The State of the Swankivy - December 23

swankivy

The State of the Swankivy - December 23 - December 29

Dec 30, 2023 20:08

The week in review:

Saturday was my concert at Big Top Lakewood Ranch! Jeaux picked me up and we drove to the location, and it was a really pretty bar. We played two sets and my friend Ben also came out to see some of the show. It went really well and I didn't forget the words. :) Except for the small stage, I thought it was a super comfortable venue. We stayed for a little of the next band but had to leave because we had to go bake a cake. We got some food at Zaxby's and then dove into making the gingerbread roll cake when we got home. Cooling takes a while for a roll cake so we made another cookie (the cardamom cookies) in the meantime. Everything turned out well and Jeaux even bravely handled almost everything for the roll cake! After he left, I cleaned up and made the dough for the Lion House rolls because they needed to rise in the fridge overnight.
Sunday I woke up early before my alarm. Guess I wanted to get started. I had a pretty leisurely breakfast and then got started rolling out the Lion House dinner rolls which was murderous. (Have you ever rolled out a really resilient dough to 10" by 40"??) But I got them in the oven eventually. Meg dropped by to give me some more eBay stuff to sell and watched me make some of my white bean pot pies. As she was leaving Jeaux showed up and as soon as I was out of the way he started making scalloped potatoes. He made it all himself this year too. I cleaned up in the kitchen and heated the cider. Then we had to put together our appetizers. When Dad and Connie arrived we had gotten our green bean casserole together and I was trying to work on the cauliflower. Jeaux ended up making gravy as well. Finally we sat down to dinner and everyone liked everything! We took a break to exchange gifts and digest, and then we went back for dessert. Five cookie types to choose from, plus gingerbread roll cake. Wow! Really enjoyed the day and Jeaux helped clean up after we chilled and watched Colbert.
Monday I had the day off at work because IT WAS CHRISTMAS. I woke up early even though I had turned off alarms. I didn't do anything all day except clean up gift carnage and incorporate the gifts into my collection lists where appropriate, and texted certain people to thank them for gifts. Ate a bunch of leftovers. Took a nap. Did laundry. Sent a Polo to Cara. Set up for the party for the next day.
Tuesday I did a lot of work! I knocked out a proposal plan and did a bunch of forms and preparations for our shortlisted job, and I attended one meeting. Then I finished setting up for my party and people started filtering in in the early evening. It was supposed to be eight people but we were one short because Adam had allergies. So Meghan, Jeaux, Ben, Dare, Yasmin, and Arthur came to my place to help eat up cookies and drink cider. All the cider got drank but the cocoa was not popular! Weird! Some of us had presents for each other and that was cool. We all enjoyed listening to music, eating, and even a little dancing! A few people helped me clean up and then I went to bed.
Wednesday I worked on reports and edited a letter. We decided not to do Jeaux Day because we've been hanging out so much lately and needed some non-people time. I cleaned up some more of the party messes, and other than that just ate leftovers and wasted time. It was nice to have a lower-key day though.
Thursday work was on the slow side so I just did more of my reports and updates. Walked to the post office at lunch to send an eBay item for Meghan again. Took some naps. Spent the day processing concert footage from our Saturday show, but now I'm not supposed to share it yet. Played games with friends online (nice to have Steve and Dare back!), and after, recorded an asexuality video for the channel.
Friday I was busy. Did the timesheets and reports. Then did my comic, did Polos, and wrangled furniture buyers. Seems like people aren't communicating very effectively. After I posted the comic, I did a karaoke song and posted my asexuality video.

New Interviews, Articles, Mentions:

Our Steven Universe podcast, Not-So-Giant Women, was put on this list of top 5 Steven Universe podcasts.

Social media counts:
YouTube subscribers: 5,443 for swankivy (lost 2), 676 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 195 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 70 for Tides of Time Band (no change). Twitter followers: 847 for swankivy (2 new), 3,861 for JulieSondra (lost 3). Facebook: 299 friends for swankivy (no change), 644 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 246 likes for So You Write (no change), 97 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,442 (no change). Instagram followers: 264 (lost 1).

Health Plan Update:

Weight stuff: Kind of shocked that I had a hearty Christmas Eve dinner, a cookie party, and tons of leftovers, and yet my stats are lower than last week. High weight: 121.3. Low weight: 120.1.
Nutrition stuff: Between cookies and festive meals, this was a very high fat week. There were some days where I didn't get enough protein. It balanced out somewhat toward the end of the week, and the festive meals included some green beans and salad so I got some vegetables! Still consistently taking vitamins.
Activity stuff: I met my walking goal every day this week. My low day was Friday at 10,036 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 13,446 steps.

Books Read:

Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
Currently Reading: Loveless by Alice Oseman. I'm on page 192.

Songs Sung:

This week's karaoke song is "Winter" by Tori Amos.

Videos Made:

Letters to an Asexual #109 ("I don't want to come out") is out. In this video, I share three Anonymous questions sent to me about various reasons for not wanting to come out and my advice for them.