thiscoffeelooksbiracial - Tumblr blog

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

Finally there is hope on the horizon 🙌🏾

Two of ma's coworkers were generous enough to allow them to be added their lease. Locked them in at a lower rate than what they'd have to pay if they went in on their own.

They just need the first month's rent and insurance. It was pretty short notice, but with budgeting (staying my ass inside and off shopping sites) I should be able to cover it before the 1st. I might have to pay my rent on the evening of 2nd, but with the 5 day grace period, things should be fine.

I made an exception and bought yarn today. It's for my Christmas sweater. I had everything saved in my cart, to purchase in October so I'd have enough time to knit it before mid December. I bit today, because knitpicks started their Halloween yarn sale. Unbeknownst to me, green has been added to the usual assortment of orange, black, and purple yarns. I was able to get the green shades for 30% off. With an additional 15% off code, I scored free shipping and bought more than enough to complete the sweater. The amount I originally wanted would have resulted in a furious game of yarn chicken, or a super cropped short sleeve situation.

After this, unless a sale is super tantalizing (30% off or more) I'm not buying yarn until I knit through 7 projects. While my income can support a large stash, my studio apartment can't, so I need to make sure I knit what I have and only buy yarn as needed.

Budgeting like this has also shown me that I could be saving more and making more of an effort to pay down debt. Once their rent is secured, my next challenge is to throw as much as possible at credit cards. I don't have a problem with them. Most of my debt was for the family. But if I want to be able to move to a better place at some point, and get them qualified for a house, the debt has to go.

Here's to a responsible fall and winter spent mostly indoors🍲

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

Decided to go full "woo-woo granola" and see if I can fix things from the inside out. Since covid can cause lasting GI issues, I'm starting with probiotics, a multi strain as well as L. Gasseri on its own. I'm also taking colostrum again. I haven't taken it since I ran out (in I want to say June?) so it'll be good to get back on track.

I also made a protein shake with my coffee. I would like to have a shake each day, but for now I will aim for every other day.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

If this is indeed my new normal, I have to accept that my life will rely on routine for the foreseeable future. I can't let inspiration drive me to keep weird hours and expend lots of energy catching up due to procrastination. I need to wake up and go to bed about the same time each day. Make sure to take meds, work in low impact exercise and drink water. Eating at regular intervals even when I'm not hungry to avoid hangry crashes. I also need to accept that I may not progress as quickly as I hoped. I can't let that stop me from trying at all.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

It's been a minute, UPDATES:

Have felt unwell since June. Blood work is inconclusive. I suspect I had a minor bout of covid. While I wasn't laid low like my peers, I do seem to have a lingering malaise. The best recourse seems to be rest, so I'm taking it.

To that end, since I'll be spending lots of time indoors for the foreseeable future, I've decided to make my apartment as cozy as possible. I didn't care before because it functioned as more of a crash pad. Now that I'm staying put, time to make an effort and actually decorate.

Personal growth wise, I'm really making a push for Q4. I want the aws cloud practitioner cert and to start college courses by November. I'm also participating in a cyber program at work. Could be a new opportunity at some point.

Relationships. I spun the block when I had no reason to. I wanted a fun summer tryst before I got my life together in the fall. That crashed and burned, but I'm not sad about it. Things were so dramatic back then that I never really knew him. I thought time would make things better, and while he's in a better place as far as life milestones, now I know he sucks as a person. Better to know this now for sure and be able to walk away.

Sobriety: I spent a lot of the last two years faded. I still accomplished a lot but it got to the point when things went from only on weekends, to everyday after work, to even during work. Between the health scare and admitting that I wouldn't have reconnected with him if I'd been sober, I decided to stop taking edibles for now. I haven't felt the need to buy any. I'm also limiting alcohol. I didn't drink much before because of the edibles. I don't want to replace one vice with another.

Rich inner life: I've picked up knitting again. I think I went 2 years without it. Bought yarn and needle sets from knit picks in July. Hauled lots of yarn during their latest stash building sale. I'm gonna knit hats on fingering weight yarn. I avoided knitting hats because of how drying they can be for my hair. I have come across a pattern for satin lined hats. I know I could buy them, but a hand knit would be fully customizable. The retail versions never fit me. The only issue is that the easiest way to see the lining is to use a sewing machine. Never learned. But I did find a shop in the city that hosts monthly beginner lessons. I'll go next month and then decide if I want to buy a machine or just rent time at their studio. I've taken to marathoning shows while I knit in the evenings. I finally watched Veep. Re-watched Dexter. Now I'm watching Elementary. I saw the first season when it originally aired, but between working nights and eventually not having a tv, I never finished. After this I'll revisit Scandal.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

I want to die. I know I wouldn't want to die if I didn't feel trapped and had something to show for my efforts. But I do, and I don't so here I am.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

I got back from DC last Friday. The earthquake started when I was boarding the train back to Philly so I missed it. In order to make sure the earthquake didn't affect the tracks along the route, we had to travel back slower than expected. All told, it took an additional 50 minutes to get back. Amtrak did provide 1000 points as compensation. So I could use those to get from Wilmington to Philly in the future.

I did take the edibles in DC as soon as I got to my hotel room after the conference each day. I used my last there and I've gone without for more than a week. I did order more and I'm pretty sure they arrived today. They're low dose so I can relax while still being productive.

I've still been sad off and on, but now that's due to pmdd. I do some sort of exercise daily to help. I might do 3 miles on the bike today. If not today, then definitely tomorrow. Last week I used my body heat to help my pretreatment be more effective. I can give my hair the attention it needs while getting fit.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

I've been in a bad mood for most of the past week. One possible cause is daily edibles. I've gotten to the point where I take one in the early afternoon even before work is over. I suspect that it's interfering with my ability to self regulate. I've been sleeping well, eating better, I've even bought and started using an exercise bike. I feel good for a few hours but then the melancholy seeps in.

I'm headed to DC for the week. Hopefully the change of scenery will be good for me. I did pack edibles, but now I'm not sure I want to take them. I think for now I'll take them only on weekends. I didn't have this problem when I only ingested once or twice a week.

If it's not the thc, it could be the wellbutrin. I've been on 300mg since november. It's been positive so far, but I wonder if it's not enough anymore.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

I got the offer yesterday. Actually Wednesday night, but it went to my work email at almost 9 so I didn't see it until Thursday. Got the money I was looking for. Now I just have to pass. I've been drinking water like crazy and taking in fiber and activated charcoal. From what I've read, provided I give at least the second, preferably 3rd sample of the day, I should make it. I ordered more tests just to be sure. I was getting negatives pretty consistently, but I wanted to test the first sample of the day and the results were borderline.

The form says that I have more than 48hrs to take the test. It actually looks like 7 business days. But I want to take it asaptually so that I can start getting paid again as soon as possible. I've picked up a few shifts to get me through the month, but it would be great to start in time(and to get paid) for thanksgiving.

This is the most money I've ever made and I can't mess this up.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

Almost free

I have one more presentation due tomorrow and then I am officially done with my apprenticeship. One of the coordinators keeps pestering me for a headshot and a blurb for promo materials. I'm not interested. The first email she sent made participation sound voluntary so I ignored it. I received another request today when I logged on to see if my account was still active. Since I'll be offline for a few days/weeks until I'm hired, hopefully she moves on and leaves me alone. I don't know how to say that I spent most of the program hating it and I don't really recommend it. Everything I've almost accomplished has been in spite of the program. Not because of it.

I almost have a FTE position at the company that hosted my apprenticeship. I should be receiving my offer this week, and then the onboarding process starts from there. Floor nothing less than 70k and I'd feel more financially secure at 80k. Given the economy and the general hell of the current job application process, I could go as low as 65k. Just for peace of mind while I collect certs and get bachelor's.

Interview went well and it should be a sure thing. My main concern is the pre employment screening. Foolishly, I took an edible as a last hurrah thinking that it would clear out of my system in a few days. Instead, it's taken almost 2.5 weeks of water, exercise, fiber and activated charcoal to start seeing negative results. Glad to know for future reference. This is the main reason why I'm not in too much of a hurry to receive my offer. As soon as I accept the offer, the screening has to take place within 48 hours. A few more days of detox will be more beneficial long term.

I guess this is it for now. I didn't think I'd do it, but I more or less got my shit together in the end.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

So between my apartment, the room in my old place, and what's in storage, I have enough hair products to open my own beauty supply. Or if the world ends, I'll have great hair throughout the apocalypse 💁🏾‍♀️

Based on this, I want to try to complete a no buy for hair products through 2024. I think I'll make exceptions for hauls as needed, but ideally, nothing new until Black Friday 2024.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

This is the first weekend in months that I'm not stressed about my project progress. I'll work through the next required course tomorrow. Research on Monday and then schedule a meeting with a SME for the following week.

Didn't buy my exam voucher, but I'll have the money to do so next week. Good news is that the guy who put together the exam review course for CC also has a course for Sec+. Sat through 2 hours today. Glad that it was mostly review of what I covered in CC, if not a bit more in depth.

I bought a book about general computing concepts to enhance my background knowledge. It's written for middle schoolers so there's lots of pictures and high level explanations. I also purchased an exam guide. I have one on my kindle, but I think a physical book could be useful too. This reminded me that crash course has a CompSci series. I'll have that on in the background as much as possible.

I used the refund for my concert ticket to buy the hair for my twists. I'll Install those next weekend. I initially planned on leaving them in for 4-6 weeks, but I think I'll try stretching for 8.

I also bought some work pants for my eventual transition back to the office. They're essentially leggings with seams going down the front. It's a step up from jeggings, without the anxiety of having to wear real pants.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

I've eaten, but am tired as hell:

Found out that expanded Coursera access will be granted on a rolling basis. Not really pressed at the moment because I really only wanted it in case I couldn't finish the Google course during the free trial period.

I'm looking into scheduling my Sec+ exam for September 13th. That's exactly 8 weeks from now. With at least 30 minutes of study a day and at least an hour on the weekends, I should be ready to pass in 8 weeks. I'll order it using the promo code tomorrow.

Those practice exams were decent. Not worth the money since I did have issues with the way many of the questions were worded. I also never scored higher than 77%. Also there were quite a few reused questions. I actually just got a refund to my Udemy account. I'll use the credit to get a Sec+ that I want instead.

I ended up pushing my assessment instead. I looked to reschedule the exam, but there weren't any spots available. I did stay up late working, and I'm almost finished. I'll finish tomorrow and submit before I go to bed.

Even with the questionable exam prep, I still passed. Ya girl has her first cybersecurity certification!

I definitely need to eat, but first, updates:

I still don't have the expanded access to Coursera. In the meantime, I used the free trial to complete google's cyber security certificate.

It was pretty easy to power through it thanks to my CC course. Completing the google certificate also came with a 30% off code for the Sec+ exam so the discount plus the extra practice really made the endeavor worthwhile.

Thanks to reddit I found a great set of practice exams for the CC exam. I just finished the first one and got a 74%. 70% is passing so I think with dedicated study I should be able to pass on wednesday.

I'm using tomorrows performance as a guide. If I get an 85% by the end of day, Then I'll keep my exam appointment. Otherwise I'll push to next week.

Have an OC assessment due Monday that I haven't submitted. The plan is to spend most of the day on it, while taking an hour here and there for exam prep and getting caught up on work.

Since I just have my meeting at 9 and my mentor session at 2, if I stay up late it won't be terrible because I can nap for about 3 hours between those two sessions.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

I definitely need to eat, but first, updates:

I still don't have the expanded access to Coursera. In the meantime, I used the free trial to complete google's cyber security certificate.

It was pretty easy to power through it thanks to my CC course. Completing the google certificate also came with a 30% off code for the Sec+ exam so the discount plus the extra practice really made the endeavor worthwhile.

Thanks to reddit I found a great set of practice exams for the CC exam. I just finished the first one and got a 74%. 70% is passing so I think with dedicated study I should be able to pass on wednesday.

I'm using tomorrows performance as a guide. If I get an 85% by the end of day, Then I'll keep my exam appointment. Otherwise I'll push to next week.

Have an OC assessment due Monday that I haven't submitted. The plan is to spend most of the day on it, while taking an hour here and there for exam prep and getting caught up on work.

Since I just have my meeting at 9 and my mentor session at 2, if I stay up late it won't be terrible because I can nap for about 3 hours between those two sessions.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

Am I dying at a faster rate or do I just need to eat, a checklist:

Finish the Google DA cert to get access to free Coursera membership. Use eligible certs I earn with the membership to put towards degree

Map out how many credits I have and how many I'll need for a degree.

See which sites(Coursera, Sophia, etc) have credit courses that I can accelerate.

Also see which of my current/future certs are eligible for credit

Keep working through the OC projects at a steady pace. Others in the cohort are accelerating, but I don't have the time for that when I'm doing everything else.

Based on how many credits I'll need, estimate the cost.

Also file the FAFSA in case I am able to start in the fall

Between now and the 19th, take 5 practice exams because it would be embarrassing to abandon a sure thing and then fail my first attempt 😭

Become a gold cyber champion by the end of September, unless I have to give a presentation to get the award because fuck that.

Try a bit more at work but don't go above and beyoncé. You hate this after all.

Have fun at some point?

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

Today was really productive. I actually accomplished things I set out to do.

[thiscoffeelooksbiracial]

I usually take 25mg but I decided to take 75mg for funsies. So far, I don't feel much of a difference. That's okay. I need to be productive tomorrow anyway.