Okay, so.

It's been a while since I posted, though I read my friends list almost daily. I have no idea if anyone is going to read this at this point. And there's really not a clear-cut reason why I stopped posting. It got to the point where I'd think I should post an update, and realize there was so much to update that I would spend hours writing it all out and honestly, who wants to read all that? So, you know, it's been...the world, my job, family stuff, friend stuff, the world--all that. It felt like too much--but we're all dealing with so much, aren't we? If any it comes up in the future I may talk about stuff that's happened but for now I just...

...I have the urge to start posting again. And I'm about to have more time to do it. So I'm going to.

Nothing long-winded or dramatic, at least to start. I'm going to shoot for an entry every week, with three quick things in each entry. Low stress, low commitment. But a commitment. And we'll see what happens.

Today's three things:

1) My nephew, the Junebug, started high school this year. It has been a JOY to experience this kid growing up. He is kind and funny and sarcastic as hell. He's already joined drama club, chorus, the school newspaper, and the Madrigal Singers. They dress up in RenFaire gear and sing Christmas songs at all kinds of community events over the holidays. He also has a part in the school musical, Oklahoma, and strong opinions about what's problematic about its book. He plays piano (already can play most of the songs on The Life of a Showgirl by ear) and kit bashes Lego sets. He just got a phone so we could keep track of him and he sends me the funniest texts:

Just won a prize in a random drawing. I don't know what it is, they just said it was a "fabulous, life-changing prize"
Pep rallies are good (you can win stuff.)
Pep rallies also suck (I am in a crowd of 1,500 people.)

The prize turned out to be a can of Bubblr soda. He sent me a photo.

2) I'm thinking of signing up for Yuletide this year, for the first time since....*checks AO3*...2022, looks like. Again, I'm about to have more time, but also, I've been missing fannish community. While a lot of what's in the tagset is unfamiliar to me, there has to be something I can offer. Now I just have to rebuild my writing muscles.

3) In the past few months I've been dabbling in watercolor painting, in a very amateur way...just following the simplest, friendliest tutorials I could find on YouTube (Andrea Nelson Art, if anyone else is interested). I mostly suck, but it's fun, and the point is the process, not the product. It's been lovely to come home from work and go out onto the back deck and play with colors. If I can ever be bothered to re-learn how to post photos here, I'll share some of the least bad ones I've created.

Okay. 3 things. Thanks to anyone (still) reading (again??)!

(That wasn't so bad, was it, self? Why did you put it off for literal years???)