Oatmeal Cookie Day!

Mood:

This was actually yesterday, but I love oatmeal cookies! They're great with chocolate chips, raisins, or just plain. I've had cowboy cookies which have a lot more stuff packed in. They're good too. But, sometimes the basic ones are the best.

Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day. It's more of a cultural day for me. I played some Irish tunes on my clarinet. Then, made corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes for dinner. Got some soda bread to accompany it. I boiled the corned beef and vegetables for 4 hours. The smell was awesome!It was a big chunk of meat. Although, when I took it out, there was a huge layer of fat on the underside. Made it difficult to cut, and a bit gross to look at. (Kind of looked like a jelly by then, and it was tough.) But, there was still plenty of meat left. The whole thing might be good for at least 2 more meals. I love soda bread, and kind of wish it was sold year-round. It has kind of a unique flavor, and not everyone likes it.

I've been sick for a week.It didn't get bad until around Friday. Before that I just had a really scratchy throat and my sinuses were on fire. It progressed to a very runny nose, scratchy throat at times, coughing (one night I couldn't stop the coughing fits, even with cough drops), being lightheaded, nauseous at times, achy all over my body (like I had been run over by a truck), sleepy, etc. (I still can't seem to breathe very well, and occasionally cough.) It was so bad on Sunday, I decided not to go to the Purim party I was hoping to go to.It sounded like it would have been really fun, too. I didn't even dress up in a costume or something 'festive' at home. Just wore my pajamas. 

The next day, I decided to wear what I would've worn for Purim. Just to make myself feel better. I wore tights for the first time in a very long time. (I don't even remember the last time I wore them.Maybe in my early teens?) These were black, and looked nice and sleek. Felt great. Kind of silky smooth.I had forgotten how they felt. I thought for a long time that I was too 'big' for them. Well, I have lost a lot of weight, but I probably could have still worn them. My legs are very muscular (which I love), so no matter how much I'll lose, they will still probably be somewhat 'balky'. I also wore my old black skirt with the white trim, my new-ish gold thread/taupe colored sweater, a necklace that has my first and middle name in Hebrew (the letters are in black and on wooden looking cubes with a couple of gold/brassy looking beads in between, all on a black thick string), and my gold and purple earrings. Wore my fluffy red slippers with the whole thing. So, at least I was comfortable, and looked nice.Didn't have any green on, though. Oh well...

I decided to start a support thread on Gaia. It's for KoTs/AKoTs or Kids of Trans/Adult Kids of Trans. I actually called it People Who Have Trans Parents Support Thread, since I didn't want people to be confused. Had a few trolls pop in. I tried to combat them at first, but they became nastier towards me.Eventually, one of the posters told me about a way to ban them from it. If you put someone on your ignore list, their posts disappear from your threads. They also can't see them or your posts. I tried to report some of their posts, but you can only report so many posts on a page, and even then it's iffy that a mod would take care of it. Wish you can actually ban them from the site or something. I've seen these people in various other threads. And, a lot of the time the next time I look at those threads, their posts are gone. So, they go away for everyone in that thread. I'm noticing that those same trolls are trying to make their own threads now. Probably because they can't see, and/or post in most of them. Hopefully, one of the mods will find them and do something about it. But, in the meantime, they won't bother my thread anymore. We don't need hate, especially in a support thread. 

There was one person who seemed close to being a troll, but I felt he was really just ignorant. He didn't say anything particularly hateful. Although, it was somewhat insulting. Another person tried to correct him, but he never came back to the thread. Found someone whose partner is a trans man. She said they have a 9 month old, and are planning for another baby. She was curious about my situation, since it'll be different than their children's. So, that was interesting. Another person said that her brother is trans, and couldn't imagine what it'd be like to have a parent who is. That was interesting, too. So far, no one who has a trans parent has posted. (Maybe I really am a 'unicorn'...) After I 'ignored' the trolls, the thread has become somewhat quiet. Maybe it'll become active again during the weekend. 

