Feeling very accomplished

 Not only did I manager to fish enough Purple Thermal Fish in Fortnite Legos to create an Illuminator, I uncovered a lot more of the map than I thought was available.

Fast forward after work, I did complete the Trading Post in World of Warcraft for the month of April.  I’m ready for may and the Monarch wings!  I’ll also want to complete the Northrend Cup for the toy in the dragonracing vendor.

I’ve come to the conclusion, that I will have to decide which games I want to play, moving forward because all these games with season passes are just too much for me.  Sadly, I think DIV may have to sit this one out.  I’m having too much fun with Legos Fortnite and with Star Wars coming, there will be more builds, lego guys and other things to achieve in game.

Naturally, I’m on a multi-month plan with World of Warcraft so I’m good there.

Now I’m playing Destiny 2, catching up on the last 5 ish expansions and coming back Caide 6 in the Final Shape, obviously I have to play that to see him!  That’s not until the beginning of June, but naturally I’m working on yet another Season pass on Destiny.  Luckily this one seems to be moving along rather quickly.  In a few days I went from like 2-almost 20.  I don’t think I will have any problems with that one.

But in saying that- I feel rather accomplished.  I completed a lot of ‘chorces’ in several games today.  I’ve been putting a lot of hours in on my ps5 but that’s ok- No one can’t say it was a waste of money.  I’ve got 120 hrs in Fortnite alone.

Weekend shenanigans.

 

I completed the full regular battle pass.  Working on the bonus rewards now.  No promises that will be finished before the season’s end but I will do what I can.

That was done last weekend - as well as trying some legal THC gummies from a CBD store.  My son bought some for 4/20 and said he took too much and wasn’t feeling well and was going to throw them out.  I said hold off, let me try one…. ONE.  I was still having effects 20 hrs later.  Yeah, throw them out.  They made me paranoid - I could move - when I strongly concentrated on what I had to do. But there was a brief 2 hr time where I thought I became mute.  I couldn’t talk, move my mouth or do any sort of vocalizing to save my life.  I also had massive twitching and weird body movements making me look like a meth addict.  I won’t be doing that again.

This week went on, I still had panic moments but I’m getting over that.  Now my body is just sore from the entire body tensing from last weekend.  I did get my mani/pedi done and as a compromise to doing that - I began my massive spring cleaning overhaul for Memorial Day weekend.  Just did a deep clean in the main bathroom.  I have to get some more cleaning supplies but it looks 100% better than it has.

Next weekend I’ll work on another room.  Each week the house will slowly become clean and I won’t feel like I spent 40 cleaning the week before everyone arrived.

Aang! Chapter 5, season 2

 I am not good at battle royale and I generally play Legos or the Garage Band.  But I'm very pleased with my progress.  I played a quick battle on Friday and unlocked the Korra loading screen.  I love the art work.

Again, playing mostly with Legos, as you can see, I'm getting through the battle pass, albeit slow.  That's ok.  I'm building in survival and thinking about what to build and not use blueprints if I don't have to.

I did splurge and buy the Aang unlock because, well it's Aang.  Yes, I've bough quite a few Lego skins of various Fortnite characters.  But I also have the monthly season pass thing - giving me 1k v-bucks a month.  A lot of 'spending' comes from that.

My goal is to finish the season battle pass.  Just like D4, I just want to say I did it.  And speaking of, D4, I've just unlocked level 70, so that will be completed before the due date in May 14.  Fortnite is done May 24th.  I'll be interested to see what each new season brings with both games.  I know I'm way further in the season this chapter of Fortnite than I was with Chapter 1.  

Solar Eclips of the lifetime

 

April 8th, 2024 was a day to remember.  We had a solar total eclipse, and from where I live, we had 100% totality.

In my 40 something years of living, I don't ever remember experiencing this.  It was truly something.  We had eclipse glasses and watched what we could though the clouds.  The closer the moon came to 100% to being in front of the sun, not only did it get darker, but the clouds that were covering the sky, suddenly disappeared.  

I wasn't prepared for how dark it became during totality.  It was dark at 1pm in the afternoon!

