We have running water in the kitchen. This is really good news for my marriage. The plumber came this morning to connect our sink, garbage disposable, and dishwasher. That’s not our sink, it’s just a stock photo because nothing in this house is what I’d call photo ready.
Anyway, now that Dan won’t have to make his coffee or wash dishes in the combination laundry room/cat bathroom/human half bath, I’m hoping his mornings will be less painful and I will be less grumpy. The weather is forecast to be kind of cruddy today, though. If it triggers a second migraine in as many weeks, I will not be the kind of person anyone wants to be around.
Chad is still running, but he’s loud and Dan gets grumpy when he runs and as someone sensitive to sound, I get it. But also? We can’t just never run a vacuum for the rest of our lives. There are upsides to both of us living with chronic illness and there are downsides to both of us living with chronic illnesses. Right now I think the downsides are being amplified by this ginormous life change, our lack of disposable income, and our respective inabilities.
Yesterday, Mom helped me get my little studio—basically a corner of my bedroom—organized. But there’s still a fair bit of work to do before I can make Zentangle videos again. Coincidentally, a company that sent me metallic pens to review contacted me to check the status of my posting about their product. Out of curiosity, I went back to the beginning of the email thread to see when they first contacted me. It was January. JANUARY. If I had any idea it would take this long, I probably would have declined the opportunity. Or at the very least, said it might be the end of the year before I can get around to creating the content.
Hindsight.
We’re getting close to being able to unpack and unfurl everything though, including my video equipment. Still on the list are things like the a final visit from the electrician and general contractor, and then a final inspection from the city or the country or whoever does that thing. I’m not certain who it is, and if I look it up, I will probably forget I was in the middle of writing a blog post.
Generally speaking, this little basement apartment is nicer that anything I’ve lived in. Or at least it will be when everything’s done. I realize that anything I have to complain about is temporary, and that’s what gets me through. I’m not sure Dan feels that way yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
The past four days were harder than four years of college in perceived effort. I’m not complaining—just the opposite. I’m pretty damn proud of myself.
Saturday (Day 3) was the hardest day. The second full day of webinar-ing, and I worked on a lot of tiles. Toward the end of the day, my dominant hand went pins and needles on me. My lines got really wonky, and I started getting super cranky with myself—the truest sign of my fatigue is how grumpy I am.
That’s why yesterday’s post was so short. In fact, I’m not even close to recovered, so I should probably cut this short too. Here are tiles from today:
Today was a full day of CZT training. (Yesterday was just a half day.) I started off pretty strong considering Dan had to wake me up at the buzzer this morning. Thank Gandalf I can just drop into my chair without getting dressed or eating breakfast first, because oof!
However, by lunchtime I was fading fast. I made it through nine tiles today, but my body was ready to lie down and my hand was getting shaky towards the end.
It was so worth the effort though, and I would never do so many Zentangle tiles in one day on my own. Which just shows me I am still capable of doing this at my own pace. I had been away from drawing for so long that I was having my doubts. You know how it is.
Anyway, it was a good day. Dan made sure I was fed, I liked some of my tangles, and—this huge—a wonderful friend made a donation to our GoFundMe that covered all of our moving expenses. I am so grateful to announce we are 90% funded!
I’d love to connect with you if you’re on the Mosaic App, whether yo are part of webinar 39 or not: EmilySuessCZT39
Today was the first day of CZT training. I had fun and learned some lovely stuff. But I am beat. (Drawing Zentangles is only exhausting when I’m trying to keep up.)
No spoliers of training to follow in this post. Promise. Just a recap of what I’m feeling and where my head is at.
I frequently tell myself I’m capable of doing hard things after I’ve completed something and am feeling accomplished. However, this webinar is going to be one of those experiences where I need to tell myself repeatedly during the thing to get me through. I ache from head to toe, and my brain is mush.
Sometimes sitting in a chair is incredibly difficult for me. Particularly when that chair is my desk chair. I bought it about 7 years ago off Amazon and picked affordability over comfort at the time because I was absolutely clueless about what the future held, and it is nothing short of brutal on my broken body.
But. BUT. I should sleep very well tonight. What I need to remember from now through Monday is that I can have all the ice cream I want when the the day is done.
Whether you’re completing the online CZT training right now or you’ve been on the Mosaic App for years, I’d love to connect with you there: EmilySuessCZT39
