Get It Together, Valentine!

I'm trying to pull my shit together health-and-homewise.

I started taking my hormones, but it resulted in two full days of annoying-level dizziness (not like, sickly-level or incapacitating-level, but just to the point where it kept aggravating me whenever I wanted to get up or turn around or whatever). So I had a benedryl before bed, which fixed me in the morning, and stopped taking the medicine. Next time I need to metabolize my estrogen, I'm sticking with JUST those pills, and maybe the D3 pills (I was also taking magnesium citrate, vitex, and kelp pills, which helped with headaches, period regulation, and I forget what the kelp was for... weight? The kelp and magnesium were probably overkill on sodium and iodine, now that I think of it, and my period's been relatively regular lately, so I won't miss 'em).

I still haven't been back to the gym due to Charles's schedule. I do prefer to go during the day, because I lose my energy and will to move around at night. I need to maybe force myself. I was forcing myself to hit the gym when I could before, and it really helped me just do it when the time came. So maybe forcing myself at night will do the same.

Plus, I made a new, better-organized workout chart, and got some new advice from Niki for my workouts - I'd lamented that I didn't feel I was getting any stronger when weight-training, or losing any weight. She asked what I'm working with - specifically, how many reps, and if I'm working til Fail. I said I did recently switch to working til Fail, and I usually failed around 10-20 reps. She shook her head and said "8." I'm supposed to be failing at 8 reps. "So up your weight." And I've gotta work on squats and other leg/core stuff for skating.

Skating is going well! I'm slowly progressing. I finally got a decent stride going, as opposed to the shuffling around I'd been doing for a couple weeks. Niki gave me one tip that really helped. Next time Charles joined us on the ice, I passed the tip onto him and now he laps me! Now I'm determined to pick up speed!

I've been told I'll feel skating in the morning, but I never ever do. I never feel sore after skating, but Sunday, I finally started feeling it in the front of my thighs. That's because I experimented with skating backwards, leaning into my turns more, and picking up speed! Just gotta practice stopping now!


On the home-front, I've been super lazy, but have made a couple new creations. A MerMay mermaid in new watercolours (Winsor & Newton), the sketch-and-inking of a bigger watercolour piece (The Gentleman from Strange & Norrell), and I sewed my own Wonder Woman skate soakers (skate slippers, I call them) for my ice skates. I'm going to make another pair tonight (based on this image, only with the colours being that of the gloves/belt combo).

And at long last, order has been restored to not only my couch, but also my ground-zero-esque disaster of a closet. After many hours of sorting and folding and tossing (and catching up on podcasts), my closet can now be walked into without stepping on mounds of clothes and blankets! I also re-organized my makeup and just killed any idea of me having a "regulars" container, and just threw everything into my tackle box. Also got a pool noodle to cut up and insert into my tall boots, so they don't bend all sloppy-like in my room. Only thing I have left to clean is my desk, which I swear I clean off every week, each time getting more and more difficult to clean.


Next things on my list are trying to secure another skate date with Chalen, finishing my Gentleman portrait, doing a couple fan arts (Yuri on Ice, Death Parade, and maybe Panty & Stocking), and finishing the deep clean of the apartment while it's still officially spring.

[placeholder for photos which I'm unable to get to at the moment due to the annoying fact that a firewall at the new office is blocking access to me posting this entry, and the images I wanted to upload are on my work computer]

Opposites 1: THE RAD

Had a skate date with Chalen! It was his first time out in over a week. I really missed him. We were almost totally alone on the ice on Wednesday, aside from two women, a couple of hockey players, and a kiddo. At one point, we really were the only ones on the whole rink! It was nice, because we had a lot of room to move around and goof around.

We danced together a lot, holding each other at arm's length, as skate-dancers do. Tres romantique!

He also took me for a run! We held each others' arms and he zoomed me all over the rink, because I wanted to know what it felt like to go fast. He gave me some pointers, but I spent the whole time looking down at my feet (not wholly bad, as it gave me a view of what our feet look like doing it, but I have no idea how fast I was going because I was concentrating so hard on our feet! But it felt like real speed! When he took me backwards, I lost my footing and almost collapsed on us both.

He helped me really figure out some of my struggles in moving backwards, too. I can go backwards fairly easily, but have trouble keeping the momentum and going back more than a few feet at a time. That was a tough exercise! Lots of new muscles! I felt that after session :D

At the end of the date, we walked over to the campus (the rink is right near), and chilled out by the pond and talked for an hour or so before our rides came for us. It was therapeutic. I'm really glad to get to know him better, inch by inch.

Opposites 2: THE BAD

I covered my first Friday shift at the liquor store last week. It was non-stop busy. Right to the end, I had people in my store. One woman kept shouting "do you have this, do you have that, where the reisling at" while I was tending to other customers at the checkout, trying to get everyone the hell out by 9 (at which point, I cannot, by law, sell any more booze). She finally finished looking right at 9, and I was able to get her out lickety-split. What the fuck.

I also covered my first Saturday shift. It was Hell On Motherfucking Wheels. I turned away a record number of people for not having their IDs. Now, I can usually tell when someone's old enough, but I still need to check their IDs if I have even a shred of a doubt, which was recently amplified when I got wind that a nearby liquor store just got slapped with a $7000 fine for getting busted not ID'ing someone who was under 21. So yeah, you look young: you get carded.

I had 3 people yell at me, but I did not falter. One pair gave me such a fright that I sat next to the silent alarm button until they came back with their IDs and left for good after they made their purchase. Fucking shit. Most people who see me, a relatively new face behind the counter, will go get their ID without issue. Some even say, "oh, new face!" and turn right around without thought to get theirs. Unless you come in every day and are friendly to me, I'm not gonna remember your face and I will card you. One girl even came in 5 minutes after closing (I don't lock the door unless I need to during my closing routine, because it's very quick) to ask if she could still buy (after getting her ID). Sorry, darling. Not after 9.

The bigger problem is when there's more than one (usually in couples), and one of them doesn't have their ID - I can't sell to any of them. They try to bargain, "well, he's paying for it!" Or leave then come back together to switch payers, but no. That doesn't work either. And then there's the ones who pitch a fit because they're "in the system," which is a points system based on your phone number - in no way a suitable substitute for a legal identification, as you could give me anyone's number.

And to top it all off, a regular, who is wheelchair-bound and has to tap on the window for his usual drink (as we don't have a ramp), decided to visit me a second time, barely able to get out a sentence to tell me what he wanted, and then I heard from other patrons that he was passed out in his chair outside the shop!!! I'm not supposed to sell liquor to the super-drunk, but it's a rule that generally gets looked over with our kindly regulars. But for fuck's sake. I texted my boss to ask what I should do, and he said to just check if he's breathing, and if not to call 911. When I had a moment between customers (because of course that happened at a busy hour), he was just wheeling across the street, so at least I didn't have a death on that shift.

Today, however, my one usual evening, was extra quiet. That night prompted me to write a sign for the door window that states that I am carding everyone. It may just be because it was slow tonight, but I feel like it works. I hope so, anyway.