004: 11/16 – 11/22

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I wasn’t able to get around to playing with my template this week, which is lame. I have lots of ideas for improving it so it’s not so blank and text heavy. It’s just a matter of making time to do it. Since I need to get the character sheet altered for Uke’s game on Sunday I don’t think I’ll be able to get to the template. Sad day.

 

So alas… Here is the slightly esthetically unappealing weekly saga template. I haven’t begun seriously paying down the credit card, or raising money for the St. Jude fund I have created for my Warrior Dash, but those are two things I’m going to begin tracking before too long.  :3

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Weekly Saga 003: 11/08-11/15

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Still have some changes to make. I think I’m going to rearrange a few sections, maybe add an additional one, which will make the graphic larger than a standard page, but I feel like certain areas are too cramped and I can’t figure out a way to fix it without more space.

Well… less information would work too, but I’m not going to take anything out. If anything, I’ll put more stuff in.

The next step in this project would be to complete the rearranging and then keep on with creating the icon graphics I want to use. It’s been some serious fun working on this template though. : 3

I suppose I’ll need to make one for the monthly recaps I want to get back into as well… That’s a thought for another time though.

 

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Weekly Saga 002: 11/02 – 11/08

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Still plucking away at this guy. I created my own Illustrator file based on the template I have been using online. I still need to go in and do a few things, change a few fonts, and create a few vector images, that way there’s less text stabbing at my eyes, but I’m happy with the direction it is going.

And next week should be on track for starting the budget tracking. That will be great so I can get rid of the “Coming Soon” lameness that has been present for the past three weeks.

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Daily Post 0121: The Start of Moving

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I was trying to understand why it felt like it has been so long since I last wrote. After looking at when I completed my last daily post I realized it had been super early on Tuesday morning, which meant it was still Monday in my head since I hadn’t gone to sleep yet.

So really it’s been a few days. And this past day and a half has been pretty busy.

I went to work yesterday morning, 5am, which meant I was awake at 4. The lab is pretty big so there were a lot of questions. All of them were pretty awesome, though, and everyone is pushing ahead on the assignment. It looks like it will be another good month student wise. Huzzah.

The class also opted to take their break at the beginning of class, which means instead of coming in at 5am lab would start at 5:40. Woo. Another score.

While we were on break Tuesday I went to the gas station to fill the car up and to get some Gatorades for the gym. I also picked Clavan up a Red Bull since he asked.

After lab I went to the gym and biked for 16 miles. My legs were pretty sore afterwards. I haven’t really given them a break this week, and I haven’t been stretching as much as I should.

After the gym I went to the storage unit place across from the apartment. I checked out a 5×10 unit, but that seems pretty small. Trevor has a few art desks that he would be putting in there. It also wasn’t climate controlled. Since he’s going to be putting chemical stuff in the unit I wasn’t sure if he had a preference.

I was glad that I went and checked it out though. Seeing the space really helped solidify what we’ll most likely need.

I’m thinking about not taking my futon with me in the move. Zane already has a bed. He actually is going to replace it with a queen size once his bike is up and running. So there’s really no place for my futon. I don’t want to move it again. And in all honesty, if I ever needed another bed I would most likely get a queen sized futon with the fluffier mattress. It would free up more space in the unit too, if I didn’t bring it with me.

I’m going to ask Jeremy if he wants to keep it. If not I will put it up on Craig’s list. I’m sure it would sell for $50 or $100.

I messaged Jeremy about the move, and how I would most likely be out either this weekend or next, depending on how soon the room can get cleared out for my stuff, and how soon we get the unit. I’m hoping for today in that regard.

Jeremy was super cool about it and said he hoped I enjoyed my stay. I replied back saying that I did, that he was awesome, and that he really helped get back on my feet financially.

I got a message from Ashley a little later saying she heard I was leaving, and hoped it wasn’t because of anything she said or did. I can’t lie, part of it is her, but I said it wasn’t because I didn’t want to make her feel bad or cause any issues with moving. I’m not going to stay so there’s not reason to start drama now. We didn’t mesh well, there’s nothing bad about that. It’s just how it worked, or in this case, didn’t work.

I think she knows she was part of my reasons, though.

I ended up not going to the dojo last night. I took a nap once I got back to the apartment for a bit, but was still super sore when I woke up. I worked on my assignments for the week instead, which was a little frustrating. I haven’t used Illustrator in a while, so I am having a hard time navigating around the program. There are things that I know you can do with shortcuts, but I can’t remember what the shortcuts are, so I end up ‘wasting’ time trying to remember them on my own, only to have to look them up online because I can’t get it right.

