tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87932024347961677532024-03-19T04:48:16.890-04:00In PropinquityJulie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.comBlogger1335125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-36456134025511792032024-03-16T20:32:00.000-04:002024-03-16T20:32:31.350-04:00Personal Digest Saturday: March 9 – March 15<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Saturday I had a huge to-do list and I tackled a giant chunk of it! Operation organize-lots-of-stuff begins. I started with the hardest stuff which involved organizing old and current technology (mostly in the garage), hanging up cables and organizing computer stuff in my desk. I rehomed some of my filed paperwork so it's easier to get to and file stuff I actually need. I organized DVDs and transported some music books into a new home. And I did my blogging. Fun times involved chatting with Amber and Meg on Marco Polo and eating my box of Japanese snacks.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday, operation organize-lots-of-stuff continues. I moved books, cleaned more stuff out of the garage, incorporated some music and videos into my collection from the stuff saved from Mom's house and arranged to give away or pitch the rest, put some tools and things in my utility closet, organized books in the garage and some games and a table, and finally got to sorting through all the old vinyl records. In addition, I did my laundry, made more Polos with Amber and Meg, and made plans with Scott and Ben.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I went to a marketing meeting and proofread and submitted three letters. After work, I put away laundry, moved books, and did an epic rearranging of my CD collection.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I went to an internal meeting, outlined a proposal we ended up dropping, and invited team members to an upcoming project that we also ended up dropping. Also did data entry and debrief invites. Jeaux came over and took me to Señor Tequila, then we shopped, and then we watched Colbert and finished watching <i>Avatar</i>.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I worked on debriefs and data entry. Scott came over first in the afternoon and later Ben showed up. We watched some episodes of <i>Steven Universe</i> together and then later Jeaux came by with cupcakes and picked up Chinese food from Panda Express, and we continued watching up through episode 40 ("On the Run"). Scott had to go so we couldn't hang out to talk about it or anything. Boo! After they left I took my walks and a nap.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I had three meetings--two marketing meetings and one meeting to arrange teamings with another consultant. I also got the Blue Screen of Death twice, which somehow led to a coworker saying I wouldn't remember the original Blue Screen of Death because I'm probably only about 25. (I don't know how surprised he was when I told him I'm 46 and definitely remember the BSoD eating my work in college.) I updated a bunch of data and tried to take a nap but bad dreams woke me up for some reason. I went to game night with my friends and after it was over I found out my dad was playing a show with his other band and Jeaux was willing to take me there after work so I scrambled to get my webcomic done (yep, I started drawing AFTER ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING and got it done! wow!).<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did my reports and some utility coordination stuff. Then I took an Uber to Jeaux's house and he drove me to Osprey to watch my dad play at a Tiki Bar. We had some good food and enjoyed the show--we were able to catch two of the four sets of the 60s band No Bad Days. It was fun to surprise him by showing up! I read terrible stories to Jeaux while we drove there and back. Then when I got home we got our steps in and I recorded a song and went to bed early.</li></ul></div></center></span></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>New Reviews:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Carl gave <i>The Invisible Orientation </i>a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6326420445">five-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: I saw a really gradual decline here but it jumped back up the day after a heavy meal. Hmph. High weight: 122.8. Low weight: 121.5.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: I have continued prioritizing fruits and veggies but to be honest haven't paid that much attention to whether the balance for protein, fat, and carbs was appropriate. Looks like I had a lot of higher fat days at the expense of either protein or carbs. I had a couple days that had weirdly high protein days. I usually do some tracking to try to balance this out but this week I mostly just recorded it and didn't use it to make decisions. So I guess that's what happens when I do that! Now I know. I have continued taking vitamins as usual.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Wednesday at 10,094 steps, and my high day was Monday at 14,378 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><i>The Last Graduate</i><span> by Naomi Novik. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5936824150">Five-star review.</a></span><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66657.Magic_for_Beginners">Magic For Beginners</a></i> by Kelly Link. I'm just starting it.</span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/13045930" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Crazy For You"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Madonna.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/13045930"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/crazyforyou2ss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>:</b></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>
<a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0983/0983.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0983.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0983/0983.html">#0983: weaver #153: my thing</a>.</b></span><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">None.</span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/birdfeeder21.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/birdfeeder21.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A dove on the feeder! That's so unusual.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/jeauxstarry-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/jeauxstarry-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux was excited to find the soda he was hoping Publix would start carrying.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/gemcakes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/gemcakes.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux's homemade Gem-themed cupcakes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dadnobaddays.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/dadnobaddays.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">My dad's other band No Bad Days playing at the Tiki Bar!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/wjeauxattiki.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/wjeauxattiki.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Food with Jeaux while watching the show.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><br /></div><div><div><span><span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,444 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (4 new), 676 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 198 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 69 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 845 for swankivy (no change), 3,853 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 645 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 248 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 98 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,442 (1 new). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 274 (lost 1).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div></span></span></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-73751056591889725312024-03-09T22:44:00.006-05:002024-03-09T22:44:35.836-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: March 2 – March 8<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Saturday I woke up to the doorbell and it was a proselytizing stranger inviting me to an Easter event. Sigh, I needed to get up anyway. I did some relaxing, did my blogging, and sorted my Victrola records. One of my favorite ones turned out to be broken!<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I did laundry, tried to get the smoke smell out of one of my mom's decorative pillars (and did not succeed, so I left it outside--maybe eventually it will air out?), went through a memory box, and got some of the stuff in another box incorporated into the house. Made some social arrangements. Made grilled zucchini and recorded a karaoke song.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I did data entry and harassed people to give me writeups. Sorted and scanned some memory box stuff and made a mess. Ate an artichoke. Negotiated with a painter to paint the interior of my mom's house.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I finished the memory boxes (for now). I worked on data entry again and wrangled a software program that won't let me in. Facebook had a glitch and made a bunch of people think they were hacked. Did some reading and watered my plants and had a potato.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I talked to Tony before going to work and having a meeting. I learned how to enter credit card charges into our books to help the bookkeeper. Went to a debrief meeting by myself. Did more data entry. Jeaux came and we ate at IHOP, shopped at Office Depot, and grocery shopped. We watched Colbert and watched three episodes of the new <i>Avatar</i>.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I went to two more meetings and did more data entry. Wrote my comic. Played games with friends and had to get my steps while reading after. Hired a contractor for my mom's house.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did my reports while listening to music and got some more credit card data entered. Finished my comic and did reading while getting steps again. Opened my February snack box from Patricia and made her an unboxing video. And ate some Japanese snacks!</li></ul></div></center></span></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Seems pretty stable. Would like to see lower numbers next week but I am not stressed. High weight: 123.0. Low weight: 121.3.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Better balance this week but I ate a bunch of sweets. Was just into candy, so I had some! But I still got my veggies and fruits in. I started a fiber supplement in one of my glasses of water this week. I haven't noticed any effect.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,068 steps, and my high day was Monday at 12,133 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55559887-the-last-graduate" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Last Graduate</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Naomi Novik. I'm on page 314.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/13029246" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"So Unsexy"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alanis Morissette.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/13029246"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/sounsexy2ss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>:</b></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>
<a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0982/0982.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0982.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0982/0982.html">#0982: ivy #304: personal stuff</a>.</b></span><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">None.</span></div><div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">None. </span></span></div><div><div><span><span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,440 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (lost 4), 676 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 198 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 69 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 845 for swankivy (no change), 3,854 for JulieSondra (5 new). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 645 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 248 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 98 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,441 (lost 1). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 275 (no change).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div></span></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-80922924244512205152024-03-02T19:40:00.005-05:002024-03-09T22:40:51.442-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: February 24 – March 1<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I had to tackle two weeks' worth of blog posts (whee!), which also involved updating my photo gallery. I took a super long nap instead of doing any of the stuff on my to-do list. I got started with my walking a little too late and missed my 10,000-step goal by about 200 steps for the first time this year. Disappointing.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday was a much more productive day. I replanted some houseplants in their new pots, washed and cleaned several items from my mom's house (a pillar, two bookshelves, and a night table) and sorted through some memory boxes, and brought the cleaned items into my house. Made grilled zucchini for dinner. Did laundry.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I worked on research, updating teaming partners, downloading selections, and outlining a proposal. The plumbers came back and dug up the backyard to put in the new sewer system. While they were working I had to avoid using water for several hours. After the work day, I took a nap, did some Polos, made a potato, made a new video, put away my laundry, and read. We also found out my mom's house needs a new roof.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday the plumbers came back to fill up the new sewer system with water and get an inspector to approve. So I couldn't use water again, which coincided with Jeaux being at my house since his place temporarily didn't have internet and he wanted to work from my house. By the time Jeaux left to go meet the internet repair person, I still didn't have an inspector. Eventually they came and the plumbers came back to get the sewer ready but the test ball fell in the pipe and got stuck and they couldn't get it out. So my water system was still not operational for the rest of the day and overnight into the whole next day. Ben came over after spending some time at my mom's house removing tile. We went out for pizza and talked, and I used the later evening to relax.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I had the day off to go see a show with Jeaux. The plumbers came and were trying to get the test ball out again. By the time I left for the show they still had not gotten it out. We saw <i>Jagged Little Pill</i> together and loved it. Then we ate at Yard House and drove home. I did some drawings for my comic in the car. We watched Colbert, took a walk, and watched the first two episodes of the new <i>Avatar: The Last Airbender</i> live action show (we like it).<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I spent the whole work day doing research for upcoming projects. Also did some vacuuming because the house got a lot of dirt in it from both plumbers coming in and me replanting plants. Did some walking, finished drawing <i>So You Write</i>, did some reading, played games with my friends, and screwed around until I got sleepy.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did my reports and some research. Did my comic drawings, made some Polos, did some reading, and slept on the floor by accident for a while before going to bed.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews/Articles/Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>My book <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> was mentioned with a little paragraph of review on <a href="https://ezrafinch.com/2024/03/01/february-2024-wrap-up/">a personal blog's monthly wrap-up</a> by Ezra Finch.</li></ul><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><b>New Reviews:</b><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>DugFinn gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.audible.com/listener/amzn1.account.AFURNCYIAM2YBELJWGULGZCG55ZA?ref=a_ac_The-In_c1_rvlsnl_0">four-star review on Audible</a>.<br /></li><li>juno gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6286078509" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">three-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Meh! Happy with how things are at the moment! We'll see what happens. High weight: 123.4. Low weight: 121.3.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: The emphasis on fruits and veggies has led to a slight underrepresentation of protein in my diet. I get a lot when I put fruit in my yogurt, but I'm opting for fewer sandwiches and veggie burgers and stuff than I am used to, so I need to figure out how to get my protein more consistently. My friend Ben gave me some microgreens and they're really good for you--I had some in soup and really enjoyed them!<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day except Saturday--but it was only short by 200 steps so I wouldn't consider this a big deal. My low day was Saturday at 9,806 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 12,010 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55559887-the-last-graduate" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Last Graduate</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Naomi Novik. I'm on page 198.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/13018977" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Piano Man"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Billy Joel.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/13018977"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/pianomanss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My monthly writing webcomic, <a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com"><i>So You Write</i></a>:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1312"><img border="0" src="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/issue153-150x150.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1312">#153: your genre</a>.</b></span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>:</b></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>
<a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0981/0981.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0981.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0981/0981.html">#0981: adele #241: i may be enough</a>.</b></span><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtu.be/ipr77xoGj-k?si=_AgJJ-EKdPzCyWmV">Letters to an Asexual #111 ("A non-ace man would NEVER have an ace female partner!")</a> is out. In this video, I read some comments from a Psychology Today commenter who believed ace women have two choices for male partners: either date an ace man, or "learn to like sex." Other options, according to him, are "insane." Welp! Very interesting how one option in his opinion is asexual people "learning to like sex" but he doesn't accept the option of "non-asexual people learning to be cool with not having sex," right? (Not to mention how much ignorance this demonstrates of the MANY other options people in this situation have to getting their needs met!)</span><div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ipr77xoGj-k?si=ALyK8Z35HzhFPgxb" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/bestnypizzawithben.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/bestnypizzawithben.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At Best NY Pizza with Ben!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><div><span><span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,444 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (lost 2), 676 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 198 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 69 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (lost 1). Twitter followers: 845 for swankivy (no change), 3,849 for JulieSondra (lost 4). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 645 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 248 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 98 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,442 (no change). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 276 (2 new).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-90019393356903755062024-03-01T17:57:00.004-05:002024-03-01T17:58:23.238-05:00February Goals Update<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now that we're into March, it's time for another goals update:</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">1. Health Goals: I resolved to drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">2. Personal Project Goals: I resolved to get digital photos sorted by the end of February and collect memorable bits from Facebook for my essays; resolved to work on writing or editing at least one day a week; resolved to relearn ukulele songs I've forgotten and learn new ones, and keep creating my regular webcomic and video content.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">3. Reading Goals: I resolved to read at least twice a week.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">4. Relationship and Communication Goals: I resolved to document daily life stuff more, keep up with e-mails and online communication, and make time for friends and family.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">5. Other Goals: I wanted to prepare and sell my mom's house, watch some TV shows I'd dropped, and not play time-wasting tames.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Progress Update (you can click to see the calendars better):</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><b style="background-color: white;">HEALTH GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: Still doing very well maintaining this. I have managed to drink 4 to 5 glasses of water every day, usually eat at least three servings of fruit and vegetables every day (with one always being a green veggie), and walked at least 10,000 steps every day of February EXCEPT one day I was somehow about 200 steps short. Here is my calendar of progress:</span> </span> <div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Health02.2024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="800" height="291" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Health02.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: This section is going to take some work and I've accepted that more pressing issues have necessitated that more time will be needed from my initial goals. I am trying to prepare my mother's house for sale and there's been a LOT of extra time I had to spend on that, including scheduling contractors, incorporating possessions from her house into what to keep and where I'm going to keep them, and having family houseguests helping me for a week. Photo sorting may take another couple months instead of being done by the end of this month and being incorporated into the gallery starting March--maybe I'll be ready in another month, maybe not. I have continued collecting Facebook clips almost every day. I haven't written any new content except on webcomics, but I am still catching up rereading/editing my in-progress novel. I had hoped to move faster than this but it just didn't happen. I hope to finish rereading what I have written and start writing new content soon. My ukulele practice isn't where I wanted it to be but I hope to do some review before the summer and to start learning the new songs soon.</span></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Writing02.2024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="800" height="289" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Writing02.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">READING GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: I am doing okay with reading a couple times a week, but having my family here and playing catch-up after slowed the reading time down. That's okay.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Books02.2024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="800" height="286" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Books02.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Summary: I haven't documented as much as I need to but I'm working on it. My e-mail box is at 3 unanswered mails. I have spent a lot of time with friends and family--another very busy month socially!</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Social02.2024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Social02.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">OTHER GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: I have sold all the furniture at my mom's house, got the donations out, and transported everything I'm keeping to my house. I got a new realtor. We got a junk pickup, got the carpet steam cleaned, pulled up all the carpets and we're almost done getting the damaged tile out of my mom's room, cleaned out the garage, got an air conditioning specialist to check the HVAC, got a plumber to look for potential leaks, got a home inspection, and have scheduled a duct cleaning and an ozone treatment. (Soon: Painting, cleaning, and flooring, plus other repairs, and we probably need a new roof.) At my house, I have brought my mom's Victrola into the house and am going to build a little shelf unit for housing the records, and have replanted some plants in planters that I'm putting around on some of the surfaces from Mom's house, and we cleaned out all the memory boxes to decide what to keep. In case you didn't guess, I have not picked up any of the TV shows I want to watch.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Will update again next month!</span></span></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-33602090207903311012024-02-24T23:04:00.005-05:002024-02-24T23:06:44.417-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: February 10 – February 23<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">These LAST TWO weeks in review (yes, it's a double blog post!)</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday the 10th I dealt with some miscommunications from one of the people picking up stuff from my mom's house. (She claimed she hadn't realized the next day would be Super Bowl Sunday and wanted to back out on her commitment to pick up furniture, even though she literally mentioned the Super Bowl while we were making the plans in the first place.) She told me she would still come do the pickup we'd planned. I also found out my sister Lindsay was planning to come to Tampa to help me with Mom's house for part of the time that Patricia would be there, so that made me super happy. I spent the day getting the house ready and I accidentally knocked down my plushie shelves again. Whoops! I did some reading and walking and practicing ukulele.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday the 11th I went to my mom's and gave away a TV, a dresser, a changing table, a wicker drawer set and shelves, and some shelving in the garage, plus some stained glass pieces a lady had previously paid for. Spent pretty much the whole day dealing with it, and of course the lady who'd tried to flake on me ended up backing out again and officially flaking on me, so I still had items I had to arrange other takers for. Unreliable people suck. I took some photos of junk piles for my sister to get a good estimate from a junk pickup guy. And then I went home, cleaned up, and put up some cool lights with vines on them in my office. I posted a Tumblr post, sang a karaoke song, read my book, and tried to relax.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday the 12th I had a slow morning. Made an appointment to do Mom's taxes. Fielded some appointment questions from my sister. Tried to make plans with someone who was interested in buying one of the last pieces of furniture I had (a cabinet). Spent the whole work day entering data into Quickbooks. Put away some stuff in the house and did some walking.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday the 13th I did more data entry, went to meetings and arranged meetings, and did some research. Did some chores and wrangled the TV but my new cables didn't work. Scott and Ben came over and we watched some more <i>Steven Universe</i> while eating pizza. We got up to #20. Then I chatted to Jeaux on the phone about his THREE attempts to make a banana roll cake. Wow!<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday the 14th I went to a meeting, tracked some other meetings, repotted a plant, cleaned up around the house, and went grocery shopping with Jeaux after work. We ate at Taco Bus and watched Colbert. Patricia arrived at my house after midnight and we greeted her with banana roll cake (which was excellent--thanks Jeaux). My sister and I chatted a bit before we went to bed.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday the 15th we had banana roll cake for breakfast and snacks with hummus for lunch. We went to my mom's house to meet a realtor and deal with more furniture pickups. The person who'd wanted a blue chair came to see it and decided she didn't like it after all. Welp. So I made plans with the next person who was interested. We liked the realtor and took some notes. We also took some stuff I'd been saving back to my place and threw it in the garage. At home we had soup and I worked some more and later we went back to the house to finalize our junk piles, which meant taking down window dressings and blinds and stuff. We aren't very handy and we are short, but we got it done. Sadly it was too late to go to the restaurant we'd planned to go to (SoFresh), but Five Guys was open. We cleaned up and went to bed.