The Bookacy Family Alphabet Journal

Well, as you can probably guess by the previous post, there hasn't really been any simming progress. I wasn't expecting any, either.

Otherwise, there has been nice progress, however. As of yesterday, I have an apartment based on oral agreement. As of today, I've officially got it: I've signed the lease, gotten an insurance for the new apartment (and terminated my old insurance) and paid the deposit. I've also sent a request for offers to moving companies via a handy web service. (The new place is 200 kilometres away, so there's no way I'm doing it with a rented van and a couple of friends.)

So, truly not bad for a couple of days' progress. At the moment my outlook on the move is quite positive. Let's see if the desperation sets in when I have to actually pack... Well, that's a worry for another day!

This week, I've been taking a break. I haven't really felt like simming, so I haven't as much as opened my simming computer. Early in the week my new Harry Potter arrived in the mail, so I obviously had to read it (it was quite enjoyable). Afterwards, I didn't really feel like simming, so I sort of half-consiously decided I would take a break this week. Besides, I've been pretty busy too. Now in the weekend, my sister and my brother-in-law were visiting, and I went to watch them take part in a sports competition. That was fun, and made me think I should maybe try jogging again. We'll see how that goes.

So I do think I maybe overdid it a bit during the vacation. But that's okay, as is taking a break. I'm not sure how I will feel next week, but I'll be sure to return to simming sooner or later. I always do, so I'm positive.

Ok, so confession time: zero simming this week. I sort of forgot last weekend when writing the last weekly simming that this week was already vappu week. Vappu, as in May Day, a celebration on par with New Year's and Midsummer's here in Finland. It was this weekend, and I got to meet some friends and enjoy the great weather, so all in all a great time.

( Another excuse, with possible overdose of nostalgy )

So yeah, excuses, but good ones at least in my opinion. ;) Maybe I'll have more time for simming next week.

Excuses, excuses... Guess what happened in the beginning of the week, just as I thought I'd get back into the swing of things? Well, I promptly got sick. Not the kind of sick that gives you fever and puts you into bedrest, just the kind of sick that makes you tired and annoyed and trying to do the normal things anyway. If I didn't go to work, I'd feel guilty because I'm not "sick enough", and when I do, I feel guilty because that may make someone else sick. *sigh* Anyway, that has left me pretty useless in the evenings this week, not having the energy to do anything simming-related. Or much anything, really.

Now in the weekend I've been better, even managing to go to the yearly book fair today, as I planned. (Yay!) Yesterday I managed to write a little bit for the next Lakewood update. I don't like how the gap between updates is growing here, too, but on the other hand, I've been feeling a bit uninspired and lazy, too.

Well, really only one thing to do: try again. I think I'll see if I can write a little bit more yet tonight. And then there's always next week.

So, as I said last time, this week was kind of busy when it comes to real life. I was on a business trip from Monday to Tuesday, and kind of recovering from that the rest of the week. When it comes to free time, I had my first French class on Thursday and I thoroughly enjoyed it. (I studied French in high school, but have since then just about forgotten everything, and want to brush up my skills.)

I've also been a bit distracted by other games (especially since I've been tired in the evenings), but I did manage some progress today. I allllmost finished the rotation for the Davidsons, and wrote a little bit too. I'll have some catching up to do with writing afterwards, but thankfully just a rotation worth. Once I get to it, it goes pretty quickly, at least has so far.

But goodness, I didn't even remember how hard the toddler training is without smart milk! I'm not sure if I regret choosing the no aspiration rewards handicap or not. On the one hand, it feels like so much work, on the other, it feels like an actual challenge, too. I think out of all the aspiration rewards, I really miss two the most: elixir and smart milk. Not that surprising I suppose. Anyway, by my usual playstyle, the Davidsons' oldest child should be a kid now, but there's still the nursery rhyme to go! Well, we'll see how that goes.

I'm not sure about next week, but hopefully it isn't as busy as this week. I've been a little distracted lately, but again, playing was fun when I did actually play. So maybe more progress next week? Maybe.

As I suspected, not really much to report this week either. I didn't actually sim, but I did manage to write and publish the rest of the Lakewood update. So that's progress, and I'm content with that. :) Oh, and I did also start writing Dirk's first college update, maybe six or seven slides, too lazy/tired to turn on the other machine and check.

I did mean to sim today, but since it's the day after my sister's bachelorette party... Maybe I was a bit optimistic about my energy levels. :D Anyway, next week should be a little quieter, so hopefully that means some progress.

So, for those who have been following my job-seeking endeavors: I had the contract negotiation today, and it went well. :) I've signed my first permanent work contract, for a position in my home town. That's something to be really happy about. It starts next week, and now I'm on a few vacation days from my previous temp job, my last day there was yesterday. So good timing, too.

Now I'm planning to take it easy for these next few days and get used to the idea of being back home again, not having to commute and all that. I'm itching to do something with my sims, too. It's been *ages*.

So, all in all, not a bad day today!

I meant to post earlier, but I've been in recovery mode pretty much all weekend. :P It seems everything went well: I didn't rip my dress or fall over, my shoes stayed on, we had no technical problems and there was the right kind of food for the right people at the after-party. And my opponent warmly recommends that my thesis be accepted. Yeah, that too. ;)

It was really kind of fun, to get to talk about the work, and I was much less nervous than I expected. I'm generally a worrywart, so it's quite surprising how relaxed I was pretty much throughout. No complaints about that! And the after-party was a lot of fun, first the official part with dinner, then I got to spend time with some friends and relatives too. And apparently the friends and relatives weren't bored to death either, even at the defence itself, so that's a plus.

So once the university bureucracy runs its course, I should be getting my degree. And that's that. Wow. Anyhow, now I'm hoping to see some simming in my rather immediate future. :)

I'm now all settled in my temp place, and so far, I'm liking everything: the place, the work, all of it. It's been a while since I've been this content.

And I did decide to take the simming computer with me, my parents brought it with the car last week. It took a while to set things up (I left my screen at home and use the tv here), and for some reason I still don't have sound, but I can live with that. Just today I got internet set up on this machine, so I suppose I'm all good to go.

I don't necessarily have that much of time, especially in the nearest future, since some things about the defence still require my attention, but at least now I can make a bit of progress here and there in the evenings. So at least my sporadic picspams will continue. :) And I really should do that BTS some time... (Bad Katri!)

Slowly but surely, things will move on.

I thought maybe it was time to actually say something. So... "something"? As you may have noticed, I haven't been around much. Or, I have been following what's going on and commenting with my usual delay, but I haven't posted anything myself.

I haven't really done any simming recently either, or writing. Basically, I haven't felt like it. Taking care of real life has been a priority, and although there has been a certain amount of waiting around (maybe I'll get around writing something about it f-locked one of these days), I've found myself preferring simple relaxation and entertainment over project-type hobbies. So I've played Civ 5, or some game on my Wii, or done some other such thing.

Today was actually the first time I've opened my simming computer for... maybe a month or so. It was getting dusty. :P I miss my simmies, and today I'm actually feeling like maybe doing something with them. We'll see how far I get with that. I'm also contemplating maybe joining SimStoCremo next month. I may have a lot of time in my hands then, so maybe. Of course, last time I tried it, I ended up having an extended writer's block, so I'm a bit wary too. I suppose by the end of the month I'll be ready to decide.

So yeah. Nothing hugely much to say still. But I'm still here, and not intending to go anywhere. And I'm glad you're still there too. ^^