I actually felt joyous and full of energy. I tried interacting with patrons more, and did my normal goofball antics--singing, dancing, the like to the radio. I mean, I still had to work, mind you. This was tiring, even exhaustive. I'm thinking of even writing a long letter describing all the things which are difficult at work and yet also including all the reasons why it's such a wonderful place to work.
Butyeah. Hurts, but is a place I like to work. During work, I cashed in my Caught Ya cards: I had a surplus--29 total (unfortunately you can only use them in increments of $5), plus a gift card, meaning $30 in free gear.
I ended up ordering five items. One, a lifeguard hoodie, to replace the one I was given and lost for free. This is a purchase I can easily justify both at home and to coworkers: if I get cold, I can wear it. If I need to get in the water, be it drill or rescue, having that shirt available (with me having not been wearing it) gives me something warm to change into.
The other items? A women's V-neck, Women's Aquatics Shorts, A sports T-shirt, and a sports jacket. (Total cost of all items prior to the reduction: about $85.) Now, these might be harder to justify. But I'm prepared. The V-neck, I can explain as being what I'd wear underneath a spare uniform. The T-shirt, dedicated gear for Tae Kwon Do. (Maybe workouts in general.) The sports jacket, for workouts and to cover up my Y t-shirt when off-duty.
And the aquatics shorts? One, gives me a spare set of aquatics-approved clothing: I could do laundry more often. I could keep my current swim shorts as spares to change into if I need to get into the water with me by default not wearing them yet having them available. I mean, things like that. Which I'm supposed to technically have already yet I've neglected. (If a situation, be it real or scenario, came up where I needed to get into the water while on-duty, currently, I would have to go home wet, since I don't have enough outfits to keep one on-site. One's in the wash while I wear the other.
This might be necessary, since I'm not sure how successful my submitted request for those items was, and I have no clue when/where they'd be delivered. To my family, I'd have to explain $50 of merchandise in my name. To work, I'd have to give details confirming my items.
The awkward part would be that while the above are all true, they're all half-truths. The truth is, I ordered those items because I wanted them. In particular, the Women's items. The others have pragmatic effects, sure enough, but I just want those little things while I'm at work.
Speaking of work, good thing I'm typing this blog up. (Well, good that I'm typing it, bad that it's past midnight.) Since without it, I'd have forgotten I have work tomorrow. (Whoops!) Then immediately after that, my counselor appointment, then after that, directly to college. (Oh god I've neglected doing college work all weekend and there's a really freakin huge assignment due tomorrow I am so dead.)
At work, I also devised a little bit of an expansion on an old concept. I used to have three levels: Fire bolt, fireball, and fire blast/burst (used interchangeably as terms). Now, I'm separating them and adding a fourth. Fire bolt remains the weakest: snap your fingers and simultaneously move them into the finger-gun position, then have the thumb pull the trigger; a fire bolt launches from the index finger.
Snap your fingers (you can blame Roy Mustang for me associating creating fire with snapping fingers), close the fist, then immediately open it and launch it forward is the new level I created today. I'm not sure which term to use. On the one hand, "blast 'em!" is usually a weak alternative for "shoot them!". On the other hand, 'blast' is also a synonym of "explosion". The former would make it the appropriate term; the latter would make burst be more appropriate as the name for this level.
But regardless, fireball (the former second level) is now the third level, where you snap your fingers, then immediately open the hand with all five fingers about evenly spaced from one another. The final level snaps the fingers, closes the fist, and then instead of immediately launching it forward, pulls it back, drawing in more and more, before being violently and explosively unleashed forward.
Again, not sure which term to use. On the one hand, 'burst' is something often associated with very strong violence. On the other hand, 'burst' also has an association with rapid-fire lesser things, e.g. "a quick burst" is usually a bunch of weak attacks stacked one on top of another. By the former, burst would be the fourth; by the latter, blast would be better suited for the fourth.
