Personal Digest Saturday - January 17 – January 23

Life news this week:

• Saturday I woke up in our vacation house and it was my birthday! I spent a nice morning hanging out in pajamas with my friends drinking coffee and having a leisurely breakfast. I messed around on the computer working on my blogging and photo sorting while the kids played video games and acted like weirdos, and Jeaux and I took a brief walk but my foot was bothering me. We then got ready to go to a botanical gardens place and checked out all the cool plants. Afterwards I was tired so I took a pretty long nap. When we got up it was time for my birthday dinner--grilled cheese sandwiches and soup and salad!--so I grilled the sandwiches while Fred and Kathy helped me by assembling them and taking everyone's orders. We ended up having a lovely dinner, though everyone kinda ate it in stages. Then later we made the mug cakes I'd chosen for my birthday cake--four varieties of quick cakes you can make in a coffee mug! I had the coffee kind and Adam saved us from having to go to the store by happening to have a bunch of salt packets in his bag. (I really hadn't thought the house would not have salt! They had a salt shaker but it was empty.) Later we played games and chilled and then it was bedtime. I read a little before sleeping. Great birthday.
  
  
• Sunday we repeated our morning hangout and even though it wasn't Meghan's actual birthday, we were basically celebrating it that day since we had to go home the next day. I still did my aerobics even though I was on vacation. We messed around chatting and watching part of a movie, and then we went to our late lunch reservation at Kobé, Meghan's choice for her birthday dinner. I got some tofu and vegetables and it was delicious. We also celebrated Dare's birthday even though theirs was much earlier in the month. So all three of us got silly hats and a song and a cupcake. I had to take my leftovers home. Later I took a walk with Jeaux and Dare, and then we watched the rest of the movie, acted silly, and ate the beautiful bakery cake Meghan wanted for her fiftieth birthday. We had ice cream too. And then more silly games, and we stayed up talking before finally we went to bed.
  
  
• Monday we had to clear out of the house. I was theoretically working even though most people have this day as a holiday, so I logged in and answered some e-mails while having coffee and breakfast and packing up my stuff. We got out of the house well before we had to and had some time to sit and chat and say our goodbyes. Then everyone went back home--Jeaux drove me. He fixed my DDR pad before he left. I jumped back on at work and we had a pretty slow day but I was there and got a proposal outlined. I also unpacked all my suitcases. I did a Polo for my sister and took a nap. Took some time to read. Kari had asked to take me out for a birthday dinner so I took her up on it and she treated me to Joe's Diner, where I had a waffle. And I opened her present, which was a cute handmade figure of my character Weaver. We didn't get much time to hang out because she had to go home and cook for her wife, haha, so I spent the evening just working on my book and cleaning up some digital stuff that needed it from while I was away. I also jumped back into the photo project and did some voice-over auditions.
  
  
• Tuesday was busy at work, but not as busy as I expected because we decided against turning in one of the three letters we'd planned, so I only had to proofread and submit two of them. I took a nap after work, did DDR, ate my restaurant leftovers, and sent a Polo to Steve. Did some more voice-over auditions, edited my book and finally got it under 130,000 words, and read old journals for the photo project.
  
  
• Wednesday I had to start the day with my early foot therapy appointment. I got my own giant rubber band to use for exercises at home. Then I went to work. I went on a quest to try to buy some Mexican and Colombian Steven Universe merchandise through a proxy. Then I did a Polo, submitted a query, took a nap, cleaned up the house a bit, put away laundry, organized photos, read some of a book, and read my journal. Went to Vallarta's with Jeaux, where I had my first ever horchata, and after grocery shopping, I got to try the grasshopper cake Jeaux made me for my birthday! (It's chocolate with mint frosting.) We did our usual reading silly stuff to each other. After he left I edited some of my book.
  
