Personal Digest Saturday: December 24 – December 30

Life news this week: 

• Saturday was Christmas Eve, so I went to my mom's house and hung out with my family. Jeaux had rented a car to go see his family the next day, so he was able to drive me to Mom's and came with me to eat the dinner and share in the present extravaganza. My brother-in-law Mike talked to Jeaux about video games, I chatted with my mom and sister Lindsay, and then later my sister Patrica, brother-in-law Yusuke, and nephew Ash came home from a party. We ate some food on the good china, opened a bunch of presents, and ate a Yule Log cake I'd baked. It was a great day, plus I got the final figure in the mail to complete my Funko Pint Size Heroes Steven Universe collection. ;)
  
• Sunday was Christmas, so I went to my mom's again. I played with my nephew for a bunch of the morning--he can really tire you out. Then he went for a nap so Sister P and I chose a brownie recipe to make, made two-tone brownies, and played our ukuleles. Mike and Lindsay came over in the evening after dinner and we hung out some more and watched Ash play with toys. After the festivities, I had to go home and pack a suitcase, because . . .
  
• Monday I went out of town to Madeira Beach with my sister P, Yusuke, and Ash. Before we left I managed to get some karaoke and ukulele recording done, and then we stopped in to have lunch with my grandpa, visited my grandma in the home, and went on to our vacation destination. It was a cute two-bedroom beach house and my sister and I headed on out to buy groceries after we got settled. We cooked dinner together--pasta--and also made a raspberry coffee cake and an egg frittata. I played hide-and-seek with Ash.
  
• Tuesday I was using a vacation day to hang out at the beach with my family. We had breakfast together, went to the beach and played in the sand (and I finished reading a manga!), and had some people over (friends of my sister and brother-in-law). We ate some delicious food and I did some computer stuff while hanging out with them, and then when everyone either went to nap or go to the beach, I stayed behind and did some drawing and alone time. Later everyone came back and we had some light dinner. I watched some cartoons with my nephew and Patricia and I played ukulele again. So fun!
  
• Wednesday we left the beach house. It was a nice little morning together but I was ready to be home. I unpacked and chilled for a couple hours until Jeaux Day. Then Jeaux and I walked over to McAlister's Deli and I had a great grilled cheese sandwich with tomato. We watched some more episodes of People of Earth, and after he left I doodled fan comics.
  
• Thursday I caught up on some graphics projects at work, caught up on vacation stuff at home, and chatted to Victor on the phone while drawing my webcomic.
  
• Friday I worked early and ended up by myself in the office for some of the day. I did some more graphics work, did some more file organization, and went to the grocery store on the way home. I processed my comic, cleaned up the clutter in my house, washed dishes, and made a new video for my writing channel.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Eyeshield 21: Volume 26 by Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata. Five-star review.
• Currently reading: The Here and Now by Ann Brashares.

New singing performances:

This week's performance was "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper.(Maybe bad quality because I did it on a different computer.)



New drawings: 

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0607: "The Beginning of the End."






New videos:

My latest writing video is about writing fanfiction, with some perspectives and discussions.


My latest unlisted ukulele video is "I Think I Need a Little Change" from Steven Universe.


New photos:

Oh boy.

CHRISTMAS EVE:

Christmas tree selfie	Dog selfie	Uncle Mike plays with Ash
Table set with china!	Family choosing gifts to open.	Making progress on opening.
Jeaux got a gift!	Aunt Lindsay enjoys Ash.	Ash IS a present.
Keychain I bought L.	Stylish sister P.	Candid except for the dog.

CHRISTMAS DAY:

Ash got a BIG coloring book.	Upside-down boy!	Mommy P in the tracks.
Knitting turns you into THIS.	Glowing car visits Ash's foot!	Amazing tracks!
Mom with daughter & son-in-law.	Ash's first Pop Rocks!	Gift from Sister L!

And the beach mini-vacation: 

Ice cream after mac n' cheese.	Raspberry coffee cake!	Contemplative morning kid.
Sandy truck kid!	Beach nerd.	Playing with his dorky aunt.
Beach family.	Ash was a tad afraid of the water.	Bet he was tired of taking pics.

And I'd like to introduce you to the cutest raspberry devourer ever.