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday the 16th I stayed behind to work while Patricia went to Mom's. She met with an A/C guy and also met a fella who bought the blue chair (and took a bunch of other stuff that would have been donations). Exciting! But the person who'd been saying they wanted the cabinet flaked so yet again I didn't have a buyer. After my marketing meeting my sister picked me up and I helped supervise the junk pickup. The family business that handled it was lovely. They had to make two trips though, which was unexpected. We did finally get our SoFresh food and I worked on some reports in the afternoon and evening. My sister went back to finish the junk pickup. When she got home she dealt with some PTA stuff and I finished my comic. We even got a walk in. Nice day but we are tired.<br /><br /></li><li>Saturday the 17th we did taxes with Paul the tax man for Mom, and then we met another realtor and got some more plans taken care of at the house. We ended up getting some Whole Foods burritos, selling outdoor furniture to a guy, and taking another load of stuff back to my place. Lindsay arrived and we got some sushi to share. Sisters got to hang out and talk and we went through memory boxes full of things our mother kept. We blew up an air mattress for me to sleep on since I was giving my sister my bed, but it deflated after an hour so I ended up sleeping on my yoga mat. Haha.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday the 18th we went through more box stuff, and met our dad and Connie for lunch at Best NY Pizza (super good; I split a margherita pizza with Patricia). We checked with Goodwill about their dropoff hours (I had been afraid they wouldn't be open on Presidents' Day, but they were going to be!), then bought some stuff at Home Depot (new mailbox, new light plates, a lockbox). I got a new buyer interested in the cabinet, which was the LAST piece of furniture, so I made plans with him. We picked up some more personal stuff, put the plates on, and made breakfast for dinner (tater tots, scrambled eggs with mushrooms, and pancakes). My sisters sorted through my mom's jewelry while I fell asleep for a while on the floor. We picked some personal stuff and put the rest in the donation bag. Patricia got a different mattress ready for me because she is cool.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday the 19th I went back to work. Patricia had to meet the plumber at Mom's super early before I got up, so she headed out (without coffee!). She sold the cabinet to the guy who wanted to buy it (all the stuff is gone! yay! I sold ALL my mom's furniture!), and when Lindsay got over to the house (bringing coffee and bagels), the two of them took all the donations to Goodwill. Finally everything's out. (Whew!) I was working so I didn't help. Lindsay came back first with a carload of stuff for my garage. Then later Patricia followed, bringing us ice cream. (YAY!) We handled some logistics with their packing and what to take with them, and we ate some good old ranch dip with snacks. Then we all went to bed.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday the 20th, Lindsay got up early to go to the airport so we saw her off. Patricia went to meet the inspector and I worked and went to meetings. I did some laundry and saw Patricia off in the afternoon when she came back with the report. After work my friends came over for cartoons again, so I got to watch up to the mid-season finale with Ben and Scott. We ate SoFresh food and hung out. Then after they left I had some relaxing time and went to bed early.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday the 21st, I spent the day at work sending out invitations, doing data entry, and going to meetings. Jeaux came over super early and hung out while I finished work. We went to Mandola's and shopped, and then he helped me bring the Victrola into the living room (finally!). We also watched Colbert and took a walk. I did my taxes.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday the 22nd, I had a lot of meetings and fielded questions and research. Did some home cleanup and wrote <i>Negative One</i>. Went to my mom's house with Ben and he pulled up all the carpets and took out some of the tile in my mom's room. Then we ate some Mandola's food and hung out at my place until game night, where Ben got to participate with my friends. We did that for two hours and then I signed a realtor contract and went to sleep.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday the 23rd, I ate too much candy and did timesheets and reports at work. I drew my comic and was very sleepy for some reason. I did some Polo recording and walking, and I booked a carpet cleaning for my mom's house.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews/Articles/Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Hemingway's Books and Records posted an article called "<a href="https://hemibooks.com/best-book-about-sexuality/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">20 Best Books About Sexuality</a>" and my book made the list.<br /></li></ul><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><b>New Reviews:</b><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><br style="font-weight: 400;" /><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Emerson gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6231705217">three-star review on Goodreads</a>.<br /></li><li>Ezra Letson gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6252289402">four-star review on Goodreads</a>.<br /></li><li>Daniel gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6275608719">two-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: I haven't done a lot of consistent attention to this because I don't get on the scale as consistently when it's cold and I've had houseguests so my choices about meals are different, but I'm not unsatisfied with what I have seen here. For the two weeks: High weight: 122.9. Low weight: 120.4.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: So the days I didn't get a serving of fruits or veggies at every meal were still on days when I had more than one serving of fruits and veggies at a different meal, as it turns out. I am still super happy with the balance and am still having at least one green veggie every day (really a huge change from last year). Most days have been nearly exactly balanced between protein, fat, and carbohydrates, but the days when it's out of whack are (predictably) higher fat days, like if I got a pizza with my friends or ate restaurant food. I think my choices were relatively reasonable and I'm not feeling hungry at all. The one thing I would like to cut down on is the candy, though.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day both weeks. For the 10th through the 16th, my low day was Friday at 10,072 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 14,906 steps. For the 17th through the 23rd, my low day was Monday at 10,065 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 11,295 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55559887-the-last-graduate" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Last Graduate</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Naomi Novik. I'm on page 149.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I didn't do one the week my sisters were here, but last week's karaoke song is <a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12997564">"Ordinary World" by Duran Duran</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12997564" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="90" data-original-width="120" height="90" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/ordinaryworldss.jpg" width="120" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>
<a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0979/0979.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0979.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0979/0979.html">#0979: weaver #152: cheating</a>.</b></span></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>
<a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0980/0980.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0980.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0980/0980.html">#0980: dax #144: anyone can be wise</a>.</b></span></div></div></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span><br /><div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div>There's <a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/vacations-events/2024_february-14-20-sisterfest-2024/">a whole "Sisterfest" album if you want to see everything</a>. But here are some highlights from the last two weeks:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeeder18.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeeder18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">A cardinal at the bird feeder</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeeder19.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeeder19.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">A squirrel enjoying the bird feeder</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/pshere.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/pshere.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia arrives!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeauxbananaroll1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeauxbananaroll1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sampling banana roll made by Jeaux</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeauxbananaroll2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeauxbananaroll2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeaux with his creation</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bananaroll.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bananaroll.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia's photo of her piece of cake</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/socksisters.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/socksisters.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Patricia forgot to bring socks so she wore a "pair" of mine (I always wear mismatched socks)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/fiveguys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/fiveguys.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Getting Five Guys with Patricia after a day of working at Mom's</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/handyp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/handyp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Patricia getting handy with the drill at Mom's</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/thinmintp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/thinmintp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">P trying homemade Thin Mints after another busy day</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/thinmintj-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/thinmintj-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thin Mint break!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/sushisisters.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/sushisisters.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Lindsay arrived! It's the sushi sisters.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/sortingmoney.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/sortingmoney.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">It bothered Lindsay that our furniture cash wasn't faced so she sorted it for me.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeeder20.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeeder20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">A grackle came to my feeder! I haven't had that before.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bestnypizzap.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bestnypizzap.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">At lunch with Dad and Connie, Patricia and I split a margherita pizza</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/lindsreadsdatebooks.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/lindsreadsdatebooks.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lindsay reads old date books</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/momboxesp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/momboxesp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia looks through Mom Memories</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/breakfastfordinnerl.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/breakfastfordinnerl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lindsay making breakfast for dinner</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/breakfastfordinnerp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/breakfastfordinnerp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia making pancake batter</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/oooopancake.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/oooopancake.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia "ooooo"-ing over a pancake</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/sandwichsisters.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/sandwichsisters.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Patricia and Lindsay taking a sandwich break after more hard work at Mom's</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/candlesniffer-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/candlesniffer-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Lindsay sniffing my candles</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/icecreamsisters.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/icecreamsisters.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Ice cream for the sisters!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,446 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (4 new), 676 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (1 new), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 198 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 845 for swankivy (1 new), 3,853 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 645 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (lost 2), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 248 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 98 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,442 (lost 3). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 274 (10 new).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-69443939926873857932024-02-10T18:46:00.007-05:002024-02-10T18:46:57.608-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: February 3 – February 9<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I had a leisurely day reading old comics and redecorating for the new season. I managed to get some cleaning done and some opening of birthday packages (I'm a bizarre person who somehow procrastinated on opening birthday presents). Also got a little chat in with Jeaux. Did all my blogging.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I had a relaxing morning updating collection lists and chatting with Dad. Did some photo sorting and continued reading old comics. Did laundry, did maintenance on my water system, and made some Cookie Cats. Did Polos and one of them was an unboxing video for my sister because she sent me a snack box and I showed her what was in it. Cleaned the kitchen and replaced a stubborn light bulb.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I read a letter at work and spent the rest of the day updating reports, updating data, and sorting selection results. I took a weird long nap, put Cookie Cats together with ice cream, made myself a pasta-and-veggies dinner, and did a bunch of walking.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I went to meetings, did project research, and did some Quickbooks data entry. I had a doctor's appointment that involved waiting in the waiting room for almost an hour, and I didn't get home until after 5 even though my appointment was at 3:15. My appointment was a yearly physical so we went over my bloodwork and it's all fine except there's an elevated thyroid hormone that is still not bad enough to treat so they're just keeping an eye on it. And I scheduled another appointment on Friday for a new pants parts doctor. My friends Ben and Scott came over and we got food from Saki, ate it, and watched 12 episodes of <i>Steven Universe</i>, plus we had a lovely chat after.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I talked to my yard maintenance guy Tony for a bit before heading in to work. Did a meeting and Quickbooks data entry. Got some inconclusive communication from my property manager again about the scheduled plumbing fix so since he never responded to my questions I called them and they told me projects had been set back a bit because ONE OF THE PLUMBERS DIED but my project was still going forward as planned. Welp!!! Jeaux came over and we ate at Applebee's, shopped for groceries, and watched Colbert. He played around with my TV settings to try to make transitioning between a small TV and a big TV easier.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I did meetings and Quickbooks entry again. The plumbers came and were standing right outside my window digging holes so I got to hear them talking a lot about their friend and co-worker who had died. It was super sad and I was mad on their behalf that they even had to go to work the next day (especially since one of the guys working in my backyard had been the first one to find the guy's body). If it had been up to me I would have told them to have at least a day off and more time for if they went to the funeral, but I'm not in charge. They could not fix my problem because the tree root intrusion is massive. We need advice from tree specialists the next week. After work I took a nap and did Polos and wrote my comic, and played games with my friends online.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I spent the day on timesheets and upcoming project reports. Went back to the doctor and again had another 40+-minute wait (this time in the actual doctor's office). Managed to get my entire 10-panel comic drawn while I was waiting for various people. Walked to the pharmacy after to pick up a prescription. Came home and finished my work (had to work until 8 PM to finish what I needed to do) and got my comic up, then relaxed a little in the evening.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Happy with this for now! High weight: 122.5. Low weight: 121.6.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: It's getting easier to just automatically include fruits and veggies in my diet. Still consistently taking vitamins (though I forgot the multivitamin one day!). If you're critical of multivitamins and wonder why I take them, actually I was told by my eye doctor that I should take lutein as a preventative for macular degeneration (which runs in my family) and the only place I could easily find it in the store was as one ingredient in an over-50s multivitamin.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,164 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 13,157 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55559887-the-last-graduate" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Last Graduate</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Naomi Novik. I'm on page 125.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">None this week.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>:</b></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>
<a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0978/0978.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0978.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0978/0978.html">#0978: adele #240: yours to share</a>.</b></span><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span><br /><div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><span face=""><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><div><span><span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/longplant-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/longplant-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My plant touches the floor!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bencookiecat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bencookiecat.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben eats a Cookie Cat</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/benscottcookiecat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/benscottcookiecat.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben and Scott eating Cookie Cats</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,442 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 675 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (lost 2), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 198 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (1 new), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 844 for swankivy (no change), 3,858 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 647 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 248 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (1 new), 98 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (1 new). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,445 (no change). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 264 (1 new).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-2221313008413855622024-02-03T18:44:00.001-05:002024-02-03T18:44:04.925-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: January 27 – February 2<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday felt like Sunday. Don't know why. Did my blogging, read really old Tumblr posts, put away dishes and laundry, and then Kari came over and gave me my birthday gift and stayed to chat and eat pizza. After she left I took a walk and made some future plans with friends.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I went to Mom's and cleaned out the garage. My new realtor came to see the place and took some photos. She is going to send me a list of recommendations for what I need to do to make the house more saleable. A really nice guy came and took a bunch of the tools and materials that were in the garage for free and I gave him a metal desk for free too, and he ended up buying a collectible condiment caddy while he was there. Another couple finally bought the two dressers and a nighttable, and they bought some odds and ends too. I got the garage almost entirely done and put some things out for free and cheap. After I got home I made a video and did my laundry and trash chores.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I posted my new video and spent the work day entering stuff in Quickbooks (a new thing I'm helping my boss with). Made arrangements for people to pick things up at Mom's and ended up going over there again to sell a TV and some lamps and a table. Also gave away some stuff and made arrangements to give away other things. Everything is taken care of except two bigger furniture items that I really hope will sell. And the guy from the couple from the day before who bought the dressers came back to buy art and brought a friend with him to look at Mom's stained glass and they took some free items too. Yay! Went home, talked to Jeaux on the phone and he told me he was going to "surprise" me with a homemade late birthday cake. I did some more laundry and wrote a webcomic.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I worked and had three meetings and did data entry in Quickbooks again. Chased around customer service at the Post Office because one of my eBay customers accidentally had the wrong address on their account and the package got sent to Idaho instead of where they actually live on the East Coast. Don't know what will come of it. Did a Polo, worked on <i>So You Write</i>, and stayed late entering Quickbooks data. Posted my comic after midnight.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I had pest control and entered Quickbooks data some more. Plus did a meeting and some research. Jeaux came and we ate at Little Greek, and after the grocery shopping Jeaux revealed his lovely yellow cake with homemade frosting (he even piped a border)! We ate and watched Colbert and took a walk.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday involved MORE Quickbooks entry and meetings. Wrote my comic, did some reading and processed my progress calendars (posted in the previous entry). Played games with friends. Sang some songs. Did some drawings. Listened to my new CD Dare gave me and was happy.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did some utility stuff and reports. Took all day. Was grumpy that my house is messy. Didn't get much walking in until after I posted my comic, so I did it while reading. And I listened to the second CD Dare gave me.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="font-weight: bold;">New Reviews:</b>
<ul><li>Sam gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5530229223">four-star review on Goodreads</a>.<br /></li><li>Nancy gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6223245980">a four-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: It's really just staying the same with minor fluctuations. I really don't want to do anything major to change what I'm doing because I'm happy with my balanced diet, but maybe if I really want to see some downard movement here (I'd be more comfortable if I lost 5 to 7 pounds), I should change my portions or something? Haven't decided. High weight: 123.3. Low weight: 121.7.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: I feel really good about the nutritional content of my meals, though it's been a little harder getting protein because I'm focusing so much on fruits and veggies. I tend toward having fruit and yogurt in the morning and higher fat items toward the end of the day. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,030 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 14,657 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55559887-the-last-graduate" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Last Graduate</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Naomi Novik. I'm on page 101.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12979474" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Speed of Sound"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Coldplay.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12979474"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/speedofsoundss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My monthly writing webcomic, <a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com"><i>So You Write</i></a>:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1305"><img border="0" src="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/issue152-150x150.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1305">#152: monetized</a>.</b></span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>:</b></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>