  
• Thursday I had work. Other than that, I worked on my book and published my birthday vacation photo album. I found out my attempt to buy Latin American merchandise the day before did not work, so I went on another quest (an even more in-depth one) to find a way to get these items and it literally took me like two hours of research, setup, and getting my card rejected because it looked sketchy to finally complete the transaction I wanted. The stuff I bought should be delivered to a warehouse in Mexico that can ship it to me. I'll see how this goes and if it works out okay I'll try it with the Colombian stuff I wanted. So many setbacks though! Wow. I got my webcomic written and practiced some band songs, did some DDR, submitted a short story, and went to Game Night with friends. Managed to get some comic frames drawn while hanging out. Did my foot therapy exercises and read some of my journals for the photo project.
  
  
• Friday I was up early for therapy again. Still don't know how much my foot is improving but I'll keep at it. At work, I sent some teaming invites and worked on upcoming project reports. I drew my comic pretty early, read some of the book I'm reading, cleaned up the house a little, and posted the comic. Watched my sister's Polo while cleaning up. Put some of my collectible backpacks on a hanger that goes over my door so I could clean out space on a shelf that I need for blankets. Kari came over and tried my birthday cake. We hung out and chatted a while. After she left I got my steps in and read some more of the book I'm reading. I got some interest from a publisher on one of my short stories so we'll see where it goes.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week. I only met my protein goals three times out of seven days, but considering how much of my week was laden with birthday cake and special restaurant meals, I'm surprised I was able to meet my goals any of the days! Still taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or DDR every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Friday at 10,093 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 12,616 steps. And according to my Fitbit, my low day was 11,453 steps and my high day was 17,451 steps. Still sometimes a good 5,000 steps' difference and it irritates me.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm on page 255.

New singing performances:

"Pity the Child" from Chess.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:

   

#1080: adele #263: find your own solution.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

There's a new birthday vacation album up, but here are a few favorites.

Breakfast and coffee with nerds.

Ryan and Katelyn being cute at the botanical gardens.

Fred and Kathy being cute on the same bench.

Ryan is cheesin' with grilled cheese.

Mug cakes:

Dare's fancy drink at the restaurant

Fred's fancy drink at the restaurant

Birthday cupcakes at Kobé

Meghan's cake:

Games with friends

My first horchata

My grasshopper cake by Jeaux:

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,436 for swankivy (1 new), 677 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 750 for swankivy (no change), 3,401 for JulieSondra (lost 3). Facebook: 290 friends for swankivy (lost 1! Who de-friended me??), 628 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 80 followers for Negative One (no change), 245 followers for So You Write (no change), 103 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,415 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 297 (no change). Threads followers: 84 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 436 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: August 16 – August 22

Life news this week:

• Saturday was going-home day. Jeaux and I hung out with Dad and Connie at the vacation house for a while (and saw Dad's friend Jimmy when he dropped by, too), and then we packed our stuff and got ready to go back to Tampa. My dad also managed to win ONE game of ping-pong against me and got to go home happy. When we got home I watered my plants (they survived my absence!) and spent the night unpacking and settling back in. Did my blogging and read some of the scripts I owe voice over lines on. Sent a Polo to Meg and edited my book. Fell asleep early.
  
  
• Sunday I finished a book edit I didn't get through the previous night and re-processed some stuff I lost when my computer restarted during the night. I did some laundry that built up during my trip, did some DDR, and recorded voice over for two projects. Opened a package of cute toys that came while I was out of town. Put out my recycling.
  
  
• Monday we didn't have any letters due at work so there were no deadlines to meet. I went to a meeting and updated some files. Reached out to a couple directors on projects I'm providing voice work on to ask some questions about the lines. They both got back to me quickly so I started working on the recordings, which were both challenging because on one I had to voice a five-year-old child and on the other I had to sing. After work I had a nap, sent another Polo to Meg, and worked on my book.
  
  
• Tuesday I did project research at work. Then I recorded some more for the role where I have singing. I did my DDR and lots of laundry. Got a bad headache for no apparent reason and tried to sleep it off but my neighbors were being loud again. After both the noise and the headache waned I got the rest of the voice work done and finished up some editing.
  
  
• Wednesday I did more project research. Put away some stuff and did Polos. Listened to a reaction someone posted about that KPop Demon Hunter movie and got caught up in watching people react to the crazy vocals. Sent in final edits on the content of the intro I'm doing for the aromantic stories book. Jeaux came over and we ate at Benjarong Thai. We did our grocery shopping and did our usual silly hangout.
  
