Happy birthday to Corliss! Her birthday coincided with the full moon this year. The energies felt pretty powerful this week. If anyone's interested in learning more about the recent full moon in Leo, I included some links to videos below:
I woke up Monday morning not feeling as tired as last week but still rather sleepy. In my dream there was something about being on vacation and being told by my family to meet them at some golf/mini golf place. I had no idea where it was. I think it was my dad that said something about going straight past a couple of streets and then making like the second turn on the left or something. I struggled to find it. Not sure if I ended up finding it or not because the next thing I could remember was being at school. I think it was my high school, but I wasn't entirely certain. There was something about being in the gym for a bit, but then there was some kind of presentation for another class. We had to make up some new planet or country or something, creating like a national anthem for it and the inhabitants, etc. It was strange. I remember one of the classmates throwing my backpack into the trash and trying to kick/hit me multiple times. I called him out on it, and I think I was holding his feet down so he couldn't do so again. I guess I filled out some out some kind of complaint card against him that got sent to the counselors, and we got called in to talk with them. One of my classmates backed me up, informing the counselors what they saw happen. At one point I think there was something about Fruits Basket characters out in the wilderness by some forest by the sea, and there was a whale. Dream recall got rather fuzzy, and that's all I could remember upon waking up.
I woke up rather cozy and almost fell back asleep while my alarm was going off; it was quite a challenge getting up Tuesday morning. I think my dream involved wandering the wilderness and Sesshomaru at one point, but the main thing I could remember was being at some kind of store with Corliss and April. It seemed to be a shop where everything was on sale/clearance and for less than $10. Corliss, April, and I were browsing crystals a lot in the store, but we also looked at other items--I remembered showing Corliss a lot of Stitch items that she adored. I recalled seeing a bunch of alligator stuff that I thought about getting for my aunt. I debated whether I would get some crystals because some of them, for whatever reason, didn't have a price tag on them, having me question whether I wanted to get them/if they would be reasonably priced. I brought some of them with me to the checkout line while Corliss and April checked out. I was in line when people kept cutting in front of me, which got rather frustrating. I tried going to another line only for the same thing to happen. When I finally got up to the line, the cashier made a comment about how she hadn't even seen me, which bothered me. She was really impressed with my crystal collection, and I asked if she would check the price on some of the crystals since they didn't have a price tag. She agreed and accidentally broke one of them into lots of shards and pieces. She looked really confused, and I explained that some crystals are really fragile. Since they could no longer sell it, I took it to use for my art. There was something about a hippo at one point, too, but I couldn't recall what exactly that was about. That's all I could remember upon waking up.
My dream recall was a bit fuzzy when I woke up Wednesday morning. I knew more happened in my dream, but the main thing I remembered was being in school. I was back at my college enrolled in a ceramics class. My ceramics teacher was MIA, leaving us instructions to come in and work whenever we wanted throughout the day to finish our projects. I couldn't remember exactly what I was working on for the class, but I recalled working on a lot of different things. I also remembered savoring the fact that I could come in whenever I pleased rather than a specified, mandatory class time. I think that society/school would benefit a lot more if there was more flexibility rather than the rigidness that is over-prevalent. While more definitely occurred, that's all I could recall upon waking.
My dream might have had something to do with school from Wednesday night/Thursday morning, but recall was kind of hazy upon waking. Whatever happened was rather peaceful, though, whatever transpired. I might have met with someone. Specifics eluded me, so it's hard to say.
