ELSEWHERE

that 15F is like water in the desert to me right now after three days of -20F/-30F w/ wind chill

I feel like I have been physically assaulted for three days straight, being outside working in these temps is goddamn brutal

It's finally warming up but sheesh, this weather snap really has me feeling my age. Working (several times outside for extended periods) in subzero temperatures genuinely has hurt my body; I'm sore as if I've done really intense strength training and just generally am physically exhausted. I had a VA appointment this morning to get some labs done before my physical later next week and I called to reschedule it because I did not have it in me to get up and drive to Evanston.

but! I am sitting now and eating a food, and after I've sat for a bit I'll get up and do some chores (a byproduct of aforementioned exhaustion is my bachelor mess has gotten a little out of control). Then I just have work tonight and tomorrow before a long weekend! The weekend will be full of social which also seems exhausting but that's mostly wintertime talking because I want to just hide in a cave and sleep for seven days

look upon my works ye mighty

I am back in Chicagoland after a few days in Milwaukee!

I don't know if I ever properly explained what the trip was for, but: Sophie is one of the founders of a roleplay group called the League of Reapers, which is (more or less) an urban fantasy setting in which various psychopomps and reapers have unionized. They have a lot of AUs and offshoots, but that's the primary synopsis, and they've been doing it for five years! The fifth anniversary was in November, at which point several people in the group surprised Sophie with plans for a trip to Milwaukee for what I've been calling Reaperscon, aka three days (ish) in a cabin for shenanigans.

Her friends are all extremely lovely people and I had a good time but it was also like 11 people, most of whom are neurospicy disaster queers (affectionate), in one location and at various points all going to events together (we went to a botanical garden and a public market), so I am completely tapped out of social spoons. I'm also extremely tired of driving places and in general am going to hide indoors for the rest of the day. At some point I should pop to the corner store to grab just a few quick things (I go back to work tomorrow and my groceries situation is a bit dire), but other than that I think I'm gonna become a gremlin and regenerate some spell slots.

when I got home I felt approximately like this:

albeit with a different configuration of needs tanked, but after eating, sleeping, showering, unpacking, tidying up my space, and grabbing some food for tonight/tomorrow, I am feeling more human.

also: I took Baby Dog with me and she was so spoiled by all of the people that she scared me because she started to ignore her kibble. She still begged for food and would eat treats so I didn't immediately take her to the emergency vet, which is what a loss of appetite in her would otherwise warrant, but I was nervous and anyways tl;dr she was just being a stankass ho and holding out for tastier food because the millisecond we got home she ate her kibble like normal

I'm exhausted and was a fool not to take an extra day off work

I have survived two VA appointments two days in a row and after this morning's (which involved getting a good grade in blood and a very painful shot) I immediately called out of work, went to Trader Joe's for groceries, and am now sitting in front of a space heater eating a burrito as my first meal of the day (at, uh, noon, woops). After that I have a bunch of chores and self-care stuff to catch up on, which I decided (in conjunction with being low spell slots) was reason enough to use a sick day. I am still trying to hoard those, but I've made good progress on such so I don't feel as panicked by using some of the time.

okay lemme sit for a minute then start to do some tidying and also some meal prep

At last, my right arm is complete again!

At last, I feel slightly more human again!

I am incredibly glad I took yesterday off, which is how I know it was a good choice; if I needed the recovery more than even my creeping "I should never use a sick day ever they're only for emergencies what if I don't have any for EMERGENCIES" anxiety can yell at, then I definitely needed it. I caught up on chores, rested a little bit, cooked some food (I made nachos!) and I feel much better. This morning I was even able to do my usual routine, so I've already exercised and am now drinking a protein shake while I doot around on the computer.

Also lately I got keyed into the Business Insider videos about ancient crafts/art/traditions/etc and definitely recommend it as good background content, it's generally fascinating and also interesting from a writing/worldbuilding perspective: