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Entry tags:
Life: Birthdays, Driving, Pokemon, and SPRINGTIME!!!
Hello, dreamwidth!
I was going to write a big entry last week summarizing my trip to Boston but I just, didn't feel like doing that! I had a super great time and saw ALMOST every friend I planned on (Dani, Cassie, June, but no Eric due to weather) and really enjoyed the volunteer thing Yrin and I did most of the day on Sunday, but I'd just... Talked about it enough directly to friends that I didn't feel like rehashing it.
Which is fine, I guess. I've honestly been in such a great mood ever since last Friday and so mostly, I want to talk about that.
My good mood mostly has to do with the weather and biking and starting to play pokemon go again, but there are a couple other things I wanted to mention which aren't directly related.
Driving: I had my last professional driving lesson, which takes the form of an evaluation, last Friday. I did not think the timing of this through very well; I was just really bummed out and stressed that entire week after coming back from such a good time in Boston and the end of my work week is often a time when I feel drained and overstimulated. Add to that the fact that I miscalculated when I'd get home and instead of an hour of free time was left with only fifteen minutes, so I didn't EAT anything for six hours before my evaluation... And you have a me who was not in a really great frame of mind.
But despite fritzing the everloving fuck out, I got a 91% on the driving school's practical test so like, KISS MY ASS, PANIC ATTACK. But also I totally cried in front of the instructor when I was done and made him feel bad, lol.
I need to practice parking with dad's car just to figure out the frame of reference with his car rather than the driving school one but once I do that, I should be set to take the test and I should be competent enough to pass! I will, after five million years, be a licensed driving adult.
Family: Or more specifically, mom's birthday. Mom's birthday is actually March 25th, but since I was still traveling back from Boston then we made plans to celebrate this past Sunday. Historically I have always made my mother gifts for birthdays because I was a poor student and then just a poor adult but this year I bought my mother a bunch of loose leaf tea and cute little metal tea tins to put the loose leaf tea in and I was very satisfied to like, Get Mom A Nice Present.
We met at my house around 11am before going to downtown Bethesda to visit a little French bakery there. We bought macarons for me and sis and a cute tiny cake for mom before proceeding to the next order of business for mom birthday adventure: ordering pupusas from the pupusaria and deli near mom's house.
After obtaining sweets and lunch we returned to mom's to eat delicious things with my sister and give mom her present. We were GOING to go to the art gallery in Frederick but mom felt too full after lunch and the gallery is only open until 5pm, so sis and I let her take a nap and wandered off to the park to play pokemon go. We will come back to that. My sister has only been a licensed driving adult for about a month now and she has been taking full advantage of her new ability to drive off to play pokemon go every day, lol.
After mom rested and we returned from our small park outing, we headed to a Persian restaurant in Frederick for birthday dinner, which was quite nice. We came back to the house, had our birthday desserts, and relaxed a few hours more before heading to sleep.
(And then in the morning mom and I went to get allergy shots near my house and there was a HORRIBLE wreck on 270 which turned a ~45 minute drive into a ~90 minute drive, but that is less important.)
Self Care: That's what we're gonna label this catch-all section where I ramble for hundreds of words about how I feel really remarkably good lately, somehow!
It's funny because Friday evening a week ago was just, such a gross time, I did well on my driving evaluation but I cried so much just because that is how my body chooses to relieve emotional pressure. So I had no energy and just kind of laid around on my face watching TV, but then I woke up Saturday morning feeling Incredibly Energized And Ready To Do Things!!
I cleaned my entire kitchen. It was an on and off process because I also cooked a bunch and had Ciry come to visit, but. I threw away all the garbage on the counters, cleared off their contents to wipe all of them down and scrub away stains, then returned and organized their contents. I scrubbed the stovetop. I swept and mopped the floor. I cleared off most of the dining room table and living room coffee table and organized those areas.
And I cooked banana bread pudding, beef stew, and salmon for Ciry and myself for lunch. In between all of that, Ciry and I went on a nice long walk to the lake since the weather was GORGEOUS, and sat by the water talking about fandom and life and General Mental Health Shit and it was just, such a nice time. I'm really glad she was able to visit!