It would have been so much fast to just bit the bullet and go straight to the Internet. Too bad I’m too stubborn to admit defeat.

I got through one my school assignments fully, and made good progress through the second assignment before getting frustrated to the point of needing to step away from the screen.

I cooked a red chicken curry last night. Overall it was decent. I loved having a ton of veggies, and I loved that I cooked for everyone. There wasn’t a whole lot of rice though, so there wasn’t seconds, and the curry sauce was a little bland in my opinion, which is something the recipe reviews said might happen.

I plan to cook it again but with trying it with a few add-ins. It was a super easy recipe, and has potential. Some minor tweaks and I think it will be great.

I talked to my mom for about an hour yesterday evening as well. I told her about the move. She just laughed at me. I told her I was worried about her worrying about me, and that I hadn’t wanted to tell her, but that I knew I wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret, nor did I want to lie to her.

She said it was more the fact that I was moving in with people she didn’t know that bothered her, but that I was an adult and had to make my own decisions.

It’s nice to know that she isn’t mad or resentful about me moving. She may not 100% support my choices, but she still loves me, and knowing that means a lot.

We talked about me bringing the rest of my stuff down to the storage unit. She’s been packing up everything for her move to Vegas. The house is about to go on the market, so she wants to be ready to go incase the house sells super fast.

Zane and I got through all of Archer Vice yesterday and started watching season six with Danielle and Trevor last night while we were eating. I love season six so much more. It’s a lot like the first seasons. You know… actually funny. So that was nice.

I ended up going to sleep after the second episode. I was tired and had to be up fairly early in the morning.

I woke up at 4:30, thirty minutes before my alarm. Zane had fallen asleep on the couch, so I woke him up. He asked if I was going to stay awake since I wanted to go to a class at the gym at 6.

I took stock of how I was feeling and said no. My muscles were too sore for strength training, and I needed more sleep still. So we both went back to sleep until I had to wake up at 8 for work.

I had an egg sandwich while I poked around online and drank my coffee. I had a nice, unrushed morning. The trip to work was short, and I feel pretty alright. Still sore and a little tired, but I think I can hold on to the day.

I’ve already finished my second assignment, so the last thing I want to get done with school for today is to do the brainstorming for the main project.

After work I’m going to go back to the house and pack up my bathroom stuffs along with a few other miscellaneous things like my skillets. I need to take measurements of my furniture so Zane and I can figure out how to arrange the room. I’m also going to stop by a different storage place to see their 7×10 units. They’re climate controlled so it will be a bit more expensive, but Trevor and I are ok with that.

Aside from that I’m going to aikido at 7 since it’s a fundamentals class, and will most likely stay for the open class as well since I didn’t go to the gym. I’m not sure what’s going on for dinner. I found a chicken recipe that looks good and already sent the link to Zane. It feeds six so there would be enough for everyone with leftovers.

Pretty sure he’s still asleep though, so we’ll most likely talk about it once I get back to the apartment. He works until 2am tonight, so I have time to figure that out.

Tomorrow is payday and the day I get to pay off my card completely. Totally can’t wait. It’s going to be fantastic. And since it’s Friday I’ll treat myself to my sports bar since I haven’t been there is almost two months.

Friday, in general, is going to be a crazy day. I have lab at 5:40, graduation at 11, a meeting at 3, and critiques at 5. Though I don’t think I’m going to run critiques this month. It would be easier for me to delegate that to Monica again. And I say delegate like running PCC critiques are part of my job description when they’re totally not.

It was nice not having to worry about that place last month, and right now it would be awesome if my Fridays weren’t 12-hour workdays. I would actually prefer to go to the open mat on Fridays at the dojo instead. Or go home to sleep since I know I’ll be tired by then.

I guess in short, it would be nice to not have that obligation for a little while.

Maybe that’s what I need right now; to focus on me a little more, and work a little less. So yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll let Monica keep championing the critiques for this month while I get the recharge I need and maybe next month I’ll take that project back, depending on how the schedule goes.

For now I suppose I should get back to my to-do list. I really don’t have much else to write about yet. I haven’t started re-reading my book, so I don’t have any writing for that yet, but it’s still on the list. Maybe I’ll add that to the list today. I’ll re-evaluate I where I’m at once I get back home. And by home I mean ‘home’ home, and it’s nice that I can say that again after eight months.