the girly who shall end all girls

i tried to do a 365366 challenge this year, and i lost. i was doing great until March. i stopped numbering entries after UW locked down and i had my first online class. i stopped posting daily in May. by that time tracking non-events and losses got to be more than i could do.

i'm glad i preserved a timeline of the pandemic closing in and the stages of my world narrowing, but i wasn't able to make it a project like scarlettina with her paper diaries. i had a bunch of productive plans for this time of isolation - i was going to make tons of masks, i was going to knit a blanket. i made enough masks for C and i to use, but i found making masks to be depressing instead of making me feel like i was helping so i never made ones to share. the blanket, i let myself take a break in August when we went camping and haven't felt like picking it up since.

sometimes writing things down is just Too Much. somewhere in the summer i had a pretty crushing experience at work (and summoned up the guts to call my mentor and my boss on the carpet for it, which was a major milestone for me). within a week of my birthday my mom had to get a pacemaker and there was a covid outbreak in my dad's nursing home. Dad's case was mild, Mom says she's sleeping better than she has in years. more recently Dad's seizures have reappeared, but they've adjusted his drug cocktail and he's stayed out of the hospital.

i will also note here that i feel like the Bad Year frequency is increasing - 2009, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020.

January
"i've been wanting to post more. let's see if i do in 2020."
my first automation at work goes live
i set C up with a remote PC for gaming
i signed up for Intro to Python and had my first few classes
my brother & wife were in town for MLA
13th Doctor
Parasite <3
Little Women 🤮

February
"we finished The Good Place. what an impressive run, i'm delighted."
Cats 🤮
switched internet providers and increased bandwidth (remarkable timing)
won a fitbit
got approved to go to a conference in Las Vegas
automated another thing at work
attended first Sounders matches of the year
state of emergency declared in Washington

March
"my mom called today to ask about the state of emergency, C's mom called today and had no idea what was going on."
travel ban at work, conference trip cancelled
work goes remote
class goes remote
i retreat into Obitine fic
last haircut
Dad's home closes to visitors
last in-person game night
philotera beats border closures and gets out of the US
last dinner in a restaurant, last bus ride
knit night goes remote
SIFF cancelled
local coffee shop closes
finished intro class
got a big monitor
became an FTE

April
"i know many people (for good reason) dislike the shenanigans that happen today. but i always look forward to the event in r/AskHistorians, the best (aka very tightly regulated and informative) subreddit."
another work automation project
Adam Schlesinger died
started making masks
started Python certificate program
blanket begins
green hair

May
"at the beginning of this year i was trying to write an entry every day."
bought a standing desk and created workspace in the bedroom.
started recording Agents of SHIELD
big release at work.

June
"tonight is our third night of curfew."
got a massage (that felt a little foolhardy at the time and i haven't gone back)
did a video call for Father's Day
ravelry did a site redesign and we all had a meltdown

July
"this has been a difficult day for me emotionally the past few years. i can't say that my country has changed, only that i have had to face the worst of us in ways that i was once able to ignore."
i struggle with being able to read books
i struggle with Object-Oriented Programming
i flip out over people having a birthday party and singing
steampoof dies
i get turkish towels

August
"i tried to watch the Hugos live, but i only made it to the first winner - GRRM rambling was just excruciating, and apparently i tuned out before he really went off the deep end."
we go camping; it's literally the first time i have entered a vehicle or left the neighborhood since March
i stop working on the blanket
i start reading romance novels
Chadwick Boseman dies
i get a split keyboard

September
"we started getting AT&T TV (it's streaming cable channels) this year."
i discover that my hoarded Agents of SHIELD episodes (because i watch it with mimerki, damn it) have been silently disappearing due to being held for too long
tiny waffle maker enters my life
record-breaking poor air quality from wildfire smoke
RBG dies

October
"i have struggled with reading since mid-march."
i do Pinktober
i get a kigurumi
our neighbor has a heart attack. first time i'm in someone else's house since March

November
"it's been a tense few weeks between the election and a reorg at The Eyrie."
i wrote a Discord bot
i got a better desk and chair
Mom gets a pacer
we have Thanksgiving at home
Dad gets covid
i finish my Python classes
i record and start watching Hallmark movies

December
"morning getting dressed thought:
I knit these Doctor Who socks while waiting in line at Disney World."
Hallmark movies
cleaning
So Many Romance Novels
discount ham
mysterious rocketbook

and that was pretty much that.