<a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0977/0977.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0977.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0977/0977.html">#0977: ivy #303: something about the truth</a>.</b></span><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtu.be/9X1LzKFXnGc">Letters to an Asexual #110 (HSDD Exists!)</a> is out. In this video, I discuss the importance of acknowledging that though sexual dysfunctions and psychological issues surrounding sex are not asexuality, they also DO exist.</span><div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9X1LzKFXnGc?si=L-roJK1q6njD7Jrf" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">Jeaux made a cake for me because I never get cakes baked for me (since I am always the baker.) This is the VERY FIRST TIME he's ever baked a cake by himself and he did a wonderful job.</span></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeaux46cake.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeaux46cake.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cake</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/46cake.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/46cake.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with cake</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeauxcake-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jeauxcake-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeaux with cake</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeedmonth-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/birdfeedmonth-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me at the start of National Bird Feeding Month</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><div><span><span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,442 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (lost 6), 677 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (1 new), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 197 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (1 new), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 844 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,860 for JulieSondra (lost 12). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 647 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 247 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (1 new), 97 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,445 (no change). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 263 (lost 2).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div></span></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-81680818011690686002024-02-01T23:37:00.010-05:002024-02-01T23:46:29.470-05:00January Goals Update<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now that we're into February, it's time for me to let everyone know how my resolutions for the year are going! A review of my goals:</span></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">1. Health Goals: I resolved to drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">2. Personal Project Goals: I resolved to get digital photos sorted by the end of February and collect memorable bits from Facebook for my essays; resolved to work on writing or editing at least one day a week; resolved to relearn ukulele songs I've forgotten and learn new ones, and keep creating my regular webcomic and video content.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">3. Reading Goals: I resolved to read at least twice a week.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">4. Relationship and Communication Goals: I resolved to document daily life stuff more, keep up with e-mails and online communication, and make time for friends and family.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">5. Other Goals: I wanted to prepare and sell my mom's house, watch some TV shows I'd dropped, and not play time-wasting tames.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Progress Update (you can click calendars to see detail better):</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><b style="background-color: white;">HEALTH GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: A smashing success. I have managed to drink 4 to 6 glasses of water every day, eat at least three servings of fruit and vegetables every day, and walked at least 10,000 steps every day in January. </span></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Health01.2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="800" height="280" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Health01.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: I got some photos sorted but still have a ways to go with it. I still hope to start being able to incorporate them into the gallery by March as in my original plan. I have collected Facebook clips every day. I haven't written any new content except on webcomics, but I am still catching up rereading/editing my in-progress novel. I had hoped to move faster than this but it just didn't happen. I hope to finish rereading what I have written and start writing new content soon. My ukulele practice isn't where I wanted it to be--I'm maybe 1/3 of the way through relearning material I wanted to refresh. Hope to start learning the new songs soon.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Writing01.2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="800" height="286" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Writing01.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">READING GOALS:</b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: This is not going as fast as I hoped, but I have managed to read at least twice a week roughly. I have finished one book and am part of the way through another.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Books01.2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Books01.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS:</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: I haven't documented as much as I need to but I'm working on it. My e-mail box is at 1 unanswered mail. I have spent a lot of time with friends and family--very busy month socially!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Social01.2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/calendars/Social01.2024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b style="background-color: white;">OTHER GOALS:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Summary: I have sold almost all the furniture at my mom's house--just two larger pieces left--and have packed up all her stuff into donation boxes. I got a realtor. My sister is coming to help me with some tasks in mid-February. I think I'm in OK shape with that. I have not picked up any of the TV shows I want to watch. And I have managed to not play the time-wasting games at all in the month of January.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Will update again next month!</span></span><br /><br /><br /></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-18576531894470566732024-01-27T17:18:00.005-05:002024-01-27T17:18:30.852-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: January 20 – January 26<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday continued the Megstravaganza. She and I went to St. Pete for some art museum fun, and then we had sushi at Lemongrass and rested at my house for a while before going out to shop for a jacket at Target and out to dinner at Mandola's. I brought my plants inside because I was afraid of them getting zapped by the cold.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday it was finally cold enough in my house that I turned the heat on. Meg and I had coffee and then met Adam for brunch at Brunchies. We got our birthday gifts from him and hung out a while chatting. Then after a little bit of chilling at my place, Meg went home and I started laundry. Unfortunately the plumbing issue got even worse and both my bathtubs had water backing up into them. I was very frustrated because no matter what I do I don't seem to be able to get this issue addressed even though the first time I reported it was in OCTOBER. I just began hardcore trying to get my community manager's attention with texts, e-mails, and voicemails, plus calling the plumber directly and trying to find someone else associated with my community management to help me. Hours later I finally got a message that suggested he was on the case (although he was acting like the issue was actually caused by me not communicating properly, somehow). I spent the evening catching up on book reviews, photo posting, and blogging, and when I went to bed the plumbing issue was not resolved.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I got a call saying my house doesn't have a septic tank after all, despite that I had been told it did when I moved in in 2017. (It did have one, but it had since been bypassed to the city sewer system. Therefore the problem cannot be due to a full septic tank. They scheduled a plumber for Wednesday.) I knocked out a proposal package, edited a letter, went to a meeting, and updated some reports. My boss asked if I could draw some figures for the team on our interview the next day, and I agreed. After inviting some subconsultants to a team for our next effort, I went over to my mom's to sell a bed to a guy. Then I went home, cleaned my very gross shower out (it had been backed up with sewer water, so ya know, I don't want to use it without cleaning it), and used the shower very quickly in case it might back up again (it didn't). Took a weird nap, talked to Steve on Polo, and got ready for the interview.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I sent a letter and some utility coordination reminders before heading out to DeLand with my boss for our interview. We chatted about work and life, and unfortunately we did not have enough time to meet the rest of the team for a meal or anything. We went into the interview and I did fine on drawing the figures on the white board (but it was too high up for me so I was on my tiptoes!) and answering the one question that applied to my work on the contract. I felt like it went okay and I hope we win the job. Afterwards my boss took me out for Mexican food and then we drove back. I jumped in to do some research and catch-up at home before calling it a night. Did some walking and Polos and ate an artichoke. My house got messy because I cannot do laundry.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday we had a meeting and I updated some stuff on our proposal that was due that day, and I did some updates, tracking, and debriefing stuff, as well as doing some data entry. The plumber came and snaked some pipes and said he thought my stuff should be good. (He was also a cool guy who liked my cartoon decorations.) Also had our community handyman here fixing my door. Unfortunately after I started doing laundry I still had weird bubbles popping up in the toilet (the initial complaint I reported). Great. It isn't fixed after all. Took a weird nap and then went out with Jeaux. We ate at Saki and shopped, then watched Colbert and took a walk.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday there were more plumbers and they did more stuff. They said there are tree roots growing into the pipes. For now it's been cleared out but they need to do more work down there. I worked on our proposal and got it sent in, and then I took a walk to drop off some eBay purchases from Meg's stuff. Finished my data entry and wrote my comic. Played games with friends like usual. Then another eBay item sold so I packed it up, recorded a song, worked on Mom's taxes, and cleaned out Mom's e-mail.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I worked on timesheets and reports all day. Took a walk to the post office again and dropped off the latest package. On the walk I called a realtor and we made an appointment to see the house. Also made some calls about taxes. After work I did my comic, researched some stuff for story submittals, did some reading and walking, and played my ukulele.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="font-weight: bold;">New Reviews:</b>
<ul><li>Loretta gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4902625198">four-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Still just kind of staying in the same range; negligibly lower. High weight: 122.6. Low weight: 121.6.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Eating lots of fruit and veggies and getting great vitamins! I've had a sweet tooth lately and there is candy in my house, so that has been a little bit of extra sugar and stuff, but it's fine. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,231 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,693 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55559887-the-last-graduate" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Last Graduate</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Naomi Novik. I'm on page 29.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12971635" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Heart of Gold"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Neil Young.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12971635"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/heartofgoldss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>: <b><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0976/0976.html">#0976: dax #143: something to offer</a></b>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0976/0976.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0976.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/d5interview-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/d5interview-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My interview outfit</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/typicals-1536x1152.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/typicals-1536x1152.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figures drawn during interview!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span face=""><br /></span></b></div></span></span></div><div><span><span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,448 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (1 new), 676 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 196 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 845 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,872 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 647 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 246 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 97 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,445 (no change). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 265 (1 new).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-33756687828377593112024-01-21T23:30:00.001-05:002024-01-22T02:33:56.233-05:00Personal Digest Saturday (but posted on Sunday!): January 13 – January 19<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I went to USF's botanical gardens with Dare and we looked at cool plants, ate some SoFresh bowls, and spent some lovely time together. They got me a CD I've wanted for a long time for my gift! I took a nap after they dropped me off at home, and then I did my blogging, reading, and perusing old annoying conversations.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I had a nice morning with a smoothie and cleaning up in the house. Then my friend Scott picked me and Ben up and we went out for a snack before heading out to Lettuce Lake Park for bird watching. We saw some great birds but my photography isn't any good so I only got one cool picture of an egret. (Ben and Scott got lots of good pictures because they know what they're doing and have cool cameras.) Then we ended up at an Ethiopian restaurant and stuffed ourselves. I spent the evening on chores, laundry, walking, Poloing, and watching a super long analysis of cartoons.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I did not have the day off like most people seemed to. I spent the day doing a transcript mostly, and also dealt with visits from two maintenance people. George fixed my sink and bought me chocolate when I told him my birthday was Wednesday. The plumber came and said my plumbing problems are due to a full septic tank, so he said he would relay that to my management company. In the evening I looked for clothes to give to an upcoming donation, ate a potato, did some Polos, and posted some cartoon stuff.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I had to get up early to go get my blood taken for labs. It was fine. Then I did data entry and three meetings. I was gonna go to Mom's to sell furniture but not a single person confirmed appointments I offered so I didn't go. I cleaned, cooked, ate, vacuumed, and finished picking out donation clothes. And I did more laundry and drew some comics.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday was a cold morning and I had a slow start. Happy 46th birthday to me! At work I had a debriefing, some training with our bookkeeper, a meeting with a subconsultant, and some updates. My sister Patricia called and we talked a while--nice to have real-time chat with her! I played around with some toys Meg wants me to sell on eBay. Dad arrived to take me to dinner! Later Jeaux came too. We ate at Vallarta's and had a great time! Then we shopped, watched Colbert, and Jeaux helped me figure out how to work an R2 robot toy.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I did proposal stuff with my boss from early in the morning and also worked on two other letters. I made a mistake on the proposal so that was annoying. Found out I am part of the interview team next week in DeLand so I will have to write some utilities stuff. Did some more eBay listings for Meghan and then she showed up to hang out for our birthday weekend. Meg helped make a pad thai dish with zucchini and mushrooms. It was pretty good but we had a lot of leftovers. After she went to bed I washed dishes, put more stuff on eBay, and dealt with an eBay package that sold pretty much immediately.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did some work on reports before Meg and I headed out to our appointment at the Florida Aquarium. We saw a bunch of great fish, birds, and other animals. Ate at Yard House and picked up cupcakes, went to a housewares store and went a little crazy buying cool stuff, and picked up SoFresh bowls. I worked on my comic and got it done while Meg was waiting around, and we had some cupcakes before we went to bed.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></b><b style="font-weight: bold;">Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b>
<ul><li>The account @rainbowaisle <a href="https://twitter.com/rainbowaisle/status/1747486139412627745" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">Tweeted about my birthday, in Japanese, with an edited photo of me</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Still just kind of staying in the same range. High weight: 123.5. Low weight: 122.0.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Birthday stuff with Meghan led to some high-fat restaurant meals, and there was one day that I got really low protein, but I'm still doing GREAT with the fruits and vegetables! Keeping track of it and making an intentional effort is working wonders. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,086 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 14,032 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><i>Loveless</i> by Alice Oseman. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4407216203" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">Four-star review.</a><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55559887-the-last-graduate" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><i>The Last Graduate</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Naomi Novik. I'm just starting it.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12954364" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Africa"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Toto.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12954364"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/africass.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>: <b><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0975/0975.html">#0975: weaver #151: lucky</a></b>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0975/0975.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0975.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div>Went to the USF Botanical Gardens with Dare:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/botanicalsmile.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/botanicalsmile-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Achiote:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/achiote.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/achiote-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Atala Hairstreak Butterfly:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/atalahairstreak.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/atalahairstreak-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Went bird watching with Ben and Scott:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cameranerds-rotated.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cameranerds-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/birdwatch.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/birdwatch-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Egret:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/egret.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/egret-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Me in nature:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/lettucelake.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/lettucelake-150x150.jpg" /></a></span></span></div><div><span><span>
Eating Ethiopian food with Scott and Ben:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/queenofsheba.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/queenofsheba-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> My last day of being 45:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/last45-rotated.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/last45-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> My first day of being 46:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/46-rotated.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/46-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Jeaux playing with lightsabers:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/jeauxsaber-rotated.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/jeauxsaber-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Meghan was happy with the slippers I bought her for her birthday:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/megslippers-rotated.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/megslippers-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Florida Aquarium day! Ruddy ducks:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ruddyduck.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ruddyduck-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Roseate spoonbill: </span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/roseatespoonbill.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/roseatespoonbill-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Ring-tailed lemurs:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ringtailedlemur.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ringtailedlemur-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ringtailedlemur2-rotated.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ringtailedlemur2-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Cool fish:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/manyfish1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/manyfish1-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/manyfish2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/manyfish2-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Panther chameleon: </span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pantherchameleon.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pantherchameleon-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Pelican:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pelican.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/pelican-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Northern pintail:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/northernpintail.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/northernpintail-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Goldeneye: </span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/goldeneye.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/goldeneye-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Tricolor Heron and Scarlet Ibis:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tricolorheronscarletibis.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tricolorheronscarletibis-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tricolorheronscarletibis2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tricolorheronscarletibis2-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tricolorheronscarletibis3.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tricolorheronscarletibis3-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Snowy Egret: </span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/snowyegret.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/snowyegret-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Fish selfies!</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/fishselfie.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/fishselfie-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/fishselfie2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/fishselfie2-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Cupcakes we bought for our birthday cake:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/bdaycupcakes.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/bdaycupcakes-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cupcakegirls.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cupcakegirls-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Sushi in St. Pete with Meg:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/megsushi.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/megsushi-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ivysushi.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ivysushi-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Italian food in Tampa with Meg:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/meglasagna.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/meglasagna-150x150.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ivyeggplant.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ivyeggplant-150x150.jpg" /></a> </span></span></div><div><span><span> Birthday Girls in Comfy:</span></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/comfygirls.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/comfygirls-150x150.jpg" /></a><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,447 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (3 new), 676 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (lost 1), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 196 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (1 new), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 847 for swankivy (no change), 3,874 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 647 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 246 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 97 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,445 (lost 1). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 264 (no change).</span></div></span></span></div><br /></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-36600840183716740922024-01-13T23:39:00.000-05:002024-01-13T23:39:03.031-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: January 6 – January 12<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I sold furniture at my mom's (a bookcase and a set of shelves), and I reached a milestone: everything in my mom's house is cleared out and packed up for donation or disposal (except furniture people are buying). It's weird. When I got home I had dinner, did blogging, did some editing, and sent Polos.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I got my chores done (laundry, trash & recycling, unloading the dishwasher), but otherwise just relaxed. Got some photos sorted, did some reading, and read some old comics for fun.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I got buried at work (two letters, proposal stuff, shortlists, resume updates). Argued with people on Reddit. Did Polos and made too many dishes with my cooking. Was very sad that Meg had to put her doggie Barney to sleep.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I finished my proposal preparation, coordinated with teaming partners after a meeting, developed a resume for someone, and wrapped up a package for a shortlisted job. I gave a de-smokifying treatment to the last of my mom's clothes (some winter stuff I found in the back of her closet) so I can donate them. Did some editing. Worked on photo sorting. Washed a sinkful of dishes. Got <a href="https://youtu.be/a4QFQv9h-F0?si=twP0FcRYcG3thVr1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">one of Rebecca Sugar's songs</a> stuck in my head freaking all day.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I turned in our proposal package at work and did some reports. Talked to my lawn maintenance guy Tony and paid him for the work he's done on my mom's property since June. Did some karaoke and dealt with the de-smokified clothes. Jeaux picked me up and we ate at Which Wich, got groceries, took a walk, and watched Colbert and the last two episodes of <i>Koisenu Futari</i>.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I had a very frustrating day where communication fell through on at least half a dozen issues all at once. I couldn't get my property manager to answer me about a major maintenance issue at my house (water backing up into my showers when the washing machine runs). I couldn't get texts through to my friend Ben because his phone sucks. I couldn't coordinate with the bookkeeper at work about a task they need me to help with. I couldn't get an online merchant to answer any of my messages about a mix-up on an item. My maintenance man (for a different issue) said he'd be at my place and didn't come or notify me that he wasn't coming (found out the next day he hurt his back and couldn't come). Game night with friends started super late for various reasons. I've been trying to coordinate with a tax representative and I had missed one call from him last week and now just can't get a call back. And out of SIX people who said they'd buy furniture at my mom's, only one of them did. (One of them it wasn't the lady's fault because the chair turned out to be bigger than she wanted, but it was still frustrating.) Also found out we had to withdraw from the selection process on the job we were shortlisted for because my boss got sick. Just not a great day all around. But at least I sold a hard-to-sell item at Mom's, got some reports done, had fun at game night, worked on my comic, and sorted some photos.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday communication was in general way better--maintenance wrote back about a plumber, I found a more reliable communication option with Ben, and everything was good at work (though I was busy with reports and other obligations). Had to spend a bunch of time completing a form to receive distribution of my mom's investment account (which, um, had like $60 in it and isn't worth the trouble but we still had to do it). I got my comic done in the evening and wrapped up my walking while listening to Polos.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></b><b style="font-weight: bold;">Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b>
<ul><li>A new article "<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-023-00910-3">Belonging to the Ace Spectrum: Correlates of Cognitions, Feelings, and Desires of Ace Individuals</a>" by A. Catarina Carvalho & David L. Rodrigues, published in <i>Sexuality Research and Social Policy</i>, cites my book several times.
