#Holiday journaling

[portraitoftheoddity]

Lena's Christmas report...

So, I headed up north the 18th to spend the week of Christmas with my family, and when I get there, Dad is sick. I work remotely Monday and Tuesday. Within two days, Mom and I are also sick, and I spend a good three and a half days as a coughing, sniffling disaster, though I still managed to do a pretty good job on the jigsaw puzzle mom and I got out. My aunt and uncle get there around the 22nd when I'm pretty much in the middle of it, but thankfully avoid getting sick.

Then, Thursday night, the storm rolls in. It's been snowing every day up until then and mostly in the 10s-20s temperature wise (ºF), but the pressure front comes in with drastic temperature shifts and winds gusting at 60mph. (If you don't know what a 60mph wind feels like, imagine standing in the bed of a pickup truck traveling down the highway at 60mph). At 2am Friday, the power goes out. It comes back briefly, then goes out for good at 5am.

At 6am, my mom and I both go downstairs (it is still pitch dark out) because the wind is too loud for either of us to sleep, shit keeps banging around, and the house itself is shaking from the wind (my dresser was rattling. FROM THE HOUSE SHAKING FROM THE WIND OUTSIDE). The christmas tree on the deck, which is in a heavy metal stand wired to the deck, keeps blowing over, then getting blown back up, and the grill has been blown clean over. As the sun comes up, it becomes clear multiple trees are down, though luckily none of them landed on the house or the driveway (some of the neighbors weren't so lucky -- a couple down the road had their roof partially torn off).

Friday, it pours and the wind roars most of the day. It gets up to 50ºF, which is insane.

The power stays out. Apparently something like 6% of all the people in the state have no electricity.

With not a lot else to do, I end up running D&D for my mother, aunt, and uncle (on their request) and we play through the first half of a homebrewed adventure I wrote with a dungeon crawl, by candlelight. (It was delightful.)

Luckily, my parents have a backup generator because they've lived through enough winter storms to know power outages out in the sticks can last a long-ass time. The generator is wired to a few circuits for essentials like keeping the fridge running and the water pump functioning so the pipes don't freeze. Also the internet router, because priorities.

This is important, since Saturday, it's fuckin' -5ºF out.

Have you ever gone hiking when it is -5ºF?

Because I now have!!!

We headed to the conservation trail area down the street (maybe a 2 mile drive?) and passed not one, not three, but TEN DOWNED POWER LINES. Just on one road. We then put on microspikes and went out on a trail I've gone on dozens of times but which had been turned into ICED OVER CARNAGE (Remember that 50ºF? And all that snow we had before? Followed by a rapid freeze? Whooooo boy). Whole sections of trail are turned into ice slides, which, HALLELUJAH MICROSPIKES. Holy shit those are amazing. You can just... walk up ice. Also, there were downed trees everywhere from the windstorm, many over the trail. We started clearing what we could as we went, dragging branches and smaller trees to the sides of the trail, though a few big ones we jus had to climb over or under and leave for the trail maintenance crews who would be out with chainsaws. It was a hell of a workout, so despite the temperatures, I was goddamn toasty.

Power stays out.

At this point we're not sure how much fuel the generator has, but Dad checks on it and says the gauge looks okay. Just to be safe, we fill up a ton of water bottles and some buckets and stuff with water and make sure there's batteries in all the flashlights and lanterns.

The stove and oven run on gas, thankfully, not electric, so dinner is delicious. Mom and Dad and I take turns alternating sitting by the fire or the one functioning light in the house and reading aloud to each other from a book by a local author while my aunt and uncle are out visiting a cousin.

(That night, it's so cold I can't sleep)

Christmas day: Still No Power, about 9ºF out, but sunny. We get a roaring fire going.

I get my own pair of microspikes. ^_^ (along with some further hiking gear, some nerd shit and some drinkin' supplies).

In the afternoon, family D&D continues. Uncle solves a puzzle, Aunt picks some locks and Mom kills a Wight. We watch probably a dozen utility trucks going by up and down the road, between tree cutting crews and those trucks with the people-buckets they can lift up to power lines. Then Dad gets the TV hooked up to the backup power after dinner so we can all watch the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (which was so dumb and so fun and that song will be stuck in my head forever).

Then, at the end of the evening, in a Christmas Miracle -- the lights finally come on!

Today I headed home, and my apartment seems to have come through unscathed with no apparent power loss. But despite the sickness and cold and lack of power, it was honestly a really fun holiday break and I'm being pestered for another D&D game by my relatives and mom wants help leveling her ranger.

Hope you all had a good week!

[365momme]

12 Days of Christmas Personal Development Journal Prompts

Looking to reflect on your personal development and set goals for the upcoming year? Look no further! We’ve curated 12 days of Christmas-themed personal development journal prompts just for you. These prompts will guide you through gratitude, skill development, goal setting, self-care, overcoming limiting beliefs, and much more. Each day, you’ll explore different aspects of your life and discover…

[cabinetteofcuriosities]

Happy Holidays 🎄✨

[longreads]

’Tis the Season to Kill the Dead-Mom Holiday Movie Trope

"Look, I get it: I’d also be relieved to find out my new bonk buddy wasn’t a philanderer. I’m not mad at Cameron; I’m mad that the dead wife-mom is a plot device in more Christmas movies than I can stuff in a stocking."