My dream was kind of all over the place Thursday night/Friday morning. Some of it was kind of fuzzy. I could recall babysitting the boys at one point. We ended up going to a store at one point and meeting up with April and Iris. There was this fancy How the Grinch Stole Christmas book that was on sale for $8 (it used to be like $30 in the dream). The boys were interested in the book, wanting to get it. I think the younger brother was going to meet up with friends at one point. When we got back to their home their dad asked if I would be interested in watching them and spending the night. More might have happened, but that's all I could remember from that part of the dream .Another part was strange. There was this girl that got separated and stranded out in the middle of nowhere; she had to figure out how to survive on her own out on like glaciers/icebergs. In order to survive she had to cloak herself in pieces of seals and orcas so they wouldn't be able to smell her and try to eat her. She was doing pretty well on her own, all things considered. This group stumbled upon her, and she begged for them to take her with them because, as well as she was surviving and managing on her own, she was lonely. There was some weird takeover thing the group was trying to stop; there were these like spirits that were trying to rule over the world, and the group was determined to stop them. The group recognized the girl's potential and enlisted her help. With her help they managed to infiltrate the enemy camp undetected. They managed to talk to one of the spirit-like beings and learn their name (they didn't seem to be that bad in all honesty--it could have been the leadership of the spirits that weren't too friendly/good). With that knowledge the girl pretended to be that spirit and "catch" the rest of the group, acting like she was going to turn them in. They came across more spirits and tried their plan, but it didn't quite work because apparently the spirits didn't refer to each other with their names but used numbers instead. I'm not sure if they ever succeeded because that's all I could remember from that part. More happened in my dream--there was even a different part--but that's all I remembered upon waking up.
It felt like a lot happened in my dream from Friday night/Monday morning, but I only happened to remember a bit from it. There was one part where I went to pick up art markers for some reason. Another part took place outside. It gave me the vibe that it was a group of school children playing at recess, but the building didn't particularly look like a school. I ended up walking over, noticing some of the kids were playing across the street and asked the adults supervising if they were supposed to be over there. They weren't, and the kids got in trouble. I think their recess ended, but what appeared to be a group of Asian triplets refused to go inside even though their parents were there to pick them up. The dream transitioned to some kind of amusement park. There was a little inu hanyou boy waiting there with Sesshomaru and InuYasha. They were waiting for the boy's mom and seemed to have been waiting for a few years. The small child seemed to be growing a bit desperate to finally meet his mom, who seemed to be Kagome. I think that his dad was Sesshomaru. Not sure if he ever got to meet his mom or not because that's all I remembered upon waking up.
I woke up this morning and recalled traveling with Corliss. We ended up going to Colorado. My family ended up being there, as well, but they were being rather rude. We ended up going off and doing our own thing, not wanting any part of their energy. There was snow. I think we went to visit somewhere that was kind of the middle of nowhere out in the wilderness. More happened, but specific details were fuzzy. The dream transitioned, and it involved the characters from Miraculous Ladybug. They were at some hotel and seemed to be traveling, too. There seemed to be some villain that had a few Miraculous. Marinette managed to get most of them, but she was working all on her own. She switched between the various Miraculous powers. At another point in the dream it was like a Choose Your Own Adventure with Sesshomaru. More happened, but that's all I could remember upon waking up.
The kiddos had fun this week in before care. One of the girls came up to me and started petting my head, telling me I was a dog. Kids are something else. Another girl came up to me and handed me a drawing she made for me on a post-it, stating that its name was "Boo" and that it likes to say, "Choo-choo." It was silly, but I enjoyed it. The kids have been creating "girlfriends" for my coworker, which I find rather humorous, especially since they seem rather obsessed about it. Funnily enough, one of the girls made my coworker a "pregnant girlfriend" out of pipe cleaners for Valentine's day, too. One morning the pair of sisters were discussing what their lives would look like when they reached adulthood. The older of the two decided she would have a pet parrot whereas the younger announced that she would get a snake and feed her sister's pets to the snake. The older sister didn't appreciate this. They also got into an argument, declaring that they would never allow their sister over for holidays. They were so serious about it, too, but my coworker and I couldn't figure out why they were so dead-set on it, despite how they are always wanting to play together and obviously love each other. The kids were excited to have an early release day on Thursday due to the ice storm and were rather disappointed that they had to come to school on Friday (they were hoping that they would have a four and a half day weekend, but considering how the last time they had a snow day it turned into a five day weekend, I can't say I blame them). Despite how they were disappointed to be at school, they still had a blast; they set up a "restaurant" and handed out money to use (three of the girls decided they were "rich girls" with their handfuls of money). My art buddy had me read to her basically the whole time she was there. They were content to play in the cafeteria, and they didn't realize how long they had been playing until the bell rang, signaling that it was time to go to class. Time truly flies when you're having fun.