I was so thankful to have been able to enjoy this with my family.  Something definitely to remember.

D4, Season 3

 So it’s a new season in Diablo IV.  I’m currently playing it on the PS5, which absolutely runs flawlessly.  If I take it out to the living room, on the big screen it looks amazing!

“Mother’s Blessing” is currently active, giving xp bonus.  I think I went from mid 50s today to 61 before logging for bed.  Because I work from home, we now have lovely cameras we have to have logged in and on at all times.  This really limits my set up of having 2 monitors, and 2 sets of keyboards/mice for when I want to game between calls.  My productivity numbers are really on point, this is more for keeping me busy… otherwise I’ll go insane.  We can’t even color….

So my solution to work from home and still do what I want is to do things under the desk.  They can’t see my screens - one just doesn’t happen to have work related things on it… and under the desk well, there may or may not be a ps5 controller.  :)

I’ve had the camera for about a week now and so far here is what I learned:

• It tracks your face.  It’ll get mad if you look down (which is where my fan is) or if you look behind you, which is where my trash can is.  Yes, (or no?) I don’t have any papers or writing utensils at my desk, but I have hair that I loose and maybe I’ll need to blow my nose, or q-tip my ear…. All those things need thrown away…
• The camera isn’t “seeing” everything.  I can keep this very iPad, complete with Magic Keyboard near my monitor and it sees NOTHING.  I can watch YouTube, Twitch, Netflix, yea, I’m good.
• I’ve also been utilizing my Apple Watch more, listening to Podcasts from it and definitely using the timers.
• Even if it “detects” something, which in my case isn’t anything because  - I don’t have anything they can complain about, it doesn’t do anything.  It doesn’t lock the screen, it doesn’t flash red or call the IRS.  It just says “can’t detect face, or gadget detected and THERES NOTHING THERE.’
• Lastly, I found out that I can still log into my computer and just not log on to the camera.  I mean… until the whole team is logged on no one’s really tracking this shit anyway.   Sooooo what’s the point?  To spend our Christmas/Customer Appreciation funds… I’m sure.

With D4, season 3, I’m almost complete.  I slowly keep carving away at it.  I’m nearly on level 60 on the season pass (or is it 70) and nearly done with Chapter 5.  I have until mid-May so I should be ok to get this done.

Diet, nutrition and fasting

 So since Thanksgiving I’ve been increasing my WW (Weight Watcher’s) logging and following the easy point system.  I have lost a total of 15 lbs since start.  I also broke my foot a month ago, removing any and all attempts to be more physical as I had planned.  (I’m going back for a follow up on tomorrow, so I’m hoping this will ‘release’ me so I can walk and do more things.) In addition to just being keen on my diet… (FF when I can, really conscience on how much I eat, just really reducing overall intake and processed foods), I’ve been fasting.  The last 2 weeks, I’ve been doing a 12/12, which fasts zero caloric intake (water only) for 12 hrs, eating my “WW” diet for the other 12.  Last weekend, unbeknownst to us, we attended a dear friend of our’s a funeral - which lasted 5+ hrs.  My 12/12 turned into a 18/6.  It was then I decided to increase my fasting time to a 16/8.  These last few days I’ve noticed I really like how it makes me feel.  I have a ‘happy’ feeling.  I’m alert.  I accept and welcome the hunger feeling. - All knowing that while fasting it’s healing my body.  I’m starting to pay attention to what my body is telling me. 

Rather than eating because it’s “time to eat breakfast”, I don’t.  I eat when I’m hungry.  I stop when my body says I’m full.  (Which, may just be a half a sandwich.). It really intrigues me to see and learn just how much of an open trough we have available to us to just eat and graze and graze and eat all day, every day.  No wonder we’re over weight and obese.  No one is listening to what their body is telling them, they only listen to what they want - ooh Doritos, cookies, tacos and pizza!  

While that’s all well and good - and I do eat that still, I’m limiting what I eat.  Not only to help save money because we don’t NEED 3 pizzas, but I want to bit lean and fit for the cruise and I keep telling myself I’ll eat that on the ship!  It’s not about what we eat, but how much we’re eating.  I’ll explain.