</li></ul>
<b style="font-weight: bold;">New Reviews:</b>
<ul><li>Rifa Coolheart gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6148768423">three-star review on Goodreads</a>.
</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Can't say there's been much progress but we'll see where it goes from here! High weight: 123.8. Low weight: 121.8.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: I am again super happy with my nutrition this week and didn't have any days that were super out of whack (even if I did have a high-fat day on Wednesday because of an avocado). Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Wednesday at 10,103 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 14,892 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 336.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12947545" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Don't Stop Me Now"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Queen.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12947545"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/dontstopmenowss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>: <b><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0974/0974.html">#0974: adele #239: you have choices</a></b>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0974/0974.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0974.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div></div><div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,444 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (lost 1), 677 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 195 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 847 for swankivy (no change), 3,873 for JulieSondra (8 new). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 647 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (3 new), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 246 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 97 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,446 (4 new). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 264 (no change).</span></div></span></span></div></div><br /></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-15341527513463916362024-01-06T23:54:00.004-05:002024-01-13T23:40:02.999-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: December 30 – January 5<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I had plans to see Meg and Adam but they canceled due to feeling under the weather, so I didn't do much all day besides updating my blog (which was extensive due to holiday photos) and making Polos. I got my comic <i>So You Write</i> planned and doodled, but other than that I got a lot of naps in.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I got my belated Meg and Adam visit--and they brought donuts. We hung out and had coffee and cocoa too. After they left I talked to Steve on the phone for several hours and colored my webcomic while chatting. Did laundry, posted the comic, and ate nothing but donuts until dinnertime. Spent the evening deciding on my New Year's resolutions and doing my year-end survey.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I had the day off at work because IT WAS NEW YEAR'S DAY. I got off to a good start with my New Year's resolutions because since it was a day off I had time to do a little of everything. I worked on editing my book, played my ukulele, did some reading, and sorted some photos. Also updated my site to the latest year, recorded some Polos, put away laundry, and recorded a karaoke song. Had to wrangle some furniture buyers as well.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday was pretty busy--wrapped timesheets, worked on proposal invitations, and did digital errands. Went to Mom's and sold furniture to three people. Then went home and finally did some dishes I'd been putting off and did some Polos.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday involved proposal planning and troubleshooting. Did some more photo organizing and Polos. Jeaux and I ate at SoFresh and shopped for groceries, and then we watched <i>Koisenu Futari</i> and realized that one of the characters was reading <i>the Japanese version of my book onscreen</i>. So that was kind of a fun whammy! (Jeaux was very excited.) Jeaux put my tables away so my living room is open again.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday we had an internal meeting and a debriefing meeting, and I did some proposal planning. I wrote my webcomic and read a book. I played games with my friends and then I put away laundry and finished walking and wrangled furniture buyers again.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did my weekly project reports and worked on a proposal. Had one of my favorite foods at dinner: an artichoke. What a treat! Did all my webcomic drawings, posted them, and messed around on Tumblr and Reddit.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>New Reviews:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Courtney <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5074043453" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">shelved <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> as "did not finish"</a> and explains why.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Maybe it has something to do with water weight and adjusting (because I've been drinking more water), but dang, I don't know where these high numbers came from. I thought I was on the right track so *shrug*. High weight: 123.8. Low weight: 121.5.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: VERY balanced diet this week (especially once I started trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies intentionally!). Even my one restaurant day was super balanced because I knew where I'd be going so I was able to eat my other meals to balance it out. I am super happy with my nutrition this week. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Wednesday at 10,038 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 16,101 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 280.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12935086" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"One Night in Bangkok"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> from <i>Chess</i>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12935086"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/onenightinbangkok2ss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My monthly writing webcomic, <a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com"><i>So You Write</i></a>: <b><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1297">#151: done</a></b></span></span></b></div></div></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></b><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1297"><img border="0" src="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/issue151-150x150.jpg" /></a></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, <a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com"><i>Negative One</i></a>: <b><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0973/0973.html">#0973: ivy #302: seasick</a></b>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0973/0973.html"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0973.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div></div><div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Social Media Counts: </b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,445 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (2 new), 677 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (1 new), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 195 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 847 for swankivy (no change), 3,865 for JulieSondra (4 new). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 644 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 246 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 97 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,442 (no change). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 264 (no change).</span></div></span></span></div></div><br />Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-87822865296418271612023-12-31T23:24:00.002-05:002024-01-01T10:53:35.276-05:00Year-End Survey 2023<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here's my year-end survey for 2023!</span></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><b style="background-color: white;">1. What did you do in 2023 that you'd never done before?</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><div><div><span><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Provided a sensitivity read on request.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Reviewed an academic paper for someone.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Put on a three-hour band performance with my band--twice! (Once for a Harley-Davidson dealership's month-end party, and once for our own friends and family concert.)<br /><br /><a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAayow1m9Qf772Yx9hA7yKDAR8FHlLuUP&si=j1fuB_9STuWxFHWF" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" fetchpriority="high" src="https://swankivy.com/listen/video/totmc2023.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Had a professional massage.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Went to a Trans Town Hall.<br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/transtownhall2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/transtownhall2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sold a car. (I know, right?)<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Attended a charity livestream for Infloresce for an entire 12 hours.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Participated as one of the 92 singers in the Gem Choir.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="lj_embedcontent" frameborder="0" height="315" name="embed_4819828_107" src="https://l.lj-toys.com/?auth_token=sessionless%3A1704081600%3Aembedcontent%3A4819828%26107%26%260%26youtube%26Ldfu35kmNN4%3Ac050fc44360a281e728d5cb1340999cfa6d6b4ee&source=youtube&vid=Ldfu35kmNN4&moduleid=107&preview=0&journalid=4819828&noads=" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: top;" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>Warning, sad stuff and medical stuff:</b><br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Had to have one of my toenails removed. (It grew back.)<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Took my first ever Covid test. (It was negative.)<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Uh . . . I had a routine colonoscopy.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">And the big one: I experienced the death of a parent and everything that went with saying goodbye to my mom. And have performed the duties of an estate administrator.<br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/dedication43.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/dedication43.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /></li></ul></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?</b><br /><br /><b>Last year, these were my resolutions, and whether I kept them:</b><br /><br /><u>1. Read more.</u><br />[I kept this one, but only because the year before was abysmally low. I only read SEVEN books this year.]<br /><br /><u>2. Finish writing my book <i>In Bloom</i> and make progress with test readers, hopefully approaching agents before the close of the year. (My current agent only reps my nonfiction.)</u><br />[I did not keep this one. I didn't finish writing the book. I did write five new chapters, but ALL of it was in the first five months of the year.]<br /><br /><u>3. Get back into Dance Dance Revolution for some better stamina.</u><br />[I played a few times but nothing regular. I would NOT say I kept this one. I played twice in January, twice in March, and four times in October. Yikes.]<br /><br /><u>4. Finish the photo journal aspect of my website and complete another section's revamp (I'm thinking I could start the writing section).</u><br />[I finished the photo journal and all the albums but still have a LOT of uncategorized photos that I intended to incorporate before considering this done, and I didn't start any other section revamps. This was NOT met.]<br /><br /><u>5. Keep up with communication. Make it a priority to get through all conversational e-mails every week.</u><br />[I would consider this to be successful. I currently have ONE unanswered e-mail in my box. That said, people just kinda don't e-mail me anymore, so it's been pretty easy. I got my inbox down to FIVE e-mails within the first 10 days of January and have stayed below five the entire year.]<br /><br /><u>6. Continue to post my YouTube videos once a month, my writing cartoon once a month, and my fantasy webcomic once a week.</u><br />[SUCCESS! I have posted 12 YouTube videos (each toward the end of every month), 12 writing cartoons (each on the last day of the month), and 52 fantasy comics (each Friday, and was never late).]<br /><br /><u>7. Be more active about documenting everyday life on various social media. I have been keeping stuff off the internet too much and now I don't have the kinds of records I am used to having.</u><br />[Marginally successful. I still am doing too much of my day-to-day in phone calls or Polos to like two or three people. But I did manage to get some of my long-held rants and rambles into the journal this year.]<br /><br /><u>8. Spend quality time with my friends. I'd like to continue game night and we are planning to have a vacation house adventure in March.</u><br />[SUCCESS! I actually spent a LOT of time with friends this year and prioritized it. I enjoyed it and have learned to feel less guilty about not "getting things done." But I still haven't completely shaken this. My friends and I did have a lovely vacation during Spring Break.]<br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/day4-5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="800" height="264" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/day4-5.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><u>9. Continue to grow the repertoire and experience of our band.</u><br />[Partial success! We learned some new songs this year and had four performances. I practiced music often and feel like I learned a lot.]<br /><br /><u>10. Practice ukulele more and get through my recording series of <i>Steven Universe</i> music.</u><br />[I practiced ukulele a LOT during certain times of the year--especially before a comic con--and made some recordings, but I did not get through recording videos of the performances at all. I found that I don't really enjoy it.]<br /><br /><b>New Year's Resolutions this year:</b><br /><br />I've been thinking about this a lot. I documented the hell out of my slate of TEN resolutions throughout the year, and was super ambitious about how much I wanted to do (as usual). Guess what? Still really didn't help get stuff done.<br /><br />Part of it was obviously how much time, energy, and heart was stolen from me in the second half of 2023 because of my mother's death. But I can't "blame" that entirely, even if it did occupy a lot of my attention and take the wind out of my sails in ways I'm still processing.<br /><br />I know I need to be kind to myself, but at the same time, I'm definitely disappointed in my lack of progress, especially on the things that I seem to resolve year after year. I am good at accountability, but not if I don't have structure. I flip-flopped a bit over whether I'd rather just have no resolutions and "see what happens" or whether I'd rather switch up the accountability a bit, and I think I'm going to try identifying specific goals that have time attached. "Do X more" doesn't seem to work for me. So here's what I'm going to try for the coming year:<br /><br /><b>1. Health Goals:</b><br /><br />a) I don't want a weight goal, though I'll keep an eye on it. I'll be happy whatever happens.<br /><br />b) I want to drink more water. I resolve to drink a cup of water before my first cup of coffee of the day, and then after that I'll have one cup of water in between every other beverage I drink. I will not define a specific number of glasses or amount a day.<br /><br />c) I want to eat more fruits and veggies. I resolve to eat one meal with fruit and one meal with veggies every day. (Both.) I will aim for GREEN veggies but may occasionally go for a veggie that is not green.<br /><br />d) I will continue to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. This will be tracked with the app on my phone.<br /><br />e) I need to get a dermatologist and a regular dentist this year and go to regular appointments. I have no known issues at this time and I'd like it to stay that way.<br /><br />f) Should I start a sport? Maybe I could start taking tennis lessons? This is a maybe.<br /><br /><b>2. Personal Project Goals:</b><br /><br />a) Website stuff. I will get all my digital photos sorted into the proper years by the end of February. I'll get them processed onto my website by the end of March. I'll scan some more photos from hard copies where applicable and attempt to have that done by May. By June, I'll leave it open-ended as to what website project I'll do next. I want to get the writing site converted but I don't have a concept yet for what that will look like. That said, I'm going to start January 1 collecting memorable things from Facebook Memories and saving them in a folder to incorporate into the essays on my eventual expanded writing site, because I've written some cool stuff there that almost no one gets to see.<br /><br />b) Writing stuff. I'll try to write more often but will commit to writing one weekend day OR one weekday after work. I will assign this to Tuesdays and Sundays. I can work on my novel until it's done, work on my next in-progress novel, write short stories, or if I really am not in the zone, do some submissions and/or editing older projects.<br /><br />c) Music stuff. I will practice for the band as needed, but there are no issues with how much I practice for that. I want to work on ukulele music that I haven't learned yet. I'll take January to review what I know and get back up to speed, then starting in February I'll learn the rest of the songs on my list that I don't know. I'll downgrade my expectations for recording them and just pick up where I left off making recordings without worrying about fun costumes or elaborate effects. I just want to learn the music. I don't want to make a specific structure for this but I'll hope to get these done long before the end of the year.<br /><br />d) Regular content. I resolve to continue posting a new <i>Negative One</i> webcomic every week and a new <i>So You Write</i> webcomic every month. I'll post a new asexuality video every month. I'll keep sporadically making <i>Not-So-Giant Women</i> with Daria but that depends on her schedule so I can't commit to a post schedule.<br /><br /><b>3. Reading Goals:</b><br /><br />I won't resolve to read a particular number of books, but I will resolve to dedicate time to reading at least twice a week. I'll try to do that on the days I'm not already doing the writing stuff.<br /><br /><b>4. Relationship and Communication Goals:</b><br /><br />a) I'm going to focus on the documentation I want to do for daily life stuff and resist the temptation to just tell other people about it first.<br /><br />b) I'll continue to answer e-mails promptly and keep my e-mail box clear. I'll respond to the social media comments I get quickly and not put them off or forget about them.<br /><br />c) I'll continue to prioritize being present with friends and family and making time for them.<br /><br /><b>5. Other Goals:</b><br /><br />These aren't really resolutions, I don't think, but I intend to get my mom's house sold this year, and I want to watch a couple TV shows I've been putting off watching. I don't want to call these resolutions. They don't really have that feel. They're just things I need/want to do.<br /><br />However, in order to really make time for these goals, I am going to resolve to not play time-wasting games or zone out to listening to news AT ALL this year. If I just need to relax and not do anything, I can read instead. I'm pretty tired of my own excuses on this one and I am not gonna take any shit from me. :)<br /><br />I THINK THAT'S ENOUGH. ON TO THE REST OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE.<br /><br /><b>3. Did anyone close to you give birth?</b><br /><br />I am not close with my cousins, but I heard my cousin Alyssa gave birth to baby Melody. :)<br /><br /><b>4. Did anyone close to you die?</b><br /><br />My mother, Marcia, passed away from liver failure at age 68.<br /><br />My brother-in-law Yusuke also lost his father this year. I met him just once.<br /><br />And my lovely friend Ronni lost her mother. So did my online acquaintance Melodie.<br /><br />And my bandmate Heitor lost his father. It was not a great year for parents this year.<br /><br /><b>5. What countries did you visit?</b><br /><br />I did not leave the USA this year.<br /><br /><b>6. What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2023?</b><br /><br />More quiet time by myself to do projects.<br /><br />Consequences for Trump and his ilk.<br /><br />Resolution of the in-progress stuff with my mother's estate.<br /><br />No <a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/brokentree2.jpg">trees falling and almost hitting my house</a>.<br /><br />Quiet neighbors.<br /><br />As always, a book deal.<br /><br /><b>7. What dates from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?</b><br /><br />March 12–March 18, 2023: My Davenport vacation with my friends.<br /><br />July 5, 2023: My mother died.<br /><br /><b>8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?</b><br /><br />Keeping my head above water during a personal tragedy.<br /><br /><b>9. What was your biggest failure?</b><br /><br />Wasting time and not living up to my own expectations. One of these days I'd love to exceed them, but I am a pretty tough critic.<br /><br /><b>10. Did you suffer illness or injury?</b><br /><br />The closest thing to this that I suffered was having to have the minor operation on my toe in February. I had to grow a new toenail and for the entire time that it was growing back I decided not to look at my toe, so I never saw what it looked like without a nail. :)<br /><br /><b>11. What was the best thing you bought?</b><br /><br />The last comic book I was missing to have a complete collection of <i>Steven Universe</i> variant covers.<br /><br />And maybe also my new bird feeder.<br /><br /><b>12. Whose behavior merited celebration?</b><br /><br />Civil liberty fighters and queer rights activists who are not letting this country go. Yet.<br /><br />My queer friends.<br /><br />Everyone who worked to counter the false narratives about the election.<br /><br />My band members! We worked so hard this year and improved a lot.<br /><br /><b>13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?</b><br /><br />As usual, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, weird liars like George Santos, and their supporters.<br /><br />Warmongers, torturers, and kidnappers participating in these terrible wars.<br /><br />People who spread lies and conspiracy theories (many of which have their roots in antisemitism).<br /><br />All the bastards who have been feeding the fire on "trans women are men who want access to single-sex spaces to do harm to REAL women" and "LGBTQ+ people are groomers."<br /><br />Fake friends.<br /><br />People who use tragedy to capitalize.<br /><br />Every single fatphobe.<br /><br />People who blamed oppressed people for their own oppression.<br /><br />People who expect me and others to clean up the messes they made.<br /><br />All the weird assholes who keep jerking me around when I'm trying to sell furniture at my mom's.<br /><br /><b>14. Where did most of your money go?</b><br /><br />Besides rent, I dumped over $10,000 covering my mom's bills until I got paid back by her estate once the courts got the paperwork sorted. Since I got that back, it doesn't really count. Beyond that I spent the most on my Davenport vacation and, of course, <i>Steven Universe</i> merchandise.<br /><br /><b>15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?</b><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bdaygirls.jpg">Birthday with Meggie</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/tidesoftimejan3.jpg">My band's first paid gig</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/day2-2.jpg">Our incredible Davenport vacation</a><br /><br /><a href="https://juliesondradecker.com/?p=3916">Being on an asexual book panel with Cody and Ashabi</a><br /><br /><a href="https://swankivy.com/LJ/lastcomic.jpg">Getting the final issue of my Steven Universe variant collection</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/spoonknifetransitions.jpg">Getting published in an anthology</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/100shirts-rotated.jpg">My 100th Steven Universe T-shirt</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/gardenia2023-2.jpg">First gardenias of the year</a><br /><br /><a href="https://youtu.be/Ldfu35kmNN4?si=_gxseKmzC4IDb9E_&t=700">The Infloresce Livestream and the Gem Choir</a><br /><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12646231">Learning "Aserejé" (a very silly, very fast Spanish song that was very difficult but FUN to sing)</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/sistersafter.jpg">Seeing my wonderful sisters after our mom died</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/stevonniefresh3-rotated.jpg">Metrocon 2023</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/sofresh.jpg">Time with family during summer vacation</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/halelifedonuts2.jpg">A Pride donut</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/eatcookiecat2.jpg">Cookie Cats with family</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ivypearl1-rotated.jpg">Halloween Party</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pumpkinspices-rotated.jpg">Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bencookiecat.jpg">Introducing new friend Ben to Steven Universe</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder7.jpg">Birds</a><br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/allcookies.jpg">Cookies for Christmas Eve</a><br /><br /><b>16. What song will always remind you of 2023?