The boys wanted their weekly update about YashaHime and delved into potential theories about what could happen next; they really want the original gang to reunite and kick butt together again. They enjoyed discussing video game and Disney theories and coming up with their own originals. We discussed Tsuki and all her antics; they love hearing about her and couldn't believe how much of a glutton she can be. One afternoon when the younger of the two opened the door, he was playing some rather dramatic instrumental music, making quite the entrance. He explained that it was his favorite music from a boss fight. Their dad came home one afternoon, announcing that he had done his "good deed for the year" because he helped a lost dog get home on his way back from work. The boys were excited for their two early release days back to back (Friday was scheduled for PD whereas Thursday was a surprise due to the ice storm). They thought that I wouldn't know to pick them up early on Thursday but were grateful when they saw my car; I wouldn't leave them stranded, though. Their mom got rather anxious about driving, but the roads weren't too terrible, all things considered. It started off as rain, then hail started coming down, and then snow flurries descended. If they had dismissed at their normal time, though, it might have been more nerve-wracking. When I picked the boys up, the roads were a bit slushy, but ice trucks were already starting to make their rounds. The boys are really excited to have their three and a half day weekend, wanting to do nothing more than chill and relax (and I don't blame them),
Tsuki was a nut, which wasn't surprising in the least. She loved watching the rain, hail, and snow during the ice storm; she thought it was the coolest thing. Tsuki had a blast with her cat house this week. She loved snoozing on the chair next to me while I read. Tsuki also really enjoyed the new toys I bought for her while I was out with April and Corliss over the weekend.
Over the weekend April, Corliss, and I got together to celebrate Corliss's birthday. We had so much fun and spent nearly the whole day together on Saturday. We started off eating yummy food together at Denny's with Iris and April's mom. Iris was super excited to see us and grabbed everyone's hand to place a kiss on each. It was super sweet. Iris insisted on sitting next to me at the table, and basically two conversations broke out--Iris talking to me while April, her mom, and Corliss chatted. I ended up helping Iris cut up her food (she's a super smart 4 year-old now, but she still struggles with some things). She kept telling me all about how her baby doll and teddy bear ate a bunch of rocks, so I played along and acted like I couldn't lift them up either. Iris rolled up her straw rapper and said it looked like a bug before squishing it; I pretended to be grossed out, exclaiming, "Ewww! Bug guts are all over your fingers now! Yuck!" Iris burst into laughter, thinking it was hilarious, and then pretended to rub her "dirty" fingers all over me, giggling that I now had "bug guts" on me. I decided to play along and rub it back on her. We ended up going to the store because the others wanted to look for deals; I found some new toys for Tsuki. Iris became heartbroken over some rainbow sunglasses; I ended up distracting her by asking her if she thought Tsuki would like the toys and telling all sorts of stories about Tsuki. It worked every time. Iris would forget all about her troubles and smile while talking about kitties and telling me her insight into what kinds of things Tsuki would like. Corliss was impressed with how well I interact with kids and was baffled how I handle it so well. I don't really think much about it; it comes pretty naturally (discussing interests always works because they get excited about what they love).