I got my meds last Wednesday. I feel a lot better now. I did get a response from the pharmacy, but it was I think on Friday or Saturday. They basically told me: "Well, that's what your doctor ordered." I looked at who ok'd the refill, and it's not my current doctor or even the psychiatrist I had before (she moved back to Hawaii). It was someone unknown to me.I was only given a month's worth, but it said on the label that they have ok'd me for 1 more refill. Well, I'll bring this up with my new doctor. Hopefully, I can get them to talk to her if there's a problem, and get my refills through her. I also have to get my IUD replaced. Which I'm sooo excited about...Last time I was knocked out, but I think I can at least try it this way. It keeps me from hemorrhaging every month, and regulates my 'friend'. It's been out of whack lately. I also need my annual check up. So, there's quite a lot I need to go over with her. I need to make that appointment...

Last night, I went to the support group meeting. There was a pretty good turn out. There's a new ally, which is great. So, now there's a handful of us. Had an interesting discussion. Went to Shari's afterwards. I got some scrambled eggs with cheese, and their fruit plate. The eggs were good, although the cheese wasn't melted all the way. They added oranges to their fruit plate. So, now it's slices of honeydew melon, grapes, and the oranges. It was pretty good, too. 

The new ally that was there apparently thought I was much younger than I am. While we were at Shari's, he asked my dad, "So, how old is your little one?" Then, pointed towards me. Little one?That was kind of funny. I told him how old I was, and he was surprised because I'm 3 years older than him. He said it was my voice and face. Now, mind you, I'm still trying to get over this cold, so my voice sounds a bit weird right now. I'm not sure if my face really looks that young.Almost everyone I talk to is surprised by my age. I still get some people who think I look 14.It's almost on the verge of insulting now. Some people don't take me as seriously because of how much younger I look. And, being called 'little one' seemed slightly insulting. Not entirely, but getting there. I know some people who would love to look younger, they feel like they haven't aged well, and then they say they're envious of me. I would just like to look at least closer to my age.Although, it might be because I don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, don't have very much caffeine, don't wear makeup all that often, and try to keep myself generally healthy. Oh, and someone made me feel kind of bad, but I know they were slightly upset about something. So, I shouldn't let it get to me. 

Started watching D.Gray-man on Saturday. I think I remember trying it a long time ago, but only got through 1 or 2 episodes. I think those were actually shown at our anime club in college. It was kind of like a teaser to see if anybody wanted to watch it. I was into other shows at the time, so I didn't continue it. Towards the end of the 19th century, Allen Walker officially joins the organization of exorcists, Black Order, that destroy the beings known as Akuma; mechanical weapons made by the Millennium Earl with the suffering souls of the dead. (Akuma literally means devil, evil spirit, or demon.) Allen has both a cursed eye and an anti-Akuma weapon as an arm, bearing the ancient power of 'Innocence'. Allen, along with his fellow exorcists must put a stop to the Millennium Earl's plan to destroy humanity. The manga began in 2004, and is apparently still ongoing. The anime began in 2006, and ended in 2008. It has about as many episodes as Hitman Reborn did, which is quite a lot. (103 episodes.) Not sure if it'll keep my interest for that long, but we'll see.

Started watching Watashi no Kirai na Tantei on Monday. It loosely translates to I Hate My Detective. Akemi Ninomiya is a hardcore mystery fan. Although she's only a college student, she's very wealthy and owns a building. Private detective Morio Ukai prefers tracking down lost pets and solving adultery cases for wealthy clients, rather than murder cases which usually bring in little money. Akemi rents out an apartment at a cheap price to Morio, and with a little more bribing, he's 'persuaded' into solving cases with her. It's based on a novel. The main characters are played by actors I really like, so that's a plus already. The last memorable one I saw with Hiroshi Tamaki (who plays Morio) as a main character was Nodame Cantabile. That was a while ago. He was awesome in it. Now he looks quite a bit older. A slightly different character, too, which is good. Ayame Gouriki (who plays Akemi) played one of the main characters in Mirai Nikki or Future Diary, and was in Asuko March. I think she's better in this show so far.