</b><br /><br />"<a href="https://youtu.be/D6xPiScaCBU?si=aFcsj964K4uXeh58">Sweet Time.</a>" Please listen.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="lj_embedcontent" frameborder="0" height="315" name="embed_4819828_108" src="https://l.lj-toys.com/?auth_token=sessionless%3A1704081600%3Aembedcontent%3A4819828%26108%26%260%26youtube%26D6xPiScaCBU%3A93cb862fada258c40e2eebf87ef99f3d0bfe9495&source=youtube&vid=D6xPiScaCBU&moduleid=108&preview=0&journalid=4819828&noads=" style="border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: top;" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b>17. Compared to this time last year, are you:</b><br /><br /><b>i. happier or sadder?</b><br /><br />Sadder.<br /><br /><b>ii. thinner or fatter?</b><br /><br />Literally within a pound of this time last year, so. No difference.<br /><br /><b>iii. richer or poorer?</b><br /><br />Technically quite a bit richer, but I'm not sure how that will shake out when everything is settled with my mom's estate.<br /><br /><b>18. What do you wish you'd done more of?</b><br /><br />Writing fiction, reading, sleeping, completing projects, being creative, practicing ukulele, documenting things I failed to document.<br /><br /><b>19. What do you wish you'd done less of?</b><br /><br />Getting mad about things I can't control, dealing with dirty work at my mom's house after she died (but it was necessary), being patient with people who treated me badly, playing mindless games for too long while catching up on news drama.<br /><br /><b>20. How did you spend Christmas?</b><br /><br />I spent Christmas by myself decompressing, but the day before Christmas, Jeaux and I hosted my dad and Connie to have a fancy meal with us, and the day after Christmas I had a cookie party.<br /><br /><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedessert.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedessert.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/starstwice.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/starstwice.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?</b><br /><br />Writing this blog entry, LOL. (I spent a lovely morning having donuts with Adam and Meg and a lovely afternoon talking to Steve on the phone, though.)<br /><br /><b>22. Did you fall in love in 2023?</b><br /><br />None of my relationships with other people could be described as "falling in love." I maintain that I have all the love I want in my life.<br /><br /><b>23. How many one-night stands?</b><br /><br />I should probably just delete this question from the survey. But then I'd have to re-number and ew.<br /><br /><b>24. What was your favorite TV program?</b><br /><br /><i>Steven Universe</i> is still my undisputed favorite, but this year I enjoyed <i>Our Flag Means Death</i>, <i>Heartstopper</i>, <i>Fionna and Cake</i>, and <i>Koisenu Futari</i> (which we have not finished watching).<br /><br /><b>25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?</b><br /><br />No.<br /><br /><b>26. What was the best book you read this year?</b><br /><br />I read very little sadly, so I will name <i>Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture</i> by Sherronda J. Brown.<br /><br /><b>27. What was your greatest musical discovery?</b><br /><br />I loved a bunch of the music I listened to during the Infloresce stream, and enjoyed the hilarious comedic stylings of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW7AGm8JSBEEew61dJIgl_A">Tom Cardy</a>, but to be honest I think I was most pleasantly blown away by <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhKlfMDa-GRzK53qGC95vEX-Lrg-YaCA4&si=Yh1gQv5vDzbgi4N0">Rebecca Sugar's sweet, poignant, gorgeous album Spiral Bound</a>.<br /><br /><b>28. What did you want and get?</b><br /><br />No major hurricanes hitting my area, lots of time alone, the final comic book I needed for my collection, performances with the band, a work/life balance that continues to be comfortable, a Covid-free year, a published short story, a lot of quality time with friends and family, good health, a happy home, love and humor, good entertainment.<br /><br /><b>29. What did you want and not get?</b><br /><br />Another novel completed, positive resolution for social justice issues, basic good behavior from people who should know better, surprise <i>Steven Universe</i> content (hehe, no I didn't expect this, I just wanted it), opportunities to play with little babies, enough sleep.<br /><br /><b>30. What was your favorite film of this year?</b><br /><br />I didn't watch any movies this year except <i>Ratatouille</i>, <i>Yellowbeard</i>, <i>Everything Everywhere All at Once</i>, <i>Dungeons and Dragons</i>, <i>Across the Spider-Verse</i>, <i>Nimona</i>, and <i>Barbie</i>. My favorite was definitely <i>Everything Everywhere All at Once</i>.<br /><br /><b>31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?</b><br /><br />I turned 45. I made myself some fancy pancakes in the morning and also had them for lunch. And I cleaned two bedrooms. Got nice birthday phone calls from Dad, Mom, and Patricia, plus texts from Lindsay. Mom brought me a margherita pizza from Mandola's and hung out a bit and also gave me some pants. Later that weekend I celebrated my birthday with a big party. Meggie and I made 7UP cake and chocolate cake for our double birthday, and we had 8 people over to eat nacho concoctions, play Cards Against Humanity, eat cake, hang out until 3 AM talking.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cardsgame.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cardsgame.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><b>32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?</b><br /><br />In general, if the people who were supposed to communicate with me did so clearly and stood by their word. There was an awful lot of terrible communication this year that frustrated me a lot.<br /><br />That said, the year would have been pretty badass if I'd gotten a book deal. Better get moving on that!<br /><br /><b>33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023?</b><br /><br /><i>Steven Universe</i> tee shirts, jeans that fit better, oversize shirts that can be tied around the waist if I'm not cold, and a side part that's partly held in place by one barrette. I have also been putting my hair up while I'm hanging out alone a LOT.<br /><br /><b>34. What kept you sane?</b><br /><br />My family to lean on when my mom died--it sounds silly but it helped me way more than I thought I would need, to have them there, you know?<br /><br />Also, beautiful cartoons, and the internet.<br /><br /><b>35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?</b><br /><br />Oh, you silly survey.<br /><br /><b>36. What political issue stirred you the most?</b><br /><br />Trans rights and all the frigging liars in government.<br /><br /><b>37. Who did you miss?</b><br /><br />C'mon.<br /><br /><b>38. Who was the best new person you met?</b><br /><br />Ben!!!!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><b>39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023.</b><br /><br />Don't eat hair.<br /><br />Just kidding.<br /><br />Peace is possible.<br /><br /><b>40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:</b><br /><br />"<a href="https://youtu.be/4n2nyXg7fuU?si=nX7X7BVOUBinenxr">If I leave you, it doesn't mean I love you any less.</a>"<br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><br /></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-36933076507444518342023-12-30T20:36:00.003-05:002023-12-30T20:36:41.427-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: December 23 – December 29<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday was my concert at Big Top Lakewood Ranch! Jeaux picked me up and we drove to the location, and it was a really pretty bar. We played two sets and my friend Ben also came out to see some of the show. It went really well and I didn't forget the words. :) Except for the small stage, I thought it was a super comfortable venue. We stayed for a little of the next band but had to leave because we had to go bake a cake. We got some food at Zaxby's and then dove into making the gingerbread roll cake when we got home. Cooling takes a while for a roll cake so we made another cookie (the cardamom cookies) in the meantime. Everything turned out well and Jeaux even bravely handled almost everything for the roll cake! After he left, I cleaned up and made the dough for the Lion House rolls because they needed to rise in the fridge overnight.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I woke up early before my alarm. Guess I wanted to get started. I had a pretty leisurely breakfast and then got started rolling out the Lion House dinner rolls which was murderous. (Have you ever rolled out a really resilient dough to 10" by 40"??) But I got them in the oven eventually. Meg dropped by to give me some more eBay stuff to sell and watched me make some of my white bean pot pies. As she was leaving Jeaux showed up and as soon as I was out of the way he started making scalloped potatoes. He made it all himself this year too. I cleaned up in the kitchen and heated the cider. Then we had to put together our appetizers. When Dad and Connie arrived we had gotten our green bean casserole together and I was trying to work on the cauliflower. Jeaux ended up making gravy as well. Finally we sat down to dinner and everyone liked everything! We took a break to exchange gifts and digest, and then we went back for dessert. Five cookie types to choose from, plus gingerbread roll cake. Wow! Really enjoyed the day and Jeaux helped clean up after we chilled and watched Colbert.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I had the day off at work because IT WAS CHRISTMAS. I woke up early even though I had turned off alarms. I didn't do anything all day except clean up gift carnage and incorporate the gifts into my collection lists where appropriate, and texted certain people to thank them for gifts. Ate a bunch of leftovers. Took a nap. Did laundry. Sent a Polo to Cara. Set up for the party for the next day.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I did a lot of work! I knocked out a proposal plan and did a bunch of forms and preparations for our shortlisted job, and I attended one meeting. Then I finished setting up for my party and people started filtering in in the early evening. It was supposed to be eight people but we were one short because Adam had allergies. So Meghan, Jeaux, Ben, Dare, Yasmin, and Arthur came to my place to help eat up cookies and drink cider. All the cider got drank but the cocoa was not popular! Weird! Some of us had presents for each other and that was cool. We all enjoyed listening to music, eating, and even a little dancing! A few people helped me clean up and then I went to bed.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I worked on reports and edited a letter. We decided not to do Jeaux Day because we've been hanging out so much lately and needed some non-people time. I cleaned up some more of the party messes, and other than that just ate leftovers and wasted time. It was nice to have a lower-key day though.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday work was on the slow side so I just did more of my reports and updates. Walked to the post office at lunch to send an eBay item for Meghan again. Took some naps. Spent the day processing concert footage from our Saturday show, but now I'm not supposed to share it yet. Played games with friends online (nice to have Steve and Dare back!), and after, recorded an asexuality video for the channel.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I was busy. Did the timesheets and reports. Then did my comic, did Polos, and wrangled furniture buyers. Seems like people aren't communicating very effectively. After I posted the comic, I did a karaoke song and posted my asexuality video.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Our Steven Universe podcast, Not-So-Giant Women, was put on this <a href="https://podcasts.feedspot.com/steven_universe_podcasts/">list of top 5 Steven Universe podcasts</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Kind of shocked that I had a hearty Christmas Eve dinner, a cookie party, and tons of leftovers, and yet my stats are lower than last week. High weight: 121.3. Low weight: 120.1.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Between cookies and festive meals, this was a very high fat week. There were some days where I didn't get enough protein. It balanced out somewhat toward the end of the week, and the festive meals included some green beans and salad so I got some vegetables! Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,036 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 13,446 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 192.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12930760" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Winter"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Tori Amos.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12930760"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/winter2ss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0972/0972.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0972.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0972/0972.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0972: adele #238: Railings</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtu.be/uMDRXy56IwI">Letters to an Asexual #109 ("I don't want to come out")</a> is out. In this video, I share three Anonymous questions sent to me about various reasons for not wanting to come out and my advice for them.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uMDRXy56IwI?si=B5KpGMyvw_MWLVeI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">There's a <a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/vacations-events/2023_december-24-26-christmas/">full photo album from Christmas Eve Dinner and the After-Christmas Cookie Party here</a>. But here are a few highlights. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/samebag.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/samebag.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux and I brought the same bag to my concert</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jeauxsliceyguy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jeauxsliceyguy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux making the scalloped potatoes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/lionhouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/lionhouse.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Lion House Rolls</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedinner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedinner.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Christmas Eve Feast!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedinner2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedinner2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pot Pie</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jeauxtrollsmydad.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/jeauxtrollsmydad.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux trolling Dad with a gift. It was a gift card.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/dadcah.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/dadcah.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cards Against Humanity for Dad from Patricia.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/conniepuzzle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/conniepuzzle.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Puzzle for Connie from Patricia.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/smallcookies.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/smallcookies.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cookies and Cake!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedessert.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/evedessert.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Dessert Crew!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/doublewrap-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/doublewrap-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux trolled me by wrapping my present twice.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/sparkleglasses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/sparkleglasses.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cute sunglasses from Lindsay</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cornsquirrel-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cornsquirrel-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A squirrel enjoying corn!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/allcookies.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/allcookies.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cookie Platter</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/starstwice.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/starstwice.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yasmin & Dare match!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/5cookies.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/5cookies.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cookie Sampler</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/bigcookie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/bigcookie.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Giant Cookie</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cocoamarshmallows.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cocoamarshmallows.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Trying vegan marshmallows in cocoa</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,443 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (lost 2), 676 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (lost 1), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 195 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 847 for swankivy (2 new), 3,861 for JulieSondra (lost 3). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 644 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (no change), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 246 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 97 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,442 (no change). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 264 (lost 1).</span></div></span></span></div></div></div><br />Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-74417345355379390002023-12-23T23:44:00.002-05:002023-12-30T20:34:37.945-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: December 16 – December 22<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I went to Mom's to sell furniture again and wasn't too successful because people keep claiming they're coming and then not showing up. Jeaux was nice enough to drive me there because he was out for an errand already! I met my friends Ben and Scott there and they hung out while I sold furniture to the ONE person who showed up, and Ben gave me advice and perspectives on my mom's house. He also bought some old cameras! Yay. The three of us had a nice day despite the rain and hung out eating at a plant-based restaurant named Florish. I had a bowl and we ate cookies too. Then after they took me home and left, I did my blogging, a short nap, some music practice, and some updates on my collection page.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I went to band practice with Dad. Good practice and we got through our sets and had some time for workshopping. We ate pizza after and Dad took me home. I did my laundry and took out the trash as usual. Finished updating my collection page and slept pretty early.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I had two letters going out and bothered some team partners, did online errands, and updated my recipe cards and food lists. I negotiated with furniture buyers and went to Mom's after work again and yet again two people out of the three ghosted me, and one of them went to the wrong place and tried to act like it was my fault, then wanted a different item than the one they'd spoken for. Welp. I was pretty upset. But at least I got my mom's stained glass scraps out of the garage and sorted into pretty containers to sell to someone soon. I took a rideshare home, cleaned up, did more laundry, and wrote a comic.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I worked--had a meeting, invited teaming partners, finished some data entry, and sent out utility coordination requests. Put together my new shirt stacker and organized all my <i>Steven Universe</i> shirts on it. Cleaned a little in the house but it was slow going. Did a Polo for Patricia and wrapped presents. Found out a bunch still haven't been delivered. ANNOYING.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I managed to get the vacuuming done. It was my nephew Ash's tenth birthday! WOW! I sang him a song and he got to open my birthday presents for him. Yay! Jeaux came over and we went to 4 Rivers for dinner (they have a vegan dish now!) and after we went on our epic shop so we could have stuff for our foodstravaganza. I was too tired to make cookies so I went to bed after Colbert. Then I woke up again and chatted with Paul and drew some comics.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday work was a little busy. I did my upcoming project reports and followed up on teaming requests, and had to send out another set of utility requests. Then after work I finished drawing comics, processed the comics, practiced music, and prepped dough for some cookies that had to chill overnight. Played games with friends online, then did walking and Poloing. I also tested my food processor and it works, which is great because last time I tried to use it it didn't!<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I had water maintenance guys fix my chlorine tank injector first thing in the morning. Then I baked cookies with Jeaux (we both had the day off). We made butterscotch sandwich cookies and homemade Thin Mints. After he left I made snowball cookies and Christmas pinwheels. I practiced some music stuff and posted my comic.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>A poll was run by the magazine After Dinner conversation about my short story "<a href="https://afterdinnerconversation.substack.com/p/everyones-gay-in-space-by-julie-sondra?fbclid=IwAR0SC083-zB_MGvlapqzDxvUSuv05U7OFgj4JbpYuusINEfLep4YwzkQa8E">Everyone's Gay in Space</a>," asking whether you'd be jealous of your clone was more successful than you.<br style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;" /></li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: More downward progress. I was so busy this week that my meals were a little light and caught when I had time, but some of it involved making healthier choices on purpose. High weight: 122.3. Low weight: 121.0.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Decent balance, ate some adventurous things that were new to me this week but everything stayed relatively balanced and I got a good mixture of nutrients. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,130 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 13,741 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12919938" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Smells Like Nirvana"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Weird Al Yankovic.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12919938"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/smellslikenirvanass.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0971/0971.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0971.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0971/0971.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0971: ivy #301: Why Can't I?</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,445 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy">swankivy</a> (lost 1), 677 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra">JulieSondra</a> (1 new), 17 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244">v & V Vids</a> (no change), 195 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen">Not-So-Giant Women</a> (no change), 70 for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400">Tides of Time Band</a> (no change). Twitter followers: 845 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,864 for JulieSondra (3 new). Facebook: 299 friends for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy">swankivy</a> (no change), 644 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/">JulieSondra</a> (lost 1), 82 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/">Negative One</a> (no change), 246 likes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/">So You Write</a> (no change), 97 followers for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/">Not-So-Giant-Women</a> (no change). <a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> followers: 2,442 (no change). <a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/">Instagram</a> followers: 265 (no change).</span></div></span></span></div></div></div><br />Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-21593385258755768822023-12-16T20:39:00.001-05:002023-12-16T20:39:01.447-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: December 9 – December 15<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I went to Mom's to sell furniture again. Sold an entertainment center and a mirror, and dealt with a couple freaks. Then I barely had time to get home and clean up before Ben got to my house and we went to the bird store, brief shopping, and made our own pizzas. We just hung out and talked into the night and I gave him Kari's present. Ben bought me a fun bird-shaped seed sculpture for birds and squirrels to enjoy and some corncobs for squirrels. Fun!