It was such a weird but nice day because I haven't had THAT MUCH ENERGY to do things in... Ages. Part of it was probably the catharsis of crying all over myself. Part the good weather. Part just... A general shift in the tides of the universe, kinda thing, I'm allowed to chalk things up to the unknowable forces of nature.
Next subject: pokemon go. My sister has been bullying me to reinstall it for ages and ages, if not to play it myself then for the purpose of trading her my lapras because after two and a half years she STILL doesn't have one. I'd convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to get into my old account, and I didn't want to start over, and I'd played so much and burnt out that it wouldn't be fun even if I could continue with my existing account, and in that way tricked myself out of reinstalling the game. Until Sunday. I think I just... Wanted to have a nice day with my mom and my sister and was in a really good mood, so I just. Downloaded the game. At the park itself, using up our data, and everything.
And it was suuuuuper fun to just run around the different areas catching stuff and dropping into gyms my sister kicked over, and she was SO DELIGHTED the entire time. She genuinely kept saying "this is the best thing ever!!" and while it was at least a LITTLE hyperbolic, she's always just wanted to play pokego with other people, I think. So it genuinely made her really happy to play together even if all we were doing was catching swablu and staking out the park gyms.
And now I'm trapped playing pokemon go again.
You have to understand, I was a menace. I played every day. When the game came out I downloaded the APK file so I could install the app ~12 hours earlier than the rest of my country. I would ride my bike for four or five hours at the height of summer, in temperatures over a hundred, just catching pokemon and fighting gyms and literally being a cyclist NPC in a videogame. It was a magical, wonderful summer where for that brief period EVERYONE you encountered at the lake near my house was playing pokego. Everyone was talking about pokego. When a rare spawn appeared the people around you would yell and give you directions so you could catch it. IT WAS SUCH A GOOD TIME.
I burnt out on the game because I did go SUPER HARD and just ran out of things to do. I caught just about all the pokemon that could be obtained easily in the US, raids didn't exist and legendaries hadn't been added yet, there wasn't field research or daily streaks or first catch bonuses and the old gym system was ABYSMAL. So I stopped feeling like playing really had a purpose, and then I stopped playing.
I'm genuinely really happy to say that the game, with all of the changes that have been made in the past two years, is genuinely super fun now. I have stuff to do! New things to catch! The gym system is enjoyable! I'm going to turn out for community day! (apparently this month's is 4/13 which coincidentally is the sakura matsuri in DC so I can't wait to go to the cherry blossom festival and catch five million bagon; I invited my sister to come with me) I'm so happy to play again.
Which means I'm walking a lot again. I popped out of my house at ~9:30pm on Monday and Tuesday to drop into gyms, I have played on my commute to and from work every day this week (my bus is sooooo slooooow that it's genuinely really doable to drop into gyms and catch lots of stuff and even spin a decent number of pokestops from the bus) and I've been getting to bed early. Not even THAT early, only maybe half an hour or so earlier than my average, but I think between the little bit of extra sleep and all the exercise, I've been waking up feeling Super Good And Well Rested.
It's weird. I'm so happy and energetic today and IT'S WEIRD. I know that exercise makes a world of difference to my mood but EVEN SO it's wild to see that so obviously take effect?? Yesterday I rode my bike on and off for an hour and a half after work and I'm sure that's why my mood is SO GOOD today.
Thank you pokemon and endorphins for my life, you make everything better.
I'm sure I'll chill out again with pokemon sooner or later but I hope this lasts for a while. It's... Really staggering to have this sense of QUITE HOW DIFFERENT I feel now versus how I've felt for the past... Roughly four months. Please I want to hold onto this.
And anyway, that's how I'm doing. It's so nice to write an actual happy entry that doesn't need to end with a passage where I talk myself up! I love! Pokemon!! I have loved pokemon for TWENTY TWO GOD DAMN YEARS OF MY LIFE and I'm super pumped for sword and shield, too. I hope they never stop making pokemon games. I hope I truly am here forever.
