Sunday:
We’ve been here before, haven’t we? It probably would’ve made more sense to start this back up with the new year, but the new year didn’t start on a Sunday, and I also wanted to indulge in some hardcore dunning after the end of my last semester.
Speaking of which, I graduated from the program and got my masters degree! Yaaaaayyyyyy! The semester ended up feeling pretty hectic and stressful. I’m not sure if I was expecting it to be easy or not, but I think those were mainly from trying to do PhD applications and the realization that “Holy sh!t, if I don’t get a B in this one class, I won’t graduate, AND, if I don’t get B’s in both classes, it’ll make the end of my degree look really weak.” So then that made me avoid stuff, which made things pile up, and then I got more stressed — you know how the cycle of procrastination goes, I’m sure. So, I did manage to graduate, but my applications were pretty weak and half-hearted.
In any case, here we are again, with me starting fresh on establishing my TMM routine/habit again. I woke up around 7:15 instead of 6, but considering I slept in til 9 or 9:30 yesterday and didn’t go to sleep last night until around 3, I think I did pretty well for the first day. After about a month of hardcore dunning, I’m starting to feel motivated to be productive . . . or something like that.
Look out, 2016, we’re gonna (try to) get sh!t done this year!
Monday:
I got up at 6 when my alarm went off this morning, but I climbed back into bed because it was so chilly. Ended up not actually getting up until 7, but hey, it’s better than 8! The way I see it, I’m working my way back to 6. I’ll get there — I did it once before, so I can do it again.
I forgot to mention that I got some new tattoos this past weekend! My boyfriend told me he’d pay for a tattoo as a graduation gift to me, but we didn’t get around to finding an artist/scheduling an appointment until last week. One of them, the Triforce, is on the inside of my left forearm. The other tattoo is on the inside of my right forearm, and is a quote from Persona 3. “Attaining one’s dream requires a stern will and unfailing determination.” I’m not exactly sure why, but I had planned on getting those two at the same time. Maybe for a sense of symmetry?
I chose the quote mainly just because it’s a good quote, and also because it’s a sort of tribute to P3. P3 Portable was the first Persona game I’d ever played, and I got completely sucked in by its charm. As for the Triforce, I consider Ocarina of Time the true beginning of my deeper interest in games. I’d played Pokemon on my Gameboy color years before I got the N64, and I’d played games like Crash Bandicoot and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time with my cousins quite a bit as well — but Ocarina of Time was the first game that I’d really owned outside of Pokemon. Its story was so different and fresh in comparison to the Pokemon I had played and replayed, and since I owned OoT, playing it alone was an experience that was markedly different from playing Prince of Persia with my cousins.
Pretty sure my parents won’t be big fans of them, so I might have to start practicing how to use makeup/concealer once they heal up all the way.
Tuesday:
Today was basically a repeat of yesterday in terms of waking up. Maybe I’ll just shoot for 7 for the rest of the week and start trying for 6 next week.
Not much planned for today — the main thing is to schedule some doctor appointments. After that I’ll probably work on knitting socks as a “Thank you” gift to one of the people who wrote a letter of recommendation for me. I get the feeling that I probably should have given thank you cards/gifts sometime at the beginning of January, but I’m hoping that the fact that the gifts are going to be handmade will make the lateness forgivable.
Got lots of compliments on my tattoo from people at work and in the lab yesterday, especially on my font choice for the P3 quote. Surprisingly, no one recognized the Triforce. I guess I’ve been a bit spoiled by the culture at UTD.
Wednesday:
It was difficult to wake up this morning; I stayed up til about 1 AM last night knitting/watching a playthrough of Until Dawn by Strippin (@Strippin) and Dodger (@dexbonus/@pressheart2continue) on Youtube. I’ve been a fan of Dodger for a few years now, and her relationship with Strippin is adorable. I’m excited for them having gotten engaged over the holiday — especially since their relationship seems so healthy. I’ve gotten into the habit of watching Dodger’s playthroughs while knitting or crocheting, which basically amounts to one of the most enjoyable and relaxing hobbies/pastimes I have. Watching her co-op with Strippin was so entertaining, in spite of it being a horror game.
In other news, I recently bought a pair of headphones to use while working in the lab. The ones that I’ve been using are on-the-ear “Creative” brand headphones that I’ve had since freshman year of college . . . so about 6 years now. They don’t sound all that bad to me quality-wise, but I don’t think I’m an audiophile. My main issue is that they’re uncomfortable — the padding that was on the headband has long since worn off, and the way that they pin my ears against my head makes it that much more uncomfortable when wearing them with glasses. I’d have to reposition my glasses so that the arms sat above the padding of the earphones.
So the new ones I bought are a pair of circumaural headphones by Koss that I found on Amazon for $20. I was hoping that they’d insulate my ears from outside sound a little better, but they still do a pretty good job. Compared to my old pair of headphones, they are amazingly comfortable. If I still feel this good about them by the end of the week, I’m going to buy a pair to keep at home as well.
Speaking of lab stuff, it is really chilly in here today. Maybe I should bring a snuggie to keep in my cubby cabinet. Too unprofessional? Lol.