Took a year od pole and leveled up to Pre-Advanced Beginner.

Was a panelist on four panels at Arisia 2023 and was invited back to panel again in 2024!

Super easy! I live in a state where the gender designation is purely self-attestation, so when my ID expired, I simply filled out a form!

I'm still adding to it, but I do have one now!!

Took the first session of Intro to Pole and two Liquid Motion classes!!

Applied to be a panelist at Arisia 2023!

Finished the Duolingo Finnish tree!! I did buy a workbook to try to continue learning, but I still went over 300 days without missing a lesson!! I'm studying German now!

In November, I was commissioned to complete a piece of art that would be a gift for the buyer's sister. I worked for three weeks on the commission, was incredibly pleased with it, and earned $150 for the piece. It was incredibly exciting and validating, and I look forward to doing more art commissions in the future!!

I want to solidify what kind of things would/should go in this binder, but I like the idea of having an analog spot to hold stuff like holiday budgeting, vacation/daytrip planning, special recipes, timelines for holiday prep, etc.

Creeping up on 100 days, and retaining a surprising amount! I think I eventually want to find more resources and do a little more "studying," but I am picking up more grammar and retaining more of the vocab than I expected!

Threw out everything and started over with a massive Nyx palette and liquid eyeliner (since it's what I wear most frequently). Palette retails for $36, so I think I'm officially out of the Dollar Tree make-up phase.

My wife and I are planning a "re-wedding" now that she's transitioned! We went dress shopping the other day and have put out feelers for venues!

So, I have three closets in my house -- and I have cleaned out two of them. And man, I unloaded a fuckin boatload of stuff. Wintercoats, candleholders, trinket trays, old picture frames, outgrown shoes -- I mean, basically, you name it. I have yet to tackle my own closet -- as in, where I keep my clothes -- but I'm hoping by mid-August I will get around to it. I plan on buying a lot of new clothes, and I want to thin out all my old and worn out stuff first.

This has not been going great. I've still read more this year than I have in the last few years, which is great, but I need to get back on the wagon on this goal. I think right now I need to stop using my digital library loans and start reading some of the actual books on my shelves that I've been putting off.

I have ordered a total of seven prints from four indie makers, as well as a gorgeous needlepoint from a maker on Etsy. I'm loving the thought of filling my home with things that actually resonate with my aesthetically instead of trying to adhere to some manufactured aesthetic.

I have two more prints in my Etsy cart and three more waiting for a little extra cash in my InPrnts favorites.

Tomorrow marks 30 days of practice, and wow, I'm actually retaining some of it this time! I am working my way through it very slowly, focusing on maxing out a couple of units at a time and then doing practice on them for a bit before moving on to the next few units. It's slower going, but I'm definitely actually processing and picking up more of the language. As I've said, I know this isn't going to make me fluent, but it's nice to pick up even a little bit of a new language. There's a definite sense of accomplishment there.

Holy hell, has it been five months?

I gave up for a while. Not gonna lie. I've been totally inactive on this goal for, apparently, almost half a year.

I'm back now. I'm armed with notebooks and flashcards this time, lol.

Let's get back to it.

Joined a very active FB group for ATC trades, and made my first card for trade last night! Going to work on more this weekend and open up for trades next week, fingers crossed!

So, It's.... not perfect, but so, so, so much better than not having the schedule! I at least remember what I have to do, and while something still need to occassionally get pushed to the backburner, I'm still being way more productive and my house is still way neater than it has been in months.

Next stage is trying to stick to it more closely and get my family to use the checklists, as well.

That's it... I'm starting a notebook, lol. I have no hopes of becoming fluent via Duolingo anyway, but my retention rate is seriously nill, right now. I'm going to start either a notebook or flashcards today and work from there. I've missed about four days because the last few sessions were so frustrating, but I will be back on track today.

I spent a decent chunk of yesterday reading, and I always forget how much I love it... it's just sitting and stopping and... READING, you know? There's always something else I feel like I could be doing.

Anyway, here's my Goodreads, if anyone wants to be friends! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/47236569-jessica-she-they

Signed up at ATCsForAll and just bought a started pack of cards and sleeves.

Going to aim for this for January. Setting an alarm for after work hours in case I don't do it on my lunch (like I used to).

I just bought a step machine with tension bands so that I can workout in my living room while watching YouTube with my son 😂 I can literally store it next to the couch, so what the fuck excuse will I have not to pull it out and use it??

I....am not going to retain any of this, lol. I might have to look for another place to learn Finnish, if not instead of Duolingo (because now I feel like I've committed, you know? I feel like I need to see it to the end), then maybe in addition to. OR -- or -- I need to start taking notes, which might make more sense. Because I think it's exposure time that's the big issue. So maybe I find a notebook and just make that my Finnish grammar/vocab book.

Again, I have absolutely no hopes or delusions about "learning" the language. But it would be nice to retain a little bit and at least recognize some of it written down or something, you know?

I actually have a concept and have even started on content. It won't be a long one (but... it's a zine, it doesn't have to be). Organizing it and creating art for it is going to be time consuming and difficult, but I'm hoping by February I'll have time and energy to start doing that (I have two other projects I want to work on before I even think about it).

Purchased two gorgeous prints last night! So excited to get things organized so I can find homes for them. Already thinking about what I want to buy next, but am thinking something like a kitschy/nerdy/feminist cross stitch from Etsy might be not on the docket.