I was going to write a big entry last week summarizing my trip to Boston but I just, didn't feel like doing that! I had a super great time and saw ALMOST every friend I planned on (Dani, Cassie, June, but no Eric due to weather) and really enjoyed the volunteer thing Yrin and I did most of the day on Sunday, but I'd just... Talked about it enough directly to friends that I didn't feel like rehashing it.
Which is fine, I guess. I've honestly been in such a great mood ever since last Friday and so mostly, I want to talk about that.
My good mood mostly has to do with the weather and biking and starting to play pokemon go again, but there are a couple other things I wanted to mention which aren't directly related.
Driving: I had my last professional driving lesson, which takes the form of an evaluation, last Friday. I did not think the timing of this through very well; I was just really bummed out and stressed that entire week after coming back from such a good time in Boston and the end of my work week is often a time when I feel drained and overstimulated. Add to that the fact that I miscalculated when I'd get home and instead of an hour of free time was left with only fifteen minutes, so I didn't EAT anything for six hours before my evaluation... And you have a me who was not in a really great frame of mind.
But despite fritzing the everloving fuck out, I got a 91% on the driving school's practical test so like, KISS MY ASS, PANIC ATTACK. But also I totally cried in front of the instructor when I was done and made him feel bad, lol.
I need to practice parking with dad's car just to figure out the frame of reference with his car rather than the driving school one but once I do that, I should be set to take the test and I should be competent enough to pass! I will, after five million years, be a licensed driving adult.
Family: Or more specifically, mom's birthday. Mom's birthday is actually March 25th, but since I was still traveling back from Boston then we made plans to celebrate this past Sunday. Historically I have always made my mother gifts for birthdays because I was a poor student and then just a poor adult but this year I bought my mother a bunch of loose leaf tea and cute little metal tea tins to put the loose leaf tea in and I was very satisfied to like, Get Mom A Nice Present.
We met at my house around 11am before going to downtown Bethesda to visit a little French bakery there. We bought macarons for me and sis and a cute tiny cake for mom before proceeding to the next order of business for mom birthday adventure: ordering pupusas from the pupusaria and deli near mom's house.
After obtaining sweets and lunch we returned to mom's to eat delicious things with my sister and give mom her present. We were GOING to go to the art gallery in Frederick but mom felt too full after lunch and the gallery is only open until 5pm, so sis and I let her take a nap and wandered off to the park to play pokemon go. We will come back to that. My sister has only been a licensed driving adult for about a month now and she has been taking full advantage of her new ability to drive off to play pokemon go every day, lol.
After mom rested and we returned from our small park outing, we headed to a Persian restaurant in Frederick for birthday dinner, which was quite nice. We came back to the house, had our birthday desserts, and relaxed a few hours more before heading to sleep.
(And then in the morning mom and I went to get allergy shots near my house and there was a HORRIBLE wreck on 270 which turned a ~45 minute drive into a ~90 minute drive, but that is less important.)
Self Care: That's what we're gonna label this catch-all section where I ramble for hundreds of words about how I feel really remarkably good lately, somehow!
It's funny because Friday evening a week ago was just, such a gross time, I did well on my driving evaluation but I cried so much just because that is how my body chooses to relieve emotional pressure. So I had no energy and just kind of laid around on my face watching TV, but then I woke up Saturday morning feeling Incredibly Energized And Ready To Do Things!!
I cleaned my entire kitchen. It was an on and off process because I also cooked a bunch and had Ciry come to visit, but. I threw away all the garbage on the counters, cleared off their contents to wipe all of them down and scrub away stains, then returned and organized their contents. I scrubbed the stovetop. I swept and mopped the floor. I cleared off most of the dining room table and living room coffee table and organized those areas.
And I cooked banana bread pudding, beef stew, and salmon for Ciry and myself for lunch. In between all of that, Ciry and I went on a nice long walk to the lake since the weather was GORGEOUS, and sat by the water talking about fandom and life and General Mental Health Shit and it was just, such a nice time. I'm really glad she was able to visit!