<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I rested, did some catch-up blogging because Saturday was too packed to do it, did laundry and trash, and finished buying some more holiday gifts. I processed eBay stuff for Meghan and got a present ready to mail for a holiday gift. Did some Polos for my sister and updated my collection list partially.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I spent the day chasing teaming partners, setting up shortlist info, and entering data. Walked to the Post Office at lunch to drop off packages. After work, I went back to Mom's, talked to the neighbor, and sold a lamp and a desk. I took down all the stuff on Mom's walls and put some of it up for sale. The neighbor liked two pieces so I gave them to her because she is nice, and she drove me home. Then I wrapped some presents and ate some of the contest of my snack box sent by Fred and Kathy.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I finished a transcript but it took me all day. I also walked to the post office to mail my sister's family's presents and got a new credit card. Ate some oatmeal and was cold. Was not an eventful day, but I need more days like this.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday was the first day in a while that I didn't either go to Mom's or walk to the Post Office or both. Did more transcript stuff and did some data entry. Jeaux brought me some ravioli part-way through the day. Later we went shopping and hardcore planned out our holiday meal. We also took a walk and caught up on Colbert.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I finished the data entry and more transcript stuff but it was overwhelming me (the second recording I had to do was just really difficult to understand). Did some reports and updating. Had to go to Mom's immediately after work and got a whole closet cleaned out. Sold an ottoman to a man. Got home just in time for online games with friends. Put out my Red Cross donations hoping they wouldn't get left behind AGAIN. Went to bed early.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did timesheets and upcoming project reports. After work I wrote my webcomic and drew it, practiced some music, did a karaoke recording, put away some laundry, prepared an eBay package for Meg, wrapped girts, redecorated my house for the holidays, and did some minor cleaning. Exhausting! Oh, and the Red Cross DID come get my 20 boxes of stuff! So glad it finally happened. I had been putting it out for pickup monthly since September and despite them confirming the pickups, they just wouldn't show up.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>New Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>My book was included in a list of nonfiction asexuality titles <a href="https://indypl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1953821989/2302759670" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">by the Indianapolis Public Library</a>.</li></ul><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>New Reviews:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Melissa gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6047218832" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;">four-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: A little downward progress. I ate a LOT of junk out of that snack box from Fred and Kathy but it was surprisingly not that big a deal. High weight: 122.3. Low weight: 121.5.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: I did not pay attention to balancing anything this week because I ate junk food from the box and it threw everything into fat-and-carb land. Still, despite that I made an effort to get protein throughout the week. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Saturday at 10,192 steps, and my high day was Monday at 18,086 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12910804" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"All I Really Want"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alanis Morissette.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12910804"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/allireallywant2ss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0970/0970.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0970.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0970/0970.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0970: meri lin #141: A Person as Well</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/birdfeeder17.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/birdfeeder17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cardinal!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,446 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (lost 4), 676 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 195 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (1 new), 70 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 846 for swankivy (1 new), 3,861 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 299 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (lost 1--don't know who unless someone deleted an account), 645 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (lost 2), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 246 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> followers: 2,442 (no change). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> followers: 265 (1 new).</span></div></span><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-85062877834930166822023-12-10T21:01:00.002-05:002023-12-10T21:07:34.237-05:00Personal Digest Saturday (but posted on Sunday!): December 2 – December 8<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I went to Mom's to sell furniture again. Sold a storage locker and a dresser. I put a lot of effort in to make sure the exit route for the dresser was clear. Someone came for an ottoman but decided not to take it because it was not a storage ottoman (I had not indicated that it was). I listed more items for sale as well. And I vacuumed her room and found a bunch of my sister's high school art under the bed. When I got home I did my blogging and prepared some more eBay stuff for sale for Meg. Talked to Jeaux on the phone.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I rested, cleaned up the house a little, dealt with laundry and trash, and wrangled furniture buyers. Did a karaoke song and exchanged Polos with Meg. Wrote an e-mail to Ronni. Kari came over with pizza so we hung out and watched the first six episodes of <i>Steven Universe Future</i>. I opened presents from her and that was cool. :)<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I did data entry and walked to the post office during lunch to drop off a lightsaber to a buyer from eBay (Meg's stuff). Went to a training meeting and sent invitations to teaming partners. Then went to Mom's to sell more furniture to people. I had to bug my mom's neighbor to lend us the help of her son to help one guy carry out a buffet. The people were really friendly and bought a bunch of Mom's knickknacks too. Then my mom's neighbor offered to drive me home so I let her. She's super nice. (We've met before but only briefly.) Spent the evening posting eBay listings for Meg.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I had two meetings and data entry. Also spent lunch walking to the post office to drop off more eBay packages. Wrote e-mail to my friend Laura and bought some holiday gifts. Posted more eBay listings for Meg.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I had two meetings and found out we're hiring someone for drainage stuff. Worked on data entry again. Bought some more gifts, put away laundry finally, and listened to Polos. Jeaux and I ate at Yard House and went shopping at a different grocery store that didn't have some of what I wanted. Then we watched a silly video and didn't take a walk because I am a wimp in the cold. After he left, did more eBay stuff for Meg.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I did more meetings and more walking to the post office for Meg. One of the gift items I'd ordered for a friend was wrong and I had to process a return also. Annoying. Completed my data entry. Played online games with my friends. Tried to get one of Meg's toys to work so I could list it on eBay but couldn't figure it out.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did my reports and went to a meeting. Had to walk to the post office again. Did a bunch of holiday shopping and drew my comic. Started trying to update my online collection but got too tired.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>New Reviews:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Aer gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6022987222">five-star review on Goodreads</a> (in Spanish).</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Seeing generally lower numbers, but again, it's mostly 'cause I'm busy. High weight: 123.4. Low weight: 122.3.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Doing my best here but the vegetable game was weak this week. I'm still doing well meeting protein goals. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Thursday at 10,102 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 13,179 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12891491" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Nothing Compares 2 U"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Sinéad O'Connor.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12891491"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/nothingcompares2u3ss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0969/0969.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0969.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0969/0969.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0969: weaver #150: Brainstorm</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/nsgwpins.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/nsgwpins.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not-So-Giant Women pins made by Kari!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b><div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;">YouTube subscribers: 5,450 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 676 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (2 new), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 194 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 70 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 845 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,862 for JulieSondra (9 new). Facebook: 300 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 647 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (lost 1), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 246 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> followers: 2,442 (no change). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"> followers: 263 (lost 3).</span></div></span><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-50011118155149344002023-12-03T00:03:00.005-05:002023-12-10T21:06:09.003-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: November 25 – December 1<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I cleaned up around the house and was supposed to see my friend Ben but I didn't hear from him so we didn't hang out. I posted some listings for sale for a bunch of my mom's furniture on Facebook Marketplace and put some of Meg's stuff on eBay. And ended up writing an essay about <i>Steven Universe</i> which did some numbers on Tumblr. Practiced some music, made Polos, did my blogging, and recorded a video for my Letters series.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I spent the whole day over at Mom's selling furniture and taking more photos to list more items. I sold a wall mirror, a set of couches, a table and 8 chairs, a small table and 4 chairs, and a collectibles cabinet. Also had dorks trying to scam me because apparently scams are very common on Facebook Marketplace, but I am good at recognizing scams. In between selling items, I went through more of Mom's stuff and sorted it for donation or sale. Then I came home, cleaned up, did laundry, took out trash, and updated a bunch of stuff on my Mom file and my bank. I installed my new scanner and redid the bad version of <i>Negative One</i> from last week, and I received my new clothes hangers so I got to hang up my special SU jackets on their new clothes rack.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday work was slower than usual because we didn't have letters going out. I took a look at the upcoming projects and made a stab at a report even though there was nothing coming up. Just did some background updates throughout the day. After work I wrote my next <i>So You Write</i> webcomic, submitted some short stories to magazines, put away laundry while Poloing, and printed out a bunch of paperwork for some Mom-related appointments for the next day. Was researching a date for something by looking at old text messages and saw a conversation with my mom in which I told her to get her liver checked back in 2021. Guess what, she didn't. I was supposed to meet a woman who bought Mom's table but she had to cancel because she got a migraine. Oh well!<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday was a super packed day. I worked in the morning and went to a debriefing meeting. Then I had to go to the bank to establish an Estate Account for Mom now that I finally can. The appointment was crappy. It started half an hour late and then took two hours because of technology glitches and confusion. Which made me miss my next appointment at the DMV to get Mom's car transferred into my name. I went to the appointment anyway and they said I was too late and gave me another slot . . . which, weirdly, was very reasonable! And the meeting went very smoothly! I was able to get my mom's title issued to me with no problems. Came home and immediately booked an appointment to sell the car at CarMax the next day. And booked a tow truck to bring it there (both because the car is out of registration and because, well, I am not a licensed driver). Then I updated my sisters on the status, cleaned up, drew a comic, and relaxed with some games. Wrote a set list for an upcoming performance and sent it to the band.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I worked in the morning again doing some reports. Went to Mom's to meet the tow truck driver and took some more photos and measurements of furniture for listings. The tow truck was 45 minutes late so I missed my CarMax appointment. Is anyone sensing a theme here? I think maybe my mom's penchant for lateness is casting a tardy glaze on everything related to wrapping up her affairs. I finally got to ride in the tow truck while we towed it to CarMax, and then I got a new appointment and received excellent service and an offer I was very happy with. So I sold my mom's car and it's done! Took a Lyft car home and then went out with Jeaux. We ate at Vallarta's and went grocery shopping. It was too cold for walking for my wimpy ass. So we watched the show <i>Koisenu Futari</i> and a little Colbert we hadn't seen. After he left I sent a summary to the probate lawyer and canceled my mom's car insurance.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I was super cold! Did a timesheet update, a utility ticket, and a debrief meeting. At lunchtime I walked to the bank and got some temporary checks (I wasn't allowed to get checks yet until 24 hours had passed, so that's why I didn't get them at the initial appointment). I also deposited the CarMax check and another reimbursement check leftover from my mom's supplemental insurance, and I FINALLY paid myself back for all the bills I'd paid at my mom's house (over $10,000). Whew. While I was at the bank a woman fainted in the lobby so there was drama and ambulances. Fun never stops! Walked home, proofread a letter and sent it out, and then worked on my comic's processing. After work I had to spend a few hours at my mom's because the lady who'd had a migraine was ready to pick up the table and I was also selling an antique desk to a lady for her husband for Christmas. Managed to get a little more packing of donations up before I had to go home for game night. Played with my friends for a couple hours, recorded a karaoke song, posted my comic, and cleaned up.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did my timesheet collections and upcoming project reports for the office, took a break to talk to my old coworker Suma, and dove into some data entry. Monitored offers on Mom's furniture all day but didn't have anything solid for the next visit yet. Busted out my webcomic and cut it a little close because I was practicing music in between. People were bidding on one of Meg's items on eBay that I'm selling for her so I went through the laborious process of making a box for it (it's a lightsaber, so really weird shape). Packed up Mom's license plate to send back to the DMV too.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>New Reviews:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Atlas DeBorde gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6006356668">five-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Seeing some downward movement but I think it's just because I haven't been eating as much due to being so active this week. Not really intentional choices if you know what I mean. High weight: 123.4. Low weight: 121.7.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Very balanced diets this week for the most part (if low calorie). The balance between carbs, protein, and fat is almost spot on the recommended amounts all week. And I have returned to eating salads which are excellent. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,176 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 15,511 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12887000" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Bizarre Love Triangle"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by New Order.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12887000"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/bizarrelovetriangle2ss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My monthly writing webcomic, </span><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>So You Write</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1291" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/issue150-150x150.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1291" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#150: Form Letters</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0968/0968.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0968.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0968/0968.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0968: dax #142: Suspicious</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtu.be/VEb0C1trAjc">Letters to an Asexual #108 ("I wish I was asexual!")</a><span style="background-color: white;"> is out. In this video, I share two Anonymous questions sent to me about what we should say and how we should react if someone says they wish they were asexual or aromantic.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VEb0C1trAjc?si=CwY0ytcjkcX1_gCQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/birdfeeder15.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/birdfeeder15.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Blue Jay!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/birdfeeder16.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/birdfeeder16.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cardinal!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/bankappointment-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/bankappointment-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Me at my bank appointment</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/onewimp-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/onewimp-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Me being a wimp</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/sellingmomscar.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/sellingmomscar.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Selling Mom's car</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b><div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">YouTube subscribers: 5,450 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (7 new), 674 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (lost 1), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change), 194 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change), 70 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 847 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,851 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 300 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change), 648 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change), 246 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> followers: 2,442 (no change). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> followers: 266 (no change).</span></span></div></span><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-92130717181319441742023-11-25T15:35:00.004-05:002023-11-25T15:35:25.116-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: November 18 – November 24<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I got some steps and cleaned up around the house before Meghan came over. We hung out, went to Walgreens and Home Depot, and tried to fix some stuff at my mom's house but were unsuccessful. Then we ate at Noble Crust and went shopping at a kitchen store. Later we hung out talking, baking pumpkin cheesecake bars, and rambling about life stuff.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday we had coffee together in the morning and then went out to meet Adam at a restaurant called Tres Amigos (it was excellent). After a little chilling back at my house, Meg went home and I took a nap, then put my new wet/dry vacuum together (it was very difficult to get the wheels in!). I vacuumed out some gunk from one of my water tanks and did maintenance on another one. Since I was in cleanup mode I also paid Mom's bills again and did some laundry. Then I talked to Ben on the phone for like 3 hours.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday at work I had to edit three letters to go out. Not time for much else but I started working on a transcript my boss wanted also. I received some important paperwork for my mom's estate which allowed me to finally start getting certain aspects of her affairs taken care of, so I looked up some info about getting the needed appointments. I chatted with Ben briefly again and also texted with my sisters. Was sad to hear my brother-in-law Yusuke lost his father the day before.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I had another letter to do and also just basically spent the whole day on a transcript and making appointments for the mom stuff. (I need to go to the bank and the DMV.) After work I did a little walking and Poloing, then had a game night with friends since we were not going to be able to meet on our usual Thursday. Did more walking and watched some reactions.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I did some updates and downloads of information I track for our marketing. Also went to the post office to change my mom's address but after I walked all the way there the clerk told me they were out of the address change forms. So I had to walk home with nothing accomplished. Ended up getting a Lyft car to another post office so I could take care of it. Then I met Jeaux and we ate at Joe's Diner, watched Colbert, took a walk, and made a pumpkin roll.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday Jeaux and I drove to Sarasota to meet my dad and Connie, where we stood in line at Der Dutchman for two hours for Thanksgiving food. First time not doing Thanksgiving at someone's home I guess! My mom was very invested in the Thanksgiving traditions but was limited as to how much traveling she could do, so when she was still with us I couldn't go far. So this was the first time I've gotten to spend the holiday with my dad in a very long time. The food was good and we brought our pumpkin roll for dessert, which we had with some pecan pie as well. We also looked at my cookbook for a long time and ended up watching six episodes of <i>Steven Universe</i> on my dad's giant TV. Then we went home, took a walk, and I went to bed early.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did nothing like a weird lump for most of the day. Finally got around to writing my webcomic and taking some walks. I got started drawing very late and interspersed it with games and walking, and ended up getting really close to the deadline so I had to hurry. And then my scanner stopped working so I couldn't do the comic. I had to slap together a version of it that worked from phone pictures of the art (which I hope I can fix later). Pretty stressful. Then I put together a garment rack and wrapped up my night pretty early.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>New Reviews:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>Pynk Moon gave <i>The Invisible Orientation</i> a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5348911901" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">three-star review on Goodreads</a>.<br /></li><li>Dan gave "Everyone's Gay in Space" a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5940774715" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">four-star review on Goodreads</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Back to the usual but I was trying to eat up leftovers from fun desserts and stuff, plus there was Thanksgiving. High weight: 123.7. Low weight: 122.5.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Working on getting more protein in my diet this week and just ended up with a lot of sugar. Still consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,339 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 15,055 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12869376" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Dancing in the Dark"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Bruce Springsteen.