On Monday, I went back to reading Hiiro Ouji or Scarlet Prince. They finally had some updates for it. I think they only have a few more chapters up, but it's better than nothing. They went to Akira Okamoto's house to check out a room they might use for the class' Christmas party. He lives in a huge mansion that's been in the family for generations. While planning the party there, Kubo was asked about what sort of games should they have. He suggested a scavenger hunt, and they agreed on it. Later, Kubo had wandered off on his own. When they found him, he had apparently lost something. So everyone considered it as a warm up for the actual scavenger hunt, and searched for it. They searched all over. The one place that hadn't been looked at was the hallway to Okamoto's older brother's room. He likes to keep the hallway dark, made his own coffin bed, and is into watching vampire-themed anime and reading vampire-themed manga. Sounds a lot more like what Mana imagines vampires to be. (Besides the watching anime and manga part. Apparently, Okamoto's entire family is into stuff like that.) A lot different than Okamoto. Still don't know if his brother gets blood donations from hospitals like he does, instead of attacking people. Mana decides to go down that hallway, and bumps into Okamoto's older brother. Should be interesting to see what he's like. 

Wrote some more of the 7th short story to my nightmare anthology. This one should be interesting, since it was an incredibly long dream, and it's a more recent one. It's also one of the trippiest.Played some Irish tunes on Monday. Very fitting for the holiday...Was pretty good this time. Also, finished up the writing meme, and posted it on dA. Here it is: Random OC Meme of Randomness Someone's faved it, and there's a lot of views. A lot people when it comes to literature on there tend to read it, and move on. They don't seem to fave lit. too often. Many writers have brought this up on dA's facebook page. And, they don't stick around much to read stuff that isn't meme related. Writer's have given ideas about how to make lit. more exciting on the site, and many times dA has said they'll look into it.Well, I'm only posting writing memes in terms of lit. now.

Practiced/quizzed myself on kanji/vocab on JapaneseClass' site. I've made it to the day's top 20 a few times in the last few days.Also, got a friend request. Maybe we can study together, challenge each other, etc. That would be cool. I seem to be getting even better on there. Started typing out the next paragraph for me to translate from an article in You Maga. This one has to do with middle ear inflammation. Oh joy!Sounds fun. But, it is interesting to read about some of this stuff. 

Oh, I finally talked with one of our neighbors that recently moved in next door. We went to the same elementary school up through high school. So, it's a bit interesting. I think her husband went to the same high school too, but I don't really remember him.Her husband had asked me about the property lines, I had asked Dad about it that night, and then decided to tell them about where it was the next day. She said it was great to know about it so quickly. They're going to put a fence up, so their dog can run around. They didn't want to accidentally do something that was really on our property. They sawed a lot of trees down in their backyard on Monday. So, it was very noisy and looked kind of messy. Apparently they have an outdoor cat that likes to travel around the neighborhood. It's already been in a fight. He looks unique because of his curved tail. He's also 15 pounds. So, he's huge.Not fat, just really long and proportions are bigger than usual. He scared Rosie the last few times I saw him in our backyard. Rosie is the usual size for a cat, maybe slightly pudgy looking. (Although, that's misleading because she's incredibly muscular.) Weighs around 10 pounds. Our neighbors also have 2 kids, who seemed to want to join in on the conversation. They were cute, but I could tell that they were a handful.So, it was a very nice chat. She said that she's usually home and if I need anything, she'd help. Cool. I'm still debating whether I should friend her on Facebook, and maybe she's doing the same thing because I haven't had a friend request from her...Kind of funny in a way.

National Meatball Day!

Mood:

This was actually on Sunday, but I like meatballs, so why not celebrate them still?It can be a little tricky making them from scratch. But, those can be the best. The all turkey, all chicken, or all beef ones are great. Although, lamb meatballs aren't too bad. They have a slight aftertaste that I don't like. Unless seasoned correctly, I guess. I've only made meatballs from scratch a couple of times. Maybe I'll do it more often in the future...Meatballs are great in a pasta sauce, soup, sandwiches, etc. 

Yesterday started off as a great day.I had ordered one of my meds like usual, Friday morning. These are the most important ones that I take. (Although, if I didn't take the other prescription one I'd probably throw up all day, but that's tolerable compared to not having this one.) I usually order it through the mail, instead of pick it up at the pharmacy. It's just nicer that way. Anyways, I got an email yesterday morning saying that they'd authorize this order, but I have to talk to another psychiatrist or talk with my doctor before I refill for next time. I thought, ok, cool I'm fine with that. I got a call during the early afternoon telling me to call the pharmacy back. (I wasn't near my phone at the time, so they left a message.) So, I called back. After 10 minutes of waiting, I told them that they had called me. They said my doctor had ok'd my meds, and asked if I wanted it mailed to me. I told them that's what I had put down in the first place. They said ok, but there will be $3 copay added to it.They've never said that before, but there would have been a copay if I was at the pharmacy too. I said fine, and after getting off the phone with them, I checked on my order. 