I have two pieces in my cart through INPRNT (which is a platform I hope to get accepted to myself some day, they are high-quality print-on-demand, and the artist keep an extraordinary amount of the sale price as profit). Since I have a monthly budget, I think I might try to choose one piece a month to add to my collection.

So, I had this on my original list on my blog, and when I moved over, I never put it back on... which is bizarre because, uh, I did it! I submitted an application and some art samples and was selected to be a part of The Fat Folks Tarot Project on December 8th, 2020! I'm drafting my concept for my card, and hope to move to simple line art mid-week! The first check-in isn't until January 2nd, but I have so much to do post-holiday that I want to get things squared away a little ahead of time.

Talked to my wife about this last night, as one of the early things to do post-COVID vaccine. I would need to strongly consider how I want it designed, but for my first, I'm thinking of a line from "The Labyrinth:" "Through dangers untold / and hardships unnumbered."

Labrynith wasa defining piece of media from my childhood, and post-COVID, I feel like the sentiment is apt.

My trusty laminator and I are going to create a stable menu where I can pull my weekly meal plans from. This isn't to replace trying new things, or to stop me from finding cool new recipes online, but rather a reliable fall back when I don't have the time, energy, or general spoons to come up with something. Lately when I don't know what to do for dinner, we've reverted back to "hot dogs, burgers, pizza, takeout, ramen, etc." What I really need is a mix-and-match selection of lean protein, grain, and veggie that I can pair together with minimal effort on those night when I just... can't think.

I need to set myself up for success. This might sound sillytoother people, but I that it's something I need and something I'll benefit from, so it's worth it.

I am closing in on two weeks now, and... man, I have GOT to make flashcards. I've never struggled like this with a language before. There are NO cognates, and keeping the adjective straight (especially because in the early lessons so many start with the same letter) is difficult.

I love that all the vowels make consistent sounds, though. Pronounciation is pretty easy.

All my schedules are finished! The formatting is so aesthetically pleasing and minimalist, a lot different than last time, and a lot more functional (I learned my lessons). I have a morning/evening routine checklist, a checklist for recurring chores (daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually!!), a "good noodle" chart for my son, and the official Big Clean checklist (which I plan on laminating and keeping in a master binder -- the master binder is something for another post, but yeah I'm excited!

So...my cholesterol is through the roof, I'm prediabetic... I'm not in a good place. But calorie counting and strict dieting wrecked havoc on my mental health and devolved into, while not an eating disorder, some incredibly disorder feelings and behavior around food for quite a while. So instead, I want to practice mindful eating. Choosing un/minimally processed foods, drinking lots of water eating slowly and giving in my full attention, and listening to my body instead of shoveling food in my face mindlessly in front of the TV every night and eating low-nutrition food just for conveniences sake.

I have completed a structured and complete maintenance household chore chart, a morning and evening routine checklist (for me; updated to reflect COVID life, but something a little more evergreen that I can carry on with after the fact) a "good noodle" chart for Bear (with behavioral expectations and age-appropriate chores), and now the only thing left to do is the checklist for this year's Big Clean!

For the record, since "stick to it" sounds very open ended, I will consider it "stuck to" when I have solidly formed the habit of adhering to it. They say a habit takes 21 days to form, but I like the roundness of a full month, so let's go with that.

So, when I have used these chart everyday for a month, I will mark this goal "complete."

My wife wrote a silly kid's book a couple of years ago that we talked about illustrating for our son; I might do that, or one of the other ideas I've kicked around. I might also borrow an idea that my son came up with ("heart flowers") that I thought I might be able to transform into something that would make a cute kids book. Right now I need to develop a proper style for a kid's book, and work on learning how to digitally ink and paint.

I just completed a week of daily lessons! I am having a hard time keeping some of the vocab straight, and while the goal in this was never to, like, speak Finnish fluently, I do want to at least complete the course with an accurate understanding of the language I did learn. So I think this weekend I am going to take a little time to make actual index cards so I can practice the vocabulary in isolation (since it seems to be mostly the adjective and other works that all start with the same letter tripping me up). I'm wondering if it might be time to go back and start my ASL studies again, now that I know I'm capable of forging habits again...

Sitting down tonight to start constructing several different schedules: one for my annual Big Clean, one for a maintenance cleaning routine, and one to construct morning/night routines for both myself and the Bear. Work and school from home, plus general quarantine life has resulted in a total degredation of routine and basically no delineation between work and home life; I really want to get back on track andhave some sense of order in my life again.

So I am a sad, sad, geeky person, and am literally taking this class because I have a stupid crush on a stupid YouTuber who has done a few videos about being Finnish/the Finnish language (full disclosure, it's Joinen; if you know who that is, feel free to reach out and we can be fannish Finnish nerds together).

While that was the impetus, I also genuinely enjoy studying languages, having had formal instruction in Spanish and Italian, and some self-directed study in basic French, Russian, and ASL (which I am currently still trying to learn). I know that Finnish is a notoriously hard language for native English speakers, and I'm not deluding myself into thinking that I'll become anything other than passingly familiar with the language, but I thought it would be fun.

I have started the Finnish course on Duolingo, which fits my needs perfectly because it is free and broken into easily digestable chunks.

We'll see if I retain any of this 😅