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12869376"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/dancinginthedarkss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0967/0967.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0967.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0967/0967.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0967: ivy #300: Most People's Nature</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/megmakespumpkinbars.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/megmakespumpkinbars.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Meggie making pumpkin cheesecake bars</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pumpkinbars.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pumpkinbars.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The baked pumpkin cheesecake bars</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder13.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder13.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cardinal!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tresamigos.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/tresamigos.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">With Meggie and Adam at Tres Amigos</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder14.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder14.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Carolina Wren!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/jeauxroll-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/jeauxroll-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux frosting the pumpkin roll</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/jeauxroll2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/jeauxroll2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jeaux presenting the pumpkin roll at Thanksgiving</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><b><div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </span></b></div></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">YouTube subscribers: 5,443 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 675 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 194 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (3 new), 70 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 848 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,853 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 300 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (1 new, an old friend's new account), 648 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 246 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 2,442 (1 new). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 266 (no change).</span></span></div><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-35018490891680822602023-11-18T17:42:00.007-05:002023-11-25T15:31:09.397-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: November 11 – November 17<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I had to stop taking vitamins because it was required for my upcoming medical procedure. I spent the day over at my mom's house packing up the rest of her kitchen for donation, cleaning off her table/cleaning out her dish cabinet/cleaning out a couple desks/collecting up her jewelry, and even tossing some paperback books in the recycler. (We really can't donate them--they're very damaged from smoke.) I was very sad tossing my mom's beloved sewing machine (it was broken). Also, my Lyft driver on the way over there was yelling at me in dismay that I had "allowed" the tree across the street on the golf course to be cut down. "You should have stopped them!" he said, and didn't accept that the tree had been dying and/or that I am not in charge of what happens on the golf course. (To add to the weirdness, he didn't speak English and I didn't speak his Chinese dialect, so we were having this conversation through a translation app.) Weird experience. Got home after taking lots of garbage out and got cleaned up, did my blogging, did a Polo, and stayed up late for no real reason doing silly quizzes online.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday was band practice. Dad picked me up and we practiced seven new songs and some of our old ones. Went pretty well and was fun, and we ate at Yard House afterwards. Got home and did laundry and trash, and then worked on Polos and another episode of <i>Not-So-Giant Women</i>. Went to bed early.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday there were no letters because they were all bumped to Tuesday. I just did some research catch-up and follow-ups. Calculated out some budget stuff and found out that where I thought I was behind I was actually ahead. Worked on the podcast again.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I had two letters to go out and one of them was a bit chaotic. This was the last day before I would have to go on a clear liquid diet so I loaded up on protein for all my meals (since I would not be able to get ANY protein the next day). Worked on Polos, karaoke, laundry, and a podcast, and worked a teeny bit on a short story I'm writing.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I mostly did reports all day. I began a liquid diet and I was super hungry the first half of the day even though I was getting plenty of calories. My favorite things to eat were my lemon popsicles and my vegetable broth, and I was super happy that coffee is okay without creamer as long as I use lots of sweetener. After work I had to start taking laxatives and it was nowhere near as dramatic as I'd been led to believe, though the treatment itself was Super Yucky. I was able to take a two-hour nap even (because I had to be up for a 5:30 AM appointment the next day!). Did some Polos.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday super early morning I had to take more laxatives at 2 AM and then went back to bed. Again not dramatic but I was very thirsty and got dehydrated. Jeaux picked me up and took me to the surgery center and we got there right on time. Right before my procedure was when I had to potty a lot LOL. I got taken back to the prep area and had to change into the hospital clothes and a nurse was very nice to me and kept bringing me warm blankets because I get cold easily. I felt better after I got IV fluids. But then I got taken into the procedure room and they knocked me out and the next thing I remember I was drinking juice in the recovery room. I am officially a young old person who has survived her first routine colonoscopy. Wheee. Jeaux took me to IHOP because I could eat again so I had eggs and pancakes. We spent the day hanging out and resting, and then later we went grocery shopping and out to eat at Burger 21. Later we played games with our friends and tried to watch Colbert but I got very tired and slept early (for me).<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I went to work and did timesheets and reports. Worked on my comic, did some Polos, and talked to my probate lawyer (they just got a new paralegal signed on and she called to update me on everything). Got some laundry done and finished the comic and did some Polos. Somehow I ended up not walking quite enough and missed my step goal by less than a thousand for the first time in a very long time.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep20-juliesondradecker-the-asexuality-convo/id1647217147?i=1000634981649" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Modern Pleasure</a>: Dr. Jenni and Kim interview me for "The Asexuality Convo." Nice overview with some basic coverage about asexuality, but balanced with nuanced discussions of asexual people's relationship to sex and how discrimination can manifest.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Everything was a little bit weird this week since I had the liquid diet and medical procedure stuff, so this isn't really good data. High weight: 123.7. Low weight: 121.2.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: I've been eating a pretty balanced diet but still need better ways to get vegetables into my diet consistently. I had one super protein-heavy day right before a 100% carbs day because of the liquid diet. For 5 days this week I did not take vitamins because I was asked to stop them before the procedure, but after that I went back to consistently taking vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week except I missed it by a small amount somehow on Friday. My low day was Friday at 9,586 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 12,719 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12861153" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"You Gotta Be"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Des'ree.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12861153"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/yougottabess.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0966/0966.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0966.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0966/0966.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0966: weaver #149: Imaginary Scenario</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ4dKLJEWF0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women Episode 66: Historical Friction</a><span style="background-color: white;"> is out. Join Daria and Ivy as they watch and talk about "Historical Friction" and cover such topics as the ongoing storyline's application in this episode, Jamie's thespian ventures, Mayor Dewey's crush on Pearl and what his actual first name is, who Dewey's running against all the time anyway, Mayor Dewey's initial refusal to accept edits, the history of Dewey's family being mayor, the identity of the Fusion that saved William Dewey, Stevenian enthusiasm, Nanefua's inappropriate behavior, and the creative name "Beach City."</span></span></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YQ4dKLJEWF0?si=ZMtxYGC_VFEiLFHB" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardinal</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardinal</td></tr></tbody></table></b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder9.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Downy Woodpecker & Cardinal</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder10.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, and House Finch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder11.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardinal</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder12.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tufted Titmouse and House Finch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="font-family: verdana;">And also the neighbor's cat, Bruno, is very interested in the bird feeder.</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bruno.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bruno.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </span></b></div></span><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">YouTube subscribers: 5,443 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (lost 2), 675 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 194 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (3 new), 70 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 850 for swankivy (no change), 3,858 for JulieSondra (lost 3). Facebook: 299 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 648 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 246 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 2,441 (no change). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 266 (3 new).</span></span></div><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-58839559831377016172023-11-11T22:53:00.007-05:002023-11-11T22:53:41.061-05:00Personal Digest Saturday: November 4 – November 10<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I got up and finally FINALIZED MY STEVEN UNIVERSE COOKBOOK (well, its first draft) for release on the 10-year anniversary of the show's premiere. It had a bunch of glitches and things I wanted to clean up but it was complete enough for me! Free download of PDF on <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/iy1nfa2t5pu8paulal0xe/Steven-Universe-Cookbook.pdf?rlkey=i1mgb36tohbl8zqpssdk4fvt4&dl=0" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Dropbox</a> or <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IsCCd6goWQK1hnw-qmpwOzIJv97EpVCl/view?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Google Drive</a>.<br /><br /><img fetchpriority="high" src="https://swankivy.com/LJ/covertilt.jpg" style="height: auto !important; line-height: inherit !important; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit !important;" width="300" /><br /><br />With that out of the way, I cleaned up a little in my house (finally doing the dishes and a bunch of stuff I'd been ignoring) and then Ben came over and he helped me go pick out a bird feeder. We hung out and chatted, set up the bird feeder, got some burritos at Moe's, and he let me introduce him to <i>Steven Universe</i> (we watched the first 12 episodes). Nice way to spend the anniversary--introducing someone new to the show!<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I had a Relaxation Day (and finished up my blogging since I didn't get to do it the day before). I did some laundry and then my friends and I went out to a comedy club to see Ben Brainard. Yasmin, Arthur, Jeaux, and I had a lovely time and I got a fruit and cheese plate. Afterwards, Jeaux and I took a walk and after he left I put out my trash and put out my charity boxes for St. Joseph's to pick up.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I did three letters at work and did some catch-up, process work, and follow-ups with subconsultants. I put away laundry and tweaked the cookbook some more. I got the two-sided printing figured out and the live table of contents enabled. Also had to put my charity stuff back in the garage because the charity people never showed up to pick it up.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I was able to slide in with an appointment for the next charity pickup in a few days from Red Cross. I worked on invitations for teams and talked to my probate lawyer about why I STILL don't have paperwork to designate me the administrator of my mom's estate. And they wrote back and said they have the letters and did I want to come pick them up (in another city). No idea why there seem to be so many delays and communication just does not seem to be flowing. After work I worked on the cookbook some more AND THE FILE CORRUPTED AND WAS NOT RECOVERABLE so I lost a bunch of work.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I did research and followed up on teaming stuff at work. I then worked on tweaking the cookbook more. And I finally started seeing birds on my bird feeder! YAY! Jeaux and I tried out Chronic Tacos, went grocery shopping (had to pick up stuff for my one day I have to be on a liquid diet next week, ew), and we took walks and watched Colbert and started watching a new show called <i>Koisenu Futari</i> (a Japanese show about aromantic asexual people living together). I finally finished tweaking the cookbook.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I worked on reports and wrangled subconsultant arrangements. I kinda drifted around the internet looking at Reddit and Tumblr to relax for a while in between writing my comic and doing Polos. I played games with my friends for Game Night and drew some comics, and then put my charity boxes out again for the Red Cross.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I did upcoming project reports and subconsultant stuff again. I finished my comic after work and updated website stuff to reflect a new interview that posted this week. Made some minor edits on my cookbook even though I'd decided I was done. Did Polos. Got tired early. Had to put my stuff back in the garage because YET AGAIN the charity people did not pick up my donation. I have now scheduled with Red Cross three times and the last two times they just didn't come at all, while the time before that they mysteriously only took half my boxes. I give up.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spinsterhood-reimagined/id1606620264" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Spinsterhood Reimagined</a>: Lucy Meggeson interviews me about asexuality, aromanticism, and the connection our communities have with those who are perpetually single. Great conversation!<br /></li><li>AskMen published an article called "<a href="https://www.askmen.com/sex/sexual-experiences/what-does-it-mean-to-be-graysexual.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">What Does It Mean to Be Graysexual?</a>" which mentions my book as recommended reading.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Back to regular eating patterns with one exception: There's been leftover Halloween candy figuring in here and there. :) High weight: 123.1. Low weight: 121.7.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: The candy is disrupting the amount of fat in my diet and so is the amount of eggs I've been eating. I really need to get a more reliable source of vegetables that I will eat regularly. Still consistently taking the vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,011 steps, and my high day was Friday at 15,344 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12854762" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Come Out and Play"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by the Offspring.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12854762"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/comeoutandplayss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0965/0965.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0965.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0965/0965.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0965: adele #237: Time Will Tell</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ben and me with the new birdfeeder</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bencookiecat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bencookiecat.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cookie Cat and Steven Universe with Ben</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/benbrainard.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/benbrainard.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ben Brainard friend with Yasmin, Arthur, and Jeaux</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Birddd</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">burd</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">biirrd</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder4.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">BirrrrrrrrrrrD</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/birdfeeder5.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">BIRD</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </b></div></span><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">YouTube subscribers: 5,445 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (lost 2), 675 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 191 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 70 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (lost 1). Twitter followers: 850 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,861 for JulieSondra (lost 5). Facebook: 299 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 648 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 246 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (3 new), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 2,441 (lost 1). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 263 (no change).</span></span></div><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-47461437780404436052023-11-05T12:07:00.005-05:002023-11-05T12:07:57.697-05:00Personal Digest Saturday (but posted on Sunday!): October 28 – November 3<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I worked on blogging but didn't get it done in time before I had to leave. Ben picked me up to go to his board game party and I got to meet his roommate, Danny. We arrived at his house and he had a cat so I had to take my allergy medicine. Glad I had some with me! We got pizza and I brought my pumpkin spice cupcakes, and I got to meet his other friends Javi, William, Kirk, and Scott. We played the game Just One which was fun, and then split up into a complicated game table and an easier game table (I went for the easier one, and played Quacks of Quedlinburg). We all chatted about various things and Scott gave me a ride home when I had to go. Great night!<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I had a restful day. Finished blogging, engaged in a bunch of texting, and finally a little bit of Chore Mode (laundry, trash, paying bills). Did karaoke and made more pumpkin spice cupcakes to use up the pumpkin and frosting I had left over!<br /><br /></li><li>Monday three letters and two teaming request waves went out. Did some walking and Polos, put away laundry, and wrote, drew, and processed my <i>So You Write</i> comic.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment for routine stuff and other than that I worked--had meetings and research. Got my candy and stuff set up for trick-or-treaters! Got a few waves and it was fun to see their costumes. Decided I wanted to make a <i>Steven Universe</i> COOKBOOK for the ten-year anniversary of the show's premiere! I have been wanting to do one for a long time but it was intimidating. And yet I somehow decided it'd be a good idea to take it on and do it within four days. Smart.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I went to work and worked on the <i>Steven Universe</i> cookbook all day until Jeaux got to my house. We ate at SoFresh, grocery shopped, took walks, finished watching <i>Our Flag Means Death</i>, caught up on Colbert, and then after he left I worked on the cookbook more.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I had utility stuff and meetings and the first real cold snap of the year. I continued working on the cookbook after that. Also started working on <i>Negative One</i> during game night playing with my friends.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I had reports and other stuff to catch up on. Other than that I finished <i>Negative One</i> and got it posted, and did nothing else the rest of the day except work on the cookbook. I finished it in the wee hours of the morning. A 118-page cartoon cookbook made in four days. It probably has some mistakes and problems but I just wanted to get it out there for release on Saturday.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Started the week with the highest numbers I've seen! Weird. But then I spent a chunk of the week working on my cookbook project constantly and kinda kept forgetting to eat, and the numbers went back down. Neither situation is good. But I'm hoping not to see that number again and hopefully get down below 120 again before the end of the year. I know it seems like small potatoes but I really need to not buy all new pants. High weight: 124.5. Low weight: 122.5.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Did really well with protein this week! Maybe a little better on everything else. Still need more vegetables and haven't been buying the stuff to do smoothies for reasons. Still consistently taking the vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,217 steps, and my high day was Friday at 12,253 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: Nothing this week.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 126.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12835624" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"You Keep Me Hangin' On"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by the Supremes.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12835624"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/youkeepmehanginonss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My monthly writing webcomic, </span><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>So You Write</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1285" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/issue149-150x150.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://soyouwrite.swankivy.com/?p=1285" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#149: the awesome scene</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">My weekly fantasy webcomic, </span><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0964/0964.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0964.jpg" style="height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;" /><b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0964/0964.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#0964: dax #141: carrying water</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">None.</span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pumpkinspices-rotated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pumpkinspices-rotated.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes for Ben's birthday</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/benfriends.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/benfriends.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ben's friends enjoying my cupcakes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/benbirthday.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/benbirthday.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ben enjoying the cupcakes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ivyspice.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ivyspice.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Me trying a cupcake</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </b></div></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">YouTube subscribers: 5,447 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (4 new), 675 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 191 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 71 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 851 for swankivy (2 new), 3,866 for JulieSondra (1 new). Facebook: 299 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 648 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 243 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (lost 2), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 2,442 (8 new). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 263 (1 new).</span></span></div><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-33538286954418718012023-10-29T13:36:00.002-04:002023-10-29T13:36:18.415-04:00Personal Digest Saturday (but posted on Sunday!): October 21 – October 27<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday was my Halloween party! I got the house ready and had time for a leisurely breakfast before preparing my costume and putting out the labels for the various dishes. I managed to make my spiced apple cider without any boil-overs this year, didn't make too much of a mess filling the coolers, and everything went perfect with putting out food and preparing the house for guests. People started arriving close to 7 PM and we ended up having a total of 14 people (me, Kari, Dorian, Ben, Meghan, Adam, Dare, Jeaux, Michael, Rachael, Finch, Goose, Yasmin, and Arthur). People's costumes were great--I went as Pearl from <i>Steven Universe</i>. My candy corn fudge was a surprise hit and all the apple cider actually got consumed! We listened to music and hung out for a long time and the last person to leave (my friend Ben) helped me clean up the kitchen too. I got to bed about 3 AM.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday was a nice breather--slept late and lazed around a bit. I texted with some people about Halloween and did the remaining party dishes. Did laundry and took out the trash. And got a karaoke song recorded. I put my living room furniture back how it's supposed to go and did Polos for various people. Went to bed early.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I had no meetings and two letters, with some teaming discussions and meeting setup. After work I did my walks, set up an Ace Week event, did Polos, put away laundry, and played silly games. With lots of eating leftovers.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday work was a little slow so I got caught up on back-burner items. Had two meetings and some utility stuff. I worked on my webcomic since my ace event was planned for Friday and I needed it done early. Did my walking in between drawing, collected some info on asexual characters to talk about in my livestream, and reread some old blog entries.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I kept getting weird spam calls. I worked on crash data and taking screenshots of speed limits for my coworker. Got excited about new Steven Universe collection items that are mysteriously still coming out at Hot Topic. Cared for plants and talked to Meg. Talked to Tony before going out with Jeaux to eat at Mandola's and grocery shop. We watched some more of <i>Our Flag Means Death</i>, took a walk, and caught up on Colbert.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday we wrangled the utility stuff on our project trying to certify it. We had one marketing meeting, one debriefing, one consultant meeting. I bothered teaming partners about materials. Did some walking, worked on the livestream content, and finished coding for my webcomic. Finished and started reading a book.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday I had to go to the doctor before work and it took a lot longer than it should have (plus surprise blood work). I got back home and back to work to knock out project reports and bother people for documents. Worked on wrapping up my ace fiction list, and then after posting my comic and taking a nap, I did my Ace Week livestream for about 2 hours. Then I got my steps in and made some cupcakes for Ben's birthday (pumpkin spice with cream cheese frosting!) but I had a small disaster when I found out I didn't have any powdered sugar in the house (what??).</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><b><div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li>My book was recommended <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Asexual/comments/17dpk6v/asking_advice_for_a_mom/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">to a mom asking for advice about her ace daughter</a> in a Reddit thread.<br /></li><li>My book is on a <a href="https://www.blinkist.com/en/content/topics/sex-en" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">list of the best sex books</a> at Blinkist. I'm not sure what's going on with the cover they're using. I've never seen it before.<br /></li><li>My livestream was listed on the <a href="https://aceweek.org/events" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">events page at Ace Week</a>.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: Obviously eating leftovers from the party all week hasn't been the best for any goals I have here, haha! I am sure I'll see some improvement when I go back to better habits. It's no big deal. High weight: 123.7. Low weight: 121.7.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Protein has been very low this week since I'm eating party leftovers full of sugar and fat--but hey, pumpkin pie has pumpkin in it, right? Yeah, I did my best to still get some protein here and there but I wasn't hungry for much after eating snacky kinds of food a lot. Still consistently taking the vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,112 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 10,438 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: <i>Be Gay, Do Comics</i> by Matt Bors. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3625390542">Five-star review</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42115981-loveless" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Loveless</i></a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 23.</span></span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12824615" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"I Hate Myself For Loving You"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12824615"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/ihatemyselfforlovingyouss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><br /></div></span></div>
<div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
<a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0963/0963.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0963.jpg" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Webcomic </span><a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Issue 0963: "</span><a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0963/0963.html">Not My Business</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">." </span></div>
<br /><br /><div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtube.com/live/AfptdU20Suk" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Ace Week with Swankivy 2023 - Ace Characters in Fiction</a><span style="background-color: white;"> - We talked about some fictional asexual characters in books and TV.</span></span></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AfptdU20Suk?si=k34e32Ln_1Lez6uK" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/special-collections/halloween-albums/halloween-2023/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; font-family: verdana; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Halloween Album 2023</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">is out, so that has everything, but here are a selection of photos from the Halloween party.</span></div><div><p style="background-color: white;"><br /></p><table border="0" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6667px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/gingercookies.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/gingercookies-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pumpkinroll.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pumpkinroll-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/candycornfudge.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/candycornfudge-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ivypearl1-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ivypearl1-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ivypearl2-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ivypearl2-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/megadamdare.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/megadamdare-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jeauxpearl-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jeauxpearl-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/benwaldo-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/benwaldo-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pearlpearl.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pearlpearl-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/karishark.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/karishark-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/daredrforrester-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/daredrforrester-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/adammattfoley-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/adammattfoley-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yazplate.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yazplate-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yasminbusinessclown-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yasminbusinessclown-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yasminarthur-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yasminarthur-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/megrosequartz-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/megrosequartz-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sucostumes-rotated.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sucostumes-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pearlrose.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pearlrose-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests3.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests3-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests4.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests4-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests7.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests7-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests8.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><img border="0" loading="lazy" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/guests8-150x150.jpg" style="font-size: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; max-height: 2048px; max-width: 100%; word-spacing: inherit;" /></a></td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"> </td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"> </td><td align="center" style="font-size: 8pt;"> <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </b></div></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">YouTube subscribers: 5,443 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (lost 3), 675 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 191 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 71 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 849 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,865 for JulieSondra (8 new). Facebook: 299 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (1 new; became friends with Goose who came to my party), 648 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 245 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 2,434 (1 new). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 262 (no change).</span></span></div><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-27713222628229868212023-10-21T11:36:00.008-04:002023-10-29T13:31:50.184-04:00Personal Digest Saturday: October 14 – October 20<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I did some home repair stuff, put up Halloween decorations, wrote my webcomic and started drawing it, and updated website stuff to show my latest interview. Did my blogging, did my dishes, made some Polos, and chatted with friends.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I did my karaoke and my breakfast, then went out to meet my new friend Ben at the bookstore. We hung out, got coffee, later got Boba, and ended up at Five Guys nine hours later. Yeah, he's pretty cool. I'm glad to have a new friend and we had a lot of great chats, and we seem to have a lot in common. I hope he likes my other friends when he meets them at my party next week. When I finally got home I did laundry and took out the trash, and relaxed a bit.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday we had just one letter going out, and I had a meeting. I finished the webcomic and processed it (doing everything early because of the upcoming Halloween party). Practiced music, read, and updated recipes.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday was a day of meetings, data entry, and teaming invitations. I put away my laundry and organized my recipes and ingredients. Dealt with more of Mom's bills and had to renew her insurance policy on her car which seems stupid.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I dealt with the insurance some more, and worked on research at work. Jeaux took me to Beef O'Brady's and grocery shopping, where I got the last of my party stuff. We watched the first four episodes of the latest season of <i>Our Flag Means Death</i> (it's good!) and took our walk and caught up on Colbert. I meant to finish some other stuff after he left but I was too tired.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday I did more meetings and research. I made my animal cookies and did Polos, and I did pumpkin pies too. I met my friends for game night and had fun with them, and afterwards I made my cream cheese pumpkin roll.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday was more meetings, timesheet stuff, reports, traffic data, and teaming follow-ups. I made my cheesecake brownies and candy corn fudge. Then I decided to make muffins instead of waiting until the morning, so I also made banana muffins and pumpkin muffins. Managed to get the kitchen cleaned up and will be ready to set up for the party.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: A lot of delayed eating this week but hasn't affected anything. I seem to wait until really late at night to eat sometimes. That's probably not the smartest. High weight: 123.1. Low weight: 121.7.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Incorporated more vegetables into the diet this week but still an awful lot of just sandwiches and fake meat. I have had very good balance between carbs, fat, and protein this week too. Still consistently taking the vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,078 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 14,386 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: None.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52595105-be-gay-do-comics">Be Gay, Do Comics</a></i> by Matt Bors. I'm on page 246.</span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12812707" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Our Lips Are Sealed"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by the Go-Go's.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12812707"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/ourlipsaresealedss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><br /></div></span></div>
<div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
<a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0962/0962.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0962.jpg" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Webcomic </span><a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Issue 0962: "</span><a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0962/0962.html">Textbook Reaction</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">." </span></div>
<br /><br /><div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">None.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">None.</span></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </b></div></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">YouTube subscribers: 5,446 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (2 new), 675 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 191 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 71 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 851 for swankivy (no change), 3,857 for JulieSondra (no change). Facebook: 298 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 648 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (1 new), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 245 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 2,433 (2 new). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 262 (no change).</span></span></div><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-74743438459918521532023-10-14T22:59:00.004-04:002023-10-14T23:00:43.563-04:00Personal Digest Saturday: October 7 – October 13<span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span face="">Life news this week:</span></b><br />
</span><div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
</div><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><b style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><center><ul style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><li>Saturday I did some housecleaning and vacuuming before hopping on to talk to a podcast host. Then after an hour of that, I worked on my blog, texted with Ben, and played DDR. Also got annoyed at an art thief (not of my art). Finished processing my <i>Not-So-Giant Women</i> episode.<br /><br /></li><li>Sunday I had a leisurely morning during which I also did some mildly responsible stuff like paying bills and doing dishes. Sarah and David came over and we ate at Saki, and then hung out at my house for a while before they had to go home. Then I did my karaoke and my laundry and my trash. I took some photos of updated collections and watched a video I didn't like.<br /><br /></li><li>Monday I had three letters to get out again, and helped with some accounting stuff and teaming arrangements. Made some appointments, took a nap, put away laundry, and worked a little bit on a story.<br /><br /></li><li>Tuesday involved organizing, reports, and researching at work, along with four meetings. After work I mostly wasted time and played DDR.<br /><br /></li><li>Wednesday I did more teaming organizing, utility coordination, and reports. Talked to Tony outside when he came to do my lawn. Jeaux took me to Black Rock and then grocery shopping, where I spent a lot of money because I was buying stuff for my Halloween party. We got rained on during our walk. And we watched Colbert.<br /><br /></li><li>Thursday was more meetings, utility coordination, research, and administrative tasks. Argued with some people on the internet and met my friends for game night. Played DDR and texted with Ben.<br /><br /></li><li>Friday was meetings, reports, and research. Then I got my webcomic done and worked on the labels and ingredient lists for my Halloween party. Made a good to-do list.</li></ul></center></span></span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><p style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Interviews, Articles, Mentions:</b><br /><br /></p><ul style="font-weight: 400;"><li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/54j3M8j1hzOd4adieiCa7a" rel="nofollow" style="color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The Silencing of Asexuals</a>: The podcast <i>Flow</i> had me on as a guest. This recording has me and host Sheila Das chatting about conversations surrounding asexuality for about an hour.</li></ul></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span face=""><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><b>Health Plan Update:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="background-color: white;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weight stuff: I'm doing a lot of exercise and eating less but nothing has changed. Hmmm. High weight: 123.1. Low weight: 121.7.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nutrition stuff: Very good balance this week, but I have been very lax on eating veggies! Having a lot of fruit and yogurt though. Still consistently taking the vitamins.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Wednesday at 10,025 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,920 steps.</span></li></ul><div><span face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px;"><br /></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">Books Read: </b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;">
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Finished Reading: None.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Currently Reading: <i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52595105-be-gay-do-comics">Be Gay, Do Comics</a></i> by Matt Bors. I'm on page 150.</span></li></ul></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"></ul>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><b>New singing performances:</b></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">This week's karaoke song is </span><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12802769" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Hella Good"</a><span style="background-color: white;"> by No Doubt.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://share.singsnap.com/play/12802769"><img border="0" src="http://swankivy.com/listen/video/hellagoodss.jpg" /></a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Stuff drawn:</b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><br /></div></span></div>
<div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
<a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0961/0961.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://negativeone.swankivy.com/previews/pre0961.jpg" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Webcomic </span><a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/"><i>Negative One</i></a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Issue 0961: "</span><a href="http://negativeone.swankivy.com/issues9/0961/0961.html">What Strong People Do</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">." </span></div>
<br /><br /><div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;"><br /></b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="background-color: white;">Vid</b><b style="background-color: white;">eos Made:</b></div><div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Ed4PEQYov5E?si=FuvmM0t5su7WNMl8" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women Episode 65: Onion Friend</a><span style="background-color: white;"> is out. Join Daria and Ivy as they watch and talk about "Onion Friend" and cover such topics as Onion's birth video, Onion's snake, Onion's speech idiosyncrasies and whether Sour Cream can understand them, the confirmation of Onion's family relationships (and discussion of other familial relationships in Beach City), Vidalia's shotgun, Vidalia's permissive parenting, Onion's potato sculpture of Steven, Amethyst's feelings about being an inspiration to Vidalia, and how the show continued to keep the ongoing conflict still be felt in an episode that wasn't about that.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ed4PEQYov5E?si=LDnDP93BdQ43aHB1" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="">New photos:</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sakisarah.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://photos.swankivy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sakisarah.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></b></div><div><b style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Counts: </b></div></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">YouTube subscribers: 5,444 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (2 new), 675 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/juliesondra" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 17 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@vandv7244" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">v & V Vids</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 191 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@notsogiantwomen" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (1 new), 71 for </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@tidesoftimeband1400" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tides of Time Band</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). Twitter followers: 851 for swankivy (no change), 3,857 for JulieSondra (2 new). Facebook: 298 friends for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/swankivy" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">swankivy</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (1 new--finally became FB friends with Finch), 647 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juliesondra/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">JulieSondra</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 82 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/negativeonewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Negative One</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 245 likes for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soyouwritewebcomic/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">So You Write</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change), 97 followers for </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notsogiantwomen/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Not-So-Giant-Women</a><span style="background-color: white;"> (no change). </span><a href="http://swankivy.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 2,431 (lost 1). </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swankivy/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #40d2fd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: white;"> followers: 262 (lost 2).</span></span></div><br /></span></div></div></div>Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.com0