They added another one to the list, this one listed it slightly differently.The dosage would add up correctly, but past psychiatrists have told me that not only was it cheaper splitting up the dosage in separate sizes, it's easier to take, and it also made it more 'stable'. I usually order 150mg tablets with 25mg tablets. I take 2 of the 25 with the 150. So, for each time I take it (which is twice a day), it adds up to 200mg. In total for the day it's 400mg for this med. (Which if I remember correctly, is the upper limit for the dosage of the med. Meaning, it's recommended to not exceed this amount. I could be wrong...) They ordered 200mg tablets for it instead. So, I'd be taking one giant pill for each 'dose' instead. I'm not sure if I like that or not. 

Anyways, I called back. This time I waited 20 minutes, and got a very rude guy on the other end. I tried explaining the 'situation' as calmly and coherently as possible, and he got very frustrated. He then told me that he'd patch me through to another pharmacist. I'm cool with that, if you can't help me I'm fine with someone else...A second after he put me on hold to speak to another pharmacist, he dropped my call. It was clearly his end, because my phone had a good signal at the time. I waited 30 minutes in total just to be dropped.

I was starting to get pretty angry with them, but took a deep breath. I thought there was one line of communication I hadn't used that might work. (And, it wouldn't waste more minutes.) I emailed them explaining everything I had been through in detail. I still haven't gotten a response back...

I found out a few minutes after I sent the email, the 'new' order of meds had already been sent out and was on its way. The other orders I had were still being 'processed'. Well, I'm happy something is coming soon, but not happy with how they treated me. (I wonder if they'd treat someone with diabetes or cancer the same way...) I really need them since I've resorted to cutting up the pills I have, and taking fewer and fewer doses as time goes on. I had 2 of the 150mg left this morning. That's it...And the order says it most likely will arrive on Thursday. I have to stretch them out. It's better than not taking any for a few days. I actually started cutting them down a couple of days ago. I'm going to wait until I get those meds in the mail, and then if I need them to explain or change something I'll go in to talk with them personally. I'm oddly feeling ok still. In fact, besides how they treated me, I'm feeling pretty good right now.

I've rearranged my schedule a bit, so I can get to more things. So, I have days that I just do Japanese stuff (kanji, grammar, chat, blog in Japanese, etc.), days where it's just art, days with just music, etc. I actually added more time to playing my clarinet, since it falls under a few of the 'themes'. I've made it so I have more time to write, as well. So, that should be great!It might make things feel 'fresher' too. Started my new 'schedule' today with an art/writing theme. Got quite a bit done.

I'm thinking of making 2 guilds on Gaia. One for people in a similar boat as me, with having a trans parent. I didn't see a guild that was specifically for supporting KoTs or AKoTs, or Kids of Trans or Adult Kids of Trans. (Someone who talked to people who had trans parents, called their project this, thought it was helpful and interesting.) Not sure if I'll call it that or People Who Have Trans Parents. That might be too long...Anyways, it'd be a great opportunity for people to find others who are like them. I haven't personally found too many other people with trans parents, so this might help me on that front. Plus, it could be a great resource for learning more about trans stuff, what families go through, etc. Also, a place to vent, tell their stories, have fun, and more. (I'm thinking of adding maybe a forum game thread, and general stuff to it.) I kind of want it to be both a community and a support guild. Not sure if anyone will join. I'm thinking of having it as private. If it's private, people can still see the guild and its forums. They just can't post anything if they're not a member. If it was hidden, people can only see the front or 'welcome' page. I want people to know what it's really about. And, seeing the forums as well, might give them more of an idea. I don't want it public, because there might be some trolls out there waiting to spread hate around. We don't need that.This way I can also do kind of a background check on each member too. At least, on what they've done on the site. I might tell people to answer a question for joining. 

Another guild idea I have is for a more active Jewish guild. I'm apart of one, but there hasn't been a regular post in a couple of years. (I checked all the Jewish ones on there, and there aren't many, but none of them are active.) I'll try to have it more welcoming, more resources, more stuff about holidays/different traditions/different branches/etc., and maybe a fun section too. The only problem with making guilds on there, is apparently they're 40,000 gold each. That's a lot. I have about 720,000 gold, so I guess I could afford it, but it's still a lot.I think members pay a gold fee for joining, too. But, it's only about 100 gold to join. But, both these guilds may become very helpful for people...I could probably get that gold pretty quickly back. But, it's also not like I'm saving it for something super big like a special item of some sort. 