We stopped by my house to say hi to Tsuki before going to get some yummy ice cream. We then headed to Dave & Busters; it was April and my first time. The security wanted to see our IDs and then claimed that we were "babies" (they didn't believe our ages, insisting that we looked like "babies." It was kind of funny). We played games first (but that's because there was a 2 hour wait for food). Dave & Busters was fun, but they made stuff unnecessarily complicated. No one mentioned that downloading the app would make so many things easier and give us rewards. Ordering food was a major pain. Nobody bothered to inform us that we're supposed to order online by scanning a QR code, but that only one person can do it. April had a significant other show up (we'd never met him before), and he started an order before anyone else could; he ordered for April and himself, but Corliss and I couldn't order, which was super frustrating. When the waitress finally came over, she said that only one phone could do so, but he didn't seem like he was inclined to allow us to order online, so we ordered through the waitress. I asked about how we could earn rewards for the food, and she said that we had to take our receipt to the win counter. While waiting for the food, I checked the app, and it said that the waiter would take care of it. Corliss and I went to go play games for a bit because the food was taking forever. We had won lots of jackpots earlier, but Corliss eyed a game, deciding she would win real quick. She pulled the lever and won a 2000 ticket jackpot. It was epic. We went to go redeem tickets for free food vouchers, and by the time we returned the food finally arrived. The food was fine, but the prices were a bit ridiculous for what we received. The display pictures didn't even match what we received; the food was rather tiny, excluding the pretzel. The pretzel was definitely worth the almost $15 price for how massive it was. When we were ready for the receipt, I asked our waitress again to help us with getting rewards for our food. She insisted that it had to be done with the win counter or front desk. Since we got vouchers at the win table, we decided to check there first, but they had no idea what we were talking about, so they sent us to the front desk. When we got to the front desk, the staff there were confused and called for a manager. The manager told us that our waiter should have given us rewards, which was super frustrating. The manager claimed to have given us the points for our food, but it still isn't on our app. Despite the complications, we do want to return to play and have fun together; next time we shouldn't have the issue about being denied the ability to order food (he didn't seem all that comfortable with us/didn't seem like he wanted to be there), and we shouldn't have issues now that we have the app. It was a very long day, but it was still a lot of fun (we even stopped by Insomnia Cookies on the way home)--we were exhausted and crashed as soon as our heads hit the pillow.
Artwork for the week included:
I did some writing, reading, and anime watching this week. I wrote a new piece for the We Have a Dream challenge on Vocal. Fanfic for the week included She Who the Prophecy Foretold. Unfortunately, there was no new episode of YashaHime this week (I know the boys will be bummed that I don't have any new updates on the story for them when I see them next). This week I watched Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside. It explored the struggle between shoulds/expectations/obligations/duties/responsibilities versus doing what we actually want to do. It provided nice commentary on how individuals live their lives and whether they are destined to live a life due to fate or choice. A lot of times we can feel trapped by what we're "supposed" to do that we don't feel like we can do what we desire. It addressed the question on what kind of life is worthwhile, as many would think a life of adventure and heroics would be the best kind, writing off a peaceful, simple life. Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside follows the Hero on her journey, delving into her path and whether it is predestined due to god/a higher power based on her blessing or whether her free will plays any role at all. It's pretty relevant considering how many people feel trapped in dead-end jobs that they "have" to work and feel like fate dealt them that hand, so they have to just deal with it and bare it.
Hopefully, everyone is taking time for self care and being gentle with themselves. We're doing the best we can, and we're worthy of love and abundance. Don't sell yourself short, and live a life you enjoy. If a simple life is what you want, you're allowed to live such a life. If you want a life full of adventure, travel, and new experiences, you're worthy of such a life, too. You're allowed to live a life worthwhile, whatever that looks like for you. No one else gets to have final say over the direction of your life except you. Be who you want to be. Do what you enjoy. Have fun. Relax. Laugh. Follow your passion, and shine your light; there's no one else quite like you, and the world is a better place with you in it. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their Presidents' Day weekend, and I wish you well! Stay blessed with love and light, everyone~
Food for thought from Ralph Smart:
Food for thought for the week:
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