Before you curl up with a holiday movie, check out Cat Modlin-Jackson's new Longreads feature. It might just make you think differently about those festive frolics.

[qofdisaster1111]

my holiday evening essentials 😇

[poetryofmuses]

In December, our conversations become longer; everybody acts surprised by how quickly the year came to an end when we all know how. We talk about being better next year, we write resolutions but never fulfil the ones we wrote the previous year. The season turns extreme, leaves don't fall anymore, they die on their branches. Some people await the holidays while some fear how different or similar their life will be next year (they always fear the latter) In December we realize that life is fickle and death might come uninvited.

[the---hermit]

19|08|2024

My holidays away with my parents are finished and I am back home. I did lots of exploring, got to an amazing medieval festival and a very long day in the car we finally got back home. My first day back was busier than I had planned, as we had to clean up and fix some stuff, because while qe were away it rained so much our garage flooded. Thankfully my brother got the water out before we got back, but there were more things to do, and thankfully we did everything today. I have a lot of work to do in my garden too, but that is a weekend activity as tomorrow I have work in the morning, and then I'll be spending a couple of days at a friend's place. I am also almeno done with my reread of the fellowship of the ring, which I'd like to finish in the next couple of days. I haven't decided yet if my next read is going to be the two towers or if I want to break up the reread with something short.

📖: The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

[celerydays]

December means that I panic and buy/set up a whole new planner I wasn’t originally intending to for the new year 🥴

[hairtusk]

vibe for the coming spring 🧿

[poorly-drawn-monhun]

if requests are open could u do a zinogre and mizutsune being silly/cute :> thnx !

hi sorry its been a bit but heres smth i did quickly while doodling in magma ~ Modzutsune

[idkdodo]

They're so cute !

[hime-bee]

in the chance that leu might've posted anything in any of his social medias, what would his daily tweets look like?

He doesn't post often, he usually just lurks, likes and retweets! Every now and then, he'll probably post some scenery pics, some gacha pulls, and maybe a stray thought or two. He's the type to post something rancid like "is it weird that I want to breathe the same air as them 24/7?" and then delete it like, the next day 😭😭 He still has a bit of shame left

Bonus: If he had a Tumblr, he would DEFINITELY make an anonymous irl yandere account where he constantly posts about his beloved and fantasies he's had, etc

[postitforward]

Welcome to 2023, and a very Happy New Year to you! 🎆

We are delighted that you could join us and could not be happier to have you here for another Self-Care Sunday. 🕊️

It’s Sunday January 1, and we want to help you start the new year right. A new year doesn’t have to be a new you, because we at Tumblr think you’re absolutely fab just the way you are. Instead of a new year, new you, we want to have you start 2023 feeling just fine, and feeling happy, healthy, and well. It’s the same old you, just the very best, the very happiest you! And it can all start at the tip of a pen, keyboard, or touchpad,  as a little bit of journaling can help express yourself, and get thoughts which race around your mind before you onto the page. 

Who better to help this new habit get into gear than Justin, from @DayOne? This is someone who knows first-hand the transformative power of the simple act of writing what is inside into a page on the outside. And the benefits this can bring for mind and soul. In his own words…

Having discovered Day One almost 10 years ago, I’ve been a near-daily journal writer since. A few years back, I started supporting Day One’s social media and marketing efforts, building out the company’s Instagram following, creating the Day One Today newsletter, and creating an email and in-app onboarding experience for new users. As a father of four, I’ve used Day One to capture priceless moments from the lives of my children, through text, audio, video, and photo entries. I currently reside in Texas, enjoy biking, skiing, photography, and sports.

 🖊️ WATCH NOW: Day 1 with @DayOne: Journaling for the New Year on 1/1 at 1pm EST ✍️

#holidayblueswithtumblr

[traveliv13]

An aesthetic flower... 🪷

Please like and subscribe ☺️

[thebsideofthings]

"It’s not just the larger American audience that misinterprets the meaning of Juneteenth. Across the diaspora the message gets distorted, reflected in how most Juneteenth event flyers often have the colors of the Pan-African movement instead of Juneteenth’s actual colors. The official Juneteenth colors are red, white, and blue. The presence of the patriotic colors symbolizes the American flag, serving as a poignant reminder that slaves and their descendants were, and continue to be, an integral part of the United States."

- Shelby Stewart in "As Juneteenth Becomes Co-Opted, Don't Forget Its Texas Roots" for Okayplayer

[blackbackedjackal]

My dad is one of the only black people to have served as the president of a state medical board. He licensed new black doctors for over 15 years, including my sister.

My uncle is a 3rd generation mortician and recently won mortician of the year. Our family funeral home is one of the oldest black-owned businesses in the country at 104 years family owned and operated.

I am one of the first black LGBTQ+ members of the taxidermy community. As far as I’m aware I’ll be the only one in my state association, and I aspire to place at Nationals or Worlds so I can become a judge for taxidermy competitions. I also want to set up online taxidermy education geared towards BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals interested in the field, as well as do 1v1 in-person mentorships for aspiring taxidermists.