Greetings, Internet! I hope everyone is staying as safe and sane as can be. This week, I drank way too much wine, continued driving lessons, and celebrated my fifteen-year injuriversary. Daily summaries below!

January 6, 2023

• Registered for the spring semester, so the work continues! I should probably start doing some chapter revisions later this month. After I finish editing another thing.
• Worked out with an SCI trainer while watching the…thirteenth house speaker vote? Or was it the fourteenth? I’m losing track.
• Good grief, this house is going to get nothing done.
• Sent a couple of packages to return items, because I may have a shopping problem.
• Although I guess it’s not a problem if you return things.
• Anyway, my boyfriend’s here! He brought Chick-fil-a.
• Wordle: Whoops.
• Currently feeling: I got my period today, so, kind of bloated and crampy. But I suppose that’s normal.
• Currently looping: I know I said this last year, but I LOVED Regina Spektor’s “Tiny Desk” concert.

January 7, 2023

• Went to my boyfriend’s family’s house for Coptic Orthodox Christmas. I hadn’t seen them in months.
• Went back to my apartment and watched a couple episodes of “Archer.”
• Wordle: Whoops.
• Currently feeling: Happy. Cautiously happy.
• Currently looping: My Spotify “Wrapped” playlist, which I listened to on the PATH train.

January 8, 2023

• Still bloated and crampy from my period. Bah.
• My boyfriend introduced me to nuts.com, and dang, I love their raspberry yogurt covered pretzels. And their dried cranberries. And now I’m hooked.
• A high school friend dropped off some fudge, which was super sweet of him.
• My boyfriend made dinner and opened a bottle of wine for cooking purposes, but that’s given me an excuse to have wine with dinner.
• <buzzed>
• “Knives Out” is on television, and dang, I forgot how good it is.
• Wordle: In four!
• Currently feeling: Bloated, but thankful for fudge and wine. And my nuts.com-loving boyfriend.
• Currently looping: Regina Spektor’s “Home, before and after” album. Like all Regina Spektor albums, it’s beautiful.

January 9, 2023

• Called some medical places to sort things out.
• Worked on editing a thing that wasn’t dissertation related.
• Worked out with an SCI trainer.
• Continued drinking a bottle of wine from last night.
• I AM SO DRUNK RIGHT NOW.
• <DRUNK CALLS PEOPLE>
• Good grief, I’m still drunk.
• Wordle: I tried, and then got stuck.
• Currently feeling: DRUNK. And drinking so much water so that I won’t be hungover tomorrow. Wish me luck, folks.
• Currently looping: Regina Spektor’s “Home, before and after,” but also Arch Enemy’s “Deceivers” album.

January 10, 2023

• Was delighted to wake up and not have a hangover. Cheers to drinking oodles and oodles of water!
• Went to Push to Walk!
• Bubble tea afterwards, because of course.
• Therapy! I’m in my head about everything.
• My mother baked blueberry lemon bread! =)
• Watching the Golden Globes, and I’m so glad that people are recognizing the greatness that is Michelle Yeoh. Side note: her necklace is GORGEOUS.
• Wordle: In three!
• Currently feeling: Like I shouldn’t be in my head about everything.
• Currently looping: Regina Spektor’s “Begin to Hope.”

January 11, 2023

• I think I slept for seven hours last night? Dang.
• Driving lesson! Went much better than my previous lesson. A woman honked at me as I was approaching a speed bump. A SPEED BUMP. And I was going at 15mph, which is what you’re supposed to go at for a speed bump. What is wrong with people? (And yes, my instructor honked back.)
• Got lunch with my parents, which was lovely.
• And then bubble tea with my mother. We keep trying other beverages from our favorite bubble tea place, but the brown sugar boba milk tea continues to be our favorite.
• There’s an ongoing issue with my shower (the ADA renovation was not as successful as we had hoped, mostly because there’s now water damage in more than one unit next to mine). So we’re working on fixing that. Ugh.
• “Independence Day” is on cable, and yup, every time I watch it, I love it.
• It’s on again (like, it’s an “Independence Day” marathon in January), and like, I don’t mind keeping it on this channel while I do dishes and stuff.
• Wordle: In three!
• Currently feeling: I’m kind of digging getting seven hours of sleep per night (based on one night, lol). Is this what happens when I don’t consistently go to bed after 1am?
• Currently looping: Regina Spektor’s live performance of “Loveology.” I’m pretty sure if I ever saw her perform live, I’d spend half the concert crying (but like, in a good way).

January 12, 2023

• Lots of phone calls and things before I even got to eat breakfast.
• Did the FES cycle.
• Worked on some other things.
• Went to my favorite taco place with my bestie and my boyfriend to celebrate my injuriversary.
• On this day, fifteen years ago, I was paralyzed in a car accident. Every year, the day comes around, and that part of my brain that remembers important dates perks up like, “Hey! This was a thing that happened!” And most years, I drink, I shop, I order takeout, and I do anything to treat myself because I want a treat. And most days when I want a treat, I say, “No, treats cost money and you should probably save for something important.” Except when I want a treat on this day, I say, “Yes. Get it. If it makes you smile, just get it.” (Or in this case, eat the tacos.)
• Injuriversary well spent.
• Wordle: Whoops.
• Currently feeling: Today I celebrated fifteen years of exceeding expectations. Ivy League degrees, self-taught Latin, self-taught musicianship, healthy relationships with awesome people, and a healthy relationship with myself. All the while taking care of a high-maintenance body. May all my haters go suck a bag of lemons and wallow in their mediocrity (because you know that awesome people are too busy being awesome to hate on other people).
• Currently looping: Regina Spektor’s “Tiny Desk” concert. Seriously, she’s the best.

Thanks so much for reading! Stay safe, hydrate, and think about where you were fifteen years ago!