It was such a weird but nice day because I haven't had THAT MUCH ENERGY to do things in... Ages. Part of it was probably the catharsis of crying all over myself. Part the good weather. Part just... A general shift in the tides of the universe, kinda thing, I'm allowed to chalk things up to the unknowable forces of nature.
Next subject: pokemon go. My sister has been bullying me to reinstall it for ages and ages, if not to play it myself then for the purpose of trading her my lapras because after two and a half years she STILL doesn't have one. I'd convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to get into my old account, and I didn't want to start over, and I'd played so much and burnt out that it wouldn't be fun even if I could continue with my existing account, and in that way tricked myself out of reinstalling the game. Until Sunday. I think I just... Wanted to have a nice day with my mom and my sister and was in a really good mood, so I just. Downloaded the game. At the park itself, using up our data, and everything.
And it was suuuuuper fun to just run around the different areas catching stuff and dropping into gyms my sister kicked over, and she was SO DELIGHTED the entire time. She genuinely kept saying "this is the best thing ever!!" and while it was at least a LITTLE hyperbolic, she's always just wanted to play pokego with other people, I think. So it genuinely made her really happy to play together even if all we were doing was catching swablu and staking out the park gyms.
And now I'm trapped playing pokemon go again.
You have to understand, I was a menace. I played every day. When the game came out I downloaded the APK file so I could install the app ~12 hours earlier than the rest of my country. I would ride my bike for four or five hours at the height of summer, in temperatures over a hundred, just catching pokemon and fighting gyms and literally being a cyclist NPC in a videogame. It was a magical, wonderful summer where for that brief period EVERYONE you encountered at the lake near my house was playing pokego. Everyone was talking about pokego. When a rare spawn appeared the people around you would yell and give you directions so you could catch it. IT WAS SUCH A GOOD TIME.
I burnt out on the game because I did go SUPER HARD and just ran out of things to do. I caught just about all the pokemon that could be obtained easily in the US, raids didn't exist and legendaries hadn't been added yet, there wasn't field research or daily streaks or first catch bonuses and the old gym system was ABYSMAL. So I stopped feeling like playing really had a purpose, and then I stopped playing.
I'm genuinely really happy to say that the game, with all of the changes that have been made in the past two years, is genuinely super fun now. I have stuff to do! New things to catch! The gym system is enjoyable! I'm going to turn out for community day! (apparently this month's is 4/13 which coincidentally is the sakura matsuri in DC so I can't wait to go to the cherry blossom festival and catch five million bagon; I invited my sister to come with me) I'm so happy to play again.
Which means I'm walking a lot again. I popped out of my house at ~9:30pm on Monday and Tuesday to drop into gyms, I have played on my commute to and from work every day this week (my bus is sooooo slooooow that it's genuinely really doable to drop into gyms and catch lots of stuff and even spin a decent number of pokestops from the bus) and I've been getting to bed early. Not even THAT early, only maybe half an hour or so earlier than my average, but I think between the little bit of extra sleep and all the exercise, I've been waking up feeling Super Good And Well Rested.
It's weird. I'm so happy and energetic today and IT'S WEIRD. I know that exercise makes a world of difference to my mood but EVEN SO it's wild to see that so obviously take effect?? Yesterday I rode my bike on and off for an hour and a half after work and I'm sure that's why my mood is SO GOOD today.
Thank you pokemon and endorphins for my life, you make everything better.
I'm sure I'll chill out again with pokemon sooner or later but I hope this lasts for a while. It's... Really staggering to have this sense of QUITE HOW DIFFERENT I feel now versus how I've felt for the past... Roughly four months. Please I want to hold onto this.
And anyway, that's how I'm doing. It's so nice to write an actual happy entry that doesn't need to end with a passage where I talk myself up! I love! Pokemon!! I have loved pokemon for TWENTY TWO GOD DAMN YEARS OF MY LIFE and I'm super pumped for sword and shield, too. I hope they never stop making pokemon games. I hope I truly am here forever.