 
Social Media counts:
 
YouTube subscribers: 5,317 for swankivy (lost 3), 617 for JulieSondra (no change). Twitter followers: 862 for swankivy (no change), 1,328 for JulieSondra (3 new). Facebook: 294 friends (1 new, friended Pearl to do toy trades) and 208 followers (2 new) for swankivy, 646 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 55 likes for Negative One (no change), 127 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,491 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 100 (1 new).

Wednesday Factoid: Medication

Today's Wednesday Factoid is: Do you take any regular medication? What medication do you take when and if you do need to?

Well that's a rather personal question, isn't it survey?

Hah. Well, my answer's pretty boring. I don't take any regular medication. When I do what I'm supposed to, I do take vitamins, but those don't count.

Usually if I want to ease a headache or other pain, I like Advil. Occasionally I need a sinus headache medicine (and usually use the Sudafed brand) but I haven't needed that in a long time for some reason. I don't have any other medicines except for, like, skin creams if needed.

I'm very lucky to not require such things. For a time I was taking an anti-inflammatory medicine that was helping with some weird hip pain, but it lessened and I was told the medicine isn't good to take long-term if you want your kidney function to be preserved later in life, so I stopped taking it and I'm okay.

Also, can I consider my morning coffee medication? ;)

Holiday gifts for 2016!

I did a bunch of holiday shopping and MOST of my gifts got to my friends and family on time. My friend R's gift wouldn't have reached Australia in time even if I'd had it in hand when I started sending out gifts, but on top of that one of the items I ordered was delayed, so I won't be able to send that until later. Then my friend Heather's present turned out to be coming from Italy (which I didn't notice), so that didn't get to me yet, and my friend Meghan's family's package needed to be sent out without one of the gifts in it because her daughter Katelyn's second present wasn't in yet. I told them I'd send it separately. :P

But!! I got a bunch of cool stuff myself and now that the gift-giving extravaganza is over, I'll show it all off!

My corporate office gave me a gift card.

Daddy gave me a gift card.
I got him a conversation card game and his partner Connie got a set of paw print bags.

Jeaux gave me a Cookie Cat hat and Steven Universe gloves.
I got him two Steven Universe shirts and a candy bar.

My boss got me a restaurant gift card.

Ronni got me a how-to art book and the Hamilton soundtrack.
I got her Disney pants, a Disney purse, and a Disney mug.

Mike gave me a science book by Richard Dawkins and a CD by Phil Collins.
I got him a shirt, a pin, and a Steven Universe toy.

R. got me some CDs, some candy, a shirt, and a cool keychain.
I can't disclose R's present because it hasn't been sent yet. :)

Kari got me a hand-made ornament with one of my characters on it and a sad waffle pendant.
I got her some fox socks.

Sister L got me a Cookie Cat mug.
I got her and her husband a fun card game and each of them got a silly keychain.

Sister P and her husband got me a votive holder, socks, hair ties, blank journals, and a gift certificate.
I got them potato and veggie spices, and got their son a TMBG DVD and some racing tracks.

Mommy got me a set of Prismacolors pencils and a donation to St. Jude's (not shown).
I got her a heating pad and an Andy Griffith calendar.

Not shown is also the gift certificate Meggie got me. I got her family a bunch of stuff: Meggie got an Eduardo charm from Foster's and Funko Pop toys of Wonder Woman and Rey; her husband Brendon got an Attack on Titan toy; her daughter got a shirt and another thing I'm not telling yet because I still have to send it; and her son got Power Rangers toys and an Iron Man hat.

I also gave my grandpa a jelly/jam set and my grandma a music notes blanket. I got my friend Libby some Avatar graphic novels, and my friend Joy got a keychain, and my friend Eric got a graphic novel, and I got my friend Sarah a set of cat lady socks and a bunch of office supplies, and I got my friend Paul a sticker and a Steven Universe figure, and I got my friend Fred a tea infuser, and my friends Cara and Jessie might not have gotten theirs yet. :o Oh and I didn't exchange gifts with Victor yet so no telling. :)
 

Personal Digest Saturday: December 17 – December 23

Life news this week: 

• ANOTHER BUSY AND EVENTFUL WEEK HAS BEEN HAD
  
• Saturday was nuts. I knocked out blogging and cake-making in the daytime, and then Eric came and got me in the evening to go to Drink and Draw. It was a special event in St. Petersburg because our usual place couldn't host us that day. We had a great time and I drew comics and fan art. Got to see Joy and a few others, too!
  
