Nerdy Thoughts

Woke up to everything covered in ice this morning thanks to the freezing rain we had overnight. Dad always called freezing rain ‘glitter’, like he’d always say ‘There’s glitter on the trees this morning’ after freezing rain. The tree outside the office window is absolutely coated and made me think of that this morning.

Clearing the driveway was quite the chore this morning. We had some snow before the freezing rain so everything was icy & slushy. The snow blower was having none of that this morning so I had to shovel most of our long, hilly, driveway by hand. I wasn’t in such a great mood while doing so but I feel pretty good now, once again remembering that physical activity in the morning is a good mood lifter. Now, let’s see if I remember that tomorrow morning or if sleepy me will conveniently forget again.

Weekend rundown - Friday: I had to take a sick day due to an upset stomach and nausea. Spent most of the day on the couch with tea & soup, re-watching season one of Bridgerton. I am very much looking forward to season two so it was actually quite nice to get an unintended refresher and to delight in the pretty costumes, set, and people. Is it weird that the biggest drive for me is the aesthetic? Like I do enjoy the show’s storyline & characters but what drew me in last year when I saw the trailer was the design. I hadn't even read the books though I did make quick work of a lot of them after watching season one. I got as far as book 6 before I needed a break. They're fun but I found the books started to feel repetitive after a while.

Saturday: I felt a lot better but stuck close to home just in case. I suspect my stomach problems were more the result of eating something off or cumulative poor eating throughout the week but better safe than sorry. My partner & I made curry beef rice bowls and watched Turning Red which we enjoyed. I definitely related to the nostalgia tween/teen girl parts while the family & food parts hit home with my partner.

Sunday: Cleaning mostly, with some reading and playing Sims 4. I’m very close to completing plum generation for my playthrough of lilsimsie's Not so Berry legacy challenge.

( Cutting this for some nerdy ass Sims 4 talk. )

Work stuff
Folks keep saying to me "So you're back to work this month?" and I'm like "...by's, we never stopped working since last March and we've been back in the office half time since June so..." 😒🤷‍♀️

I know what they mean but it gets annoying when folks keep implying you're not really working because you're working from home, especially when my work is 80% doable remotely by computer. Anyway, that annoyance aside I'm actually a little happy to be back physically in the library and in the Acquisitions office. It was nice to have a change of routine from the home office and seeing my coworkers and actually talking to people instead of talking to myself.

While I've been able to keep on top of my work at home and have been really grateful that I could work from home, I'll admit I struggled a lot with staying focused. When I'm working from home I find sometimes I get distracted by household chores, estate responsibilities, or get into my own head and have a thought spiral. At least the times in the office there's only work so there are fewer attempts multitasking and my attention isn't as divided.


Home stuff
Last week was the week of repairs and maintenance, I got the hot water tank & pressure tank replaced and some electrical work has been done. Not terribly exciting, still a relief to have it done. It feels good to finally tackle some of the work I've been putting off but still weird doing work in my parent's house. I don't know, living in my family home does make me feel closer to my parents and I know it was what they both wanted (they said it repeatedly. Repeatedly.) so I don't regret my decision to move in but there are moments when it feels weird to be here or do things without them.


Fun stuff
• I'm steadily working on my first crochet sweater with the goal to get that and the crochet blanket I've been working on finished by the summer. Ideally sooner but I know what a procrastinator I can be. Though I did pick up some Tunisian crochet hooks and have been itching to try them out so maybe that will motivate me to be faster. I'm determined to avoid starting any more projects until the sweater and the blanket are done.

• Reading a lot, mostly non-fiction. The most enjoyable book was The Jane Austen Handbook by Margaret C. Sullivan which was a fun, entertaining guide to the regency era. Since watching & reading the Bridgerton series I've been entertaining some AU ideas for fanfiction.

• Playing a Sims 4 Rags to Riches family, doing lots of building in-game when I'm not playing my Matchstick family. Watching some videos about the new paranormal stuff pack which looks interesting and I might pick it up on the next sale...but maybe not. This past year I splurged on Sims packs because I figured 'hey if I can't travel I can have my sim self travel'....not really my thought process but yeah...I definitely indulged thanks to all the sales they had this year.

On one hand, it feels silly to get into a simulation game but what can I say, I've been really enjoying it. The first Sims was the first computer game I ever bought myself and I was really into the Sims 2 but dropped out of playing when Sims 3 came out.