  
• Thursday I had a meeting and some project organization at work. Then I did some editing on my book and wrote my webcomic. Did my DDR and watched more reactions. Recorded a partial cover of one of the songs to impress my friends. People are cute. Played games with friends at Game Night and then sent a Polo to Steve while getting my steps. (Somehow fell short and didn't notice! Dammit.)
  
  
• Friday I dealt with timesheets and reports at work. Took a short nap after work and then watched more reactions while drawing my comic. Had a lot of steps left to get after I was done with the comic so I did some reading while walking. Also submitted a query letter.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I didn't get any numbers this week, so dunno.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: I ate up some of the leftovers I had from the beach house vacation, so the balance was a little weird and my protein was down every damn day, but I still got my fruits and veggies every day! I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or play my dance game every other day. I missed my walking goal one day by less than 200 steps (how did I not notice I didn't quite get there?? weird!), but every other day this week I made it. My low day was Thursday at 9,820 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 13,010 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I'm on page 156.

New singing performances:

None.

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1058: weaver #166: in their service.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,460 for swankivy (1 new), 684 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 768 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,474 for JulieSondra (lost 6). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 628 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 249 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,414 (no change). Instagram followers: 285 (no change). Threads followers: 80 (2 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 386 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday: August 9 – August 15

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got up before everyone again and woke my sister up with coffee. We chilled a bit before we had to get ready to go to her friend Amber's place. We picked up Amber at her mom's and took her back to her place, where we set up some food. We originally planned to go swimming but the weather didn't cooperate, so we just hung out along with some of Amber's friends and had a nice time watching Patricia's dog and Amber's dog interact and chatting and nibbling. Nice afternoon! I also managed to draw all of my comic while sitting around--I had to get it done early because of vacation stuff. We drove home, mostly missing the rain, and then Patricia encouraged me in a coach-like fashion while I packed my suitcase for our out-of-town trip. (I hate packing.) Patricia made some dinner and we ate together with Yusuke and Ash, and then I did my blogging and edited a chapter of my book. I tried to do some digital "packing" too but I got too tired.
  
  
• Sunday we had time for coffee, a walk, DDR, and final preparations before leaving for our vacation house. There was a lot to do to get ourselves and the house ready but we got through it. We had a pleasant ride to Lido Key and our dad ordered pizza for us. We got to the vacation house and it was a nice little spot. We didn't do anything but hang out and talk and mostly discuss dog-related things.
  
  
• Monday I had to work even though I was at the vacation house, and Mondays are pretty busy, plus my computer at work was not behaving again (nothing to do with my different setup while on vacation), and then on top of that our Wi-Fi went out at the house for a short time. I still managed to edit a couple letters and turn them in for the office and did some research for projects. I got a little nap in at the end of the day. Everyone else enjoyed the beach and swimming. Then I went to the store with my sister so we could stock the house up with what we needed for the week, and we also bought some breakfast-for-dinner ingredients. Then we went out for dinner and I had a yummy veggie burger and some strawberry lemonade. At the beach house again we played a game called Mind the Gap which is calibrated for generational trivia but we struggled with it a lot even though it was also fun.
  
  
• Tuesday I mostly worked on project research during the day, though coffee with my sister was nice in the morning. I also got some timesheet data entered. I got some walking in and did my exercise. My sister and her husband and son went to the beach while I was working. They got me some boba. Nice! I washed some towels since we were going through them fast with all the swimming and beaching. Then we made breakfast for dinner (with three cooks in the kitchen, but we managed), coming up with pancakes, biscuits, sautéed mushrooms, fruit, hash browns, and eggs. We fed everyone and it was satisfactory! Then Yusuke, Dad, and I took a walk to the beach for the sunset. I walked with my sister to walk the dog that night and we saw bunnies. Then I worked on some writing and editing late at night.
  
