Greetings, Internet! I hope everyone is staying as safe and sane as can be. This week, I took my first driving lesson, continued dissertationing, and watched the World Cup. Daily summaries below!

December 2, 2022

• Had my first driving evaluation/lesson today! And holy cow, I actually drove around for 45 minutes! With hand controls! I mean, sure, cars were honking at me because I was cautious about accelerating when the light turned green, but my instructor was like, “You’re adapting to this really well!” And he kept asking me if I thought I was doing well, and I would just nervously reply, “Well, I haven’t run anyone over, so I call this a win.”
• He did not appreciate my morbid humor.
• Got lunch with my parents.
• Grocery shopping!
• Bubble tea! (Yes, that’s two days in a row, don’t judge.)
• My boyfriend’s here! He brought Chick-fil-a.
• Wordle: Whoops.
• Currently feeling: Holy cow, I DROVE A CAR. And my first outing wasn’t terrible, so yay!
• Currently looping: Not so much music today.

December 3, 2022

• Ah well, it’s impressive enough that the USMNT got this far in the World Cup.
• Well, fine, DeGrom, JUST GO TO TEXAS. FINE.
• Did the FES cycle.
• Watched “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” because my boyfriend said it’s his father’s favorite holiday movie.
• This just makes me never want to move to the suburbs. Or invite extended family to my place for the holidays (and have them stay in my giant suburban house for a full week).
• But most movies teach me that the suburbs are where hopes and dreams shrink into mediocrity. Or like, where serial killers live and prey on teenagers. I watch too many horror movies.
• ANYWAY. My boyfriend made a queso dip while we watched the movie and I think I like queso dips now. Not that I didn’t before, but I was kind of alarmed by how freakishly yellow the cheese dips in the supermarket were.
• Wordle: Whoops.
• Currently feeling: Just a quiet Saturday in, because it was rainy and windy outside, and nobody needs to be stuck in that. My boyfriend made some chicken stew, and it was perfect for the weather.
• Currently looping: No music today, really.

December 4, 2022

• My boyfriend: “Let’s have a light lunch, and I’ll make enough for leftovers later tonight.”
• Also my boyfriend: “You know what I said about leftovers?”
• Well, that was a heartbreaking Jets loss.
• Kind of loving that there’s a “Lord of the Rings” and a “Star Wars” marathon, depending on which channel is on.
• Rewatching the Battle of Helm’s Deep, and you know what, it’s dark, but you can totally see what’s going on (why yes, I am being passive-aggressive, “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon”).
• Caught up with a friend from college I haven’t spoken with in months. When asked how my dissertation was going, I was like, “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
• And I still don’t, even as I dissertate. At least I wrote 500 words of something?
• If you mute “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” and play holiday music over it, it’s slightly more tolerable. Especially if you play “Last Christmas” (any rendition, but I’m a sucker for the Backstreet Boys’ rendition at the moment) during any scene with Rey and Kylo Ren.
• Wordle: In four!
• Currently feeling: I really need to watch “Andor.”
• Currently looping: My holiday playlist to the ridiculousness of “Rise of Skywalker.” But also a history cohortmate introduced me to The Killers’ “Be Still” and it’s absolutely gorgeous.

December 5, 2022

• Dissertationing! And finally getting some work done. Emailed my advisor to let him know that I’d get this to him by the end of the month (so, yeah, when you need to get something done, email your advisor and it’ll light the metaphorical fire under your ass that you needed).
• Was really hoping South Korea would make that game against Brazil interesting.
• Worked out with an SCI trainer. Got a new piece of equipment to do some standing stuff.
• Am watching “Kill Bill” 1 and 2. Still the best revenge movie(s) ever.
• Wordle: In five!
• Currently feeling: Dang, I really do love revenge movies.
• Currently looping: My Spotify Wrapped playlist! It’s funny, there are some songs on here that I don’t love a ton, but they just happened to be on there because I looped the entire album.

December 6, 2022

• My building shut off the water for six hours in the middle of the day. So that was fun.
• WHOAAA, MOROCCO!
• Went to Push to Walk!
• And then got bubble tea afterwards. You know the drill.
• A Whole Foods employee commented to my mother that she “always returns fruit” when my mother tried to return a mango today. I called Whole Foods to complain on my mother’s behalf, because WTF. You have a return policy. She was unhappy with a mango. She returned it and then bought a new mango. That’s how the policy works (sometimes without the “buying a new mango” part). Commentary on the frequency of the return (she doesn’t even return fruit that often) is rude and unnecessary.
• Alas, Cris’ run on “Jeopardy!” has come to an end. Looking forward to seeing him on “Tournament of Champions.”
• It’s just fun to watch Steve Kornacki work.
• Wordle: In three!
• Currently feeling: Thankful that the water is on now.
• Currently looping: Still my Spotify Wrapped playlist!

December 7, 2022

• Dissertationing! Made up for not doing any work yesterday, and now am back on track.
• Back on track just means I’m not as panicky.
• I mean, there’s still some panic, because that doesn’t go away until the chapter is submitted (and then the panic shifts from, “Will I get this done in time?” to “Will my advisor think this can work?”).
• Therapy!
• My building is having its holiday party, but I really don’t want to catch a cold/the flu/covid/a general respiratory virus. Maybe I’ll go down later and hunt for food scraps?
• As if I don’t already live on snacks.
• Vocal warmups and exercises!
• Ooh, I haven’t put on a hockey game in so long. Let’s go, Rangers!
• OMG, Roger Federer is on “The Daily Show”!
• Wordle: In four! (And it’s such a Val word.)
• Currently feeling: Today was productive! I feel like I’m not citing enough secondary literature in my dissertation chapter, though. It’s literally just oodles of Gregory of Tours.
• Currently looping: Still my Wrapped playlist. It’s either that or my holiday playlist for the remainder of the year.

December 8, 2022

• Did the FES cycle. Am slowly catching up with “The Problem with Jon Stewart.” Gotta make that Apple TV subscription worth it.
• Opened my dissertation and realized something I wanted to write about maybe doesn’t fit where I thought it would, so now I’m trying to get it to fit somewhere because it’s a good example of something relevant.
• Met up with a friend for happy hour! Drank a couple of margaritas, and then tried tipsy grocery shopping.
• Note to self: Maybe avoid grocery shopping while tipsy, because everything seems like a good idea.
• But holiday shopping while tipsy is awesome, because you remember gift items for people you love.
• What’s important is that I went outside to hang out with someone. And also that I put on makeup, which I don’t do nearly as often as I did pre-procedure.
• Okay, does anyone else think that “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” is significantly more violent than “Home Alone”?
• Watched Trevor Noah’s last episode with “The Daily Show.” Dang. I’m so glad I got to see a taping before he left.
• Wordle: In six! And of course I completely forgot about the NYTimes digital picket line, which I accidentally crossed by playing Wordle. Sorry, journalism, please don’t hate me!
• Currently feeling: Still tipsy?
• Currently looping: Still my Wrapped playlist, but I promise I’ll get back to holiday music in due time!

Thanks so much for reading! Stay safe, get your flu shot, and tell me your top played song of the year!