I'm still a little out of sync since daylight savings time started on Sunday. Lost an hour to our day, and it's staying sunny later. So, at times it feels super early, and at times it feels really late to me. My internal clock is probably trying to figure it out. Oh joy. 

Rurouni Kenshin has been very interesting so far. I'm usually not into historical drama/anime. I knew I already liked the story, but didn't think it would keep my interest. I'm starting to like Megumi a bit more. She seems to have grown up a bit. When she was first on, she seemed to be the 'woe is me' type. And being very melodramatic. Now, she seems cunning, tough, and a take charge type of person. People are surprised that she's a doctor, since back then (the Meiji era) there weren't too many female doctors. I like that the women have turned out to be tough and against what was considered 'normal' at the time. Some of these characters are based on real people. Not much happened in Pandora Hearts. Basically has been like the anime so far. 

Edited and finished the 6th short story to my nightmare anthology. It's creepy, but it's based on a nightmare so of course it's got to have that element. Started the 7th short story. This one should be interesting, since it's based on one of my longest nightmares that I can remember. Hopefully, it won't end up being too long on paper...It's also one of the scariest, and a semi-recent one. (I think I had it a few years ago.) It's pretty trippy as well. But, aren't most dreams?

Played an hour of my clarinet today. Did lots of jazz tunes, and several pieces from my advanced classical solo book. I'm thinking I might try another reed from this new box. Sometimes, there's a reed that's kind of a dud, and doesn't play very well. The one I've been using right now feels like a dud. It's airy and has a weird feeling when used. I didn't sound too bad overall, though. And, it's been a while since I've played.

Came up with a better plan on doing that drawing project with all my characters lined up together and interacting with each other. I think it'll be easier to do it this way. We'll see...Also, did the blushing section for the drawing meme. Not sure if I'm entirely happy with it, but at least Junko does look like she's blushing. She looks a bit angry on the 2nd one, though. Hmmm...The next section will be the Sick one. That should be interesting. (I think there's only one or two sections left after that one.) I also finished the writing meme. And, I'll probably post it soon to deviantART. It was fun to get into their heads.There was one character who doesn't show up much in the actual story. So, he was a bit trickier to figure. But, good for character development. The only question I wasn't too thrilled with was on what my oc's got for Christmas. It wasn't worded that way, but they said: "It's the holidays! What did your oc's get under the tree?" That can only suggest one thing.I don't celebrate it. My main character doesn't either. The only one I thought might would be Tony, the other human in the meme. (In the story, the only other humans would be Shadow's sister and Tony's sister.) But, even with him I wasn't sure if I would allow him to celebrate it. But, I ended up having him be the only one who knew and celebrated Christmas. For the others, I suggested that they probably have other holidays they might get presents at, and maybe to share that. The question seemed very one sided though. 

I started to not be too fond of this month's wallpaper, and decided to change it.I don't change it too often during the month. This one's of Miku Hatsune who's a Vocaloid. Thought it was a cool one of her. Her hair seems to be getting longer with each pic I see her in...There are only a few songs that I like of hers, but she's one of the earliest Vocaloids. (The third Japanese Vocaloid created, and 7th overall. She's extremely popular. Even has her own live concerts. Some of the other popular ones are apart of her concerts, too.) People seem to recognize her the most. A lot of her songs are high-pitched or romantic ballads, which I'm not into. I like her more comical, experimental, traditional, etc. ones. They're rare, but awesome.She does a great cover of Popcorn, just as an example. 

日本語

Studied more compounds for 部, and the kanji 服. 部門 or ぶもん (bumon): division (of a larger group), branch, field, class (subclass), group, category, department. 部屋 or へや (heya): (a) room. 細部 or さいぶ (saibu): details. 全部 or ぜんぶ (zenbu): all, entire, whole, altogether. 服 is pronounced as ふく (fuku). It means: clothes (especially Western clothes); (suf, ctr) counter for doses of medicine, gulps of tea, drags of a cigarette, etc.