  
• Wednesday I got up a little later than usual but still earlier than the rest of the house. I was around at work but also worked through some edits on the introduction that I wrote for the upcoming aromantic stories book. Also sent in my bio for the book. Chatted with family here and there and had an afternoon meeting for an upcoming project. I did a little walking and a little project research. Then Jeaux dropped in on us in the afternoon and I fed him cold pizza (one of his favorites). I finished up at work and my dad wanted to play ping-pong so I beat his butt real bad, and then Jeaux and Yusuke each took a turn getting beaten by me. Haha. I was undefeated. I'm not great at ping-pong but I like it. That night we went to the Columbia and I had eggplant and too much sangria. We walked home and played Cards Against Humanity (same game group; Connie and Ash didn't want to play) and my dad laughed until he was red a couple times. We had ice cream and it was great.
  
  
• Thursday there wasn't much going on at work and I kept getting distracted by family things so I will probably have to put that I had the day off. I got dressed for the pool finally and did some laps. Jeaux swam with me. After I got out and got ready for the day, I did some processing on my webcomic so I'd be ready the next day. Then I made some tofu and we all ate burritos with beans and cheese and stuff. My dad, Yusuke, Patricia, and Ash went to this cool arcade while Jeaux and I stayed behind, but then my dad tempted me with a photo of a DDR machine and we followed them. We played some games and I did play DDR (so did Jeaux!) and we got some old-school gaming in. The rest of the family left before we did and we ended up meeting them on the beach. We wandered around and watched the sunset. Then it was a little late for dinner so we had to squeak in a Chinese food order, which worked out great. I beat my dad at ping-pong again while we waited.
  
  
• Friday I spent the morning with my family while my sister's family packed up to go back to San Francisco. We had our last Together Coffee. I worked on reports at work while hanging out with them, and saw them off when they had to leave in the afternoon. House seems empty without them! Then after I finished my reports toward the end of the work day and wrapped up some stuff, Jeaux and I went to a mall but it wasn't a very good place to walk and most of the stores weren't active, so we shopped at Five Below instead. We came back and Dad took us out to a place called Boca where I had excellent gnocchi. And at the beach house again we all just hung out while I did my webcomic and Jeaux played a game Patricia got him addicted to. Then we took a walk, came back, and had ice cream while watching a reaction video. I got too tired and we had to stop it.

Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

• The Soul Index's Books on Asexuality list includes my book in its recommendation list.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Didn't get on the scale while out of town on vacation! Lots of big meals with family and restaurant stuff, so I'm expecting some higher numbers in the next week, which I am OK with.
  
  
• Nutrition stuff: Protein was low and fat and carbs were high this whole week since I was on vacation. I did still manage to get my fruits and vegetables in, though. I am still regularly taking vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do aerobics or play my dance game every other day (and even got some swimming in one day this week!). I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,101 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 17,489 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I'm on page 104.

New singing performances:

None.

Stuff drawn:

 

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One: #1057: adele #260: the official story.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

I have an online album for this vacation now, but here are the faves:

Amber's dog and Patricia's dog are getting pets

Amber's dog and Patricia's dog are getting pets

The family with pizza at the beach house

Patricia warms up her pizza while Jeaux likes it cold and thinks she's a heathen

The tub here is giant

I made the perfect pancake!

Breakfast for dinner.

Patricia likes to track how people like their eggs, but we were in agreement

Sunset Selfie

Lido Key sunset

Dad points at the sunset in case we didn't see it

Patricia added a countering message to the wine culture décor

I had sangria at dinner.

Dad laughs a lot when he gets funny cards in Cards Against Humanity.

At the arcade, Jeaux played pinball.

The family found a game to play together!

Jeaux tried the DDR game.

Nice time on the beach.

There was a rainbow!

Ash made a shoe out of sand.

Ash made a shoe out of sand.

Yusuke had a nice beach walk toward sunset.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,459 for swankivy (3 new), 684 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 769 for swankivy (no change), 3,480 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 291 friends for swankivy (no change), 629 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 81 followers for Negative One (no change), 249 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,414 (no change). Instagram followers: 285 (2 more). Threads followers: 78 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 385 (no change).