I considered expanding this to the other elements, but given I now know I have a time limit tomorrow, best be getting to bed before it hits. (As-is, this blog post started at almost immediately after midnight is gonna take me a while. It's already 12:45; it'll probably be like 1:30 by the time I write everything I have planned.)
But anyway. That was basically what happened at work. Then I came home. I was told that we'd be leaving at 2:10 for the film. I wondered why so late when we were all there at home, but that was the time we left at anyway. Actually later, thanks to delays...up to and including the first car we had planned to take having a completely and totally, utterly dead battery.
We ended up being half an hour early...which wasn't nearly early enough. We knew this would be a problem, so we had made plans, careful plans, but apparently they weren't as quite put together as we had thought since nobody could really track down whose stupid idea it was to leave at 2:10 instead of 1:30. As a result, we didn't get good seats.
Then again, good seats wouldn't have done much good. This was not our normal movie theater; it was a pretty terrible one. Also, the film had literally 25 minutes of previews. Of them, there were maybe 3 or so good ones? A very small not-really-a-trailer one for the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean, Thor: Ragnarok, and maybe one other. (Was it Wonder Woman? That along with The Mummy remake were on the list of films we concluded, "probably terrible but we'll likely end up watching it anyway......as a rental, at least".)
But again. The film was worth it. In every way possible. It was worth seeing once. It would be worth seeing ten times. It was worth seeing on Mother's Day (and quite appropriate--I'll give the most minor of spoilers in that family is a very very very VERY prominent theme of the film so there's no better movie for a mom), and it'll be worth buying and watching there.
It actually at many points reminded me of the ramble I did literally just before leaving (in fact the moment I hit submit on my post there, I did in fact gather the others to leave), in that it showed many of the things I myself had talked about. In my case, how much a problem child I was, between my autism, bipolar disorder, and being a transwoman. In the case of the film, well...go watch it yourself to see.
You'll understand once you do.
It's just.
A film full of love.
And that makes it a film to love.
Butyeah. Then we four kids went straight home. My mom ordered pizza and with my dad picked it up. So it wasn't quite us eating out; we ate at home. The food was however bought away from home. It was Alfy's and it was good. Today we also celebrated my younger sister's birthday, since competition weekend (that is, attending the Pacific Northwest Teen Square Dance Festival) prevented us from doing so on a closer date. (Her birthday's during the first week of May; this is the second week, moving into the third week.)
So it was a double-celebration, making it really an extended family night. There was our normal cake (we have a family recipe which is quite delicious, though not quite as much as it used to be since some of the things we used to make it with have since changed their ingredients to less-effective things), even a couple presents. Plus the roses for my mom.
Then came lots of talking.
Blah.
I feel like there's more, but all I can think of next is how my older sister and I are attempting to get caught up on Dancing With The Stars. (We just watched Disney Night.) Which took up the evening after our brother left. (Our younger sister is staying the night just this once, and she watched it with us.)
Hmm.
I should probably call it a night.
It's only 1 AM.
And I know I haven't talked about the where I want to be, or the Civ Game update.
But I can do those tomorrow.
Maybe including whatever various things I'm absolutely positive I'm forgetting right now.
Butyeah.
With 9:30 work, I need sleep.
I should quickly mention I'm posting this as a Monday entry even though it's really a Sunday entry though, because it being past midnight, if I posted it as a Sunday entry, Weebly would most likely place it before my entries made at the chronologically-earlier points on Sunday, so. Don't want to do that.
Did want to write this though.
In fact, want to write more, butyeah.
I think basically every blog reader shares my own stance: disappointed that they don't get to read it (or in my case, share it, with consternation I might forget by having not done so), but also knowing and understanding why, with a desire for me to be healthy and for me to do well and recognizing I'm making the smart choice by retiring at a relatively early time.
Soyeah.
See you...later today I guess?
I'd normally call it tomorrow, if not for me posting this as Monday and all that.
So. Later today it is then!