• Sunday I got up super early and saw Eric out (he slept over), and then I finished up some cake stuff, washed dishes, and got ready to go to Sarasota with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. We had a GREAT time going out to see Dad, Connie, Grandma, and Grandpa. We had some Panera food, visited Grandma at the home, did some presents, hung out at Dad's for a while, and went back to my mom's for dinner (stir-fry) and Ash's birthday cake (a couple days early). I made strawberry cake and my sister put trains on it! It was truly an excellent day!
  
• Monday I sent some packages, started applying to jobs online, and began some packing at work. Cleaning out my desk is crappy. :( After work I was an extreme nerd and bought toys at GameStop, but I got one of the blind bag toys I wanted! I spent a bunch of the evening setting up nerdy trades with other nerds online. Wow I've got it bad. Also did some ukulele practice.
  
• Tuesday I did a decent amount of purging at the office, attended our office's farewell lunch at GrillSmith, recorded a ukulele song, and applied for some more jobs.
  
• Wednesday I went to work early. I sent some packages, applied for some jobs, did more file purgings at work, and met Jeaux to eat at WOW Burger. We also went to the comic book store and I got my new issue of the Steven Universe 2016 Special #1. I'm so happy about it. We watched an episode of the show People of Earth and listened to Night Vale, and we exchanged gifts! I gave him two Steven Universe shirts and candy, and he gave me a Cookie Cat hat and Steven Universe gloves. Wow we're nerds. After he left I made a video.
  
• Thursday I just worked on box purges some more, and after work I talked to Victor on the phone and it was a really good talk! I got a bunch of webcomics drawn as well.
  
• Friday I processed a BUNCH of old stuff at work--I'm sorting boxes and files into recycle, review, or keep piles for my boss. After, I went grocery shopping for a few li'l things, got some fun mail, and went home. I posted both of my webcomics and talked to Meggie on the phone while redecorating for Yuletide, and then afterwards I made a Yule Log Cake. (It turned out ugly but it will still taste good.)

New reviews of my book:

• Athena wrote the book up on Maquina Lectora.

Interviews, Features, Mentions:

• Newp.

Reading progress:

• Finished this week: Steven Universe 2016 Special #1 by Rebecca Sugar and Ayme Sotuyo. (This is a short comic book.) Five-star review.
• Currently reading: Eyeshield 21: Volume 26 by Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata.

New singing performances:

This week's performance was "Run to You" by Whitney Houston.



New drawings: 

Pearl doodle I did for one of the people I traded toys with online.

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0606: "Not Here to Ask."

Webcomic So You Write Issue 67: "The Hard Part."








New videos:

My latest asexuality video is "Letters to an Asexual #42" which is about asexuality tropes in fiction.



My latest unlisted ukulele video is "All of Me" by John Legend.



New photos:

Got a lot of photos this week because Ash is kind of an irresistible nugget of nephew.

Dad with his dog, Honey, who gets emotional when she's held!

Ash likes these fake grapes. He likes real ones too.

Grandpa demonstrates to Ash how to use his new golf club set.

Ash really gets the hang of golfing!

Ash receives an Elmo. Look at how lovingly his parents gaze on. :D

The Elmo chase is on!

Jumping Child has tons of energy.

The strawberry birthday cake I made for my nephew's third birthday!

Ash prepares for cake.

Train cake toppers are definitely  more exciting than cake.

Special party guests Elmo and Elmo.

Farewell lunch for the DKS team. :(

Jeaux's holiday gift for me was a Cookie Cat hat
and Steven Universe gloves!

Social Media counts:
 
YouTube subscribers: 5,320 for swankivy (lost 7), 617 for JulieSondra (2 new). Twitter followers: 862 for swankivy (lost 1), 1,325 for JulieSondra (3 new). Facebook: 293 friends (no change) and 206 followers (1 new) for swankivy, 645 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 55 likes for Negative One (lost 2), 127 likes for So You Write (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,492 (1 new). Instagram followers: 99 (1 new).