I’ve not had any sweets in 3-4 weeks.  Not milk chocolate anyway.  Might be longer, I honestly can’t recall the last time I had milk chocolate.  My husband finds us some Cadbury eggs at the store the other day.  I ‘reward myself and eat mine and it was disgustingly sweet!  Like too much.  I now understand when forgeiners complain about American Chocolate.  It’s gross!  But more to my point, while I want this to be a lifestyle… the life style should not be about limiting and completely removing foods from my life.  I like Doritos and pizza and cookies and cake.  But I’m not needing the whole thing (not that I ever did.)  You get my idea.  

Fasting has given me some clarity to what my body says and needs.  It’s not about shoveling food in my mouth because it’s time to eat or because it’s in the cupboard.  It’s about making choices to eat when you need it and to include foods that will fuel you rather than just scratch an itch.

I will say the first few days on the 16/8 plan were a bit messy.  I’d come to my fasting finishing time and I would feel so famished I’d want to binge eat.  I nearly did the other day, going to bed with a tummy ache.  Luckily I ate things like fruit and veggies and not things that would ruin my diet.  I need to really pay attention to what I’m eating and how fast I’m eating it.  I need to allow my body the time to take and send proper signals to tell me that I’m full or I should not get anymore food.  I did good tonight. I was hungry about an hr after I stared my fast.  Maybe I’m a little light on the caloric intake for the day, but that’s ok.  I’ll work off what I put on from overeating.

New Year, new… Nevermind

 Well, I am focusing on myself.  However, the last few weeks, while it hasn’t stopped me, has brought less focus on that specifically.  My goal is to lose 5lbs/month until we leave for a cruise in December of 2025.  I’ve successfully lost 12 lbs since after Thanksgiving.  However, a week ago we learned my sister-in-law, my brother’s wife, suddenly left this world.  No words are enough to the questions that now remain.  She IS like a sister to me, because my brother has known her since High School.  My niece is 10, a birthday coming next week and she gets this…

I am nowhere near where my brother is on emotion, questions and having to return to life.  I get that.  

I do have so many questions.  Why was it so selfish to think this was the only answer?  Why did you feel you were so alone to the point you couldn’t say or do anything other than this?  If the ‘reasons’ you left are the ‘reasons’ used to excuse this, why not just face the music?

1. I fully understand I’ll never get the answers I’m looking for.  And I also understand these are my questions, my thoughts and not hers or her justifications to her actions.  I’m not wanting to paint a bad picture here to who she is or that I think she was weak for what she did.  Everyone grieves and in my grief I want to understand, knowing that I’ll never get to.  So that’s why I’m angry.  I’m angry because we won’t ever understand and we’re left with more questions than solutions.

2. My sister-in-law was very knowledgeable and strong on the outside.  I admired this, as she could put up with my brother and his shenanigans willingly.  I have to put up with him -he is my brother. She opted to and put him in line when he didn’t behave.  

3.  She’s good with kids and her own.  She always was fun to be around in the eyes of a kid.  She made it fun and worth it.  So much patience and shared time.  

I’m sure there is more to put here, but I’m really tired.  Yesterday was the funeral so that was on my mind, plus 24 hrs of Daytona and a lot was spent awake watching that.  Not to mention getting up early for church and not really having much of a nap anytime today.  

I know I have my thoughts on suicide and what I think it means when someone does such an act.  I think though in light of it being so close to home, it’s time we stop pretending to talk about things and start doing actions.  If someone is having a problem, we need to talk about it or make sure they get help.  Now in this case, we don’t know if that would have changed anything here - again, so many questions remain.   I think though it is important to walk away from this learning something or at the very least changing who you are in the light of what they were.  Yes, I thought suicide as cowardly and selfish.  It hurts me to say that when it’s your own family.  But was she?  Normally I’d say anything but - so let me eat my words by saying it’s important to be mindful of everyone.  What may be a simple fix for me, may not be so simple to just anyone.  It’s time to be accepting of their thoughts and feelings and just be there for them when they need it.  It may be just that simple.