What did you do this week?

I made a lot of soup. My girlfriend is down with the flu so I've been cranking out as much soup as I can for the week. We have chicken noodle, chicken based Ramen, chicken lentil, spicy chicken pizole... seeing a pattern? It's been fun for me to try out new recipes, I even tried my hand at making homemade tortillas. In her current state not much is going down so I think I'll be eating soup for the foreseeable future.

The high note of the week is I've been given the green light to start biking again by my doctor. I tore my achilles a month ago and have been banging around in a big boot (sooo much better than crutches!) since then. The weather has been tauntingly nice and I'm excited to join everyone else enjoying it.

I went to a weekly Behavioural Activation group that was really rather depressing and not helpful in any way I can think of. So far, about half the group appears to have dropped out, possibly because they find the meetings more depressing than not attending them. I hope that rereading the booklets they give us will help me make more sense.

• Finished the 4-page treatment for my feature film screenplay.

• Threw away/donated a bunch of things, including useless stuff I've had for the last ten years, and finally organized all of my possessions.

I spent a long time at work, first because of a meeting and then because there was a parent-teacher conference on Thursday. I wasn't expecting anyone - I don't actually assign marks, and as I have 11 classes I barely know any of my students - but in those four hours two parents nevertheless swung by.

I helped the theory teachers set up and try out the experiments that we want to go over in the next two-three weeks, I tried assisting two of my colleagues as they forced their way back into their own drawers - I succeeded with one, but the other had to call the janitor to pry it open - and I bought a few seeds packets (garden cress, rucola, chives, lettuce and cherry tomatoes) that I planted at the start of the week. They are just starting to sprout.

I ate like shit - I finished the last of my curry on Monday, and I didn't feel like cooking since - re-read old books and stared longingly at oscilloscopes on Amazon for way too long, but...

I finally managed to steel myself up and talk with a lawyer about starting the name & gender marker change process. That, incidentally, didn't help my energy levels in the slightest: I'll need to rouse up my endo, if he'll deign to answer my mails, probably meet him - he's a thousand kilometers away - possibly change my residence, and then get my diagnosis confirmed yet again. I don't even have a GP right now, and doing all of this - while juggling work, while being in an unfamiliar city, while not having a shred of support - feels like an insurmountable task. I need this, but... I really wish the rest of the world would disappear for a year or two so I could get shit done.

Soon 10 months since I met my current girlfriend. I mentioned her before on Tildes. This week was Valentine's day; she also spent the whole week at my place. Went great! Still feeling extremely happy to be with her.

We went ice skating, I got to put to good use the past weeks of training. I feel pretty comfortable on the ice by now and recently started feeling comfortable going backwards. Going back tomorrow (at least three times this week, which will also be pretty busy work-wise).

My weight loss has also slowed down primarily because I've been eating more and skating less due to spending more time with her. That's getting fixed this coming week. :)

Still searching for software engineering summer internships lol!

• Set up autopay on car, cable and phone.
• Set up the spare tv with an old Roku for a live in uncle.
  • Successfully navigated his impending divorce and casual distrust of Muslim Americans in social interactions thus far.
• Found out whatever happened to the Cosmic Cube girl who turned Captain America into a Nazi. (She joined the Thunderbolts with Bucky for the duration of event and after things were set right, she was never heard from again...)
• Used GPT-2 to create bespoke Fairy Tales from the Grimm's canon. They can start out okay and build a situation, but they have trouble coming to a conclusion. Just like me!
• Used my malice tag for the first time.
• Put a pause on marking comments Exemplary where the author asks for a different tag.
• Applied for a health program at work logging diet and exercise as part of a social thing, got a free scale out of it, I'll give it a week before I lose interest and feeling judged even if I'm not.
• Asked if I could put some time in the innovation lab at work rather than going on phones my entire time there. No answer so far.
• Went to the library to work on my comic, did minimal work, maximum pacing and browsing.

I knitted my dog a sweater. I made myself a scarf last week. I'm trying to decide what to do next. Outside of scarves and hats, most knitting stuff you find on the web tends to be more feminine stuff. I'm thinking of making a knit tie, as I remember having one as a kid. I don't ever wear ties, so I'm not sure why I want to make one, but it's something a man can wear that's knit, so there you go!

Finally got caught up on Netflix's The Witcher, Picard, and Knightfall.

School work and trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up

Trying to find time to have a serious conversation with my girlfriend about her work habits.

I did some traditional English dancing on Wednesday. It's much easier than Scottish; there's hardly any footwork! Over the next couple months I'd like to go to social dances more like 2–3 times per week. They're a really lovely way to relax and get to know people better.